Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408230008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
While WJPR/WFXR (Channels 21/27) is not eliminating its tape-delayed broadcasts of one of Friday night's top high school football games each week, it is condensing the program and moving it to a time slot that might not draw many viewers.
In previous years, the games were shown late Friday in their entirety with pregame, halftime and postgame interviews. The only problem with this might have been the direct competition with WDBJ's highly acclaimed ``Friday Football Extra,'' a highlights show that aired at 11:30 p.m. However, anyone with a VCR could solve that problem.
This fall, the delayed high school telecasts on WFXR are being moved to 8 a.m. Sunday, and instead of showing the complete game, each contest will be compressed into one hour. That will be followed by an hour of cartoons, a two-hour movie and the NFL pregame show, which starts at noon.
If you remember when Notre Dame used to show its football games on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday mornings, it was hard to follow the action when the play-by-play announcer would say, ``We move to further action in the first quarter.''
The viewer then would rejoin the game with the football about 30 yards farther downfield or with the other team in possession of the ball.
Now Dave Ross, who returns as the play-by-play announcer for high school telecasts, can do his imitation of Lindsey Nelson, but at 8 a.m. Sundays he's not likely to have as big an audience.
It's not as if WFXR couldn't run more of the high school telecasts, since a movie, probably running for the 500th time since stations started using Hollywood productions, will air at 10 a.m. If there's one thing for sure, and this comes from a film collector, television is oversaturated with movies.
Stan Marinoff, the station's general manager, takes credit for making the decision on the changes in the high school football series.
``First, we pride ourselves on being a sports alternative. We knew we'd have the NFL, but we'd still like to present some other programming when sports aren't playing. We're just trying to keep the image of a movie station.''
Marinoff saw that when games ran last fall in their entirety, they would take at least two hours of air time. ``We [felt] the games were too long, especially when you had a blowout. So I thought we could give people a real feel for the game by running the game for an hour,'' Marinoff said. ``If I've made mistake, I'll take the heat. Maybe we'll hear from our audience.''
Marinoff said the games were moved to Sunday because of low ratings in the Friday time slot. He hopes the 8-9 a.m. slot on Sunday will catch viewers as they prepare for church. The station was committed to the cartoon show at 9 a.m. before the move, and that programming will bring a good deal of revenue into WFXR, he said.
The first show, a preview of the high school season, airs Sept.4. The first game to be highlighted will be Bassett at William Byrd, which will be played Sept.9 and shown Sept.11.
The rest of the schedule, with the date the game will be shown:
Lord Botetourt-James River, Sept.18; E.C. Glass-William Fleming, Sept.25; Pulaski County-Heritage, Oct.2; Blacksburg-Northside, Oct.9; Pulaski County-Salem, Oct.16; Cave Spring-Patrick Henry, Oct.23; Brookville-Jefferson Forest, Oct.30; GW-Danville-Heritage, Nov.6; and Rustburg-Jefferson Forest or Northside-Salem, Nov.13.
The station also may air a playoff game Nov.20 and/or Nov.27, depending on the teams involved.
NEW GOLDEN EAGLE: Altavista's loss is Staunton River's gain. Hunter Hogate, a 6-foot-1 sophomore who led the Seminole District in scoring last basketball season with a 23.4-point average, will play for the Golden Eagles during the 1994-95 season.
Hogate's departure is the latest blow in the dismantling of the Altavista program, once a perennial Seminole power. First, coach Stu Richardson was not retained after he had won more than 200 games. Richardson took a job at Varina in Richmond and took his son, Brandon, a rising junior who was another top player for Altavista, with him.
Hogate joins Corney Foxx at Staunton River and should help make the Golden Eagles competitive in the district.
``There were three reasons Hogate came here,'' said Bob Ashwell, Staunton River's principal. ``Number one, his parents decided to buy a house in our zone. Second, they liked Mr. [basketball coach Eddie] Carter's style of basketball and were impressed with the way he worked with kids. Finally, they were pleased with the academic reputation of our school.''
Hogate's father and mother are educators. His father is principal at Brookville Middle School, and at one time it was thought Hogate would play for the Bees. The Hogates looked at many schools in the area, Ashwell said, before making their decision.
GARST INJURED: Salem's Kevin Garst is the latest Timesland boys' basketball player to suffer an injury this summer.
Garst aggravated a chronic problem with his left knee while with his team at camp. However, the injury was not connected to basketball. The guard underwent arthroscopic surgery and is expected to begin conditioning drills on time for the coming season. He is the top returning scorer for the 1994 Group AA champions.
by CNB