Hines prepares to step aside

~ Southeast's longtime sports information director will retire at the end of June.

It's doubtful anyone has seen more Southeast Missouri State sports events over the past 29 years than Ron Hines.

Hines still plans to take in the occasional Redhawks game, but in a different capacity.

Southeast's longtime sports information director is retiring this year, with his final official day on the job June 30.

"I hope to see a football game, a few basketball games," Hines said. "But it will be more as just a fan now. I don't know, maybe I won't like it. I've never done it that way."

While Hines has been involved on some level with every Southeast team -- sports information director is similar to media relations director on the professional level -- he has gained notoriety for his work with men's basketball.

Hines attended every Southeast men's basketball game from 1980 until the final contest of this past season, which he missed to be the public address announcer for the Southeastern Conference indoor track meet.

The streak of 851 consecutive games worked by Hines is by far an all-time record among Division I SIDs.

"I never thought of it as anything extraordinary because that's what I got paid to do," Hines said. "But I enjoyed that very much."

Hines has been a familiar figure at home basketball games, overseeing the statistical crew on press row and also traveling with the team to all road games. He served as radio color commentator for football and men's basketball when Southeast played on the road.

"Through a lot of different methods, you try to create a positive impression about Southeast athletics to as many people as possible," he said.

"People think it's just basketball and football, but it's all sports. And working with the media, that's a big part of it. It's important to have a personal relationship with as many of the media as you can."

Hines, a 1965 University of Missouri graduate, began his professional career as an assistant SID at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. At SIU, he set up a radio network and broadcast the school's basketball games for two years.

It was during that relatively short stint at SIU that Hines broadcast the play of Walt Frazier, a then-unheralded guard who led the Salukis to the 1967 NIT championship and later became an NBA star with the New York Knicks.

"That was a big thrill," Hines said. "He's the best player I've ever seen."

Hines later worked for radio stations in Michigan and Herrin, Ill., where he again broadcast SIU football and basketball for more than a decade. He got out of radio and started a weekly newspaper in Goreville, Ill., which he ran for two years before selling it.

In 1979, Hines came to Cape Girardeau to work as a sports and news reporter for the Southeast Missourian, where he spent less than a year before becoming Southeast's SID in 1980.

"I knew I liked SID work the best and I was fortunate to get this job," Hines said. "I didn't think I'd be here 29 years. I knew I wanted to stay in this business, but I figured after a couple of years I'd move on because I was making a low salary.

"But they kept raising my salary and I enjoyed it here, so I never left."

Hines, who is originally from Hamilton, a small town in the northwest part of Missouri, is thankful things worked out the way they did.

"It's been a heck of a ride here. I've seen some great athletes and great teams. There are so many great memories," he said. "We hosted several NCAA Division II national track championships, which were covered by ESPN. That stands out.

"We had a great run in Division II basketball in the 1980s. We went to the national championship game twice and that was very thrilling. Of course, going to the NCAA tournament in Division I basketball [in 1999-2000] for the first time was great. The national spotlight on the Division I tournament is quite an experience."

Hines, who has missed only a handful of Southeast football games since 1980, is proud of the consecutive games basketball streak that almost came to an end in 2001 as the team battled terrible winter weather to make it to a tournament in El Paso, Texas.

"I thought the streak was going to end there," he said. "I remember sitting in a motel room in St. Louis, wondering if I was going to get there."

Hines said the streak stayed alive with the help of former Southeast coach Gary Garner.

"It didn't look like I would be able to make it [to El Paso] because a lot of flights were canceled," Hines said. "Just the team and a few other support people wound up going. I told Gary that will end the streak. He didn't know anything about it, but when he found out, he arranged for me to go. I really appreciate him doing that.

"The streak is never something I set out to do, but once it got going, I'm proud of it. Nobody else in Division I has done it. To have a streak like that, you have to have good coaches to work with, good help, good health and a great wife."

Hines and his wife, Mary, will celebrate their 42nd anniversary June 10. She also has been a big part of Southeast athletics over the years, working with the statistical crew at all home football and basketball games, designing media guides and accompanying her husband on many road trips.

"None of this would be possible without Mary Sue," Hines said. "And she just didn't come [to the games] to fill a seat, she worked."

Hines could have extended his streak one game, but announcing track meets always has been a passion for him and he thought that would be a good way for the streak to end.

"It had to end some time and I knew I was retiring anyway," he said. "I figured that was a good way to do it, to go out on my terms."

Hines, who will be honored late next month with a lifetime achievement award at the national SIDs convention in San Antonio, said his work at Southeast has taken him to "30-some states and seven foreign countries. Travel can get old, but I never minded it."

While technology has changed much of the way the SID business is conducted these days, Hines emphasized it's important never to lose the personal touch, something he said he has tried to instill to the many student assistants he's had over the years, including several who have gone on to make a career in the profession.

"I stress that despite all the new technology, they should never forget the value of personal contact with members of the media," Hines said. "The new technology is great, but don't rely on technology to do your job. You still need to have good working relationships with coaches and members of the media."

Hines said he will miss working at Southeast, but is looking forward to retirement. He said he'll likely continue to work for the university part-time on special projects and wants to announce even more track meets than he has in the past.

"I plan to stay involved in athletics as long as I can," said Hines, who added the university hopes to have a new SID in place by July 1 and he will help with the transition. "We'll see what happens."