Baseball: Post 34 advances at American Legion Southeast Regional | 2C
RECRUITING ANALYSIS PREVIEWS MESSAGE BOARDS 30-DAY FREE TRIAL
S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 9 , 2014
Sports
87th Anniversary SALE at: UNION FURNITURE COMPANY 758-3693
SECTION C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
ALABAMA BASKETBALL
Tide releases partial schedule By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
The University of Alabama announced the nonconference portion of its 2014-15 basketball schedule on Friday, highlighted by UCLA’s Dec. 28 visit to Coleman Coliseum. The UCLA game is one of nine home games Alabama will play before opening SEC play in January. The Crimson Tide will also host crosstown foe Stillman College on Dec. 19. Alabama went just 6-7 against a difficult nonconference schedule last year en route to an overall mark of 13-19. “We are excited about this year’s nonconference schedule,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said in a UA release. “Each year we look to put together the most challenging schedule and this year is no different. We feel these games will be great preparation for the rigors of the always difficult SEC season.” Alabama will also host Conference USA regular season champion Southern Miss on Nov. 20 and American Athletic Conference foe South Florida on Dec. 2. The Crimson Tide will play at least four NCAA tournament teams in its preseason schedule. That includes true road games at Xavier on Dec. 6 and at Wichita State on Dec. 16. UA played both teams in Tuscaloosa a year ago, falling by three points (77-74) to Xavier and by five points (72-67) to Wichita State. The Crimson Tide will also participate in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic fi nals on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Alabama opens the event Nov. 24 against Iowa State at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Maryland will take on Arizona State in the other semifi nal, with the winners and losers of each game advancing to the consolation and championship games on Nov. 25. Alabama’s SEC schedule, as well as all start times and television carriers, will be announced at a later date. The SEC is expected to announce the full league slate on the SEC Network next week.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-7220225.
BOXING
Wilder to fight Gavern next week
OUT ON A
Limb line rig
LIMB
Limb diameter: 3/4” to 2” Fisherman’s knot 200 300 Lbs. test
For anglers looking to land a big catfish, limb lines and jug lines might be the best way to go By Daniel Byars
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
Idling the 14-foot Jon boat around the next slough of Yellow Creek, Steve Hallman tells his son Jesse Hallman to spotlight the far Mimosa tree limb. The reflector attached to the limb line lights up like a cop car in the distance. The line is tight and moving vigorously. The Hallman family prepares to bring aboard whatever monster is hooked. “We got a good one for sure,” Jenny Hallman says. The family’s excitement pours out of the boat as Jesse Hallman grabs the limb and line. Jenny Hallman reaches down to net the 12-pound catfish but it “death rolls” and swims away from the net. Steve Hallman skillfully maneuvers the boat right beside the desperate catfish and the Hallman family lands one of the biggest fish of the night. Steve Hallman hollers across the slough, with no one to hear his yells of excitement except his family. The nights on Yellow Creek are dead
Swivel Double knot Plastic water bottle helps reduce spinning line
quiet, until the victory cry of limb line and jug line anglers echoes across the waters. “ W hen we hooked our first 25 pounder, that is when we became addicted and it got our adrenaline pumping,” Steve Hallman said. Many anglers enjoy a specific type of fishing. Some enjoy the competitive thrill of bass fishing tournaments. Others prefer a simple bobber rig for panfish or crappie with the kids. The Hallman family enjoys the unique and exciting chase for big catfish using limb lines and jug lines. Steve Hallman started using jug lines as a young boy, but he really began getting serious about fishing with jug and limb lines when he moved to Yellow Creek a few years ago. Hallman started out with a milk jug and whatever fishing tackle he found around the house, and used hotdogs for bait. He said that this method SEE L IMB | 4C
Reflector tape helps to locate rig at night Double knot Circle hook inserted just behind the dorsel fin Bait depth: between 1’ and 2’ from the surface
1’
By D.C. Reeves
Jason Gavern was in Pennsylvania visiting with family on Tuesday. By Wednesday night, he had a fi ght on the books against one of the world’s top heavyweights. Gavern, a 37-year-old boxing veteran, will fight Tuscaloosa native Deontay Wilder on Aug. 16 at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. “It’s six or seven days notice, but for me, it’s ‘hey, let’s fight,’ ” Gavern said. “At the end of the day, (Wilder) will be world champion and it will be cool to say I fought that guy.” Wilder (31-0, 31 KOs) is currently guaranteed a fight with World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne. But as negotiations have dragged along since June, pushing a potential fight date towards the end of the Jason year, Wilder, who hasn’t fought Gavern since March, opted to put that mandatory title shot at risk in lieu of waiting around. While Wilder’s camp had been working on a fight for several weeks and his training continued throughout the summer, it wasn’t notified officially about this bout taking place until earlier this week. Even then, an opponent had not been fi nalized until the deal was done with Gavern around midnight Wednesday. Gavern, an Orlando, Fla., resident who uses no boxing promoter and manages his own career, fi nalized the deal on six days notice before he is scheduled to leave for California. Because he handles his own deals, Gavern said it is not uncommon for him to fight on short notice. He had a fight scheduled with Lucas Browne in Hong Kong on four days notice in 2012. Gavern (25-16-4), who turned pro in 2003, has won four of his last five fights. He last fought in November in London at the Prizefighter Tournament, taking on three, three-round fights on the same night. He beat Larry Olubamiwo and former world title contender James Toney before losing to Michael Sprott in the final. It won’t be the fi rst time Gavern has stepped into a ring with Wilder, either. Gavern was brought to Tuscaloosa last year to spar with Wilder as Wilder prepared for a bout with Nicolai Firtha. “I know my job, I know my position. My job is to get him rounds and make it a good fight. My job is to put on a show for the fans,” Gavern said. “At the end of the day I’m going to put on a show for my fans. Whatever happens, happens.”
DEPTH
Sports Writer
2’
STAFF GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION | ANTHONY BRATINA
ALABAMA FOOTBALL
Scrimmage a time for evaluation By Aaron Suttles Sports Writer
u to It’s just another step of how close are you being ready to play. lay“Then sort of evaluate guys as football playing ers and not really worry about so much trying to make it an exhibition game. We’re obvi-ously scrimmaging some situations and do some move-the-field stuff, but I think the real goal and purpose is to say, ‘OK, here’s the football players, here’s the guys that can go out there and function, here’s the guys that can help us. Let’s make sure we’re coaching the right guys.’ ” Given that, here are a few areas Saban and fans are anxious to evaluate.
Nick Saban knows what he wants out of today’s scrimmage, and unlike media and fans, he won’t be obsessed or even overly concerned with statistics. More important to him will be how players handled adversity, adjusted in real time with coaches on the sidelines and not right beside them. “This fi rst scrimmage is really to evaluate players, to see if we can get them in the right positions,” Saban said. “I always talk about when the coaches aren’t in the huddle anymore, when the coaches aren’t making the Quarterback competition calls, when you’ve got to go out there and make It’s been the talk of camp and will conadjustments on your own, whether they’re blocking assignments or coverage adjust- tinue to be the most-discussed topic until ments or whatever it might be, which guys can Saban names a starter. SEE A LABAMA | 3C sort of function and execute in that situation/
Alabama coach Nick Saban