Countdown to Kickoff: A to Z

August 31: X is for 95X

WAQX-95.7FM will once again be the flagship station for the Syracuse ISP Sports Network. The Network is the exclusive home of official Syracuse University Athletics radio coverage, including all football and men’s basketball game broadcasts and the Greg Robinson Show and the Jim Boeheim Show. The network, with nearly 20 stations, spreads the Orange across from the Canadian border to New York City and into bordering states. In Syracuse, Orange sports broadcasts are heard on Rock Radio 95X (WAQX 95.7 FM) and ESPN Radio 1260 (WNSS 1260 AM). Transplanted fans and alums across the country can hear all broadcasts on SUathletics.com and selected football and men’s basketball games are carried by Sirius Satellite Radio. Be part of the growing excitement every day leading up to SU’s first game (Sept. 4 vs. West Virginia) with our Countdown to Kickoff: A to Z.

Football Game Broadcasts

SU football fans get their fill with a six-hour broadcast of every game. Two hours before kickoff, tune in to Syracuse Gameday on ESPN Radio 1260. The program, hosted by Kevin Maher, provides interesting features like player interviews, opponent scouting reports, “Ask Coach Mac” and more. At home games, Syracuse Gameday is live and interactive at the Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Football Fun Zone on the quad.

Orange Pregame ignites coverage on the entire Syracuse ISP Sports Network one hour before the game’s scheduled start time. There, listeners will go “Inside the Huddle” with Coach Greg Robinson just before kickoff and get the latest information and game plan.

Once the game kicks off, Matt Park and Coach Mac describe and analyze every play and work in sideline reports, scores from other games and more. You’ll also hear more exclusive interviews with Coach Robinson at halftime and immediately after the game.

Orange Postgame and the Tully’s Stadium Show wrap up the day’s festivities and give fans a chance to hear reaction from players and coaches and to call in to talk about the game.

Men’s Basketball Game Broadcasts

The excitement of Orange basketball is heard statewide on the Syracuse ISP Sports Network. Setup begins an hour before the game with Syracuse Gameday on ESPN Radio 1260 and then Orange Pregame a half-hour later. Matt Park and Gene Waldron narrate the action and follow it with highlights and interviews on Orange Postgame.

Women’s Basketball Game Broadcasts

Each women’s basketball game can be found on WFBL-AM 1390. Coach Keith Cieplicki can be heard shortly before tipoff and immediately after time runs out. Brian Higgins supplies a crisp play-by-play account in between.

Men’s Lacrosse Game Broadcasts

All home and away lacrosse games are covered on ESPN Radio 1260. From the opening faceoff until the final horn Brian Higgins and Kyle Fetterly describe every goal and save of the nine-time national champions in a fast-paced format with minimal commercial interruption. Broadcasts start with a half-hour pre-game show including an interview with head coach John Desko and conclude with a highlights and a post-game wrap-up.

Orange Pulse is an hour-long magazine show focusing on SU sports each weeknight throughout the school year. Tune into ESPN Radio 1260 at 6:05 for daily news, exclusive interviews with coaches and student-athletes from all sports. The Pulse will originate live from Tully’s on Erie Blvd. on the first Monday of every month during the football season.

The Greg Robinson Show is the most in-depth discussion of Orange football each week. Wednesdays from 8:05 until 9:00, Coach Robinson reviews the previous game, previews the next one and takes calls from fans.

The Jim Boeheim Show airs each Thursday from December through the completion of the regular season. From 8:05 until 9:00 fans can interact with Coach Boeheim live at Trapper’s Pizza Pub in East Syracuse or call in to get his comments on his team and everything else in basketball. In the event of Thursday games or team travel, check SUathletics.com for broadcast information.

The Keith Cieplicki Show can be heard each Monday night during the season on WFBL AM 1390. Each week, Coach Cieplicki updates fans on the latest with his team and what’s happening around the Big East.

ON-AIR STAFF BIOS

Matt Park is in his second season as the play-by-play voice of SU football and basketball and his fourth with the network. He has also been a football host/reporter and basketball analyst and has done play-by-play of men’s lacrosse and women’s basketball. Matt has worked at every level of professional baseball, calling over 1,000 games in the past 10 seasons. He filled in on two broadcasts for the San Diego Padres in 2005. The Chittenango native is a 1997 graduate of SU’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he serves as an adjunct professor each semester.

Dick MacPherson brings his entertaining and passionate style to Orange football broadcasts. As SU head coach from 1981 through 1990, he went 66-46-4 and 3-1-1 in bowl games. After the remarkable 11-0-1 1987 season, he was named consensus national coach of the year. “Coach Mac” then guided the New England Patriots 1991 and 1992. He also served as head coach at the University of Massachusetts and as an assistant in the NFL. He played center at Springfield College. The Mainer is an honorary letterwinner of distinction at SU and a member of the Greater Syracuse and UMass Sports Halls of Fame.

Kevin Maher is in his second season as football host and sideline reporter. The 1997 graduate of SU’s Newhouse School of Public Communications is sports director of WTVH CBS 5, where he’s been on staff since 1998. Kevin’s television work has won numerous awards from the Syracuse Press Club and the New York State Associated Press. The native of Long Island began his broadcasting career at WBNG-TV in Binghamton.

Brian Higgins serves the network as a reporter in football and as the play-by-play announcer for Orange women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse. Brian grew up in Latham and has also worked in the Capital Region as the voice of the New York-Penn League’s Tri-City ValleyCats. He graduated from the Newhouse School in 2004.

Gene Waldron, an SU basketball letterwinner 1981-84, is in his second season as analyst on men’s basketball games. The New Yorker still holds the record for most points scored in a single game at the Carrier Dome (40 vs. Iona, 12/4/83).

Kyle Fetterly is the analyst on men’s lacrosse broadcasts. Having followed the Orange program and the national scene for decades, Kyle is widely known and respected throughout the game. Now head equipment manager, Kyle has worked on the athletic department staff since his days as a student at SU.

Syracuse opens the 2005 season on Sunday, September 4 against West Virginia. The game kicks off at 1:30 and will be televised nationally on ABC.

Syracuse University Athletics

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