A SHORT HISTORY OF SPORTSZONE

In the fall of 2002, a general information meeting was held for anyone interested in helping out with ATV in its new location on the second floor of the Mary Graydon Center. At the meeting Tom Duerr, Sports Director for ATV, asked who was interested in doing sports for ATVNews. The only two people who raised their hands were sophomores Brad Burns and Andy Mattison. Tom met with Mattison and Burns and SportsZone was born.

SportsZone originally started as a weekly sports highlight show that would air after ATVNews. The show only taped one episode which never aired due to technical difficulties. After realizing the intense time commitment that goes into producing a weekly sports highlight show, the guys ditched the idea of the show and instead decided to focus their efforts on giving a sports report during ATVNews.

In the spring of 2003, the crew recruited more people. This caused Mattison and Duerr to revisit the idea of putting on their own sports show. They decided to alter the format of the show to a roundtable forum show and SportsZone was given new life. SportsZone’s first show aired on ATV on February 24, 2003 with Tom Duerr hosting and panelists Rebecca Baer, Dan Cavese and Andy Mattison. The show was directed by ATVNews director Carrie Rainen.

After the spring of 2003, Duerr graduated and Mattison headed to London to study abroad.  The show was left in the hands of succeeding news director Brad Burns, who got help from freshman Max Blum and transfer student Nick Chin. Jared Wilk was also added to the SportsZone lineup. Upon Mattison’s return in January 2004, SportsZone had its first four permanent panelists with Chin, Wilk, and Mattison. Burns acted as host.

In 2004, SportsZone celebrated its one year anniversary with a special guest appearance by NBA analyst and AU alum David Aldridge. Also in 2004, SportsZone expanded to the radio with its own two hour timeslot on WVAU. The radio featured guest commentary from hockey fanatic Rachel Rosenberg as well as bi-weekly appearances by Michael Jordan.

The fall of 2004 saw the unfortunate departure of Wilk and the emergence of Blum joining Mattison, Burns and Chin on the set after being behind the scenes for one year. SportsZone entered its fourth semester in production and was an integral part of “The New ATV” programming with a regular Monday night spot.

Now, in 2005, SportsZone has expanded onto the Internet with its own website, designed by former news director Carrie Rainen. Sportszone continues to entertain and inform sports fans at AU through its weekly programming on ATV.