Athletics Director Greg Byrne's weekly email discussing Wildcat Athletics
Nov. 28, 2012
LAST FRIDAY
Since we regularly speak about Bearing Down with Pride it is appropriate to offer congratulations to our rival school on their victory. Moving on from that I want to thank our fans. I have been fortunate to attend a lot of college football games all over the country, including eight years in the SEC. I thought that our effort as a fan base last Friday was as good as I have ever seen. You filled up Arizona Stadium, you were loud and you supported the team until the end. Thank you. You not only made a positive impact on our team but you made a positive impact on a number of recruits from various sports that were in attendance. Each of us makes the University of Arizona to be as strong as it can possibly be...we appreciate the difference you made and look forward to continuing to make it better. BOWL GAME ON THE HORIZON With the 7-5 season, a noteworthy three-game improvement over 2011, our football team will play in a bowl game. The actual bowl is TBA, with an announcement likely this Sunday after all the conference championships are played out, including the Pac-12 Championship Game between host Stanford and UCLA.Please check our bowl-game information page here, and follow the link to make an early ticket request. We are also partnering with Bon Voyage Travel to provide travel packages. They are still working on the details, but after the bowl game is officially announced click here to visit their bowl page and sign up for a travel package. There are a number of bowl possibilities based on what happens in the football landscape this week. We sure want an enthusiastic Arizona contingent on hand to support our team. That helps our current team and helps solidify us for the future as a team that travels well for the postseason. SHINING IN CROSS COUNTRY Our cross country runners capped a solid season with a women's sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and male competitors Stephen Sambu and Lawi Lalang earning No. 2 and No. 3 in the men's race earning them All-America honors. Elvin Kibet and Jen Bergman also earned All-America honors, in leading the women to a strong finish. We also had Nicci Corbin, Elizabeth Apgar and Amanda Russell score points, with Stephanie Bulder and Clea Formaz competed. Lalang won second consecutive Pac-12 Male Athlete of the Year and USTFCCCA West Region Male Athlete of the Year honors after his Pac-12 and NCAA West titles. Kibet and Bergman joined the two men as first-team All-Pac-12 honorees. BASKETBALL SINGLE-GAME SATURDAY As we move into December we move closer to arguably the most anticipated non-conference basketball home game since Coach Sean Miller has been here - December 15, #9 Arizona vs. #7 Florida. Single-game tickets for this game, and all remaining home games, go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. on ArizonaWildcats.com. Tickets will be available online only throughout the weekend. Fans can order over the phone (520-621-CATS) or in person at the McKale Ticket Office starting Monday morning at 9 a.m. Thanks to the mini-plan packages and this past Friday's Black Friday promotion, we have already sold the majority of tickets to the Florida game, January 24th UCLA game and the March 9th game against our rivals. If you're interested in getting tickets to one of these games, please do so this week to get the best seat location possible. Click here on Saturday to purchase single-game tickets. Holiday Packs will remain on sale while supplies last. The Holiday Pack includes the December 15th game vs. #7 Florida, the December 18th game vs. Oral Roberts, the January 3rd game vs. #19 Colorado and the January 5th game vs. Utah. Click here to buy a Holiday Pack. END OF THE ROAD Thank you to all the fans for supporting Wilma T. Wildcat this season in the mascot challenge. She landed just out of the top eight, thus taking her out of the final leg of competition. However, she did finish higher than other notable mascots like Bucky Badger from Wisconsin (Wilbur made sure of that), Mike the LSU Tiger and our Pac-12 foe the Oregon Duck. She could not have finished that high without the great support of Wildcat Nation behind her. Although she may not have won the competition, she will always be a winner to us and, of course, Wilbur. A-CLUB LETTERWINNER UPDATE Jasmine Day, women's track and field (`06-`10) and soccer (`07-`08), is currently a Sports and Lifestyle model still using many of her sports skills. Her modeling ranges from magazine print work to feature films. She additionally volunteers working with local schools to mentor middle school students in an after school program. During track and field seasons she volunteers at Pacifica High helping coach their "jumpers." During her stint at Arizona she was a two-time track & field indoor/outdoor NCAA All-American and received All-Conference and All-Region honors. Jasmine, Arizona Athletics and the A-Club are proud of your accomplishments and your continuous hard work towards living your dream. Bear Down, Jazzy! EXCELLENCE HONORED Congratulations to Head Coach Andy Lopez who was honored this past weekend at the University of Arizona Hispanic Alumni's Portraits of Excellence scholarship dinner. Andy was named the honoree for this annual event early last year before he and the baseball team went on to win the national championship. This honor only added to the long list of accomplishments he has received in his career. He is a great example of what it means to be a leader on and off the diamond and we are lucky to have him here at Arizona Athletics and the University of Arizona. Congrats, Andy! WILDCAT CLUB: WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU As we celebrated Thanksgiving last week, we were able to take some time to reflect on the numerous things we have to be thankful for here in the Athletics Department. Not only do we have nearly 500 student-athletes who continue to amaze us every day with their incredible accomplishments, we also have a strong support system in the form of our Wildcat Club members. Most recently, we want to thank those people who have chosen to designate their year-end gift to Arizona Athletics by making a tax-deductible donation or by purchasing a Legacy Lane tile. We are so lucky to have a group of donors who believe in our mission and continue to lend support year-in and year-out. Thank you for helping us Bear Down! COMPLIANCE REMINDERS As many of our coaches head into winter recruiting periods remember that you, the supporters and fans, cannot be part of that process. Only coaches (and specified staff for administrative purposes) may contact or deal with prospective student-athletes. Please don¹t try to interject yourself into the process via social media. I urge you to step back and appreciate the recruiting of student-athletes from a distance. This protects us and the recruits. Our compliance director, Bill Morgan, can be heard to say to student-athletes, "If it's not available to the general student body, it's not available to you," as a means of describing improper gifts or services. Please, do not jeopardize our student-athletes¹ eligibility or our institution¹s reputation with improper actions. Providing anything of value to a student-athlete is most likely going to be a problem. We have the people available to help if you have questions about this major concern. Please take advantage of our resources. WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Check out our weekly schedule graphic at the bottom of this email. Right click, save and share! CATS A PLENTY Below, Wildcat craze on the Navajo Nation! (top from left) Jordan Brown, Emmett Francis (alumni), Leroy Walters (alumni), Lisa Jymmm and (bottom from left) Nanette Francisco, Jolene Russell, Miriam Davis, and Vickey Mannie. Middle, members of the Sylvester family in San Diego - (from left) Samuel, Marie, Matthew, Hannah, Juliana, Abigail, Brigid and Kyle. At bottom, Keira ('95), with William, Collier, Evan - wrong hat - and Ed Moody ('97) on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Make sure your support for the Arizona Wildcats is always hot... Bear Down. Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
Tickets
Roster
Schedule
