Thursdays With Greg Byrne - 2/19/09
bulldog-club@athletics.msstate.edu
COHEN’S DIAMOND DAWGS BEGIN SEASON TOMORROW
It seems like it has been a long time coming, but it is finally here. Baseball coach John Cohen and his Diamond Dawgs will throw out the first pitch on their 2009 season tomorrow at Dudy Noble Field.
We will host the BankFirst Challenge and welcome Northern Illinois and
We hope you can come out to the diamond and welcome John back home. If not, we are offering all four of our games in the Challenge free of charge on Maroon to the Max, MSU’s premium audio/video streaming service. Fans interested in viewing the games live are encouraged to click here for more information.
A couple of notes that you should keep in mind as we move toward first pitch: all reserved parking lots and handicapped lots will be manned at least 30 minutes prior to gates opening...handicapped parking is located between Dudy Noble Field and Humphrey Coliseum...sky box owner parking is limited to the 16 spaces between Dudy Noble and Coliseum with specific pass only...the grandstand ticket office and left field ticket office, as well as all gates into the stadium, will open one and one-half hours before game time for non-conference games and two hours prior to SEC games...remember, reserved general admission and outfield tickets may be purchased in advance of the box office opening, either in person at the Bryan Building ticket office or on-line through the athletic web site...students are admitted with a valid MSU identification card at no charge.
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2009 BULLDOG CLUB PLEDGES; MEMBERSHIPS
The 2009 football season ticket sales campaign is now underway on-line for new ticket purchasers and renewals. Those folks who renew their tickets on-line will notice a minimum pledge total has already been entered into their account. This reflects the minimum amount necessary to maintain 2008 seat locations.
Many of you give generously above and beyond this minimum amount in order to ensure a higher priority for parking, basketball season tickets, post-season tickets, etc. We thank you for your contribution and hope that you will continue to do so. Remember, your parking and basketball seat locations are determined by your priority rank in the Bulldog Club. A major component of the Bulldog Club priority point system is your current annual gift.
If you choose to make an additional pledge, please log in to your Dog Tag account to increase your pledge, contact the Bulldog Club office (662-325-3074) or at the email address above.
Bulldog Club pledges must be paid by December 31 each year. Click here to view The Bulldog Club policy manual online.
The Bulldog Club is reporting over 300 new members already this year, with 200 or so of those having no previous giving history at all. That group alone accounts for more than $100,000 in new gifts, with a $20,000 donation coming from one new member. That is a great start!
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BULLDOG CLUB TO COORDINATE MEMORABILIA REQUESTS
We often receive requests from folks interested in our department donating items for gifts or charity auctions. We are limited to a degree in what we can do based upon state law. We can not supply items purchased with state funds for these types of activities. We can, however, channel such requests through private funds, if we deem such needs to be worthy. From this point forward, all requests for memorabilia, to include autographed items, must go through the Bulldog Club.
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SBW PRESENTED BY REGIONS BANK COOKING AREA SET
Last week in this column we announced the Super Bulldog Weekend Presented by Regions Bank schedule of athletic events. Since that release of information, the location of the 23rd annual Pig Cooking Contest has been determined. Cookers will set up their rigs in the parking area behind McArthur Hall. For more information, visit this link. As we move forward, we will periodically release additional announcements that pertain to the weekend. Next week, we will announce the spring football practice schedule and more details about Super Bulldog Weekend.
Once again, we want to have a great turnout for not only John Cohen’s SEC weekend series with Kentucky, we want to show head football coach Dan Mullen the excitement we know you have for the upcoming football season.
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GREMILLION NAMED JANUARY EMPLOYEE OF MONTH
We are excited to announce that Justin Gremillion has been named our January Employee of the Month. Justin works in the athletic training room in the
Justin, who is a graduate of
Each month we accept nominations for employees who go above and beyond their job description for the betterment of our student-athletes.
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CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO JAY MILLER . . . AGAIN
In this column last week, we congratulated head softball coach Jay Miller for being selected as one of 14 coaches that will serve in the 2009 United States Women’s National Team coaching pool for the 2009-2012 quadrennium.
It is with much excitement and pride that we reported earlier this week that coach Miller has been selected to the prestigious position of head coach of the USA Softball Women’s National Team. He will now lead the four-time Olympic medal-winning team as it enters the 2009 season. Coach Miller will serve as Team
In 2007, coach Miller led the USA Junior National Team to the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in the
Miller, who was recently selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, has won 932 games during his college softball coaching career to rank 12th nationally among active coaches. His 220 wins as State’s head coach are tied for the most in school history.
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DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE SERVICE AWARDS
We wanted to devote space in this column this week to the athletic department staff members who are receiving years of service awards this spring. Phil Silva, who heads up our athletic equipment areas, will receive his 25-year award in 2009. Business office employee Brenda Edwards, ticket office assistant Brenda Lucas, and head track and field coach Al Schmidt have all been here 20 years now. Men’s assistant basketball coach Robert Kirby, compliance office administrative assistant Debbie Dearmon, football assistant coach Rockey Felker, and John Cade, who oversees our web site, have served 15 seasons. Angie Jabri and Susan Simmons, administrative assistants in football, and football assistant coach Melvin Smith, have all been with us 10 years. Bart Gregory, in the Bulldog Club, Shaun Taylor, in game operations, John McCallister, in strength and conditioning, and Jim Ellis, who now devotes his time to Learfield Communications, will all receive their five-year pins.
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SUPPORT YOUR TEAMS AS THE SEASON WINDS DOWN
Our men’s and women’s basketball teams enter the final stretch run for post-season tournament berths during the next few weeks. They need your support here in the Coliseum. Click these links to view the remainder of these two schedules: men's basketball | women's basketball. Televised games are also noted on those schedules.
Spring sports are in the early stages of their seasons. Their events are part of the master schedule on our web site.
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1. Buy Season Tickets
2. Financially Support the Bulldog Club
3. Get Others To Do The Same
Thanks for taking the time to read this update.
Go Dawgs!
Greg Byrne
byrne@athletics.msstate.edu