Welcome: FOX Sports North Beat Writers

FOX Sports North welcomes Phil Miller and Anthony Maggio to the team as Minnesota Twins writers for foxsportsnorth.com. Miller and Maggio will write features, columns, and pre and postgame blogs for the regional network’s website. The duo will also host weekly live chats online and appear as regular special guests on the regional sports network’s Qwest Twins Live pre and postgame shows.

Check out their work: http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/

Follow them on Twitter:
@FSNorthMiller
@FSNorthMaggio

Accuweather.com Updates from FOX Sports North

Target Field = Outdoor Baseball = Weather
Don’t worry because rain, shine, sun or snow, FOX Sports North has you covered with the launch of a new on-air and online feature: Accuweather updates presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling Sytems.
"We are extremely excited about our partnership with the Twins and Fox Sports North, " said Stephanie Kluever, Senior Marketing Manager for Auer Steel- a Bryant distributor. "We value the opportunity to associate the Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems brand with other quality organizations and programming."

Wild Season Comes to a Close

The Minnesota Wild season may be coming to a close, but the team has played hard both on and off the ice and FOX Sports North has been there to capture the fun:

Backyard Rinks Feature: http://tinyurl.com/yg5f7gn
Gorg vs. Clutterbuck Feature: http://tinyurl.com/yfu2x9e
Wild Fantasy Camp Feature: http://tinyurl.com/yzlo4jg

Hockey Day Minnesota 2011
The Minnesota Wild and FOX Sports North are in the process of finalizing the location for the 2011 outdoor games and are excited to announce details soon…

Photo: FOX Sports North reporter Robby Incmikoski with analyst Darby Hendrickson at Wild Fantasy Camp

Timberwolves Looking Forward to Next Season

The Minnesota Timberwolves "Run with the Pack" campaign has proved to be a great success for the team. The Wolves sold more than 1,000 new, lower-level full season tickets during March, ranking in the top 5 in new ticket sales among all NBA teams.
FOX Sports North has helped promote this exciting ticket campaign. Here are a few favorite clips:

Chris Wright: http://tinyurl.com/ykwb52w
David Kahn: http://tinyurl.com/ygwca9n

Kevin Love at a Wild Game?
Timberwolves player Kevin Love made a special visit to the Qwest Wild Live set at Xcel Energy Center: http://tinyurl.com/yznday5

And the Winners Are...

FOX Sports North was recently awarded six Telly Awards.

With nearly 11,000 entries from all 50 states and around the world, this year’s 30th anniversary has been one of the most competitive and successful in the long history of the Telly Awards. FOX Sports North won awards for the following productions:

Minnesota Twins Baseball, Category: Sports
Minnesota Wild Hockey, Category: Sports
Hockey Day Minnesota, Category: Sports
Hockey Day Minnesota from Iraq, Category: Social Responsibility
“End of Summer”: Minnesota Twins, Category: Music Video
“Twins Live” from Valleyfair, Category: Travel/Tourism

FREEZE FRAME

Green Grass: The FOX Sports North Operations Team toured Target Field with crew members, Patricia Whitney and Kate Kauffman pictured

Live from Target Field: The FOX Sports North production team recently toured Target Field

Spring Fever: FOX Sports North kicked off baseball season with a client trip to Fort Myers, Florida. Twins clients enjoyed their time with FOX Sports North staff and Twins personnel/alumni. Pictured:(l-r) Bruce Whittey, Corwin Churchill Motors; Dave Olson, Bernards Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep; John Adamich, Dodge of Burnsville; Rod Carew, Twins Alumni; Betty Adamich; Bill Adamson, Adamson Motors and Tony Oliva, Twins Alumni

Star Studded Event: Jean Edhlund, Account Executive for Affiliate Sales with Erica Bauer, Account Executive for Comcast Spotlight at the “Taste of the Timberwolves” event

Employee Spotlight: Marney Gellner

Congratulations to Marney Gellner on the birth of Finley Rae. Finley arrived on March 30 at 10:46 a.m.

FOX Sports North Named "Top RSN"

Sporting News Today recently named FOX Sports North to their “Top-Rated RSN” (Regional Sports Network) list. Ratings measure percentage of television households tuned into a channel.

To view the complete story: http://tinyurl.com/yc2e8gg

2010 Minnesota Twins Schedule Announced

FOX Sports North and the Minnesota Twins recently announced a 120 game telecast schedule for the 2010 season. For the first time, the entire television schedule will be broadcast in high definition.

FOX Sports North will celebrate opening day at Target Field on April 12 with exclusive all-day coverage of the historic Home Opener against the Boston Red Sox. Fans will get a preview of Target Field as FOX Sports North will televise two exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 2 and 3.

FOX Sports North’s regular season coverage begins Tuesday, April 6 on the road against the Los Angeles Angels.
To view the complete schedule: http://tinyurl.com/ycy3z2x

*Programming Note: "Under The Lights: Countdown to Target Field" premieres Mar. 13.

Hockey Day Minnesota 2010 Receives Praise Across the State of Hockey

FOX Sports North and the Minnesota Wild televised the fourth annual Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday, January 23, 2010. The broadcast event was a grand achievement, receiving praise throughout the State of Hockey and across the world. The day-long event included 21 hours of hockey-related programming and five games from three different Minnesota locations.

For the first time, FOX Sports North included various web components as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. The network streamed three outdoor high school hockey games live on foxsportsnorth.com and conducted a day-long live chat with numerous special guests. Website traffic tripled on Hockey Day and more than 1,000 viewers participated in the live chat.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota National Guard helped turn Hockey Day Minnesota into a worldwide television event. Military members deployed in Basra, Iraq watched the Minnesota Wild game live on the American Forces Network and participated in live interviews throughout the broadcast.
A record-breaking 3,500 fans attended the outdoor high school hockey games and activities in Hermantown, Minn. and Hermantown Mayor Wayne Boucher proclaimed Jan. 23, 2010 as “Hockey Day Minnesota in Hermantown.”

Check out a few of our favorite features:
Duke Pieper: http://tinyurl.com/y883efo

Joe Piram: http://tinyurl.com/yav3mao

Todd Richards, Hockey Dad: http://tinyurl.com/ydw4f3y

Top Photo: Hockey Day Minnesota from Hermantown (left-right): Mike Dimond, Senior Vice President & GM for FS North; Jean Edhlund, AE-Affiliate Sales for FS North; Tom Bordwell, Sr. Manager of Government Relations at Medicom; James Friske, Marketing Analyst for Medicom; Zach Raskovich, Area Operations Manager for Mediacom, Matt Majka, Chief Operating Officer for Minnesota Wild; Becky Ross, Communications Manager for FS North and Jeff Byle, Executive Producer for FS North.

Other photos: Hockey Day from Hermantown, Minn; Xcel Energy Center and Mariucci Arena.

*Programming Note: Catch "Best of Hockey Day Minnesota presented by Farmers Insurance" throughout the month of Feb.

Celebrating Black History Month

“We always tell the young athletes to learn the history of the game. Well this is the history of life.” Reggie Theus, Timberwolves Assistant Coach

FOX Sports North producer Trevor Fleck and reporter Robby Incmikoski recently accompanied the assistant coach to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn. Check out the feature: http://tinyurl.com/yfxbw28

FOX Sports North is proud to celebrate Black History Month. Check out “Our Heroes: a Black History Month Special presented by Northland Ford” throughout the month of February.

Introducing “North Supports”

FOX Sports “North Supports” is a new community relations campaign designed to promote employee action, volunteerism, diversity and community.
Each month, FOX Sports North will highlight a different cause or organization on-air, online and through the actions of our employees. The goal: make a positive impact in communities.

February is ALS Awareness month, to learn more: http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/pages/north_supports

Photo: "North Supports" Planning Committee (left-right) Back Row: Patricia Whitney, Amy Anderson, Stephanie Klinger, John Stroh, Patrick Donnelly, Front Row: Tami Wiser, Becky Ross, Samantha Spence and Vanessa Lambert (not pictured)

Backyard Rinks

“Hockey people crave winter the way surfers crave waves. Hockey people turn basements into dry rinks and laundry baskets into goals, but that’s not good enough, even when real rinks aren’t available. Hockey people see rinks everywhere in the winter - in their backyards, on lakes and ponds, anywhere ice exists or can be created with a garden hose.”Jim Souhan, Star Tribune

Hockey people see rinks everywhere in the winter. With hockey people across the state of Minnesota, we figured there must be backyard rinks to highlight. Our own Darby Hendrickson has a rink right in his backyard which sparked an idea; we asked fans to submit photos of their backyard rinks on foxsportsnorth.com. Darby will pick his favorite submission and pay a visit to the winning rink.

With over 230 submissions received, it will be a hard choice for Darby. Check out our gallery of outdoor rinks: http://tinyurl.com/ycfgjv7

For the complete version of Jim Souhan’s Backyard Rinks video essay: http://tinyurl.com/yeboxjw