Minority Businesses and Business Events in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers is the team with the storied history – the Immaculate Reception, the Steel Curtain, Stallworth and Swann, the Terrible Towel, the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, the longest defensive touchdown and most spectacular quarterback to receiver collaboration in Super Bowl history, (extraordinary feats occurring in the same game), and The Chief.  Last but not least, the Black and Gold franchise is the team with the most Super Bowl victories and at this writing, has clinched a playoff berth and a first-week bye in yet another quest and pursuit of the Lombardi Trophy.  Many sports venues and channels are gearing up and positioning for the upcoming post-season competition as the Steelers are again on the horizon of chasing the championship. Steeler Nation, I would like to introduce to you a new sports program that is on the horizon as well, making its debut in the southwestern Pennsylvania market with the goal of providing the viewing audience with a different flavor and perspective in sports reporting.  The show is entitled Championship Chase 2010 airing on WPGH Channel 53, a Fox Network affiliate, every Saturday at 10:30 p.m.  The creative talents behind this sports-centric program and hosts are Jonas Chaney, Brian Cook, Dee Thompson and Ty Miller, the show’s producer. 

Jonas is a 30-year veteran in journalism, education and theatre.  He has worked in Pittsburgh for the last 25 years at WPXI-TV, WTAE-Radio, WAMO, WDUQ and the American Urban Radio Networks.  He received his Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.  Jonas received Golden Quill Awards for investigative reporting as well as national American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) honors for his documentary work.

Brian is a national award-winning journalist for the American Urban Radio Networks.  His daily responsibilities include reporting on breaking news, sports and entertainment stories and producing AURN programs.  He has interviewed a Who’s Who List including President Barack Obama, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, legendary Motown singers Smokey Robinson and Otis Williams, civil rights activist Coretta Scott King and education and social activist Dorothy Height.  Brian reported at national conventions and major events including Super Bowls 40 through 44 and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Groundbreaking Ceremony.  A graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and serves as its regional director of communications.

Dee’s tenure in journalism spans three decades and he also worked for WPXI-TV as a reporter and sports anchor.  He covered the Steelers for 20 years and was the host and creator of The 5^th Quarter and Steelers Huddle.  Dee earned Associated Press awards and a Golden Quill, too, for his coverage about handicapped athletes.  He reported on all six of the Steelers Super Bowl victories as well as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1979 World Series championship.

Ty’s career trajectory began as a disc jockey and a radio sports announcer to his current position as director of sports at American Urban Radio Networks (AURN).  He received his undergraduate degree in mass communications from Emerson College, and his experience includes WILD-AM in Boston, WEBB-AM in Baltimore and the former WAMO-FM in Pittsburgh.  Ty’s talent in the broadcast booth and enthusiasm for sports, with an emphasis on the HBCU circuit (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) elevated college football reporting to a higher level.  For over twenty years, Ty has been the force and voice behind AURN’s Black College Football Weekly, the award-winning and longest running black college football show in the country.  The impetus for the weekly program was that HBCU student-athletes were not getting the same national exposure as student-athletes were receiving from the other major colleges. Ty also writes, produces and hosts AURN’s SBN Sports, a daily show highlighting major news and events in the industry. 

The hosts invited me to attend their weekly meeting as I characterize as “the meeting of sports intellectuals” as I witnessed a group dynamic encompassing 50 years of television and radio experience and strategizing about the upcoming show and future shows.  (NOTE:  Brian was fulfilling his role as producer for another show and unavailable during this meeting).  I was enthralled as this trio of journalists exchanged opinions, ideas and topics in finalizing the script that included the Steelers’ last regular season game with turnpike rival, the Cleveland Browns, and a possible third match-up with the Baltimore Ravens during post-season action.  Regarding the show’s context, the studio format consists of highlighting feature stories, recapping and reporting on the AFC North, selecting the Player of the Game who made the most impact or game-changing moment, and selecting the winning teams for the playoffs.  Feature stories meet a certain criteria, i.e., a Steelers’ connection or regional theme.  Jonas remarked that a previous feature story centered on Ryan Clark, the Woodland Hills High School graduate and player who replaced then-injured Troy Polamalu at the free safety position.  Additional segments are one-on-one interviews with former players including L.C. Greenwood, Randy Grossman, Louis Lipps, Franco Harris and current Steelers personalities.  In addition to the studio segments, remote reporting is the feature involving the fan base, giving the Black and Gold camaraderie the opportunity to provide commentary, opinions and reactions as a way of contributing to the true spirit and tradition of the Steeler Nation.

Championship Chase 2010 has two other areas of interest that put the finishing touches on the 30-minute telecast.  Dee takes the fans down memory lane by showcasing vintage Steelers football, others players and moments in time with a segment called “Classic Clips.”  Southwestern Pennsylvania is the birthplace to a plethora of phenoms – Namath, Ditka, Montana, Dorsett, Unitas, Marino, Grimm, Blanda – to name a few.  Many of these esteemed members of the Hall of Fame fraternity reached the pinnacle of football excellence as most championed the chase through prowess and talent to Super Bowl glory.  The other segment called “Steelers Ladies” focuses, of course, on female fans.  Championship Chase 2010 recognizes that women can debate about the game as well as men can and the show provides an avenue and platform for women to discuss the X’s and the O’s through their wit and wisdom.

Dee feels that promoting these aspects into the programming gives Championship Chase 2010 its uniqueness as no other sports program bridges the gap between generations of the Black and Gold players nor advocates and promotes the woman’s perspective of sports.  I can attest that during the script forum, the hosts welcomed my opinion and I had the opportunity to participate in the round-table discussion.

Why the name Championship Chase?  Ty explained that the title is generic simply because it can be used to describe the process and progression involved in any competitive play, whether it is football or swimming or whether a team or an individual sport, in chasing the championship title.  He further remarked that combining the talents and experts from the television medium with radio was the perfect union to report on and more importantly, pay homage to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, thus bringing Champion Chase 2010 to fruition.  Ty also stated that as the show evolves, his goal is to use the show as a mechanism to teach students first-hand about broadcast journalism and its related disciplines.  He, along with Brian, Jonas and Dee, are proponents of community service and want to share their years of experience with the next generation of journalists and producers.

Championship Chase 2010 programming begins during the pre-season and ends after the Super Bowl.  How fortunate it is to have this show as a part of the region’s sports reporting repertoire and genre as the Pittsburgh Steelers chase the championship for a seventh ring.  I want to extend good luck, thank you and congratulations to Jonas, Brian, Dee and Ty for giving the Steeler Nation a wonderful forum to discuss the nuances of football, that is, Steelers Football.

For more information about Championship Chase 2010 including sponsorship opportunities, you can send your inquiries and comments via email to championshipchasetv@yahoo.com. Again, the show airs each Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on WPGH Channel 53. 

S p o r t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . Personified is a part of Diane Hughley’s eclectic writing collections that show a confluence of topics in the ebb and flow of sports.  Diane received her bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University in organizational leadership and professional communications; she earned her graduate credentials in sports leadership from the same institution.  She utilizes her communications, leadership, marketing and event planning expertise in the profit and non-profit industries and is a freelance writer.  She shares her thoughts about athletes, events and current topics in the sports industry on her blog, Diane’s Sports Talk, at http://www.dianessportstalk.com.  Start a dialogue or share your thoughts and stories on her blog or at diane.hughley@yahoo.com.

Diane’s photo is courtesy of Sandidge Photography.

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