HOUSTON, TX (March 3, 2011) – For a third straight year the Mike and Mike in the Morning national sports talk show will be broadcasting live from the Shell Houston Open PGA TOUR event.

Hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic will be doing their show live on March 30 from the Champions Pavilion, adjacent to the 18th hole at the Redstone Golf Club –Tournament Course. Simulcast on ESPN2 television, the syndicated ESPN Radio show is carried locally by ESPN 97.5 The Ticket (KFNC-FM). The show will air from 5 - 9AM (Central Daylight Time).

There will be another charitable component to the appearance. In keeping with the Shell Houston Open's commitment to community support, funds raised by the Houston Golf Association in a special auction set for March 9 in the final hour of the Mike and Mike in the Morning show will benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

When Greenberg and Golic conclude their show on March 30 they are scheduled to tee off in the Shell Houston Open Wednesday Grand Pro-Am on the Redstone Golf Club – Tournament Course. Rounding out the group will be a PGA TOUR professional, plus the auction's top bidder and his/her invited guest.

The past two years the auction has netted $96,000 for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. In 2010 Lew Peters Lowell, MA was the high bidder. He and his wife Pauline played with U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover. Frank Thomas of Tennessee was the top bidder in 2009. He elected to have his sons Stephen and Allen play in the group that included PGA Tour professional Ben Curtis, a former British Open champion.
The Shell Houston Open was recognized by the PGA TOUR at its annual meeting with tournament organizers for the best new promotional event for 2009.

The Shell Houston Open and Houston Golf Association are providing roundtrip airfare to Houston for two, hotel accommodations for Tuesday and Wednesday, plus the pro-am spots and VIP tickets to the tournament for Thursday. This special Shell Houston Open package will be promoted on upcoming Mike and Mike in the Morning programs leading up to the March 9 one-hour (between 8 and 9 AM CDT, 9-10 AM ET) open bidding via a toll-free telephone number.

Champions Pavilion Tickets are available on-line at www.shellhoustonopen.com and may be purchased with a major credit card. ESPN 97.5 The Ticket will be giving tickets away on air prior to the event.

Shell Houston Open Package:

• YOU and a guest will play in the Shell Open Pro Am with Mike & Mike on Wednesday, March 30, after their broadcast from the course.
• Round-trip airfare to Houston from anywhere in the continental United States. If airfare is not required there will not be any alternative form of compensation given to the winner.
• The winning bidder will receive three night's hotel (Arrive on March 29, Depart on April 1) accommodations and transportation to and from The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa to Redstone Golf Club on Wednesday March 30 and Thursday March 31.
• Both participants must be 18 years or older.
• Both participants will receive the Shell Houston Open Pro-Am Gift Pack along with the following:
  - Two invitations to the Shell Dinner on Tuesday, March 29.
  - Two VIP tickets to the first round of the Shell Houston Open on Thursday, March 31.
  - Two Honorary Observer positions for Thursday, March 31.
  ** This is a rain or shine event with no "rain checks".

Auction Rules:

• Live auction will take place on Mike & Mike, Wednesday, March 9 from 9:02-9:55 AM ET… Winner will be announced at 9:59 AM ET.
• A bid is considered "valid" once a credit card is authorized for the amount of the bid.
• The minimum bid for the package will be $2,500 with minimum bid increments of $250.
• All bidders will be contacted after the auction is closed with details of their transaction and all credit card information will be destroyed at the conclusion of the auction. The credit card will not be charged if the bid is not the winning bid.
• The winning bidder may transfer the package with prior approval from HGA. All decisions by the Houston Golf Association (HGA) and ESPN Radio are final.
• All PGA TOUR Pro-Am rules apply.
• HGA will assume all expenses of this experience to ensure that 100% of the winning bid will directly fund cancer research. Tax deductibility for donor will be amount of winning bid minus fair market value ($5,000) of package.
  

The V Foundation for Cancer Research
The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $80 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. It awards 100 percent of all new direct cash donations and net proceeds of events directly to cancer research and related programs. The Foundation, which has received six consecutive top 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator, awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Board. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.

ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is the country's largest sports radio network, providing more than 9,000 hours of talk and event content annually to more than 750 stations, including more than 350 full-time affiliates and owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Pittsburgh. ESPN Radio event programming features the NBA (and The Finals), MLB (and the World Series) and college football's BCS (and regular-season schedule). Weekday studio programming includes: Mike and Mike in the Morning (Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic), 6-10 a.m. ET; The Herd with Colin Cowherd, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; The Scott Van Pelt Show (2-4 p.m.); The Doug Gottlieb Show (4-7 p.m.).

Additionally, ESPNRadio.com is the most listened to sports radio destination online and most listened to digital audio stream in the world, with an average of more than 420,000 monthly listeners and nearly 1.9 million total sessions per month. ESPN Radio content is also available via ESPN's more than 100 podcasts on iTunes and ESPN's PodCenter, which are downloaded an average of more than 9.2 million times per month.