Kalyn McMackin (left) and Greta Wall (right) anchor for Loma Sports Tonight.
Turn off ESPN and turn on Point TV.
No need to watch SportsCenter when PLNU has a new sports news television program covering all things PLNU sports.
“It’s basically everything that you would want to know about Point Loma sports,” said show creator Jacob Roth. “We have game highlights, stories about athletes and coaches, analysis…I don’t want to say it’s Point Loma SportsCenter but it’s Point Loma SportsCenter.” The senior broadcast journalism major has been an avid sports
reporter in his four years at PLNU, holding roles such as sports reporting intern for Fox 5 San Diego, sports editor for the Point Weekly and also working for the athletic department. This year, the position of Sports Director for Point TV was created and Roth took the job not only to direct sports reporting for Coastline News, but also to create a new show: Loma Sports Tonight.
Communications professor Alan Hueth, who oversees Point TV, said it was Roth’s enthusiasm that told him Roth would be the right person to bring a sports show back to Point TV. He described Roth as depend- able, mature and smart, all qualities that Hueth said make for a successful show runner.
“It was his enthusiasm and my sense of his commitment to do this,” Hueth said. “It was also my sense that because of his enthusiasm he would be able to draw others in to get involved too.”
There hasn’t been a sport show on Point TV for about four years. Between 12 and 15 people help put together the show, which had its first two episodes at the end of the fall semester.
“My sense of this is that [Roth] knows what a good sports show look like and he knows what it takes and is going to do what it takes to bring it to good production values and make it interesting,” Hueth said.
PLNU senior Kalyn McMackin anchored the first ever episode of Loma Sports Tonight along with junior Greta Wall in October.
“I think overall it went pretty well,” McMackin said. “I think, be- cause it was the first show, of course there were some technical difficulties, but I think for having a sports show like this back for the first time in a long time I think overall it went pretty well. We’ve improved with every episode.”
She said she’s glad the show was created because she doesn’t think PLNU sports get enough attention beyond plnusports.com.
“People should watch because I don’t know how often people are tuning into the athletic website, and I think it’s fun to see your peers on TV,” McMackin said. “I think what you can expect to see is game highlights, cool, fun, Loma sports stories that you might not hear on the website but you might hear on TV.”
Junior women’s basketball player Jessica Johnson agrees with McMackin in that PLNU sports don’t get as much attention as she would like, especially women’s sports. She said hopes the show will help with that.
“It’s a good thing because women need to be more publicized,” Johnson said. “I think women in general need more hype because a lot of people think women shouldn’t be playing basketball because it’s mostly a guy’s sport.”
For Roth, the show is not only a way for students to see the latest in PLNU sports news on TV, but it’s also an opportunity for broadcast journalism majors to get sports reporting experience. Students can gain real-world television production experience and use their efforts on the show as examples to show future employers what they are capable of.
He said he hopes the show will continue on long after he graduates in May.
“There are certain shows that are staple shows of Point TV like Coastline News, Reel Students, Acoustic Showcase, but I want this to be something that other students can keep going,” Roth said. “Hopefully if I come back in five years and visit the show will be way better than I imagine it. It’s a great opportunity for students to learn and hopefully help them get jobs after they graduate because that’s why we’re here.”
Cade Michaelson 
Luke Mallery