May 29, 2007

SportSouth premieres the show "Under the Lights: Wake Forest Football" this Saturday, June 2, at 4:30pm (ET) with encore presentations June 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET and June 4 at 5 p.m. ET.

This one hour, all-access show spotlights coach Jim Grobe and the Demon Deacon football team, demonstrating how success off the field translates to success on the field and what it will take for Wake Forest to stay a perennial powerhouse.

Given access to action behind the scenes by the schools, coaches and teams, Under The Lights allows viewers to witness preparation rarely seen by anyone outside the program.

SportSouth reaches 8.8 million cable and satellite subscribers across a six state region comprised of Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and regions of central and western North Carolina. FSN South reaches 11.8 million homes in seven states in the Southeast. FSN is the nation's leading provider of local sports. Through its affiliates and other Fox Networks Group-owned (FNG) networks, FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through 22 regional networks. Headquartered in Los Angeles, FSN owned or affiliated regional sports networks serve as the TV home to 64 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States.

Some of the soundbytes from the program include:

Jim Grobe on winning the ACC Championship:
"I think in the past, we've always done a great job of selling Wake Forest as an academic school. But we just couldn't convince some kids that we were going to get it going in football, so that's what going to the Orange Bowl and winning the ACC Championship did for us."

Offensive Coordinator Steed Lobotzke on winning the ACC Championship
"The best thing about winning the championship, personally for me, was proving that we could do it and proving everybody wrong that said we couldn't do it."

Jim Grobe on Wake Forest's perception around the ACC
"When we first got here, honestly, Wake Forest was somewhat of a joke in the league, as far as playing football. So I think something we've been driving toward and striving for since we've been here is respect."

Steed Lobotzke on coaching styles
"In coaching, there are good cops and there are bad cops. The good cops are the ones that coach under their breath, and Coach Grobe is definitely a good cop. You never see him raise his voice. And then there are the other guys - the bad cops - that have to get people going and yell when things go wrong. I'm the bad cop."

Quarterback Riley Skinner on replacing injured quarterback Ben Mauk last season
"I knew I couldn't panic and act like a freshman."

Linebacker Aaron Curry on motivation
"If you're not hyped up just because you're out here, then you shouldn't be out here."

Steed Lobotzke on the football program's top priorities
"Being a good person is our number one priority in this program. Graduating is number two. Football is number three. We like it to be a close number three."

Jim Grobe on recruiting strategies
"Our real plan has always been at Wake Forest that we would go out and try to recruit the best kids we could find. Not the best football players, but the best kids.