Thursday, November 17, 2005

Nine home and road Valparaiso University men's basketball games and two women's games will be carried live this season on WYIN 56, Channel 56 out of Merrillville, Ind., and WHME, Channel 46 in South Bend, Ind., Director of Athletics Mark LaBarbera announced today.

Last season, WYIN 56 aired seven Crusader games live, the first time in school history the two had partnered to bring live television action to Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. This season, the live coverage begins with the season opener, Monday, November 23 when the Crusaders take on IPFW in Fort Wayne, Ind. Along with the numerous live broadcasts, the January 11th Valpo-IPFW and January 14th Valpo-Western Illinois men's games will be aired on a tape-delayed basis.

Â?It's a great opportunity for us to get this kind of exposure for our program," LaBarbera said, Â?We're very appreciative of WYIN 56's expanded coverage of Valpo basketball and look forward to bringing more and more games to live TV every year."

WYIN 56 President & CEO Tom Carroll is also excited about the television coverage. Â?WYIN 56 airs more college basketball than any other television station in Chicagoland and we are very pleased to add more live Valparaiso Crusader action to our TV schedule this year."

Veteran broadcaster Dick Harlan will call all the action at the ARC alongside WYIN 56's Sports Director Joe Arredondo and sideline reporter Todd Medland. Regional broadcasters will voice the road action.

Here is the complete 2005-06 broadcast schedule:

November 23 Valpo at IPFW 6:00 p.m.
December 27 UMKC at Valpo 7:00 p.m.
January 2 Oakland at Valpo 7:00 p.m.
January 9 Oral Roberts at Valpo (women) 5:00 p.m.
January 9 Oral Roberts at Valpo 7:30 p.m.
January 11 IPFW at Valpo (tape delay) 7:00 p.m.
January 14 Valpo at Western Ill. (tape delay) 8:00 p.m.
January 19 Valpo at Chicago State 7:00 p.m.
February 11 Western Illinois at Valpo 7:00 p.m.
February 16 Chicago State at Valpo 7:00 p.m.
February 23 Valpo at UMKC 7:00 p.m.
February 25 Valpo at Oral Roberts 7:00 p.m.
February 27 Valpo at Oral Roberts (women) 7:00 p.m.

*Other games may be added at a later date*