From the desk of Mal Moore
9/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
Dear Crimson Tide Fan:
As we move into conference play this weekend when the Crimson Tide plays host to Vanderbilt, I want to express a thank you to the support you gave us last week against Hawaii.
Certainly, Coach Mike Shula and his staff deserve credit for preparing for a very difficult opening opponent in Hawaii. Anyone who has been around football knows the first game presents some unusual challenge, but this one was particularly complex because of the unusual schemes that Hawaii utilizes.
I would like to congratulate our outstanding sophomore center Antoine Caldwell, who was selected as the "Lineman of the Week" in the Southeastern Conference.
It was also especially gratifying to have so many former players return to campus last weekend to support our team; and from talking to so many of them they were overwhelmed with the warm welcome you extended to them. Hopefully, most of you will be back this weekend as we play the Commodores, a team that has traditionally competed at their highest level against Alabama teams.
We also received a number of compliments from our visitors from Hawaii about the way they were treated by the Alabama fans. I know they, too, were extremely impressed with the renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium and the entire atmosphere surrounding the game.
Like a coaching staff, our administrative team also has had to review some of the problems we encountered on opening weekend, and hopefully, we have corrected them all for this Saturday's game. Our biggest complication occurred in the admission area for our students where we had some staffing problems. Also, we added elevators on the northwest side of the stadium for access to the President's Box and Ivory Club, and these were under-utilized last weekend, causing some delays at the press elevator.
These situations have been addressed and the problems should be remedied for this weekend. Our security and police have also asked that those of you with parking passes have them displayed in full view.
Our volleyball and soccer teams are also in the early stages of their seasons as well. Judy Green's volleyball squad will be on the road this weekend, but will return home to open the conference season against Miss. State and Ole Miss, Friday Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 17. Both matches will be in the CAVE at the back of Coleman Coliseum with the Friday match against the Bulldogs starting at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday contest with the Rebels beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Don Staley's soccer team will be in Birmingham Friday and Sunday competing against Kansas first and then UAB. We will open our conference slate against South Carolina, Friday, Sept. 22 on our home field in Tuscaloosa.
We still haven't received word on the kickoff time for the Arkansas game, but as most of you know the Louisiana-Monroe game will kick off at 6:00 p.m. and will be a pay-per-view event.
Roll Tide!
Mal Moore
Athletic Director
