Bound For The Big Sky

Scott Jurgens recently became the Assistant Director of Athletics for Marketing/Operations at Montana State University.

TigerBlog would like to take his proper credit for Scott's new assignment.

Scott Jurgens worked as Princeton's Director of Marketing for a little more than four years, and he always puts TB down as one of his references. As such, TigerBlog received a voicemail from Montana State shortly before Christmas.

The message was from one of the members of the search committee, who apologized for calling so close to the holiday but explained that the school was trying to move quickly. TB immediately called back and said that he would be around, that he recommended Scott highly and that he'd be happy to talk about Scott, even on Christmas, as TB was one of the chosen people.

A few days went by, and TB never heard back from anyone at Montana State. Then, after that, Scott himself texted TB, thanking him for his recommendation and saying that he'd gotten the job.

Okay, so maybe TB didn't really help him. He would have, though.

Scott Jurgens is one of TB's favorites in his time at Princeton. He's hard-working and a team player, which makes him willing to do anything to help out in any way, even if it's outside his job description. He's very loyal to the organization and to the people in it.

He is constantly looking to improve himself. He recognizes that in marketing, there are tons of ideas out there waiting to be stolen, and as a result he is at every convention, on every website, talking to every other marketing professional, always looking to find out what's new and different in his profession.

He's also personable, funny. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He's easy to work with, and he's the kind of person every athletic department needs.

See? TB would have given him a good recommendation.

Oh, and TB would have mentioned that Scott is way out ahead of the curve on social media.

For instance, as Scott drove from Greenville, North Carolina (home of East Carolina, his stop between Princeton and Montana State), and Bozeman, TB saw enough pictures and got enough updates on Scott's itinerary that he felt like he was there the entire way.

Actually, it was just Scott and his dog Barnaby, a resilient animal who has been with Scott since his days here and will now be a Big Sky dog. As for Scott, it's a homecoming of sorts for the Idaho native, and TB is very happy for him.

TB doesn't know much about Bozeman, having never been to Montana, though he does know that Sheldon had a bad experience there on an episode of the Big Bang Theory. And that Scott is looking forward to working for the Bobcats, who have a big men's basketball game tomorrow night against Northern Colorado. MSU is 3-1 in the Big Sky Conference, while Northern Colorado is 4-0.

As for Scott's chosen profession, it's always a challenge to be in college athletic marketing.

Princeton averages 1,796 fans for its five home games to date in men's basketball. Montana State averages 2,014 in the Worthington Arena, which seats 7,250. In football, Montana State averaged 19,704.

One of the advantages of being at Montana State, TB supposes, is that it is the only game in town for the most part. The nearest pro franchises are located in either Seattle (680 miles away) or Denver (695 miles away), which could make for an interesting two weeks in Bozeman should that become the Super Bowl matchup.

Still, there is also a much smaller population to draw from, as Bozeman is a city of fewer than 40,000.

Contrast that with Princeton. Within 680 miles of here are dozens of pro sports teams, and it's fewer than 680 miles from here to, say, Charlotte, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Detroit, not to mention the obvious cities of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Add in all of the Division I colleges that one would find within 100 miles or so, and it's a tough competition for the entertainment dollar, even if there are way more people in the area.

And then there's the situation that TB found himself in Saturday. His choices were 1) going to the Palestra and watching the Princeton-Penn basketball doubleheader or 2) watching the women's game on the Ivy League Digital Network and the men's game on NBCSN. He chose the later, partly because of the ease and partly because of other obligations during the day.

Still, it's so easy these days to see the game you want to see, as opposed to even five or 10 years ago.

Anyway, all that is for another time.

For today, congrats to Scott, who recently crossed the state line into Montana, and all the best for your stay with the Bobcats.

TigerBlog is looking forward to getting some Montana State gear. Then again, he never got anything from East Carolina.

Maybe he should take back his good reference.