Going by NCAA's book puts schools in a bind
Beginning this season, rule stipulates all schools' media guides can be a maximum of 208 pages.

No more Yellow Pages-sized college football media guides.
Sports information directors throughout the country are scrambling to decide what to eliminate. An NCAA ruling passed a few weeks ago says that media guides in all sports must be limited to 208 pages -- beginning this season. - College Football -
This is a big adjustment for many of the tradition-rich football programs that use the guides not only to serve the media, but also as recruiting tools. Michigan must cut 160 pages from last season's 368-page guide. Michigan State needs to eliminate 92 more pages after eliminating 40 last year in anticipation of the change. - College Football -
Erik Christianson, a director of media relations for the NCAA, said the rule was passed to cut costs and also "level the playing field" in recruiting.
Media guides have gotten increasingly larger since the NCAA decided in the mid-1980s that schools couldn't produce a separate recruiting guide. - College Football -
"That one rule started the arms race of media guides," said Bruce Madej, director of media relations at Michigan. "They're going to be straight recruiting (guides) now because you can't put all your information in it."
The media guides are used to impress recruits by putting a positive spin on the program and university. - College Football -
Here's the problem -- a program like Eastern Michigan had a 216-page guide last season while Missouri's was 614 pages.
Nevertheless, John Lewandowski, associate athletic director for media relations at Michigan State, considers the new rule overreacting. - College Football -
"I don't think a media guide has ever been the difference-maker in what school a player chooses," Lewandowski said. "I just think there's tremendous hypocrisy here. How about leveling the playing field with expanded weight rooms and other facilities? Are they going to limit the capacity of stadiums?"
As for the financial aspects, Michigan State could save about $18,000 in printing and production costs with the smaller guide, according to Lewandowski -- about three-thousandths of a percent of the athletic department's $55 million budget. - College Football -
Many schools recoup some of their costs by selling copies of the guide to the public.
The money saved with the smaller guide, in many cases, will be automatically spent in other ways to make up for the lost information, said David Ablauf, an assistant media relations director for Michigan.
All schools are expected to provide links on their Web sites to the information that's been cut. But some might also produce an informal, unbound supplemental record book for the media. Others might provide CDs with that information. - College Football -
Game programs, bowl guides and spring guides -- none limited in size -- could get bigger.
Some Atlantic Coast Conference schools initially began pushing for the change. At one point, the NCAA considered abolishing the guides altogether and having the information available only on Web sites.
A compromise was reached, but many sports information people believe 208 pages are not enough to serve the needs of the media and recruits. - College Football -
A big part of college sports is the traditions of each program. The media guides have been compared to encyclopedias of a team's history.
"I think everyone should have the freedom to package their tradition in their own unique way," Lewandowski said. "The media guides are keepsakes."
Lewandowski recently met with coach John L. Smith and Mike Vollmar, director of football operations for the Spartans, to discuss "page-by-page" what should be eliminated. Lewandowski also sought advice from the media. - College Football -
The problem is the coaches and media had much different perspectives. Some items the media said to cut are considered crucial for recruiting purposes, including overviews on the medical staff and academic facilities.
"That's very important to prospects and prospects' parents," Lewandowski said. "Who is going to take care of them? What kind of facilities do you have available? That's part of the sales process." - College Football -
By early July, final decisions must be made on what to leave in and what to take out.

Dave Dye / The Detroit News