Student-run magazine SixTenTwelve will make its debut next spring and cover all levels of Cougar athletics, from students tossing Frisbees in the courtyard and intramural dodge ball teams to NCAA football championships.
SixTenTwelve was concieved when entrepreneurship freshman Bill Conant answered a phone call from his friend Dustin Rensink in August.
Rensink specifically wanted to discuss marketing senior Trent Dees’ pitch for a new athletics magazine that would provide perspective of Cougar athletics while filling in what his friends perceived as glaring holes in the University’s sports coverage.
Dees’ moment of inspiration for a fan-operated magazine on Cougar athletics came when he picked up a copy of the University of Texas student-run athletics magazine Horns.
"Trent saw the need for a magazine from a student perspective, with a fan’s insight," Conant said.
When Conant received the phone call from Rensink about planning a magazine for Cougar athletics fans, he was juggling melting ice cream, a steering wheel and a dying cell phone.
"All I really heard was, ‘Sir! … business proposition … Cougar sports … You in?’ I responded when I got to the hotel, with a hearty, ‘Yes!’" Conant said.
Particularly after the downsize of Houston Chronicle sports writer Michael Murphy’s coverage of UH sports, the fans agreed media coverage of University athletics simply did not suffice.
"Houston is a city with a vibrant sports community, and UH is a major part of that," Conant said.
Together, Rensink, Conant, Dees and pre-business junior Sam Rassenfoss agreed to start a magazine on Cougar athletics from the fans’ perspective.
Studying for school and issues with obtaining the proper paperwork that would change the magazine from a dream into a business pushed back the initial debut from the 2008 football season to January 2009, in time to cover Cougar baseball and softball.
The magazine will run monthly and feature an analysis of games, player and coach profiles, stories from the locker room and even high school recruiting with prospects and their effect on the University.
SixTenTwelve will be distributed on UH counters and press racks, funded solely by donations and advertising.
"Telling people about it will get people to care," said English junior Kristin Laymon, who will write and copy edit for the magazine.
Conant’s current project is tinkering with the layout of SixTenTwelve’s Web site.
The Web site features listings of college football games and Rassenfoss’ "Sam’s Picks," which predicts the winners of ongoing games.
It will also eventually feature articles and podcasts hosted by sports administration sophomore Bobby Malvaez and business freshman Jeremy Carson.
Podcasts will feature overviews of magazine content, coach interviews, player interviews and Malvaez’s distinctively rambunctious sense of humor.
The magazine staff additionally hopes to shed light on less-covered aspects of Cougar athletics, including intramural teams and casual sports players, such as ultimate Frisbee teams.
Conant even approached several exchange students who were playing cricket in the University basketball court for interviews.
"If we had a curling team, yes, it would cover curling," Conant said with a laugh.
Cougar student and alumni reception to the SixTenTwelve has been generally supportive. Cougar fan sites have expressed particular interest in the renegade project.
