Alabama travels to Auburn looking to avenge earlier loss

After knocking off high-ranking Kentucky and falling to South Carolina to end its home season, the women’s basketball team will take on rival Auburn at 8 p.m. tonight.

“We have to continue to keep playing the way we’ve been able to play here recently,” head coach Wendell Hudson said. “Part of that is that we have been able to make shots, and we have been able to get the ball where we need to get the ball. This team has to take one game at a time, and we talk about one possession at a time.”

Hudson said the team has been playing well over the past seven games, and the players feel good heading into Auburn.

“Any court is home,” junior guard Jessica Merritt said. “We have to go out and play with the same intensity that we’ve been practicing, and hopefully it’ll favor our way.”

“We’ve played pretty well on the road,” Hudson said. “It’s one of those things where, sometimes, getting away from home and being together as a team is a good thing.”

The two teams faced each other early in the Southeastern Conference season on Jan. 5. The Tigers beat the Tide at Foster Auditorium 65-55. Sophomore guard Shafontaye Myers was Alabama’s leading scorer, with 13 points, and led the team in four assists and four steals. Auburn sophomore Tyrese Tanner led the Tigers with 20 points.

“We want to keep the game at our tempo,” Myers said. “We don’t want to allow them to get into their flow of the game. We have to keep playing fast…they don’t like to play fast. We have to push the ball, pressure on defense and just be prepared for whatever they have coming at us.”

“I feel confident,” Merritt said. “The first time we played them at the beginning of the season, we played a little sluggish just coming into conference. I believe we’ve made improvements over the time, and I believe they’ve made improvements, so this should be a pretty good game.”

Auburn is currently on a five-game losing streak. Nell Fortner, who has coached Auburn the past eight seasons, announced her resignation after this season earlier this week. Hudson said it’s important that his team stays focused on Alabama.

“We can’t let what’s going on at Auburn affect us,” he said. “That’s the big key. I think we have to stay focused on our game and what we need to do.”

With this game being a big-time rivalry, it’s sure to bring out the best of both benches.

“I feel like [the rivalry is] motivation to me because we’re both in the state,” Myers said. “May the best team win. I feel like we think it’s a big motivation to us.”

print/web 2.23.12

 http://cw.ua.edu/?p=31361

Bama Slammer Sungods honor champions

Dave Carlson started his own business by making two-pound painted statues he calls Sungods in honor of sports teams. In light of Alabama football’s most recent national championship victory, he has now created the Bama Slammer Sungod statues, which are painted in crimson and white.

“I was just wondering what I could do,” said Carlson, a die-hard Alabama football fan. “I thought a really good gesture would be to make a special little Bama Slammer for each one of the seniors who are graduating. Everybody on that football team gets a championship ring, a hat and a shirt, but I wanted to make something a little bit more personal for the seniors.”

Carlson began making Bama Slammers when he was asked by a friend to make something commemorating the Tide. The desire for the Sungods grew around Florida and has found its way to Alabama. Carlson said people from cities like Dothan and Duncanville have received the gift of a Bama Slammer.

All in all, Carlson has not forgotten the people responsible for the football team’s success. He made special Bama Slammer Sungods for head coach Nick Saban and every senior on this year’s squad.

Carlson included the names and jersey numbers along with the record and “BCS championship” on each senior’s Sungod.

“I think that’s sweet and nice [that he gave the Sungods to members of the team],” said Tymesha Keiling, a junior majoring in psychology. “I think it’s different because you don’t really hear about people doing stuff like that for the team. I think it’s creative.”

Students said it is great that people are supporting and recognizing UA athletics.

“It’s nice he showed his appreciation to the football team and his support for the University of Alabama athletics,” said Leah Bradford, a sophomore majoring in telecommunication and film. “It’s encouraging for the players to know they are supported in the Crimson Tide community even outside the state of Alabama.”

“Maybe he could do more, and more people would know about it and get the word out [that he has these to offer],” said Keiling.

Carlson’s collegiate Sungod business began when he was asked to make some sporting colors from the University of Florida. He’s glad to have items for Alabama fans now and hopes more people can learn about unique items en route to preparing for another championship season.

“I hope they didn’t lose too many good players this year,” Carlson said. “I know Dont’a Hightower is going to the pros and Trent [Richardson] and Dre [Kirkpatrick], but I’ve got pretty good faith in Saban. He’ll get them all back and get that team going again.”

For more information on the Bama Slammer Sungods and all other work, visit teamsungods.com.

Each Sungod purchase will result in a $5 donation to Nick’s Kids Foundation.

print/web 2.22.12

http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/22/bama-slammer-sungods-honor-champions/

Author attacks American ideals

George Kelley has written a book bringing more attention to last year’s tornado destruction across the country. His latest work was released last year and is titled “Ayn Rand Hates Tuscaloosa… (And You Too Joplin!)” Kelley made a visit to the Capstone Monday to talk about his book at the UA College Democrats general assembly.

“I thought [Kelley] illustrated some interesting points,” said Robert Chirstl, a sophomore majoring in political science and history. “The correlations he drew between Ayn Rand’s philosophy and the GOP resonated with me. The Republican Party has become a vehicle for big business to manipulate policy to favor its own agenda. Kelley successfully identified what I see to be the Republican strategy – a fusion of conservative social values with conservative economic ideas in an attempt to divide the middle and lower class.”

Kelley’s book has riled up some Republicans. The book refers to the ideas of Ayn Rand, who’s known by some as America’s most controversial individualist. Born in Russia, Rand was a well-known novelist and philosopher whose ideals were centered on objectivism.

Rand died in 1982. All of her books are still in print, and her sales have totaled more than 25 million. As stated on aynrand.org, “her vision of man and her philosophy for living on earth have changed the lives of thousands of readers and launched a philosophic movement with a growing impact on American culture.”
Kelley wrote Rand’s way of approaching American living and her values were essentially one-sided or selfish.

“These values are of Ayn Rand, and she lives thirty years after her death in the policies of the once-great Republican Party,” he stated. “Ayn Rand preaches no need to love your neighbor and demanded the individual live only for himself.”

According to Kelley, residents of Tuscaloosa and Joplin were in need of help from the government after tornadoes tore through the cities, but they did not realize that some of their elected officials are forfeiting providing assistance for “neighbors to help neighbors.”

Kelley’s book has gotten positive reviews on Amazon.com, and students feel it presents interesting findings and highlights important issues.

“I found the title of the book intriguing and decided to give it a try,” one Amazon purchaser said. “I was pleasantly surprised at the level of detailed research the author has done and, at the same time, how he injected a level of humor and wit that kept me glued to this book for hours.”

“When economic times become difficult and our government forces onto the population austerity cuts, what gets cut?” Christl said. “Important programs such as disaster relief for places like Tuscaloosa. Just look at the comments made by Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor after Joplin. Cantor said that the U.S. could not afford to help Joplin with federal money unless we looked to make cuts from other programs. This is what I got from Kelley. Rand’s philosophy has changed the GOP for the worse, and as a result, all the rest of us hurt.”

“It’s time to realize who Ayn Rand was, what she believed and how those thoughts corrupt our country to the detriment of those who vote into power her disciples. Ayn Rand hates America,” Kelley wrote. “America would be better off hating her back.”

Kelley’s book can be purchased on amazon.com.


print/web 2.16.12
http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/16/author-attacks-american-ideals/

Hampered by injuries, Russell hangs up laces

After three knee surgeries and consistently playing through pain, Tuscaloosa native and senior shooting guard Ericka Russell’s college basketball career has been cut short.

“It was a tough decision, but everything happens for a reason I feel like,” Russell said. “I’m still going to be around supporting them throughout my years in Tuscaloosa. It was a tough decision, but I had to do what’s best for me long term.”

Head coach Wendell Hudson said Russell’s leadership will be missed on the court.

“When you ask the team if you were going to follow somebody and who would it be, Ericka’s name is the first name that always pops up,” Hudson said. “She’s been that model that we’ve used many times to say ‘if you want to be like somebody, this is the person you need to follow.’”

Russell is a member of the 1,000-point club, and finishes her career as one of the best three-point shooters and defensive players to come through Alabama. She ranks fourth in three-pointers made with 212, and fourth in three-pointers attempted with 709. Russell hit eight 3-pointers last season against Arkansas in Fayetteville tying an Alabama record.

Hudson frequently laments how Russell has displayed the enigma of the epitome of an athlete on and off the court.

“Ericka Russell is the epitome of being a student-athlete,” Hudson said. “We all kind of game in here together. She’s one of the people who people have looked at and said ‘okay, she’s a pretty good player, she works hard and I want to go play with her.’”

Russell’s teammates comment on how great of a leader she was and the effects she had on the team.

“She’s has been a leader since day one,” junior guard Jessica Merritt said. “When I first came in from junior college, she was one of the first to meet and greet me, so that showed a lot to me about her. She’s a good leader on this team, and we will miss her a lot.”

Junior forward Kyra Crosby echoed Merritt’s words.

“She understands what she means to the team as far as just being there and still letting us know that she still wants to be a part of the team even though she can’t be physically,” Crosby said. “She still means so much to us, and she’s still a leader, and she still motivates us and everything else as if she was playing.”

While everyone on the bench and in the stands praise Russell for her work ethic, personality and attitude, she remains humble when thinking about what her legacy will be.

“I feel like I’m more of a leader that shows it more than trying to say it all of the time,” Russell said. “[My legacy probably is] trying to be a great leader and making this team successful.”

Russell earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration in three years. She’s currently enrolled in the University’s sports management master’s program and hopes to work on the business side of athletics.

Russell went to Northridge High School and was the school’s first basketball player to sign a Division I scholarship. She was voted onto the 2011-2012 preseason All-SEC second team, was a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award candidate and earned the MVP award at this year’s Paradise Jam, while leading her team to a first place finish in the tournament.

print/web 2.14.12

http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/14/hampered-by-injuries/

Elect Her helps women run for student government

The University was one of 30 schools chosen to be participants in this year’s Elect Her Initiative entitled Campus Women Win. This was the second year the University hosted the one-day training session.

“It was Alex Sims and Cori Moore who took the initiative to start Elect Her at this Campus,” said Alex Peloquin, member of this year’s Elect Her committee. “The University fully supported the idea but ultimately it was these two women who sparked the initial Elect Her training.”

Fifty students were able to register and attend Elect Her, which is a collaborative effort between the American Association of University Women and Running Start. As stated on the AAUW website, the initiative “encourages and trains young women to run for student government on their campuses.”

Corionna Moore, a junior management and information systems major, has been a participant in Elect Her for the past two years.

“Elect Her is a learning and nurturing experience,” Moore said. “You are put in an environment where there are other women from all different walks of life who have the same goals and interest as you, and you are sharing experience, ideas on leadership and you network with women you otherwise would have never met on campus.”

Sydney Page, a sophomore majoring in political science, was also a participant.

“I have been an Elect Her participant for two years now and I have enjoyed each workshop because of the amount of information that is given and being able to interact with other ambitious young women across campus,” Page said. “Not only was it helpful in terms of equipping me with skills necessary to run a successful campaign, but it also provided me with the opportunity to network with other young ladies and learn beneficial leadership and communications skills.”

Both students and members of the planning committee feel it’s important to have initiatives like Elect Her alive on campus.

“I think that Elect Her is an extremely important tool to have at any University,” Peloquin said. “In fact, after this past Elect Her training I had some ladies come up to me and tell me that they were not necessarily interested in politics or running for political office but learned a great deal about leadership and networking through the program. I think that it is important for young women to expand their networks within their community. We are after all our own greatest resource.”

“The discussions and exercises provide you with confidence and teach you how to effectively communicate your point to others,” Page said. “I love the mission of Elect Her and I would definitely recommend this to all women on campus”

Elect Her participants hope that the initiative will flourish and encourage other student leaders to get involved on campus and learn from different perspectives.

“I would hope that in the future, Elect Her would grow, attracting women from all demographics of the university as our campus population grows and becomes more diverse,” Moore said. “I hope that this year’s participants and the future participants gain the necessary tools and encouragement to become the leaders on our campus and in our government.”

For more information on Elect Her or AAUW visit aauw.org.

print/web 2.12.12

http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/14/elect-her-helps-women-run-for-student-government/

Tide prepares for Ole Miss rematch

The women’s basketball team gears up to face Ole Miss in Oxford tonight at 7 p.m. in Tad Smith Coliseum. This will be the second time the teams have played each other this season.

“We have gone through practice to play against what we know we will see,” head coach Wendell Hudson said. “Sometimes, that’s even better for players – to know what they will see – instead of just a scouting report or on film.”


Alabama suffered a 69-55 defeat against Ole Miss in January at Foster Auditorium. Junior forward Kyra Crosby led UA in scoring with 14 points. The Rebels’ sophomore point guard, Valencia McFarland, had a game-high 25 points and nine assists. Stopping McFarland will be a key for the Tide to come out on top.

“We played them before, so we know what to do,” Crosby said. “We have to stop the point guard, because everything runs through her.”

“Everything that Ole Miss runs goes through the point guard,” Hudson said. “She accounted for 75 percent of their points, either from scoring or assists, so you have to do some things to take things away from her.”

Both Alabama and Ole Miss are on losing streaks. No. 20 Georgia defeated the Tide 81-66 in Tuscaloosa. Florida beat Ole Miss 84-55 in Gainesville. The Rebels are ranked one spot above Alabama in the Southeastern Conference standings.

While the team has experienced SEC woes, Hudson said Alabama remains positive.

“I feel good [about going into Oxford],” he said. “I feel good about the Georgia game. I thought we got off to a good start but still can’t go through those spurts of not scoring… Everything we’ve been doing here lately is really good, and then it boils down to whether or not we’re going to be able to make some shots.”

Junior guard Jessica Merritt said, “I feel really confident. We’ve been playing a lot better lately. We’ve been playing hard, and in practice, we’ve been practicing on playing smarter. I think if we can get that down packed in this game, we can turn this whole SEC season around.”

Tonight will be “Tickled Pink” night. Both teams will wear pink to show their support for the fight against breast cancer.

Alabama will be without Celiscia Farmer and Erin Hogue.

The Tide will face LSU Sunday at 1 p.m. in Foster Auditorium. It will be the start of a three-game home stint for the team as they finish out the remaining five games of the season.


print/web 2.9.12
http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/09/tide-prepares-for-ole-miss-rematch/

“It’s Your Move!” health campaign kicks off

Public relations students have coordinated a healthy initiative for kids to help fight childhood obesity. The “It’s Your Move!” campaign kicks off today at the YMCA in downtown Tuscaloosa. The campaign urges children to be conscious of their activities and make healthy lifestyle choices between the hours of 3-5 p.m.

“We really wanted to create an empowering campaign for the kids that was something for them to have a lot of fun with, but still learn a lot,” said Leighton Brown, a senior majoring in public relations.

A team of four students is behind “It’s Your Move!” Alongside Brown are Jessica Colburn, Carolyn Dawson and Jessica Wiger.

“Childhood obesity is an issue that needs to be addressed,” said Wiger, a senior majoring in public relations. “We want to reach beyond our campus to educate healthier lifestyles into the college town that supports us so greatly.  Our team wants Tuscaloosa to be empowered to make healthier decisions, and it starts with moving from 3 to 5.

“We are doing this to get them involved in making a choice of what their future will hold. I hope that the entire campaign will reach out to the community and make adults and children want to change the direction our nation is headed,” Dawson said.

Wednesday’s schedule includes presentations, activity sheets and an educational obstacle course. Kids will also spend time with local celebrities including UA students and athletes. Children from the after school program at the Central and Benjamin Barnes branches of the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama will be involved in the kickoff occurring today.

“At the Y, we are for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,” said Walt Larisey, CEO of the YMCA. “[It’s Your Move!] falls under youth development, healthy living and social responsibility because we are helping Tuscaloosa’s youth to fight obesity.”

Brown said the campaign would occur throughout the entire month of February with different events at different locations around the community. The group will visit Holt Elementary, Cottondale Elementary, the Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama and Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama to encourage kids to commit to being active and making smart decisions.

“I hope that we really impact the children in a positive way,” Brown said. “We realize kids are not going to change in one day, but what we really want is for the kids to remember overall this campaign and to make those healthy lifestyle changes everyday of their life so that they become healthier in the long run.”

Brown, Colburn, Dawson and Wiger are competing in the nationwide Bateman competition sponsored by the Public Relations Student Society of America. United Way is this year’s client for the 2012 competition.

“Fighting youth obesity helps everyone,” Larisey said. “You can combat youth obesity easily because there are numerous ways you can do it that aren’t expensive.”

print/web 2.8.12

http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/08/its-your-move-health-campaign-kicks-off/

Tide looks to stop SEC losing streak at Arkansas

The Alabama women’s basketball team travels to Arkansas today to take on the Razorbacks. The Crimson Tide is coming off a loss to league-leading Kentucky in Lexington.

“I think this Arkansas game is going to be one of those games that really tells us where we are and a lot about ourselves,” head coach Wendell Hudson said. “We’ve probably played the best two games we’ve played in a while back-to-back against Tennessee and Kentucky, which are the top two teams in the league. We lost both of those, but the effort and playing together and doing all the things we need to do was there.”

The Tide scored 90 points against an SEC opponent for the first time since 2002 last year in Fayetteville, Ark., in its final regular season game of the 2010-2011 season. Ericka Russell led the way with 28 points, tying the Alabama record with eight three-pointers. Four other players scored in double-figures as Alabama racked in a conference victory.

“I think we match up pretty good,” Hudson said. “Coming off two games where even though we lost, we played pretty good. I think that the players feel good about themselves right now.”

Sophomore guard Jasmine Robinson said, “We’ve been coming in here pretty hard the last couple of days. We’ve been having good practices, and everybody has been cheering each other on and high-fiving each other.”

Arkansas (16-5) is standing above the fold in conference play with a 5-4 SEC record, putting them in fourth place. After a 14-point loss at Ole Miss, the Razorbacks are now on a five game winning streak. The team’s last win was a one-point, double-overtime victory over Florida at home. C’eira Rickets and Sarah Watkins lead Arkansas in scoring.

Junior guard Meghan Perkins will not be traveling with the team because of a family concern. Nevertheless, Hudson said the team is feeling better and getting stronger.

“One of the major keys is to get off to a good start and not building a hole for ourselves,” she said. “That’s one of the issues we’ve had to try to address because that’s what happens.”

“We’re trying to get our transition and our chemistry going on the floor,” Kyra Crosby, a junior forward, said. “We’ve been matching up pretty well with everybody’s team, so it just depends on us and our defense.”

Alabama will look to stop the SEC bleeding, and players say that starts with doing the basics.

“[We have to do] the little things like free throws and turnovers,” Crosby said. “If we can eliminate that, then we’ll be pretty good.”

Robinson said, “If we do the little things by boxing out and rebounding and pushing the ball and playing great defense, then that should take over everything. ”

The Tide returns home Sunday to take on Georgia at 2 p.m. in Foster Auditorium.

print/web 2.2.12

http://cw.ua.edu/2012/02/02/tide-looks-to-stop-sec-losing-streak-at-arkansas/