MIAMI, FL – 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 Burnie’s Pajama Jam when the HEAT take on the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow at 5:00 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.
Burnie’s Pajama Jam is the annual birthday celebration for the only mascot in HEAT history. Beginning at 4:00. p.m., Burnie and his mascot friends will host a variety of activities on the Xfinity East Plaza of the arena including face painting, balloon animals, and an oversized birthday card for Burnie (pregame only). One lucky youngster who attends the game will win a free week of Miami HEAT Camp. Kids bands Arrowhead and Young Musicians Unite will also perform live on the Xfinity East Plaza stage pregame. Seventeen-year-old Miami Beach Senior High School student, Martha Alamilla, will perform the National Anthem.
For the 11th straight season, the Miami HEAT FOX Sports Sun production team will call on a host of young “kid- casters” to supplement the team of Eric Reid, John Crotty 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 4:00 p.m. with a special one-hour edition of HEAT Live, presented by Xfinity. 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 10 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 HEAT Director of Camps & Clinics, Tony Fiorentino, and several of the kid-casters. Tyler Johnson and his two sons are the focus of a two-part feature series entitled The Tyler Trio - A Day at the Museum, as Jackson recently spent an afternoon at the Miami Children’s Museum with the HEAT’s fifth year guard and his two sons.
Alexander Ramos, a 17-year-old senior from Christopher Columbus High School, will join Reid and Crotty during the second quarter for play-by-play commentary in addition to interviewing a HEAT assistant coach at halftime. 16-year old junior Alexander Someillan, a fellow Columbus Explorer and the head of sports at their highly acclaimed CCNN student news network, will be posted alongside Jackson throughout the game for sideline hits and player interviews. Lila Hewitt, the 10-year old daughter of HEAT reporter Kristen Hewitt, returns to Kids’ Day representing Tropical Elementary to conduct hits from the HEAT store and will deliver the HEAT starting lineups before the game.
Rounding out the kid-caster crew will be 10-year old Corey Zaslow, a fourth grader at Posnack Jewish Day School and the son of 790 The Ticket HEAT radio broadcaster, Jonathan Zaslow. Corey will join Jackson for a special Kids’ Day edition of Hot Seconds and will work alongside Ruth Riley Hunter and Mike Inglis for the call of the game on the HEAT Radio Network.
For the ninth 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.
Tickets are still available for Saturday’s game. To purchase click here