The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Continues to Battle Through Heat During Wednesday's Practice
8/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In continuing to prepare for the upcoming 2006 football season, UAB endured above-90 temperatures once again during Wednesday morning's practice in full pads. The 9 a.m. start time does not seem to give the squad a break from the heat as temperatures climb into the 90s during the morning hours.
Despite a few cases of players getting overheated during practice, head coach Watson Brown feels that battling through the heat is part of every preseason football camp.
"Everywhere I have been, whenever you are pushing your team in this kind of weather, you see this," expressed Brown. "People get a little overheated at times and they get exhausted. I think that's just part of it, but it also tells me that the kids are going hard. They are really practicing hard."
With just over two weeks remaining from the Blazers' opening game, Brown is confident that the squad will get to where it needs to be before opening day.
"I would say we are where I thought we would be at this point," commented Brown. "We are not there yet. I think we are better than we were on Saturday. This week and next week are very important. The last week you get your legs back and get a lot of mental reps during the week of a game."
The Blazers are set for another day of pad practices on Thursday morning, with a second session schedule for Thursday afternoon in shorts. Thursday will mark the third consecutive day this week that the team has practiced in full pads.
"I think you are getting physical play with the pad-on-pad practices," said Brown. "You're getting conditioning and you're getting the best discipline you can get because it is hard to be disciplined when you are tired."
UAB is scheduled to kick off its 2006 campaign on September 2 when the Blazers travel to Norman, Okla. to take on the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be nationally televised on TBS.
The radio coverage can be heard on the Blazers ISP Sports Network, beginning at 4:30 p.m. CST. Birmingham listeners can follow all the action on WYDE 101.1 FM, and WIQR 1410 AM in Montgomery.
