Byrne Notice presented by Mercedes-Benz
9/26/2019 8:50:00 AM | General
SEC Home Openers
Our soccer, football and volleyball teams will all host their Southeastern Conference home openers this week, beginning on the pitch Thursday night when Head Coach Wes Hart's squad takes on South Carolina at 7 p.m. Saturday, our football team will face Ole Miss, kicking off at 2:30 p.m. in Bryant-Denny Stadium, while volleyball will welcome in the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday for a 2 p.m. start in Foster Auditorium. Admission to soccer is free, and tickets to both the football game and volleyball match remain available. Great opportunities to support the Tide this weekend. Hope to see you there!
Beat the Heat
It looks like we've got some more hot weather in the forecast for this weekend, so if you're joining us in Tuscaloosa be sure to hydrate before and during our outdoor events and take advantage of our cooling stations. We've also installed several more misting fans for this weekend's game at Bryant-Denny Stadium to help combat the heat. Remember, you can bring a bottle inside with you to refill at one of our many water stations, just be sure it's empty upon entry.
Celebration of Champions
Last season, our softball team won its sixth Southeastern Conference regular-season title, and on Friday at 5 p.m., we'll also gather to celebrate their addition to the Sarah Patterson Champions Plaza. This will be our sixth Celebration of Champions event since the plaza was dedicated on a very warm afternoon in October of 2013. We hope that if you're in Tuscaloosa this weekend, you'll join us as we honor Patrick Murphy and his team for a truly outstanding season. We will also recognize our 2018-19 individual national champions, including Shelby McEwen, who won the NCAA men's indoor high jump title, and our men's NCAA champion 200 medley relay team of Zane Waddell, Laurent Bams, Knox Auerbach and Robert Howard.
Classroom Champions to be Recognized Saturday
While we'll celebrate our softball team for their success on the diamond and individual national champions on Friday, we'll honor 10 of our student-athletes, including two softball players, for earning Academic All-America recognition on Saturday during halftime of the Alabama-Ole Miss game. To have one student-athlete earn this prestigious honor is a great accomplishment for a school, so you can imagine our great pride in being the only school in the nation to tally double digit honorees each of the past six year and for totaling an NCAA Division I-best 98 over the past decade. As we all cheer on the Tide against the Rebels on Saturday, please join us in celebrating this truly phenomenal group of scholar-athletes as well.
Track and Field Well-Represented at IAAF World Championships
One current and five former track and field student-athletes are slated to compete at the IAAF World Athletics Championships September 26 – October 10 in Doha, Qatar. Best of luck to Daniel Haugh (men's hammer throw), Kirani James (men's 400m), Mauricia Prieto (women's 200m, 4x100m relay), Shelby McEwen (men's high jump), Jereem Richards (men's 200m, 4x400 relay) and Portious Warren (women's shot put) as they compete on the international stage!
Tide Tipoff Scheduled for October 18
Our men's and women's basketball teams, who both held their first official team practices this week, will welcome in their 2019-20 seasons with the fifth annual Supe Store Tide Tipoff event on Friday, October 18. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the on-court programming will begin at 7 p.m. More details to come!
Softball and Baseball Begin Fall Practice
Not only did official practice begin for our basketball teams this week, but fall practice also began for our softball team and will on Friday for baseball. Softball has five games scheduled across three weekends in October, while baseball is also slated to take part in a handful of fall events, beginning with an intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Student-Athlete Feature Series Continues
I know I mentioned this in my last blog entry, but I strongly encourage all of you to check out our new student-athlete feature stories, if you have not already. These are all first-person accounts of some incredible stories that many people may not be aware of and are certainly worth a read. Our first three come from golfer Davis Shore, softball's Krystal Goodman and track and field student-athlete Bobby Colantonio.
DRIVE for Success Career Fair
Our upperclassmen took part in a career fair earlier this week with more than 35 employers ranging from the FBI to Mercedes, from Ernest and Gallo Winery to Stryker gathering in the North Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium and taking part in the evening. The event, put on by our DRIVE for Success staff gave our student-athletes the chance to explore their options for life after graduation and learn more about different career paths they might want pursue as well as make helpful contacts in the professional realm. This is just another way our student-athlete enhancement initiative prepares members of the Crimson Tide for the next steps in their lives.
MDB to NYC
Congratulations to the Million Dollar Band for being selected to perform at the 2020 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. This will be the first appearance in the Parade by the Million Dollar Band, who will represent the state of Alabama.
University Spotlight
Last week, the University honored fallen Tuscaloosa Police Department Investigator Dornell Cousette. As part of the remembrance, the lights at Bryant-Denny Stadium were illuminated in blue and his patrol car parked at the Walk of Champions, where hundreds visited to pay their respects.
#RollTideFriday
This week, we're keeping it local, honoring educators from Tuscaloosa in our #RollTideFriday features. First, we have several members of the Capstone College of Nursing decked out in their crimson and white, and secondly, we have Danielle Eppes, Nakelya Mullins and Tesney Davis from University Place Elementary School.
Capstone College of Nursing
University Place Elementary School
Remember to use the hashtag #RollTideFriday in your social posts and tweet your photos to me at @Greg_Byrne. We will select two photos to feature in each blog and add even more to our #RollTideFriday Fan Hub.
Schedule of Events
View the list of scheduled events, broadcast information, start times and stat links on our composite calendar. (Note: All times are listed in Central Time.)
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