Athletics Director Greg Byrne's weekly email discussing Wildcat Athletics
Athletics Director Greg Byrne
Nov. 11, 2010
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
On Thursday, all University offices will be closed in observance of Veteran's Day (although our online ticketingprocess still will be available). Many people who don't get such a holiday are those men and women serving in our Armed Forces. One of them, Capt. Tim Ashcraft (son of UA grads and Drs. David and Joan Ashcraft), an Apache helicopter pilot, is shown here honoring some colors at a forward operations base in Afghanistan. The banner is said to have hung at Arizona Stadium for several years in the 1970s, courtesy of Tim's grandfather, longtime UA employee C.L."Stub" Ashcraft. Thank you for your service Capt. Ashcraft!
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
2010 women's tennis senior Ariane Masschelein, was named the female winner of the Pac-10 Leadership Award for 2009-10 yesterday along with UCLA basketball player Sean Mustafa Abdul-Hamid. The honor includes a $3,000 award for post-graduate studies, which Ariane will put to good use after finishing up her undergraduate degree in accounting at the UA. The winners of the award are selected by the Pac-10 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and are for meritorious achievement in athletics, community service, scholastics and service to their institutions' student-athlete advisory committees. Well done, Ariane.
GOOD MORNING, SIR
How important can three little words be? A father of a USC student wrote a letter to the Arizona Daily Wildcat last week relating an elevator ride in Glendale, Calif., where one of our Wildcats joined his group in the elevator. Some simple courtesies paid off handsomely in this instance. The conversation displayed not only one of our player’s good manners, but also how far-reaching those habits can be. Wish we knew who it was, but it's nice to think it could have been any of 64 Wildcats on the trip.
HERE'S A STUDENT-ATHLETE
We're nominating one of our football players for an award and in doing so needed a look at his community service. It never ceases to amaze us how much some of our student-athletes support others. Victor Yates, a defensive back, has contributed 45 hours during his career to community service, appearing in role- modeling talks at half a dozen high schools, middle schools and elementary schools as well as with area youth football leagues. He's visited children's wards at University Medical Center, and worked on projects for the Tucson Community Food Bank, the Tucson Children's Museum, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Sierra Vista Rotary Club. He has emphasized a love of reading with kids, mentored children on balancing athletics and academics, and taught STEP-UP! style decision making. His enthusiasm on the field has been an infectious part of UA's defense throughout his career here. Victor's a student-athlete who no doubt will put his soon-to-be-earned sociology degree to advantage - his and many others. Whether he wins the award is inconsequential. He's not the stuff of sports-page headlines, but his dedication to his college experience is the kind of student-athlete we want. The good news is that there are many others like him among our 19 sports programs.
BOWLING ON THE HORIZON
There is a quarter of the football season to be played and our 7-2 Arizona Football team is poised for a solid postseason trip to a bowl game. There are as many scenarios as Pac-10-affiliated bowls but we're qualified and will be going. We won't hazard any guesses just yet as to Arizona's destination, but we'll find out more in the next couple of weeks, for sure. Make sure you're here at Arizona Stadium this Saturday to help cheer UA on against USC.
2010 football season ticket holders and current Wildcat Club members have the exclusive opportunity to request bowl tickets, based upon the Priority Point System, before tickets go on sale to the general public.This exclusive request period is available online now, and will end at 12:00pm on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Phone orders begin on Monday, Dec. 6 at 9:00am. If you are not a current season ticket holder or Wildcat Club member you may donate nowto become a Wildcat Club member and request tickets.
BASKETBALL IN MCKALE
Both our men’s and women’s basketball teams are now under way and tickets can be had. You know that our livelihood and growth depend on revenue, and how important basketball is for that equation. The Arizona Daily Star had a story yesterday morning about remaining tickets for men's games... and how purchasing them now, ahead of the ascent we expect of Sean Miller's program, is a wise move. If you've been thinking men's ticketsare scarce, re-think now and join us. Niya Butts' women's program also has an exciting look this year - the 109-point game last weekend as an example.
Also, here's a reminder that March Madness is coming to Tucson. The Second-Third Rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship will be held in McKale Center March 17 and 19. It's an outstanding spectator event that starts with "open practice day" on the 16th. After we fill our arena for our Arizona games in 2010-11, we want to be sold out for this marquee NCAA event. All ticketing is being handled by Ticketmaster and it would be nice for you to join us watch eight teams vie to move on to the “Sweet Sixteen.”
NOTES... Good luck to our women's cross country team at this weekend's NCAA Regionals in Eugene, Ore. Go Cats!... Our No. 20-ranked women's volleyball opens its final six games of the regular season against the L.A. schools on the road... At halftime of the football game this week we'll be honoring the jerseys of eight former Wildcats -- Art "The Cactus Comet" Luppino (whose jersey has been up for several years), Antoine Cason, Chuck Cecil, Ricky Hunley, Darryll Lewis, Chris McAlister, Steve McLaughlin and Rob Waldrop... Jessica Hernandez of the Tucson Orthopedic Institute wrote that its Human Resources department has given the staff a green light on participating in Bear Down Fridays by wearing the colors. She spent more than a little time convincing the institute to let its employees participate…
Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
Buy season tickets
Join the Wildcat Club
Wear the Colors (especially Friday)
Get others to do the same
Bear Down with Pride,
Greg Byrne Director of Athletics University of Arizona uofaad@arizona.edu
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