Feb. 9, 2011
This is a reposting of the Wildcat Wednesday weekly email sent by Athletic Director Greg Byrne to all the wildcat fans around the country. If you would like to sign up to receive the email directly please sign up here.
JUST BACK FROM PAC-12 MEETINGS
Last night I returned from Los Angeles after spending the last two days with our conference AD's and conference staff. On the second day we joined with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, SEC Associate Commissioner Greg Sankey, representatives from the NCAA, NFL, NFLPA and three sports agents in a forum that was created by USC Athletic Director Pat Haden. We discussed the very real issues that we all are dealing with regarding agents and their impact on intercollegiate sports. There were a lot of issues discussed - Universities involvement with education of our student-athletes, compliance relations, coaches involvement, runners, brand managers, financial advisors and many others. It was great to see the commitment from the NFL, agents and the NCAA to recognize some of the issues that are out there and how best to manage those issues while looking after the best interests of the student-athlete, universities and the NFL. There were no clear-cut solutions, but it was a great first step in moving the ball forward to find long term-resolution.
FRANKLY SPEAKING
Men's and women's swimming and diving coach Frank Busch will lead his charges in what will be his final dual meet against ASU this weekend at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. It's also Senior Day for the Wildcats, starting at 12:30 p.m. At that time, Coach Busch will talk about the departing seniors' contributions to the program. Coach Busch's position as National Team Director for USA Swimming won't start until May, but come out and support our team and thank Coach Busch for his service to our University.
THE VALLEY OF THE SUN
The Arizona-California triple-overtime basketball game last Saturday on FOX Sports Arizona was viewed by 74,000 Phoenix households at its conclusion, according to Nielsen figures cited by the network. That matched numbers for the ASU-UA game earlier this season. We're sure happy to have such support from the metropolitan Phoenix area. The network will show the Arizona-ASU game from Tempe at 7 p.m. on Sunday, too.
UA TIPOFF TASTE
Speaking of Phoenix, Sean Miller and I will be in town this Saturday (February 12th) for the University of Arizona Alumni Association’s “UA Tipoff Taste.” The event starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel and you can find out more information or purchase tickets HERE. Hope to see you at the event.
ARIZONA HALL OF FAME VOTE
FOOTBALL DRAWS CROWDS
The NCAA reported this week that 49,600,000 fans attended college football games in 2010, an increase of 1.3 million fans from the previous year and a record high. The total represents nearly 900 crowds at Arizona Stadium! We were pleased to draw well above 90 percent of capacity for our games and are doing everything in our power to make the game-day experience more enjoyable and more attractive. Mike Stoops' mini-preview of 2011 prospects during his signing day events sure made it appear that an exciting offense will be part of that.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
It's after the fact for one event -- the Super Bowl -- but last week our entire ICA staff was reminded by the NCAA via our compliance office about the pitfalls of sports wagering. Coming up soon are the NCAA Basketball Championships, another event that draws considerable speculation and, for us, the potential for talk of improper and devastating gambling. We'd appreciate it if you attend our events and view all intercollegiate competition as just that -- competition. Please keep our best interests at heart and keep talk of point spreads, favorites, odds and any and all such wagering language out of University of Arizona Athletics' vocabulary.
NOTES...
Some staff took a call from one of our fans in Fiji the other day, a query about the game time this week. It just points out the global nature of our fans. That's a 6,000-mile phone call, roughly the same as one-fourth of the way around Earth at the equator. Keep up the interest out there!... Our 9th-ranked women's golf team won the Arizona Invitation yesterday, with Isabelle Boineaw winning the individual title… Our No. 6 men's and No. 7 women's swimming teams play host to Arizona State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hillenbrand. Although head-to-head competition, it does not count in the State Farm Territorial Cup Series -- that will shake out at the Pac-10 Championships later this month and the first week of March... Our No. 2-ranked softball team opens the 2011 season in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe this week. Check this week's softball release for the times of the six games Thursday through Sunday at either the Tempe Sports Complex or ASU's Farrington Stadium... The women's basketball team plays host to the squad from up north at 2 p.m. Sunday in McKale Center. The men will be on the road at ASU later that evening... Men's tennis hosts New Mexico at 1 p.m. Friday, and San Diego at noon Sunday, at the Robson Center... The women's tennis team is on the road, as are men's and women's track and gymnastics. The gymnastics team posted some outstanding scores and a season-best team total in a meet last weekend against Illinois-Chicago in McKale...
Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
- Buy Season Tickets
- Join the Wildcat Club
- Become a Fund Drive Volunteer
- Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
- Get Others to Do the Same
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