Thursdays With Greg Byrne - 3/18/10
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MSU MOVES TO ROUND OF 16, MEN AND WOMEN PLAY
Coach Rick Stansbury's men's basketball team opened the National Invitation Tournament with a win over Jackson State and is now in the final 16 teams of that tournament.
Our men's team has the unique opportunity to play host to traditional Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina this Saturday at 11 a.m. I hope you will be able to be with us in the Hump to see our team line up against the Tar Heels, one of the truly historic programs in all of college basketball.
If you ordered first round NIT tickets, your tickets were automatically renewed and can be processed and printed at home through your Dog Tag account. You will have until 5 p.m. CT tonight, March 18, to process your payment and print your tickets at home. Any tickets not processed and printed by customers by 5 p.m. today will be printed by the Ticket Office and available at will call in the Bryan Athletic Administration Building Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT and at The Hump will call area beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Student tickets are available now at the Bryan Building ticket office as well. The ticket office is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $4 and must be purchased in person and students must present a valid student ID. One ticket per student, please. Students will receive reserved seat tickets and will be assigned in regular student sections.
Student tickets will also be available on Saturday morning at the Hump ticket office, located at the southeast corner of the arena, beginning at 9 a.m., based on availability. On game day, student tickets may be purchased at the main box office in the Hump.
Coach Sharon Fanning-Otis' women's team opens play in the NCAA Tournament this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT against Middle Tennessee State in Pittsburgh, Pa. It is the second-straight appearance by our women's team in the NCAA field. They would play the winner of the Ohio State-St. Francis game on Tuesday should they knock off MTSU.
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OLD NEWS NOW, BUT...
We were obviously disappointed by not receiving an invitation to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. As I have said publicly, we felt our team was certainly deserving.
Despite that, I thought our team rebounded from the physical exhaustion of having to play quality competition for three straight days, the mental depression of losing a game they thought they had won, and with just one day's rest, won a tournament game. That was impressive.
We now have a wonderful opportunity to welcome North Carolina to Humphrey Coliseum and give our student-athletes and fans a great experience.
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BULLDOG CLUB PLEDGE DEADLINE APPROACHING
Bulldog Club members are reminded that their pledge deadline for football season ticket priority is rapidly approaching. Members must have their 2010-11 pledges in the Bulldog Club office by April 1.
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WE LOVE TO HEAR THAT WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
We recently received this communication from Jeffrey Rupp, who handles many community outreach programs for the university. Recently, we worked with Jeffrey who hosted a Scout Day on our campus and tied much of it to athletics:
"Greg,
Just wanted to let you know that this year's MSU-Scout day was a huge success, 50% larger than last year, and it was due in no small part to your athletic department. A couple of highlights:
* Women's Tennis coach Daryl Greenan had his entire team show up at 7:30 in the morning even though they were not part of the program. He wanted them involved.
* (Football assistant coach) John Hevesy assigned a grad student to carry a young boy in a wheelchair onto the Shira practice field and be his BFF. At the end of the clinic the boy was hitting the blocking pads by ramming them with his wheelchair.
* MSU basketball player Taylor Luczak not only showed up to help with the basketball clinic, he also talked three other players into coming with him. We had three former Lady Bulldog players and Bailey Howell as well. The kids couldn't believe their good fortune.
* Coach Cohen not only spoke to the kids at 8:00 a.m., he also had 25 of them run out on the field with the players, creating a Bulldog memory to last a lifetime. (Marketing coordinator) Chad Thomas was great as well.
* Others involved include Coach Christi Sanders, Rockey Felker, Volleyball (assistant) coach Branden Higa, the women's soccer team, golf team, many on the football staff, and (videographers) Brock Dulaney and Bennie Ashford.
There is no doubt we'll see many of these kids on campus in the coming years. It is a highly effective recruiting tool that really just takes an investment of time on behalf of the men and women in your department. I know it's not fun giving up a Saturday morning but those who did might not realize the impact they had on a group of about 300 Scouts and parents. Even though she was not able to attend Scout Day, Ann Carr was instrumental in planning the event. Thank you for supporting this."
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MISSISSIPPI STATE HOME SPORTS SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
No other home games the rest of this week. But when the Bulldogs return...
Come out, support your Bulldogs, and get your Dog Tag scanned.
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IT'S MAROON FRIDAY TOMORROW...
Are you in the maroon!
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We appreciate what you do for Mississippi State Athletics and want to encourage you to get others involved. There are three things you can do to help Mississippi State reach its desired goals -
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
Follow me on Twitter (@Greg_Byrne)