Wednesday, August 6, 2008

ESPN networks to broadcast 19 games

For immediate release

This season, ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2, will combine to present 19 live high
school football games beginning Saturday, Aug. 23, with a
contest featuring Cathedral (Ind.) vs. defending state champion Carmel
(Ind.) at noon ET on ESPN.

Working in conjunction with Paragon Marketing
Group, the ESPN networks will televise 18 of the games as part of the
2008 ESPNU Old Spice High School Showcase. The Old Spice series of
games will include teams from 16 different states with two on ESPN,
three on ESPN2 and 13 games on ESPNU. ESPN360.com will supplement
coverage with simulcasts of all ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts. ESPN Scouts
Inc. Recruiting Director Tom Luginbill will serve as the primary analyst
for all the game telecasts alongside play-by-play announcer Dave Ryan.

To supplement game coverage, ESPNU Recruiting Insider, a 30-minute show
on ESPNU that evaluates the top high school football recruits and
programs throughout the season, will be aired on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.

Complementing the 2008 schedule, ESPN RISE unveiled its first national
team rankings for high school football - the ESPN RISE FAB 50. The ESPN
RISE FAB 50 is a combination of three national high school rankings
(Student Sports FAB 50, RISE Magazine Top 25 and the ESPN Elite 25) that
going forward will be represented as one national high school ranking.
Beginning on Labor Day, Sept. 1, the FAB 50 will be
published every Monday throughout the regular season, accompanied by
stats and analysis on each team.

The top 10 schools in the FAB 50's preseason rankings include: No. 1
Trinity HS (Euless, Texas), No. 2 Lowndes HS (Valdosta, Ga.), No. 3 De
La Salle HS (Concord, Calif.), No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas HS (Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla.), No. 5 Jenks HS (Jenks, Okla.), No. 6 Don Bosco Prep
(Ramsey, N.J.), No. 7 Gateway HS (Monroeville, Pa.), No. 8 Deerfield
Beach HS (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), No. 9 St. Xavier HS (Cincinnati, Ohio)
and No. 10 Byrnes HS (Duncan, S.C.). Nineteen of the schools playing on
the ESPN family of networks this season appear in the pre-season FAB 50
rankings.

For a complete listing of the ESPN RISE FAB 50, please visit
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3520842.

To see the complete
listing of the ESPNU 150, please visit
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/espn150.

The ESPNU 150 is a nationwide ranking of top prep football prospects.
The ranking pulls from scouting information and evaluations of nearly
2,200 prep prospects compiled by ESPN Scouts Inc. The ESPNU 150 and
year-long recruiting coverage is available at Recruiting Insider on
ESPN.com
, which
provides in-depth national news and information about the athletes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike have you given any thought to moving onto a larger, more circulated paper? I find your coverage to be first rate and wish that you had columns/blogs/etc in the PG or Trib. Perhaps even a move to the USAToday where you could write an excellent high school column is in store.

Thank you for all of the hard work and keep it up! I have a very high bar set for you in 2008-09.

Anonymous said...

Any or all of these games might be pre-empted by the worldwide leader to provide coverage of Brett Favre eating or going to the bathroom.

mike_kovak said...

Thanks for the kind words NIBB high school football rules.

Can't say I've never had thought of moving to a larger paper but I'm fortunate to have a job.

To be honest, in a perfect scenario, I'd be writing for Rolling Stone – and I'm not talking about all those crappy, boring politcal pieces. I'm talking music.

Keep on reading.