There are more ways than ever to follow Head Coach Joe Fincham and his football Tigers.

Springfield, Ohio — As technology continues to change the way people communicate and information is distributed, there are more ways than ever to follow Wittenberg University's varsity athletics teams. From online broadcasts of nearly 100 games during the 2007-08 school year to weekly podcasts to scores delivered to cell phones through a text messaging service, Tiger fans have more ways than ever to keep up with the teams.

It all starts with broadcasting services. For a fifth straight year, WUSO 89.1-FM, the student-run campus radio station, serves as the foundation of the Tiger Sports Network, providing a clear signal across local airwaves. Every Wittenberg football, men's basketball and women's basketball game scheduled for the 2007-08 school year, including any potential postseason games, can be heard live on both WUSO and on the Internet.

The only exception is when there are time conflicts during basketball season. In those cases, the team on the road will be carried live on the local airwaves and on the Internet, while the team at home can only be heard on the Internet.

In addition, selected events for the volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, baseball and softball teams are scheduled for broadcast, including a soccer doubleheader against North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Allegheny on Saturday, Oct. 20, as the women kick off at 9:30 a.m., while the men take the field at noon. Games for these teams are primarily internet-only broadcasts.

WUSO Adviser and Wittenberg Director of Broadcasting Scott Leo, Assistant Sports Information Director and Assistant Director of Broadcasting John Strawn, class of 2007, and WUSO Co-Sports Directors Rob Lehner, class of 2010 from Gahanna, Ohio, and Mark Kuhlman, class of 2010 from Toledo, Ohio, are coordinating broadcasts in 2007-08. In addition, Ryan Charles, class of 2008 from Mansfield, Ohio, Alex Throckmorton, class of 2010 of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Anthony Marolo, class of 2009 from Beavercreek, Ohio, and Janell Heller-Garcia, class of 2010 from Toledo, Ohio, are involved in the broadcasts.

Leo, the play-by-play voice of the Columbus Clippers, the AAA minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, is in his eighth year as a member of the Wittenberg broadcast team. He serves as the play-by-play voice of Tiger football and men's basketball again in 2007-08, and he also hosts Tiger Talk, a weekly show that runs from 8-9 p.m. each Thursday during the football season. The show includes live interviews with Tiger football players and coaches at Joe's Route 40 Grille in Springfield.

Follow the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III volleyball all season by clicking here.

The No. 1 ranked Tiger volleyball team is undefeated in 2007 heading into the final 10 days of the regular season, and members of the Tiger Sports Network will be on-hand to call the last three home games next week, including NCAC matches against Earlham and Denison on Wednesday and Friday respectively. The regular season volleyball broadcast schedule concludes with a showdown between defending national champion Juniata and Wittenberg at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26.

Rounding out the sports coverage on WUSO, a new sports talk show called Tiger Town has been created. Hosted by Kuhlman and Lehner, the show airs on WUSO and live on the Internet at 11:30 a.m. Mondays, noon Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

New in 2007-08 is eScores, a service that allows Tiger fans to receive scores and updates via cell phone text message or e-mail. Options include news and scores from all sports or individual teams. Click on the eScores image on any team page or the athletics home page under the “Features” heading to sign up.

Returning to the Wittenberg athletics Web site this year is the Tiger Sports Weekly podcast, which is available on the department home page, and will also be heard throughout the day on WUSO. Making its first appearance, however, is the weekly Tiger Football Preview, available as a companion to Tiger Sports Weekly.

All of these services have been made possible by Wittenberg's partnership with Stretch Internet, which dates back to 2003. Wittenberg fans do not have to pay to listen to broadcasts, and anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can log in and listen without risk of getting bumped off as a result of bandwidth limitations.

Stretch Internet utilizes QuickTime, Apple's premiere multimedia suite of products. Listeners need only to download the free QuickTime Player (it's already installed on most computers sold in recent years), and they're ready to listen to Wittenberg games live. QuickTime has reached more than 100 million MacIntosh and PC users and works just like other popular multimedia applications such as Windows Media Player or Real Player.

Students can still get involved in the broadcasts by contacting Wittenberg Director of News Services and Sports Information Ryan Maurer at (937) 327-6114 or by e-mail.

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