Kristina Dailing
Daily Egyptian
Fred Huff doesn't stand and cheer at SIU basketball games, but he is a Saluki fan to the core.
As former SIU Sports Information director, Huff spent a lifetime sitting on the sidelines in the press row. And he is living proof that old habits die hard.
"A couple of people asked me, 'Why aren't you interested in the game? You're not saying anything.'" Huff said. "Well, of course I am interested in the game, but you just didn't cheer or make noise or say anything out loud in the press row."
And since his retirement from the SIU athletic department in July 2001, Huff has still been on the sidelines, helping SIU in his own way.
For the past year, Huff has been at his office in the Du Quoin State Bank building, working to establish a non-for-profit corporation called Saluki Publications and Public Relations.
The corporation is intended to help cover some of the costs from a book Huff is writing about the more than 100 years of SIU sports.
"The University has been extremely nice to me and good to me for 35 years," Huff said. "I consider this to be a little bit of payback to the University."
Any revenue that the book earns will be donated to the Athletic Department for scholarship money. But Huff is not just writing the book for the University; It helps him keep in touch with sports at SIU.
"I love doing it because I am writing about people I admire and respect: athletic directors, coaches and athletes," Huff said.
Longtime friend of Huff and former SIU Hall of Fame men's track and field coach Lou Hartzog knows that Huff enjoys his retirement, but he also knows that Huff still wants to remain a part of the University.
"It took him a little longer to adjust to retirement," Hartzog said. "This book is an outlet for him and a way for him to stay connected to the University. He will do a great job because SIU is still a part of him."
Huff has also served as media coordinator for four college basketball tournaments in the past year. He attended the Top of the World Classics in Fairbanks, Ala., and served in three tournaments in Las Vegas that were sponsored by Worldwide Basketball Inc., in one of which the SIU men's basketball team played.
He also wrote a weekly column about SIU sports for American Publishing Company, which distributed the column to daily papers in the area.
"I enjoyed writing because it allowed me to keep fingers in the SIU sports scene," Huff said.
Huff came to SIU in 1960, when the Sports Information Department and the Athletic Department were still separate departments.
Sports Information is the organization within the collegiate Athletic Department responsible for producing media guides, game programs and various other information needed by the media.
After working for 11 years in the Athletic Department, Huff left and became the general manager of the Du Quoin State Fair in 1971.
In April of 2002, Huff was elected by Du Quoin Mayor John Rednour to co-chair a committee to find a way to celebrate the Du Quoin State Fair's 80th anniversary.
Huff has since been writing a publication that outlines events, performers and other activities from the fair's past 80 years.
"It has been a very enjoyable project in that I have been very close to the fair having lived in Du Quoin all my life," Huff said. "I worked there when I was about 12 or 13, and then I was the general manager of the fair from 1972 to 1977."
Although Huff enjoys spending his time working on what he is interested in, he does miss working at SIU.
"I miss the association and the closeness that you have with the coaches and athletes," Huff said. "Last year was difficult, because I still know many of the athletes."
In 1987, Huff returned to SIU and became full-time sports information director.
Huff worked in the Athletic Department until July 31, 2001, when he retired as Sports Information director.
"He was an outstanding Sports Information director," Hartzog said. "His media guides were always excellent, and he did the best he could to represent all the sports at SIU."
So what is there to do for a retired Sports Information director who doesn't like to fish or hunt and who hasn't played golf in five years?
"I like spending time in Du Quoin," Huff said. "I appreciate seeing so many people and friends that are so quick to come up and say hi. If I had a goal in life, it would be to know the first name of every person in Southern Illinois that calls me by my first name."
And after a year of retirement from the Athletic Department, Huff has shown that he will remain dedicated to SIU.
"I will always be a Saluki fan because it is in my system now," Huff said.
Reporter Kristina Dailing can be reached at kdailing@dailyegyptian.com.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
