Basketball: Alabama women release 2012-13 schedule. 4C
Sports
M O N D A Y , A U G U S T 27 , 2012
BIRMINGHAM | The University of Alabama soccer team scored one goal in the fi rst half and exploded for three more in the second to race past UAB, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at West Campus Field. The scoring came from all over for the Tide (3-0) as four different players found the back of the net, including three who got on the stat sheet for the first time this season. Much like Friday’s game against Samford, the Tide got things going late in the fi rst half. Sophomore forward Pia Rijsdijk gave Alabama the early lead by running away from the UAB defense on a senior Josie Rix pass and slipping it past Blazer keeper Courtnie Northern in the 38th minute. Alabama carried over the momentum and sealed the contest after the break. Junior Molly Atherton scored her fi rst goal of the season, burying a cross from senior Lindsey Sillers in the 62nd minute. Sophomore Theresa Diederich tallied her second goal on the season when she blasted a free kick from the left side, 18 yards out in the 86th minute. Junior Kendall Khanna wrapped the lopsided decision up with her fi rst goal on the season. Alabama will continue its tour of matches against in-state opponents as the Crimson Tide travels to Mobile to face the South Alabama Jaguars on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
Former Alabama players cut by NFL teams
John Parker Wilson was released by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday as NFL teams make their fi rst roster cuts to the maximum 75 players. The former University of Alabama quarterback signed as a free agent with the Falcons in 2009, but did not see game action in his four years in Atlanta. Also cut Sunday was former UA center William Vlachos, who was a free agent with the Tennessee Titans.
Mix Match
SECTION C
ALABAMA FOOTBALL
ARCHITECTURAL
Alabama gymnastics posts 3.55 team GPA
Alabama soccer wraps up weekend with 4-0 win
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BALL TUSCALOOSA | Even as the new academic year gets underway, the back-to-back NCAA champion University of Alabama gymnastics team continues to reap the rewards for last season’s outstanding performance in the classroom. The Crimson Tide produced the highest team grade point average among the Southeastern Conference gymnastics teams last season and was eighth among all gymnastics programs, the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches announced recently. A labama was also one of just three teams to advance to last April’s NCA A Championships in Duluth, Ga., and rank among the top 10 academically after posting a 3.55 team GPA on the way to winning its sixth national title. It marked the seventh year in a row UA gymnasts have posted a team GPA of 3.4 or better. “I am thrilled that over the last two years, not only have we won back-to-back NCA A titles, but we have also been champions in the classroom, with team grade point averages of 3.71 and 3.55,” UA head coach Sarah Patterson said. “Performances like that, in both the arena and the classroom, prove once again that at Alabama, you can truly have it all.”
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COWBOYS STADIUM FACTS
For a marquee matchup like Alabama vs. Michigan, there’s not a much better venue than Cowboys Stadium By Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor
TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama football team has played in big games. It has played in big venues. But Crimson Tide players have never seen anything like what they are going to see Saturday when they play the Michigan Wolverines in Cowboys Stadium. In particular, Alabama players have never seen anything like what they will see when they look up and realize they are standing under the largest big-screen video board in the world — 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall on all four sides, suspended above
them in high definition. “Your first impression when you walk in there, your eyes go immediately to the Jumbotron,” said Curtis Clay, a former Texas Christian wide receiver who played in the stadium in college and again in a couple of exhibition games with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. And while the video board — suspended by a 72-foot steel structure with 10 levels of catwalks — is actually a Mitsubishi brand rather than Sony’s Jumbotron, it is impossible to ignore. “It defi nitely gets your attention,” Clay said. “It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” SEE STADIUM | 4C
Location: Arlington, Texas Cost: $1.1 billion Acreage: 73 acres for stadium, with 140 total acres for the overall site (including parking) Square feet: 3 million Length: 900 feet from one end zone retractable wall to the one on the opposite end Video board: Each side is 72 feet high by 160 feet wide, with 1,080-pixel high definition Weight of video board: 1.2 million pounds Capacity: 80,000, expandable to 100,000 with standing room Number of luxury boxes: 300 Exterior facade: 800-foot glass wall exterior, which slopes at a 14-degree angle Roof: 292 feet above the playing field, with two arches to support a retractable roof (touted as the world’s largest single-span roof structure) Retractable roof opening: 410 feet long by 256 feet wide Gallons of primer paint: 2,000 Gallons of finish paint: 2,000 — Source: stadium.dallascowboys.com
MAJOR EVENTS Some of the biggest events that have taken place at or are scheduled for Cowboys Stadium: ■ Concerts headlined by George Strait, the Jonas Brothers, Paul McCartney and U2 ■ 2010 NBA All-Star Game ■ Super Bowl XLV in 2011 ■ Cotton Bowl since 2010 ■ Big 12 Championship Game (2009 and ’10) ■ Manny Pacquiao welterweight and junior middleweight championship boxing victories over Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey in 2010 ■ 2013 Notre Dame vs. Arizona State football ■ 2014 Final Four — Sources: stadium.dallascowboys.com, other websites
Fans shouldn’t read too much into Alabama’s depth chart
T
he University of Alabama footscrimmage stats are ball program will do something sometimes hard to today that it hasn’t done since decipher without conJanuary. text (and do nothing That doesn’t mean the Crimson to tell you who played Tide will play a game — you still have well at left guard, for to wait until Saturday for that. But it i nst a nce). S o t he will release a depth chart, an event not depth chart is a cherquite as rare as Halley’s Comet, but ished artifact of acCECIL sort of like the fl ight of a migratory tual information and HURT hummingbird that zips through Tuscan even be useful, if caloosa on its way to Venezuela or Suyou remember the rinam. rules for reading it Fans crave the information, though. without straining your retinas. Alabama practices are closed, and the First, looks can deceive when all po-
sitions are not equal. Every position will have a player listed as a “starter” (although he may or may not start) and another listed as a backup. But while both take up two lines, the distance between those lines can vary widely. At some positions, there isn’t a great deal of difference between the first player at the second. At others — like quarterback, if Nick Saban’s comments are any indication — the gap is wide between AJ McCarron and whoever is listed next (probably Phillip Ely, but that is just
speculation). Without making any uneducated guesses, I think it is entirely possible — not certain, but possible — that one quarterback will see action against Michigan, but as many as five running backs (Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon, Jalston Fowler, Dee Hart and Kenyan Drake) could play, depending on circumstances. At some positions, Alabama will list two players with an “or” between them, and there will probably be a reminder that “or means or.” In other SEE HURT | 4C
FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK TODAY PRO FOOTBALL: The deadline for NFL teams to make its first round of cuts to the maximum 75 players on the roster. The cutdown deadline to 53 players is Friday.
THURSDAY FO O T BA LL: T he AHSAA prep season gets started. Among the games to watch: Central hosts Sipsey Valley, Aliceville hosts Gordo and Sulligent travels to Hamilton.
FRIDAY FOOTBALL: Among the prep games to watch: Hillcrest at Hartselle, Bob Jones at Northridge, TCHS visits Mountain Brook, ACA hosts Demopolis, Hale County visits Brookwood and Paul W. Bryant hosts Pelham.
SATURDAY FOOTBALL: Alabama opens the 2012 season with a nonconference showdown with Michigan in Dallas.
SUNDAY AUTO RACING: There are t wo more races until the Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Championship starts. This week’s race is at Hampton, Ga.