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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Nov. 28, 2002
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Nov. 26 - The schedule for coverage of Michigan High School Athletic Association championships in football and girls basketball has been set.

The package is highlighted by two weekends of live coverage of the MHSAA Football Playoff Finals and Girls Basketball Finals on Fox Sports Net. Fox Sports Net is covering both events for the fifth straight year in 2002, with the games reaching over 2.6 million homes. However, due to a conflict with professional games, three telecasts will receive same-day delayed airings as well as an additional Sunday afternoon airing.

The Division 4 and 6 football finals on Nov. 29 and the Class A girls basketball championship on Dec. 7 will be tape delayed. The football contests will receive their first airings on a same-day delay telecast basis that same evening at 11 p.m. for Division 6 and 1:30 a.m. for Division 4. Both football games will also be shown on Sunday, Dec. 1, with Division 6 at Noon and Division 4 at 2:30 p.m. The Class A girls basketball championship will receive a same-day delay telecast at 12:30 a.m. the evening of the event, and will air again on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 1 p.m.

Here is the complete schedule for the live games to be broadcast:

Football
Division 8 - Nov. 29 - 10 a.m.;
Division 2 - Nov. 29 - 1 p.m.;
Division 7 - Nov. 30 - 10 a.m.;
Division 1 - Nov. 30 - 1 p.m.;
Division 5 - Nov. 30 - 5 p.m.;
Division 3 - Nov. 30 - 8 p.m.;

Girls Basketball
Class D - Dec. 7 - 11 a.m.;
Class C - Dec. 7 - 5 p.m.;
Class B - Dec. 7 - 7:30 p.m.

The additional replay schedule for the football and girls basketball telecasts is as follows:

Football
Division 8 - Dec. 6 - Noon;
Division 2 - Dec. 13 - Noon;
Division 8 - Dec. 14 - 2 p.m.;
Division 2 - Dec. 14 - 4:30 p.m.;
Division 6 - Dec. 15 - 1:30 p.m.;
Division 6 - Dec. 20 - Noon;
Division 4 - Dec. 21 - 4 p.m.;
Division 7 - Dec. 22 - 12:30 p.m.;
Division 1 - Dec. 27 - Noon;
Division 5 - Dec. 29 - 1:30 p.m.;
Division 3 - Jan. 1 - Noon.

Girls Basketball
Class D - Dec. 10 - 2 p.m.;
Class A - Dec. 11 - Noon;
Class C - Dec. 12 - 1 p.m.;
Class B - Dec. 19 - 1 p.m.
Additional replays will be scheduled in January.

On the radio side, the Michigan Talk Radio Network, the MHSAA's radio partner, will provide unprecedented, day-long coverage from the Finals of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament. In addition to its play-by-play coverage of each contest to be broadcast on a statewide network of stations, MTRN will also provide originate its programming on Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. from Rose Arena in Mt. Pleasant for its regular affiliates, featuring interviews from people involved in the tournament, and cutting to live play-by-play as events warrant it. In addition, MTRN will see that the semifinal games of the Girls Basketball Tournament will again be aired locally in the community in which the event is played; and the MHSAA Football Playoff Finals will again have an audio cybercast on the Internet and on selected radio stations. (Consult the MHSAA Web site for more information)

Stations already committed to airing the Girls Basketball Semifinals and Finals on December 6-7 are: Flagship stations WMMI-AM and WCZY-FM, Mt. Pleasant; and WDOW, Dowagiac. Stations airing the Girls Basketball Finals include WSDS-AM, Ypsilanti; WMIQ-AM, Iron Mountain; WCHT-AM, Escanaba; WCSR-AM, Hillsdale; WIDG-AM, St. Ignace; WCBY-AM, Cheboygan. Additional stations will be announced on the MHSAA Web site as they are added to the network. Local listings should be consulted for individual game availability. WMMI (830 AM) will air the Class C and Class A semifinals the afternoons of Dec. 5 and 6; and the daytime final games in Classes D and A on Dec. 7. Its sister station, WCZY-FM (103.9 FM) will air the evening semifinal games in Classes D and B on Dec. 5 and 6; and the evening final games in Classes C and B on Dec. 7.

The Girls Basketball Finals radio network broadcasts will be produced and distributed by the Michigan Talk Radio Network of Charlevoix. Mike Carey and Mark DeNoyelles will team to call the Class C and A games; while Don Chiodo and Dan Simons will call the Class D and B action. Mike Stump will serve as the sideline reporter.

All of the girls basketball radio broadcasts, as well as audio cybercasts of the football finals through Michigan Talk Radio Network, can be accessed through the MHSAA Web Site.

Sponsors of the MHSAA Championship Network are Farm Bureau Insurance and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.