Hear his name, you'll probably think there's no way it's the same guy.

"I am definitely a Jim Blaney," the director of school and community relations for the St. Charles school district said.

After years of following the Chicago Blackhawks, not to mention the city's other professional sports teams, Blaney has an endless arsenal of stories from the press box, locker room and the road. Like many, Blaney, of Bolingbrook, hit a crossroads a few years back that led him to reassess his career path. Recognizing the skills he picked up after years in the sports TV business and a growing interest in education, Blaney, 47, eventually found a new beginning in St. Charles. That doesn't mean folks have forgotten his past.

"Much to my delight, it happens fairly often," he said of folks recognizing him. "Even to this day, Blackhawks fans will come up and say nice things to me, or old fans of The SportsChannel Report will say 'I used to watch you and Steve Kashul every night.' ... and that show has been off the air for 12 years."

Blaney recently sat down to talk about swine flu, the Hawks and the how pro sports and education differ in his eyes.

1. Aren't you the Jim Blaney? The Chicago sportscaster?

Yes, I am the Jim Blaney who spent many wonderful years as studio host for the Blackhawks and worked for SportsChannel and bounced around the business as tends to happen. I still do some broadcasting work for CN100 (Comcast cable) on the high school game of the week.

2. How'd you end up in St. Charles doing what you're doing right now?

I left the Blackhawks in January 2008. As most Blackhawks fans know, after Mr. (Bill) Wirtz died, there was several changes made in the organization. I would have loved to stay with the team, but as new management wants to do, they want to do things their way and bring in their own people. And that's fine. After I left the Blackhawks, I was in the unfortunate position that a lot of people are now, I was looking for work. In the interim, one of the things I did, in addition to doing some freelance broadcast work, was I started substitute teaching. In spite of whatever horrors you may have heard about substitute teaching, I found it to be wonderful, I really enjoyed it, I liked being in the classroom.

As I continued looking for work, I didn't want to stay in broadcasting because you get to be my age and it seems like you're looking for a job every three years. In addition to that, I had, about 12 years ago, began to branch off into public relations ... and I had enjoyed that as well. I had toyed with the idea of getting certified to be a teacher, but that just wasn't realistic at this point in time. So, I thought can I combine my communication work and get into the education field? I started applying for jobs as, different districts call them different things, community relations, school relations ... . I applied for the job in District 303, got the job and am thrilled. It has me in the education field where sometimes I think the guy getting the education is me.

3. What has the biggest transition been between covering high-priced professional athletes, seeing what their lives are like, compared to the lives of students and educators? I think the biggest difference is, every business or entity likes to say they put the customer first. But, I can honestly say that as I sit and listen to discussions and decision-making processes in the district, that truly is brought up in every discussion: what's best for the students? So, to me, that's the biggest difference. Almost everything else I've been involved in, it's been, while we certainly want to give our customers the best product we have to keep in mind a bottom line. Don't get me wrong, we have to watch the bottom line in education, as well. But, sometimes the discussion will go on and on and on ... then somebody will stop and say "wait a minute, what is best for the students" and then that kind of gets everyone back on track. You truly have to continually ask that question.

4. At the end of your first school year, what's the most challenging thing that's come up that you never thought would have come up? I think I know the answer.

I'd never worked on a referendum before. I had been part of one as a volunteer parent, but I'd never been really part of all the decision-making that has to go on and all the legal things you have to watch out for. But, really, the most difficult situation I had to deal with in my job was the swine flu ... because the information kept changing so quickly."

5. Can you equate it to any major challenges you had in the sports industry?

That's a tough question ... . I really can't think of one. Let's face it, when you're working in sports, it's the candy store. It's not life-and-death situations.