Athletics Director Greg Byrne's weekly email discussing Wildcat Athletics
Sept. 26, 2012
MOVING ON Our football team's tough loss last week isn't something to which we point with relish. But our pride in our team remains constant, and as in any young program, there's a next step. If you know anything about the story of Bear Down, you know it denotes resilience, among other traits. The next step looms this week at home against 18th-ranked Oregon State. It's a good time to rally and get behind our team 100 percent. This is another test for the program and we need everyone aboard. Let's get Arizona Stadium rocking the way it can be most effective. Family Packs are still available for this game. Get a ticket, hot dog, soda, and either peanuts or popcorn for $25. It's the first of five more Tucson games that give us some serious home-field advantages for 2012. We're 3-0 in the place and plan to Bear Down! COPPER IS HERE By now you've likely heard the copper helmets will make their debut at this Saturday's home football game. The copper mining and smelting history's impact on this state is well known, and we're excited to reflect that heritage with football headgear. New and creative helmet/uniform designs are part of the college game today. In addition to helping bring recognition to our programs and market our department, it's these types of initiatives that bring an element of interest and excitement from our student-athletes and recruits. In this case the story created a national buzz and brought wide-reaching recognition to Arizona Athletics and our University. That exposure is good for our programs. As we kicked around different ideas we wanted to make a connection between our teams, University and State, our traditional colors, and our theme of "Arizona is Wildcat Country." As far as when to debut the copper helmets, we decided what better time than our first Pac-12 home game of the Coach Rodriguez era. We look forward to seeing you in Arizona Stadium this Saturday for their unveiling. There will be some other copper-related surprises throughout the week. Copper merchandise, including replica helmets and mini-helmets, are available now at BearDownShop.com and the A-Store at McKale. As always, wear the colors on Friday and at the game, but this time feel free to compliment your red and blue by adding some copper to the mix. deadline is here for the new ARIZONA STADIUM seating areas The deadline for submitting a request for 2013 seats in the Club Seating at Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and/or the new north end zone lower-bowl is quickly approaching. This is only available to current Wildcat Club members and football season ticket holders. If you meet these criteria and are interested in some of the new seating options, please make sure to submit an online form or call 520-621-CATS by September 30. HOW ABOUT THE FEMALE CATS! Our soccer team split a road trip in the Bay Area, starting with a victory at California to win its Pac-12 opener. The Cats are making some outstanding progress at 5-4-1 and will Bear Down this week at home against the L.A. schools, 3rd-ranked UCLA on Friday and USC on Sunday... In the meantime, our young volleyball squad won the first half-point in the Territorial Rivalry for 2012-13 by beating the school up north in a televised match (P12N) in McKale Center last week before dropping a decision to Washington. The Wildcats will host 7th-ranked Stanford on Friday and Cal on Sunday in McKale working to improve on their 9-4 overall record and 1-1 mark in conference play. Tickets for soccer and volleyball can be purchases online by clicking here... Ourwomen's golf team won the Mason Rudolph Championship event in Nashville, Tenn., last week with sophomore Kendall Prince tying for second among individuals... The women's cross country squad, ranked No. 12 nationally, is keying up for a meet in Louisville, Ky., this Saturday... Also in the wings on the female side,Coach Niya Butts and the women's basketball team will commence full practice on Monday, Oct. 1 in preparation for an exhibition opener in Tucson on Nov. 5, and Coach Mike Candrea's softball team will play host to fall action with two games the first Sunday in October, its Fall Classic the following week and an exhibition against the National Pro Fastpitch All Stars and an Alumni event a few weeks later... Coach Vicky Maes and our women's tennis squad gets a good fall start at the Riviera ITA Championships this weekend in Los Angeles... BUSING TO ARIZONA STADIUM For those of you utilizing the Sun Tran shuttle service from Hi Corbett Field to campus for home football games, please note there is a shuttle service change this Saturday. Due to a community event at Hi Corbett there will be two different boarding locations for Saturday. The first one is at 900 South Randolph Way, riders can park along Randolph Way near the Reid Park Zoo, just north of 22nd street. The other pick up location will be the bus pullout on the northeast corner of 22nd Street at Country Club Road. Riders can park in the lot on the northeast corner of 22nd Street at Country Club Road. The same rates and pick up times apply to these new locations. For those in Phoenix, there is still room on the Cat Cruiser for this Saturday's game. Visithttp://www.bvtravel.com/wildcats for more information. A-CLUB LETTERWINNERS UPDATE Arizona soccer letterwoman, Danielle Nicolai `07 is currently serving as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Meiganga, Cameroon, which is located in West Africa. Danielle has been in Cameroon since June 2011 working as a Community Economic Development Volunteer, working particularly with women's groups teaching them basic banking and economic principles. She also teaches "Income Generating Activities" like soap and lotion making. It doesn't matter if it in Tucson, the United States or West Africa, our Arizona Letterwinners are making a difference and we couldn't be prouder...Bear Down! "Peace Corps seemed like the perfect way to combine my love of helping others while also gaining valuable work experience. Each time I work with a group to teach them how to save money themselves, or even if it's explaining that I played soccer in college, you see their faces' light up!" - Danielle Nicolai TV, AND MORE TV We've had some queries and questions about why cable or other carriers would charge extra for subscribers to see the Pac-12 Network. While not quite like HBO or The Movie Channel, Cinemax or Showtime, it's (P12N) content the carriers feel is premium. Many cable channels are not offered on "basic" service packages, whether the subject is food, history, home decorating, geography, business... and then some are offered in high definition and also placed in an above-basic-service category. We're all learning much about sports television in the past several months. The bottom line is that the Pac-12 Networks make sure every game by all 12 teams for football and men's basketball is offered on television, and hundreds of others events at all league schools. It's outstanding coverage. It's going to cost more. That in turn puts money in Pac-12 coffers, and it in turn has extended an increase in the per-school annual rights fee to help us all move forward and if you read our offerings last week you know that is critical for us moving forward. Charitable Activities and Compliance Fall seems to be a big time of year for various groups to put on fund-raising events, and many wish to involve our coaches and student-athletes in these activities. What does that have to do with compliance? First and foremost, student-athletes can be declared ineligible to compete if they don't adhere to the NCAA rules for taking part in such activities (I.e., have received permission from the A.D. or designee, have paperwork on file signed by an appropriate member of the charitable organization, if they miss class to take part, or if they make an implied or direct endorsement of a commercial aspect of the charity or there is co-sponsorship with commercial entity improperly involved). We instruct our student-athletes not to take part in such activities without having them arranged through the Community Relations Department. We ask those of you wanting to involve our student-athletes in your activities to do the same. We have the convenient request center on our web site (http://www.arizonawildcats.com/school-bio/community-service.html) please make your requests there. You can request participation by our coaches through the same area. Please do not go directly to the student-athletes as their eligibility can be at risk. Many of the charitable activities out there are on the borderline (e.g., those organizations that involve youngsters of all ages, including prospect age, are very difficult to determine if the activity is permissible or not), and we must take great care not to involve our student-athletes in activities that could cause them problems with their eligibility, OR create problems for the department as a whole. Believe it or not, this is one of the trickier aspects compliance folks are involved with. Note that some fund raising activities are not permissible for our student-athletes and/or coaches to be involved in. Fund raising for prospects (any student in the 9th grade or above), prospect's educational expenses, scholastic or non-scholastic sports teams or organizations etc. are not permitted. There are recruiting issues involved in our assisting these types of activities. There are also activities that we are not able to take part in for various reasons including time. Our student-athletes are incredibly busy with their sport, their studies, and trying to have a social life. They just can't be expected to be involved in as may worthwhile activities as they or we would like. NOTES... We received some thanks from Art Braucksick about a hospital visit some of our student-athletes made to the Diamond Children's Center at UMC recently. The visits and all of our outreach by student-athletes and coaches are an important aspect to intercollegiate athletics, and beneficial to both the participants and those whom they touch. Thanks to all who take part... A fan in West Virginia wrote that he and a group have been following Wildcat football (and former WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez and staff) closely. The Wildcat Movementcrosses the country... We're enthused by notes and comments from all over the country about the University of Arizona, and what it means/has meant to people. Wildcat athletics is part of many people's lives and there's plenty of "fight, Wildcats, fight" spirit in all of them... CATS AND KIDS Below, UA basketball players on a recent visit to UMC's Diamond Children's Center, with patient Bryce Crane and his mom, Tracey. At bottom, Gene Garcia's cat takes a nap. Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
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