The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
BONES AND BASKETBALL
11/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | General
Nov. 19, 2010
Blazer fans,
This week has been another busy one...next week will be even worse, so I'll warn you right now, the odds of a blog appearing with my name on it next week are not very good. But we'll see. Perhaps the craziness will be at a lower lever than I'm expecting.
Basketball started the week with a solid win on the road. The Green and Gold knocked off Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday night in the first road game of the season. The Blazers used a good run at the end of the first half (and hot shooting from behind the arc courtesy Dexter Fields) to lead by nine at intermission. UAB then extended the lead early in the second. The Blue Raiders made the expected rally down the stretch, and Mike Davis saw his team hang on in the closing minutes. Jamarr Sanders was on his game, Cameron Moore had a double-double, and Aaron Johnson provided pesky defense and 10 assists.
The 76-71 win was a good preview for the Blazers, as they'll play five of their next seven games away from home, including Saturday's tilt with the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe. Fans in Birmingham can hear the game on WJOX-AM 690 starting with pre-game at 2:30 PM. Steve Mitchell and Doug Franz will have the call.
One other note from Wednesday's game against MTSU...anyone notice the uniforms? If so, did anyone notice if they had numbers? ;) You can check out Donnie Marsh's latest blog on www.uabsports.com for more on the unis.
On to football, and Saturday's "Battle for the Bones." UAB welcomes Memphis to Legion Field for a 3 PM kick-off. I hope you're making your plans to be with us, for any number of reasons. It's the final home game of the season...it's Senior Day for 20 Blazers...it's going to be beautiful...people will be cooking ribs outside the stadium...it's Memphis...and it's a chance to keep the 100-pound, bronzed rack of ribs trophy in the Magic City. The Blazers got the "Bones" back last season, and now they hope to make it a two-game winning streak over the Tigers. Memphis comes in at 1-9 on the year, but the coaches all say they are a very capable team...the same thing they said about Marshall, and we all know what happened when the Herd came to town.
There will be a lot going on surrounding the game, and it should be a lot of fun. There will be a TON of food being prepared outside the stadium as teams compete in the "Battle for the Bones" Barbecue Competition before the game. As a part of that, ABC 33/40 will air a 30-minute special on the game at the barbecue competition at 1:30 PM. I hope you'll tune in and then come join us at Legion Field. Pre-game on the Blazer Sports Network will start at 1:30 PM, live from Blazer Village.
As far as next week goes...yikes. Here's the broadcast rundown: TUESDAY - Basketball vs. South Alabama (7 PM at Bartow Arena)...WEDNESDAY - Blazer Sportsline with Neil Callaway (7-8 PM) live from Baumhower's Wings Restaurant (Patton Creek)...FRIDAY - Basketball vs. Arkansas (in Little Rock, AR - 7 PM)...SATURDAY - Football at Rice (2:30 PM). Squeeze in some turkey and dressing on Thursday, and you've got yourself quite a week.
I look forward to seeing a good crowd at Legion Field on Saturday...the players certainly deserve it...and you can probably feed a small army with the leftover ribs. Let's hope the basketball Blazers take care of business out west, and then let's all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Week, filled with UAB wins all over the place.
If I don't "see" you next week, have a safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Go Blazers!!!
DC
