April 3, 2009

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network airs the 2009 Mountain West Conference Pro Draft Special on Saturday, April 4 at 12 p.m. MT and premieres Sights on Sunday on Monday, April 6 at 7 p.m. MT.

The 2009 Mountain West Conference Pro Draft Special airs Saturday at 12 p.m. MDT and breaks down the upcoming NFL Draft, April 25-26, from a Mountain West perspective. Marius Payton and Bill Doleman are joined by The Mtn.'s broadcast tandem of James Bates and Todd Christensen along with a special guest, former Denver Broncos general manager and Air Force Academy graduate Ted Sundquist. The five will dissect and discuss the careers and futures of seniors such as CSU's Gartrell Johnson, TCU's Jason Phillips and Wyoming's Devin Moore, and examine the prospects of underclassmen Austin Collie from BYU, and Paul Kruger and Sean Smith from Utah.

As part of the one-hour program, Sundquist will reveal what it's like to be inside an NFL war room during the draft, and tell viewers why an undrafted free agent like former Colorado State running back Cecil Sapp can play for many years in the NFL, yet highly touted college stars and early draft selections flame out quickly.

On April 25-26, Bates and Christensen will be closely monitoring the NFL Draft on Twitter (www.twitter.com) and tweeting with fans throughout the draft. Fans can join in conversation with James (TheMtn_James) and Todd (TheMtn_Todd) by hashing #MWCDraft or by accessing The Mtn.'s Twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/TheMtn.

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them via e-mail, cell phone, or instant messaging.

Segment 1: The dreams and aspirations of making it to the NFL and what it takes to reach that goal.

Segment 2: What do these players do to train for the upcoming combine and evaluations? They go from Carson, Calif., to Park City, Utah, to Atlanta, Ga., to Davie, Fla., to Fort Worth, Texas, receiving training from performance coaches to improve their times and skills, learn to prepare for team interviews, and how be ready for the rigors of on-field testing.

Segment 3: Covers the underclassmen that elected to enter this year's draft: Smith, Kruger and Collie, and how they came to their decision to do so. Agents, coaches and trainers provide insight into their decisions and how they may play out on draft day.

Sights on Sunday premieres Monday at 7 p.m. MT, with the second episode of the program scheduled to air in May, and the third and final episode airing later this summer.

Both programs will re-air several times throughout the month of April. For additional schedule and programming information, visit The Mtn. online at www.themtn.tv.

About The Mtn.

The MountainWest Sports Network - The Mtn. - premiered on Sept. 1, 2006, as the first network dedicated to a college athletic conference - the Division I Mountain West Conference (MWC). The Mtn. annually produces and airs more than 200 collegiate sporting events, including football, basketball, Olympic sports, and conference championship coverage. The Mtn.'s expanded coverage includes news programming, coaches' shows, pre- and postgame analysis, and feature programming about MWC athletics. The Mtn. is jointly owned by Comcast and CBS College Sports Network. For more information, visit www.themtn.tv.