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What: “More Than a Game”

Where: Channel 9

When: Saturdays, 7:30 a.m.

Think there is too much emphasis on the negative in sports? Well, this half-hour show, which is syndicated by Raycom Sports, emphasizes only the positive. That was the idea when the show was created two years ago by the Marquee Group, which among other things represents athletes and coaches.

You don’t get the kind of hard-hitting reporting you get on shows such as ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” or HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.” But for what it is, “More Than a Game” is well done and CNN’s Fred Hickman is a nice fit as the host.

Each week the show offers three stories, plus a brief segment with special correspondent Janet Evans, a trivia question and a few other gimmicks. On last week’s show, Evans did a piece on why young athletes should stay away from performance-enhancing drugs.

The top story in last week’s show was about the Gene Autry RBI program that, in conjunction with Boys and Girls Clubs, enables youngsters to play baseball and softball for free. Started in 1989 by former major league player John Young, the program now encompasses 120 cities and 110,000 kids. Featured in the segment was the Angels’ Mo Vaughn, a major contributor to the program.

Typical of the kind of stories you’ll see on “More Than a Game” was a recent one on Ken Carter, the Richmond High coach who forfeited two games because some of his players were falling behind academically.

On this week’s show, there are features on Boston Red Sox shortstop and role model Nomar Garciaparra and on Oakland Raider receiver Tim Brown, who helped organize a miniature golf event that brought 100 fatherless boys together with mentors from the business community. The third segment, called the “Winner’s Circle,” is about Camp Baywatch, a program that brings inner-city youngsters to the beach to learn about water safety from the cast of the TV show.

There is an interactive segment at the end of each show that gives viewers who submit story ideas a chance to win a trip to the World Series. One way to submit ideas is via e-mail to www.raycomsports.com.