The Region Sports Network is proud to announce that "Region Sports Classics" are now available at regionsports.com.
For local sports fans, Region Sports Classics will provide a trip down Memory Lane. The stories of these moments in history will be recalled through written features and archival video footage.
According to company president Chris Ramirez, the RSN possesses video footage from hundreds of Northwest Indiana's best high school football and basketball games dating back to the early 1980s. Some are coaches tapes but most are from local cable television broadcasts. In addition to that, the RSN has dozens of eight and 16mm game reels from Andrean, East Chicago Roosevelt and Griffith, some from as far back as the early 1960s.
"We'll post new classics each week," said Ramirez. "The format will depend on what we have in our possession, what we can acquire and what we can do with it."
Ramirez tells readers and viewers to expect anything and everything, at least when it comes to football and basketball. "We've got everything from the Mud Bowl between Griffith and Hobart to the West Side vs. Highland girls basketball overtime thrillers of the late 90s," he said.
The first Region Sports Classic release is "The Rumble In The Region - The Way It Really Was", about the Carlos Tite - Mike Landini middleweight championship fight at the Hammond Civic in 1985. Ramirez, who was in attendance, writes an historical account of the events from that memorable night.
Ramirez, who has the only known video footage of the event, says the story comes with a few brief video highlights.
"Over the years I've resisted putting up the entire fight video online because it would take away from the mystery of the that night, but with the online release of the article, I felt the time was the right time to show at least few clips.
"Anyone who appreciates the history of the Calumet Region, especially the sports, will enjoy reliving or learning about some of the classics games and events from over the years," said Ramirez. "I know I do."