News & Announcements
Calvin-Hope Game Shifts to WHT for National Broadcast
December 2, 2009
DirecTV 367
WGVU TV 35 & TV 52
For the second consecutive year, the Saturday contest of The Rivalry, the January 30 Calvin-Hope game will be carried live coast to coast via World Harvest Television (WHT), a national affiliate of WHMB-TV 40 in Indianapolis, Ind., part of the LeSea Broadcasting Network. The two schools are grateful for the continued partnership with WHT so that alumni and friends can continue to enjoy this historic sports tradition all over North America.
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The live national broadcast is an extension of the relationship between Hope, Calvin and Grand Rapids PBS affiliate WGVU-TV. In past years, the schools have worked with WGVU to provide an analog satellite signal of the game for organized remote viewing parties sponsored by Calvin and Hope alumni. The gatherings have drawn over 3,000 alumni nationwide from the two schools.
The continued collaboration with WHT should allow Calvin and Hope fans easy access to The Rivalry, since the station is easily accessible on cable systems around the country and on satellite via DirecTV (Channel 367).
"WGVU has been a great partner for us for many years now," says Tom Renner, the public relations director for Hope College. "We have been thrilled with their commitment to what we consider the best rivalry in Division III basketball."
Calvin director of alumni relations Mike Van Denend says the combination of WGVU and WHT should be a good one for fans of the two colleges.
"When we were notified that our previous satellite signal provider would no longer be carrying the game last year, a shock wave went through our offices," says Van Denend. "We know how important the coast-to-coast broadcast of The Rivalry has become for Calvin and Hope alumni. It is an annual experience that alumni mark on their calendars. We are pleased to continue our partnership with WHT, and we are glad that we share a common Christian ministry perspective."
WHT personnel are equally enthused about the nation's best small-college basketball rivalry.
"We really look forward to continue working with Calvin and Hope colleges," says Steve Butler, senior account executive at LeSea Broadcasting. "The viewing experience for viewers across the country will continue to be seamless."
The Calvin-Hope game has gained national attention in recent years and was recently ranked one of the country’s best rivalries behind Duke/North Carolina, Connecticut/Tennessee (women's) and Louisville/Kentucky.
The first game between the two schools was played during the 1920-21 season. The rivalry is so big it once preempted a president's state of the union address. Another time the game drew 11,442 people to downtown Grand Rapids at VanAndel Arena and established an NCAA Division III single game attendance record that is not likely to be broken.
Geographic proximity adds to the rivalry as the two colleges are located just 35 miles apart in west Michigan (Hope in Holland on the Lake Michigan shoreline and Calvin 35 miles to the east in Grand Rapids). They also share a common religious heritage with Calvin's denomination splitting off from Hope's denomination in the late 1800s.
The Rivalry Featured Twice by ESPN
The storied Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry has been featured twice by ESPN in the last few years. In July, 2007 the college section of the ESPN web site ESPNU.com put together a feature story on the rivalry.
The story is part of a series of collegiate sports rivalry sports by the web site with the Williams-Amherst football rivalry and Maine-New Hampshire ice hockey rivalry also recently featured.
Just two years earlier, ESPN ranked the Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry as the fourth greatest college basketball rivalry, listed after Division I battles such as Duke-North Carolina (#1); Connecticut-Tennessee women (#2); and Louisville-Kentucky (#3). The sports channel filmed a segment of their "Greatest Rivalries" feature at the February, 2005 Calvin-Hope game.
The Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry spans 85 years and Hope has a slight 88-85 game lead in this storied contest.
The two rivals are scheduled to meet during the upcoming 2009-10 MIAA regular season on January 6 at Calvin and on January 30 at Hope.
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