WYFX to tape delay games

By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- FOX television affiliate WYFX Channel 17/62 will televise Saturday's Mahoning Valley Thunder game on a tape-delayed basis.
Saturday at 7:05 p.m., the Thunder will play their first arena football game at the 5,700-seat Chevrolet Centre against the Tri-Cities Fever.
WYFX will tape the arenafootball2 league game then replay it in its entirety at 10:30 p.m.
The Thunder says WYFX will televise all eight of the Thunder's home games this year on tape-delayed basis, with each game being replayed the same night.
WYFX officials say Saturday's game will be the first sports event at the 18-month-old facility to be televised in its entirety.
The only previous sports telecast from the Chevrolet Centre was Youngstown boxer Kelly Pavlik's fight last fall that aired on cable channel Versus on a delayed basis.
"This will be an historic broadcast," said Chad Krispinsky, who will do the play-by-play of the game. "It is something that we are very happy being involved with, to be there for the first snap and the opening kickoff."
Backgrounds
The three-man broadcasting team also has Ralph Sandy and Joe Aulisio.
The trio also teams to broadcast the station's high school football games of the week.
"Sandy is the color analyst and he will be in the booth with me," Krispinsky said. "Joe will be down on the field at different places doing reports and features."
Krispinsky, a Youngstown State graduate, has been with WYFK since 2005. A sports reporter and anchor, he also provides the play-by-play for high school basketball games as well as YSU men's and women's basketball games.
Sandy, a teacher at Struthers High School and a YSU graduate, has been the Fox 17/62 color analyst for game-of-the-week broadcasts since 2003. Sandy also has a master's degree from Ashland University.
Aulisio, a John Carroll University graduate and a native of Elyria, has been with WYFX since 2005, and serves as the assistant sports director.
Krispinsky said the broadcasting team's main objective is to convey to the viewing audience the entire experience of being at a Thunder game in the Chevrolet Centre. They want to make the public more familiar with what the Thunder has to offering order to attract more fans to the games.
"This is going to be a great advertising tool," Krispinsky said. "[The viewing audience] can get the whole overall experience of what goes on there with the whole entertainment -- the lights, music, spoke machines, video screens, things that you can't see -- the overall experience and not just the game.
"And collectively, we will do our best to show the public the entire experience."
For the entire family
The Thunder is designing the total experience of the game for the entire family, with something for everyone, including cheerleaders, a dance team, Boomer the mascot, promotions and highlights.
And of course there are the very-popular big-screen video displays that not only will show the game and replays to the fans but also other entertainment.
"It is a football game but also a total entertainment experience and something that the area can be proud of," Krispinsky said. "And it is up to us to show the viewing audience what Thunder games have to offer, and we are going to our best."
Krispinsky said he is not sure if the broadcasts will increase attendance at the games, but he is hoping that they will persuade undecided fans to come and see a Thunder game.
"What I think is more important [than increasing attendance] is that there will be people who are interested in going and others who are not sure and undecided and on the fence," he said. "They can check out the broadcasts and see what it is all about, so that's what is going to make it important from our end.
Krispinsky said Thunder broadcasts will be different from the high school broadcasts in that they will focus on informing and winning more fans from the entire region, not just from the towns involved.
"This is an entirely different entity all together," Krispinsky said.
"You are dealing with an entire area and not just one or two areas [where schools are located], and everyone is interested in what is happening.
"I think the attendance is going to be there no matter what because its football and that's what people here love."
kovach@vindy.com