LBSU athletic events in tune
Just in time for the womenís volleyball teamís
run at repeating as national champs, Long Beach State has announced three
live televised road games will be available to subscribers of Charter Communications.
Eric Boyum
The games will
appear on the University Television Channel (60 or 68 in Long Beach and
25 in Lakewood) and on the Orange County News Channel -- which is broadcast
to nearly 600,000 homes behind the Orange Curtain.
This will be the third year that 49er athletic
events will be carried on television.
However, last season no LBSU sports were
broadcast due to inflated production costs by Charter Communications. Previously
the games had been produced and shown on Chater Communications, channel
3.
But major players on campus were able to
make a deal to have the games shown by The University Television Channel.
According to LBSU athletic director Bill
Shumard, making the deal happen were Doug Robinson, vice president of Student
Services and Robert Behm, who is the dean of University College and Extension
Services.
Director of marketing in the athletic department,
John Costello and the voice of the 49ers, Dan Smith, and Mat Kaplan of
the advanced media production department were also key players.
Play-by-play man Smith said he is looking
forward to announcing volleyball for his first time on television.
Most of Smith's television experience comes
from calling LBSU basketball games with former two-time All-American, Ed
Ratleff, who serves as his color commentator.
Smith also hopes the basketball and
baseball will be added to the TV lineup.
The televised events that are confirmed
to be shown will include three live womenís volleyball road games against
current top 10 teams and a replay of the national championship five-game
match from Madison, Wis. last December.
The fun kicks off this Thursday, when the
49ers face their toughest opponent to date when they travel to No. 3 ranked
Hawaii. Game time is at 10 p.m. and this one should be one worth staying
up late to watch.
The Hawaii game will feature Hawaiiís television
personalities and will be picked-up through their video feed. The 1998
National Championship game will be a replay of ESPN2's broadcast.
Earlier that evening at 7:30 p.m. the 1998
NCAA Championship match between LBSU and Penn State will be shown. If you
missed it the first time, you will want to see what I consider one of the
most exciting collegiate championship games ever played -- in any sport.
The next televised volleyball game comes
on Saturday, Sept. 25 as the 49ers take on the number one ranked
team in the nation, Pacific.
The Tigers return four starters and recently
received 55 out of 60 first place votes in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Top
25 Poll.
If the 49ers win at Hawaii, it would set
the stage for the 49ers to tie Penn Stateís 44 consecutive win mark in
this contest, making it that much more interesting.
Finally, a showdown at UC Santa Barbara
will be televised on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
Eric Boyum is the sports editor of the
Daily Forty-Niner. |
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