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.
Thompson High defensive lineman Peter Woods announced on Thursday that he committed to Clemson. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Woods could play either tackle or end in college. Woods had nearly 40 scholarship offers, according to On3 Sports. He recently trimmed the list to Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Jackson State.
The United States and Canada had the most dominant victories on the opening day of the men’s lacrosse competition in the World Games. Yet, neither were the most compelling story on a steamy Friday at PNC Field on the UAB campus. That honor went to an Ireland team that didn’t play and a Haudenosaunee Confederacy team that lost by double digits.
A large crowd wedged their way into Protective Stadium seats, corridors and luxury suites to party for a few hours during the opening ceremonies for the World Games. It was a splashy ending to the day before the world begins competing in Birmingham.
More than 3,600 athletes from over 100 countries are in town for nearly two weeks to compete in the 11th edition of the World Games. Santa Clara, Calif. hosted the inaugural World Games in 1981. It hasn’t been held in an U.S. city since arriving in Birmingham. Planning began about the same time the most recent World Games ended in July of 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.
On Monday, Bryant Vincent secured a commitment from defensive back Christopher Bracy of Mobile’s St. Paul’s Episcopal. It was the first commitment since Vincent became the program’s interim head coach. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Bracy, whose brother, Reggie, is a safety at Iowa, announced the news on Twitter.
Backup quarterback Alex McGough delivered the unexpected and linebacker Scooby Wright did what was expected from him by being in the right place at the right time.
What an example for the other cities in this league and what this can be when they all do have the opportunity to go home, whenever that is,” said Holtz.