Glory Days Magazine, ESPN radio teaming up to present Hoop Jam 2015 starting tonight

From staff reports There’s a certain passion about high school basketball that makes it tough to compare it to anything else. Coaches are gym rats for four months. Their wives forget what their husband even looks like by the middle of March. The cold dreary night outside is in stark contrast to the steamy, humid gymnasium and locker rooms. There’s a pent-up energy just prior to the tipoff. Like a 4-year-old who knows his “timeout” will only last for one more minute. Fans tap their feet on the bleachers. Coaches pace the sideline then spin on their heels and head back the other way, a thousand things running through their minds. Players wipe the bottom of their shoes with their hands, ready to tear off their warm-ups when their name is called during the announcement of the starting lineups. Ah, yes, it’s back. And Glory Days Magazine is teaming up with Mike Gill, voice of 97.3 ESPN FM’s afternoon Sports Bash, and Mike Frankel, who you may know from NBC-40 and as the voice of the Saturday morning South Jersey Sports Report on 97.3 FM, to bring you some outstanding basketball coverage. Gill, who also calls high school football games for the radio station, said he started doing basketball broadcasts last winter as sort of a trial run to gauge interest in the local communities. Seems the interest is there. The live video feeds, produced by Matt Ulmer of Ulmer’s Appliance, which has several locations throughout Cape May County, garnered anywhere between 700 and 2,000 views per game. Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan hosted the Countdown to Kickoff high school football show on ESPN radio this fall, and that’s when he and Gill decided to join forces and carry over the popularity of their combined high school sports coverage into the winter season. Laceon Redfurn and the Atlantic City Vikings will be featured prominently in Glory Days Magazine/97.3 ESPN FM Hoop Jam 2015 coverage this winter. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) So, this winter, Glory Days Magazine and ESPN radio, along with Ulmer’s Appliance, are teaming up to bring you Hoop Jam 2015. Hoop Jam 2015 will feature more than 20 high-profile games broadcast on 97.3 ESPN FM along with live streaming video on both 973espn.com and acglorydays.com, as well as print and online coverage throughout the season with Glory Days Magazine. The action begins tonight with Holy Spirit welcoming in Rancocas Valley to Absecon. “What I love about being a part of local high school sports is giving local kids coverage that we didn’t get when I played, and realizing that high school sports is still bringing communities together, and if we can be a part of bringing these games to people, I’m all for it,” Gill said. “I think this is good for the area, because it gives kids more recognition and with that comes more possibilities to be heard about or found for college opportunities. It also allows alumni and friends to stay close to where they are from if they are not in the area, or can’t make it to games. The video is also great for kids to go watch as a team together once the game is over.” For Frankel, being involved is a great way for him to stay connected to the sports teams he has been such a big part of for the last several years. “With NBC-40 ceasing news operations, there becomes a real void in local high school sports coverage, especially high school basketball. Hoop Jam 2015 helps fill that void in a big way,” Frankel said. “Mike Gill and I have about two decades of combined experience covering basketball in this area. And Glory Days Magazine is certainly on the rise, taking print and online coverage to new heights. Hoop Jam 2015 is the perfect marriage between Gill, Sully, and myself, bringing South Jersey basketball fans unprecedented coverage.” Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan said this is the perfect collaboration to showcase the magazine and the type of coverage it is bringing to the Cape-Atlantic League. O’Sullivan, also known as Sully, has nearly two decades of experience in the journalism business and said the mission of Glory Days is to bring the best of high school sports to the communities’ attention. “We’re laying the groundwork for what we hope will just get bigger and better every year,” O’Sullivan said. “Frankel and Gill are two guys who really are dedicated to their craft and it’s going to be really cool to bring this kind of coverage to the area. Basketball is such an energetic sport and tends to have a lot of great personalities associated with it, and I think the players will really enjoy seeing this kind of coverage. High school players and coaches put in a lot of hard work in all the sports they participate in, and like Gill said, this will be a great way for alumni to stay connected with their schools and hopefully having several media companies and personalities involved will generate a lot of interest among fans.” Frankel said this winter is an ideal time to take area high school basketball coverage to the next level considering the competitive balance that the Cape-Atlantic League looks to have. “If you love high school hoops, the announcement of Hoop Jam 2015 is like a Christmas present. This is going to change the game of area high school basketball coverage,” Frankel said. “This season is the perfect season to jump in with Hoop Jam. So many area teams have a real chance to not only win the Cape Atlantic League title, but also to make serious noise in the state playoffs. And we’ll be there every step of the way.” Sometimes night basketball games in the winter aren’t easy for fans to get to, and Gill said that was the inspiration for the idea. “The idea came about a couple of years ago. We have been doing games on radio for awhile, but Matt Ulmer was doing this as a hobby, for a friend, and decided why not give these kids more coverage?” Gill said. “I was all for it. Adding video and more games to our coverage was a wonderful thing for the community. “We have done so many big games that some people couldn’t drive to, at Rutgers and Rowan for football state championships, or Tournament of Champions basketball games, CAL playoff and championship games, Battle By The Bay games, Shoot Down Cancer games — games that involve great teams that the high school community has a ton of interest in but can’t get to.” The schedule is in the process of being finalized, and features some of the top teams in the area, such as Holy Spirit, Atlantic City, Wildwood Catholic, Middle Township and St. Augustine Prep. “I’m very excited for this venture,” O’Sullivan said. “I think if you are any kind of basketball fan you have to be pumped to see this kind of thing coming together. It’s really going to be a cool thing, not only for the players and coaches, but fans throughout the area as well.” Here’s a look at the tentative schedule for this season: HOOP JAM 2015 Glory Days/ESPN Radio games Games subject to change Games may be added as season progresses Jan. 3 (Saturday): Rancocas Valley at Holy Spirit, 5:30 p.m Jan. 9 (Friday): Middle Township at St. Joseph (Hammonton) 7 p.m. Jan. 14 (Wednesday): Middle Township at Holy Spirit 7 p.m. Jan. 16 (Friday): St. Augustine at Middle Township 7 p.m. Jan. 17 (Saturday): Atlantic City vs. Patterson Eastside in Jersey City 4 p.m. Jan. 22 (Thursday): Middle Township at Atlantic City 7 p.m. Jan. 24 (Saturday): St. Augustine at Holy Spirit 7 p.m. Jan. 25 (Sunday): Lower Merion (Pa.) at Atlantic City 7 p.m. Jan. 30 (Friday): Battle by the Bay; St. Augustine at Atlantic City 7 p.m. Feb. 1 (Sunday) Battle by the Bay; Pleasantville at Atlantic City 1:30 p.m. Feb. 3 (Tuesday): Millville at Atlantic City 7 p.m. Feb. 4 (Wednesday): Atlantic City at Wildwood Catholic 7 p.m. Feb. 5 (Thursday): Egg Harbor Township at Holy Spirit 7 p.m. Feb. 7/8: Sh
oot Down Cancer games at St. Augustine Prep (possible) Feb. 9 (Monday): Egg Harbor Township at Atlantic City 7 p.m. Feb. 14 (Saturday): Atlantic City vs. Haddonfield at Cherry Hill East 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 (Sunday): (at Cherry Hill East) Middle Township vs. Camden Catholic 12:30; St. Anthony vs. St. Augustine 2 p.m.; Holy Spirit vs. Trenton Catholic 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 (Tuesday): Cedar Creek at Wildwood Catholic 7 p.m. Feb. 18 (Wednesday): Pleasantville at Middle Township 7 p.m. Feb. 21 (Saturday): St. Anthony vs. Holy Spirit at Stockton College 2 p.m. [adsense]