Sunrise, FL (January 26, 2000) SportsChannel Florida will welcome the 2000 NCAA baseball season with a record number of 23 telecasts. SportsChannel Florida will once again be the proud cable television home of the 1999 National Champion Miami Hurricanes and the USF Bulls. In addition to providing fans with Hurricanes and Bulls coverage, SportsChannel Florida is proud to bring University of North Florida Ospreys fans coverage of their home team with the school’s first television agreement.
The National Champion University of Miami baseball team will be showcased in 15 SportsChannel Florida telecasts this season including 12 live telecasts and 3 tape-delayed telecasts. Coverage begins on Friday, February 4th when the Hurricanes host Florida at 7:00pm at Mark Light Stadium. The defending National Champs, who went 50-13 last year en route to a third national title, are ranked fifth by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball News. The Hurricanes, under the direction of the 1999 Coach of the Year Jim Morris, return five position starters and 18 letterwinner’s from last year’s National Championship squad. Hurricanes match-ups on SportsChannel include games against Florida, South Florida, FIU, Florida State, Michigan, Northwestern, Long Beach State and Georgia Tech. SportsChannel Florida will once again bring Hurricanes fans The Jim Morris Show every Saturday morning at 10:30am beginning March 25th. Returning to the SportsChannel broadcast booth will be play-by-play announcer Jay Randolph and color analyst Ron Fraser.
The University of South Florida Bulls will be highlighted during SportsChannel Florida’s 2000 NCAA baseball schedule with a total of 6 live contests beginning with the Sunday, February 27th away match-up against Stetson. USF enters its 35th season and return twenty-one lettermen and seven starters. The Bulls, led by Coach Eddie Cardieri, will also face Central Florida, Louisville, Saint Louis and UNCC live on SportsChannel Florida. The Bulls finished the 1999 season with a strong second half and a 31-27 record, winning 16 of their last 22 regular season games and their final six Conference USA series. Jim Louk will once again call the action for the USF SportsChannel Florida broadcasts.
The University of North Florida is set to defend its 1999 Peach Belt Athletic Conference Championship and marks the 2000 season with the school’s first year of baseball coverage on SportsChannel Florida. Ospreys fans can catch two UNF match-ups when their home team takes on Michigan and Notre Dame as part of the annual Jacksonville Kennel Club Classic. The event is one of the premier baseball events in the spring. The Ospreys are ranked fourth in Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Division II Preseason Poll. The Ospreys, led by Head Coach Dusty Rhodes, return all but three starting position players. UNF finished last season 43-17, earning Coach Rhodes the distinct honor of Conference Coach of the Year and giving him his 800th career win and 500th at UNF. Frank Frangie will hold play-by-play duties for the broadcasts and be joined by color analyst John Laurence. Laurence is also the radio voice of UNF basketball and host of UNF’s SportsJam, which airs every Saturday morning at 9am on SportsChannel Florida.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
| 2/4 | Florida @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 2/5 | Florida @ Miami | 11:00 P (TD) |
| 2/18 | South Florida @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 2/20 | South Florida @ Miami | 1:00 P/td> |
| 3/3 | CW Post @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 3/17 | Michigan @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 3/22 | Northwestern @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 3/28 | FIU vs. Miami @ Homestead | 7:00 P |
| 4/14 | Florida State @ Miami | 10:30 P (TD) |
| 4/15 | Florida State @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 4/30 | Long Beach State @ Miami | 7:30 P (TD) |
| 5/6 | Georgia Tech @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 5/7 | Georgia Tech @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 5/8 | Georgia Tech @ Miami | 7:00 P |
| 5/20 | NY Tech @ Miami | 7:00 P |
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
| 2/27 | Stetson @ South Florida | 1:00 P |
| 4/1 | Louisville @ South Florida | 1:00 P |
| 4/2 | Louisville @ South Florida | 1:00 P |
| 4/11 | Central Florida @ South Florida | 7:00 P |
| 4/16 | Saint Louis @ South Florida | 1:00 P |
| 4/29 | UNCC @ South Florida | 1:00 P |
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA
| 3/2 | Michigan @ North Florida | 7:00 P (TD 2/29) |
| 3/15 | Notre Dame @ North Florida | 7:00 P (TD 3/13) |
SportsChannel Florida currently reaches nearly 3.8 million homes throughout Florida, including the home satellite dish market. SportsChannel Florida programming includes Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins through the 2010 season and Tampa Bay Devil Rays through the 2012 season; the NHL’s Florida Panthers through the 2010-2011 season; Sunday Morning nFL, a live Sunday morning preview of the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars; The University of Miami, The University of South Florida and The University of North Florida; “Saturday Morning College Kickoff” The Big Ten Game of the Week and the FHSAA Championships. SportsChannel Florida is managed by Rainbow Sports, a division of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.
Rainbow Sports, a division of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., is dedicated to “Home Team” fans. Rainbow Sports incorporates all of Rainbow’s sports assets, including the Madison Square Garden Properties, its 50 percent ownership of FOX Sports Net and FOX Sports National Advertising, and the ownership and management of seven regional sports networks in six of the nation’s largest markets — Chicago, Florida, New England, New York, Ohio and San Francisco.
Contact:
Michelle Freeman
Public Relations Manager
954-845-9994