Tuesday was a time for Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill to celebrate the recent accomplishments of the football teams in the conference. It was also time to welcome four new members, who Gill believes will increase the strength of the conference.
June 27 wasn’t the culmination of Bryant Vincent’s grinding journey through the coaching profession. The 46-year-old Kentucky native still has plenty of work left before he hangs his whistle up and kicks his feet up. June 27 was certainly different, though. It was the first day he woke up as a college football head coach. It was two days following Bill Clark’s stunning announcement that he was stepping down as UAB’s head coach to deal with back problems.
Andy Kennedy met with media members on Monday afternoon to catch up on what has been a news-filled time for the UAB men’s basketball team.
His coaching resume, at least his regular season coaching resume, begins when Eddie Robinson Jr. leads his Alabama State team into the 2022 season opener on Aug. 27 in Atlanta in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against Howard University.
Former Alabama wide receiver John Metchie III said on Sunday that he was diagnosed with leukemia and will probably not play in his first NFL season with the Houston Texans.
Bryan Harsin didn’t wait for any questions about the attempts to push him out as Auburn’s football coach last February. Instead, he took care of that by himself during his time at the podium on the final day of SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Grambling football coach Hue Jackson was asked about a specific player during the Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day on Thursday. A smile lit up on his face when he heard the question about incoming freshman Ryan Peppins.
Simply listening to Jon Sumrall recall his first month as a college football head coach leaves you a little bit dizzy.
UAB men’s basketball head coach Andy Kennedy will receive a raise and contract extension after directing his team into the NCAA Tournament in his second season at the helm of the program.
Nick Saban, who, at least on the field and in the recruiting world, is probably as responsible as anyone in college football for the sport being top heavy at this moment, is concerned about competitive balance.
The Southeastern Conference is a step ahead the rest of college football when it comes to building super conferences. And the SEC will not resort to being reactionary when other conference attempt to strengthen their footprints.
Heat and hospitality. How’s that for a quick summation of 10 days in July in Birmingham, Alabama with the world in town for the 11th edition of the World Games?
The minimum goal, at least for the Belgium Korfball team coming into the World Games in Birmingham, was to make the gold medal game. The Belgium did just that on Saturday with a down-to-the-wire 19-18 win Chinese Taipei. Now the hard part starts. Next up is the Netherlands.
Once again, Birmingham showed up to support lacrosse. Once again, Canada spoiled the party by securing the gold medal. This time, the Canadian women’s lacrosse team saved its best for last with a decisive fourth quarter in a 14-12 victory over the U.S. before more a noisy crowd of 2,000 at PNC Field on the UAB campus.
“Luckily nothing was in my mind,” said Williams, who was tracking down what became a perfectly placed throw by teammate Grant Lindsley. “I just saw the disc and it was go catch it. Luckily, in those moments, for me at least, it’s a simple game of catch.” Catch it he did, giving the U.S. a 13-11 World Games win over Australia in the Flying Disc gold medal game in front of an overflow crowd at John Carroll High’s football stadium. It touched off a wild celebration in the South end zone and created a memory that will last a lifetime.
One step away from the podium is a positive step forward for the United States beach handball programs. Both men’s and women’s team advanced through pool play into the medal round. Each lost in Thursday’s semifinals, the men’s team dropping a shootout to Croatia, and each fell in the bronze medal game on Friday.
The world’s flag football audition to include the sport in The Olympic Games finished with the United States having to share the gold. The United States mens’ team outlasted Italy, 46-36, to capture the gold medal on Thursday night. However, the U.S. fell short of taking home pair of gold medals as Mexico’s women’s team blitzed the Americans, 39-6, in the nightcap.
“My manager called me and said the UFC is not going to like that,” Anders said.
Smooth was not part of the process. Perhaps that made the celebration even sweeter after the United States softball team battled its way to a gritty 3-2 World Games Gold Medal victory over Japan on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of more than 8,000 at the Hoover Met. “You can’t write it any better than this,” said U.S. captain Haylie McCleney, a graduate of nearby Mortimer Jordan High.
The first professional tenant of the new Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville will be a MLS Next Pro team, which will be affiliated with the Nashville Soccer Club. The announcement came on Tuesday from the City of Huntsville and Nashville SC.
The first winner – the ones who left PNC with gold medals around their necks – was a marvelous Canada team, which blitzed the competition from its opening faceoff in Birmingham and culminated the experience by blitzing a strong United States team, 23-9, in the championship game.
Brady Ellison has competed in the World Games three times, including the past four days in Birmingham. Each time, he stood on the podium, silver medal hanging around his neck, listening to someone else’s national anthem. This time, he said, it came down to a pair of errant shots.
The pain was evident without words. Tears overcame Ukrainian Sumo wrestler Alina Duzhenko for a moment, before she got her chance to speak. Four other Ukrainian athletes sat nearby inside the World Games media center, waiting to tell their stories, staring numbly into the group of reporters and World Game officials. Once they got their chance to speak the words tumbled out for about 45 minutes.
Canada has been the most dominant team during the first four days of the World Games men’s lacrosse competition at PNC Field on the UAB campus. The Canadian team outscored four opponents, 95-37, and don’t have a winning margin under double digits.
Four weeks of summer practice are in the books. Four more weeks remain before the UAB basketball team transitions into the fall semester. Andy Kennedy likes what he sees thus far.
Both times, the game-winning touchdown was delivered to the back corner of the end zone. Neither one offered an inch to spare. Oh, the perks of playing on a big stage. We’ll let Vanita Krouch, the starting quarterback for the U.S. in the women’s flag football competition at the World Games, explain.
All in all, it was excellent entertainment. And the best news that was just part of a spectacular afternoon and evening of Sumo action, in front of a sold-out crowd of approximately 3,500, as part of World Games 2022.