Photo by: Rod Aydelotte - Waco Tribune-Herald
Sims Looking at the Game from a Different View
8/28/2018 12:55:00 PM | Football, General, "B" Association
Longtime Athletic Trainer Went From Sidelines to Sitting in the Stands
(Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series of feature profiles on this year's Hall of Fame inductees and Wall of Honor selections that will be posted every Monday, leading up to the Sept. 21 Hall of Fame Banquet.)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Going to Baylor football's season opener last fall, Mike Sims was like a fish out of water.
For the first time in 43 seasons, he wasn't on the sidelines as a Baylor trainer. The last time he had watched a Baylor game from the stands was in seventh grade when he came with his Royal Ambassador group from Cedar Hill, Texas.
"I'm having to ask my wife and other people, 'Hey, how do you do this?' because I've never done this before, as far as parking, getting in, going through the gates and all that stuff," said Sims, part of the 2018 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored at the Sept. 21 banquet.
"It's really different, because you're sitting there watching one thing and you're used to watching one thing, and everybody else is watching something different. Even when I'm watching a game on television, someone will say, 'Hey, did you see that make the tackle?' And I'll say, 'No, but that offensive tackle nearly got his knee blown out.' We just watch the game differently, and that will probably never go away."
Sims, who turned 61 earlier this month, stepped away from Baylor last summer after 42 years as first a student trainer under Skip Cox, then the first full-time assistant trainer and finally the Associate AD for Athletics Training – an incredible run that included working 476 consecutive football games.
"You have the loyalty to the school and you also have a loyalty to the athletes and trying to take care of them. So, it made it really simple," said Sims, who has spent the last year as manager of sports medicine at Southwest Sports Medicine. "The biggest deal about Baylor that I've always told everyone is the people you're involved with while you're there. That's what makes the place great."
It's that interaction with the Baylor student-athletes that Sims has missed the most, although he did fill in at McLennan Community College last year.
"We're taking care of 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids that a lot of them are away from home for the first time," he said. "A lot of times, we're having to take the place of mom, dad, whoever took care of them in high school, because now they're away from mom and dad. So, I would get asked all kinds of questions, whether it's medical stuff, how to do laundry, how to fix cars. It's not just, 'Hey, good to see you, boom, you're gone.' You get involved in their lives to the point where you keep up with what they do now."
And in some cases, because of his longevity, Sims was dealing with second generations of families "where I took care of their dads and then their sons came through."
Sims earned his bachelor's degree from Baylor in 1980 and his master's two years later before becoming the head trainer in 1984.
Working under Cox and football coach Grant Teaff "helped set my foundation and got me going," Sims said, "just seeing how they were so good about handling situations."
"That's how I learned the whole business," he said of training under Cox, who is also in the Baylor Hall of Fame. "The way our profession is, it's more like a family. You do things the way you're taught to do them. And with Skip, good work habits and taking care of the players, those were the things he pushed."
With smaller staffs when he first started, it was Sims that was oftentimes tasked with helping athletes rehabilitate from an injury and try to get back on the field.
"One of the things in dealing with players is they're our friends and we see our friends get injured," he said. "One of the best things about what we do is they're our friends and we see them come back and return to play. When somebody has been injured and they're coming back to play, you're as nervous as you can be, because they're back out on the field for the first time. But, you're also glad to see them back and glad to see them succeed."
Before the advent of MRI exams, Sims said, the trainers just had to consult with the doctors and determine whether surgery was needed or not.
"You weren't nearly as advanced," he said. "Back when I first started, there was no way to fix a torn ACL. So, a lot of times, that was an injury that ended a lot of careers."
One of his tasks that gave Mike the greatest joy was mentoring the host of student trainers that came through the program. Three of Baylor's current athletic trainers all learned under his tutelage – David Chandler, Alex Olson and Kevin Robinson.
"You couldn't ask for a better boss," Chandler said. "He's always there to support you and help you and do whatever you need. At the same time, he let you do your job. He didn't stand over you, telling you how to do your job. He just let you do it. None of us can work as hard as Mike Sims or as long as Mike Sims."
Considered one of the nation's leading authorities on sports equipment safety standards, Sims was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2017 and earned the organization's Most Distinguished Award in 2013. He was also given the Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Trophy at the 2012 Holiday Bowl for his unselfish commitment, motivation and teamwork.
"He has provided steady guidance of our Athletics Training area throughout his career," Baylor VP and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said last summer when Sims was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, "and he has positively impacted thousands of student-athletes along the way."
Some of those are part of the Hall of Fame class that includes Sims. Joining him are former football players Gary Baxter and Ronnie "Bo" Lee, NCAA tennis champion Zuzana Zemenova, golf coach and player Tim Hobby, volleyball's Elisha Polk and softball All-American Chelsi Lake Reichenstein.
"This award is not just something for me, it's for the entire family, all the people I've worked with over the years and everybody else," said Mike, who is married to the former Suzanne Stevens and has two children, Jessica and Keith, who are all Baylor graduates as well. "I don't feel like I've done a whole lot. I've just surrounded myself with a lot of smart people and let them do their job and just stayed out of their way."
The Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center. Tickets cost $50 per person and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Going to Baylor football's season opener last fall, Mike Sims was like a fish out of water.
For the first time in 43 seasons, he wasn't on the sidelines as a Baylor trainer. The last time he had watched a Baylor game from the stands was in seventh grade when he came with his Royal Ambassador group from Cedar Hill, Texas.
"I'm having to ask my wife and other people, 'Hey, how do you do this?' because I've never done this before, as far as parking, getting in, going through the gates and all that stuff," said Sims, part of the 2018 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored at the Sept. 21 banquet.
"It's really different, because you're sitting there watching one thing and you're used to watching one thing, and everybody else is watching something different. Even when I'm watching a game on television, someone will say, 'Hey, did you see that make the tackle?' And I'll say, 'No, but that offensive tackle nearly got his knee blown out.' We just watch the game differently, and that will probably never go away."
Sims, who turned 61 earlier this month, stepped away from Baylor last summer after 42 years as first a student trainer under Skip Cox, then the first full-time assistant trainer and finally the Associate AD for Athletics Training – an incredible run that included working 476 consecutive football games.
"You have the loyalty to the school and you also have a loyalty to the athletes and trying to take care of them. So, it made it really simple," said Sims, who has spent the last year as manager of sports medicine at Southwest Sports Medicine. "The biggest deal about Baylor that I've always told everyone is the people you're involved with while you're there. That's what makes the place great."
It's that interaction with the Baylor student-athletes that Sims has missed the most, although he did fill in at McLennan Community College last year.
"We're taking care of 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids that a lot of them are away from home for the first time," he said. "A lot of times, we're having to take the place of mom, dad, whoever took care of them in high school, because now they're away from mom and dad. So, I would get asked all kinds of questions, whether it's medical stuff, how to do laundry, how to fix cars. It's not just, 'Hey, good to see you, boom, you're gone.' You get involved in their lives to the point where you keep up with what they do now."
And in some cases, because of his longevity, Sims was dealing with second generations of families "where I took care of their dads and then their sons came through."
Sims earned his bachelor's degree from Baylor in 1980 and his master's two years later before becoming the head trainer in 1984.
Working under Cox and football coach Grant Teaff "helped set my foundation and got me going," Sims said, "just seeing how they were so good about handling situations."
"That's how I learned the whole business," he said of training under Cox, who is also in the Baylor Hall of Fame. "The way our profession is, it's more like a family. You do things the way you're taught to do them. And with Skip, good work habits and taking care of the players, those were the things he pushed."
With smaller staffs when he first started, it was Sims that was oftentimes tasked with helping athletes rehabilitate from an injury and try to get back on the field.
"One of the things in dealing with players is they're our friends and we see our friends get injured," he said. "One of the best things about what we do is they're our friends and we see them come back and return to play. When somebody has been injured and they're coming back to play, you're as nervous as you can be, because they're back out on the field for the first time. But, you're also glad to see them back and glad to see them succeed."
Before the advent of MRI exams, Sims said, the trainers just had to consult with the doctors and determine whether surgery was needed or not.
"You weren't nearly as advanced," he said. "Back when I first started, there was no way to fix a torn ACL. So, a lot of times, that was an injury that ended a lot of careers."
One of his tasks that gave Mike the greatest joy was mentoring the host of student trainers that came through the program. Three of Baylor's current athletic trainers all learned under his tutelage – David Chandler, Alex Olson and Kevin Robinson.
"You couldn't ask for a better boss," Chandler said. "He's always there to support you and help you and do whatever you need. At the same time, he let you do your job. He didn't stand over you, telling you how to do your job. He just let you do it. None of us can work as hard as Mike Sims or as long as Mike Sims."
Considered one of the nation's leading authorities on sports equipment safety standards, Sims was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2017 and earned the organization's Most Distinguished Award in 2013. He was also given the Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Trophy at the 2012 Holiday Bowl for his unselfish commitment, motivation and teamwork.
"He has provided steady guidance of our Athletics Training area throughout his career," Baylor VP and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said last summer when Sims was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, "and he has positively impacted thousands of student-athletes along the way."
Some of those are part of the Hall of Fame class that includes Sims. Joining him are former football players Gary Baxter and Ronnie "Bo" Lee, NCAA tennis champion Zuzana Zemenova, golf coach and player Tim Hobby, volleyball's Elisha Polk and softball All-American Chelsi Lake Reichenstein.
"This award is not just something for me, it's for the entire family, all the people I've worked with over the years and everybody else," said Mike, who is married to the former Suzanne Stevens and has two children, Jessica and Keith, who are all Baylor graduates as well. "I don't feel like I've done a whole lot. I've just surrounded myself with a lot of smart people and let them do their job and just stayed out of their way."
The Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center. Tickets cost $50 per person and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.
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