MIAMI, February 3 – The Miami HEAT and broadcast partner FOX Sports Sun will join forces to bring young fans in attendance and viewers alike an up close and personal experience during Super Burnie’s Super Birthday Extravaganza tomorrow when the HEAT take on the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. Throughout the evening, children of all ages will have a chance to participate in a host of interactive events both at AmericanAirlines Arena and on the broadcast.
Super Burnie’s Super Birthday Extravaganza is the annual birthday celebration for the only mascot in HEAT history. Beginning at 6:00 p.m., Burnie and his mascot friends will host a variety of activities on the XFINITY East Plaza of the arena including facepainting, balloon animals, an oversized birthday card for Burnie, HEAT Dancer autographs (pre-game only) and the kids band, Arrowhead, that will be playing cover songs during pre-game and halftime. AmericanAirlines Arena will open all doors at 6:30 p.m.
The first 10,000 children in attendance will receive a Super Burnie’s Super Birthday Extravaganza t-shirt presented by Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. This year, Super Burnie’s Super Birthday Extravaganza is superhero themed and children are encouraged to dress up as their favorite super hero. DJ R Silva will host a Kids Superhero Costume Contest on the XFINITY East Plaza during halftime. The National Anthem will be performed by Miami Children’s Chorus. During halftime, a group of very young HEAT fans will compete in the HEAT Baby Races presented by Florida Prepaid College Board.
For the ninth straight season, the Miami HEAT FOX Sports Sun production team will call on a host of young “kid-casters” to supplement the veteran team of Eric Reid, Tony Fiorentino and Jason Jackson. Children, and their importance in our lives, will be front and center as a theme throughout the entire broadcast, which begins at 6:30 p.m. with a one-hour edition of HEAT Live, presented by Miller Lite. In addition to its charming focus on HEAT players and their families, the telecasts have also provided unique opportunities for kids to be involved with the production itself. Children will play roles behind the scenes and in front of the camera, conducting interviews and at times sharing in the broadcast responsibilities of calling the action. The annual showcase for kids has been nominated for and won multiple Emmy Awards in each of the previous eight years it has been presented.
The broadcast will feature specialized graphics, baby and childhood pictures of HEAT players, and an on-court tutorial in the pre-game with Fiorentino and several of the kid-casters. Veteran HEAT captain, Udonis Haslem and his three sons are the focus of a three-part feature series titled My Three Sons, as Jackson recently spent an afternoon at the home of the three-time NBA Champion.
Jack Meyer, a 14-year-old 8th grader from Palmetto Middle School, is slated to join Reid and Fiorentino during the second quarter for play-by-play commentary in addition to interviewing a HEAT assistant coach at halftime. In the third quarter, Caitlyn Khan, a 16-year-old junior enrolled in Florida Virtual School, will join the HEAT broadcast team to take her turn at calling the game. Fourteen year-old Aden Karp is an eighth grade student at Miami Country Day School and will be posted alongside Jackson throughout the game for sideline hits and player interviews. The St. Patrick School in Miami Beach will once again be represented by 10-year-old Katelyn Manso, the daughter of HEAT host and reporter Will Manso, who returns for a second appearance to conduct hits from the HEAT store and deliver the sponsored billboards throughout the game.
The show will open with an original spoken word tribute to the nine-year tradition of Kids’ Day written and performed by actor and poet, Branden Wellington. The piece, entitled TV Dreams in a World of Sports, was shot on location in several parts of Miami, and will air in different forms throughout the broadcast.
Making her fourth and final appearance on Kids’ Day will be 17-year-old Connor Crotty, a senior at Westminster Christian High School and the daughter of HEAT radio and TV analyst John Crotty. Connor will join her dad and Mike Inglis on the English radio broadcast and for a special family edition of Crotty’s Cuts during the FOX Sports Sun post-game edition of HEAT Live.
For the seventh consecutive season, FOX Sports Sun will give several young students from KEC-Canal Point Elementary School the opportunity to serve in a host of technical capacities. Among its many accolades, the school has been honored by the Florida Department of Education for several of its public service announcements focusing on literacy. The students will have a chance to operate cameras, assist with videotape and audio production and even supply direction for parts of the telecast.