Historical Black College All-Star Classic

Columbus, GA - The 8th Annual Historical Black College All-Star Classic is coming to Columbus (Georgia) on April 23rd with the game being played the Civic Center. The event pits the best players from the SWAC, MEAC, SIAC, and CIAA against each other in a battle of East and West.



In addition to the College game the event will also feature matchups including local boys and girls high school all stars. Among those expected to attend include: Jordan's Harry Short, Kendrick's Elbert Elliot, Dwayne Belfield, Erica Stanley, and Janai Merritt, Hardaway's Valenta Williams and Jamaine Burrey and many more.

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Honda Battle of the Bands 2011 Set to Rock Atlanta

More than 60,000 fans will flock through the gates of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome on January 29th, 2011 to witness the 9th annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase, an unparalleled performance and celebration of the nation’s elite marching bands. Renowned Hip-Hop performer and actor “Bow Wow” will join more than 1,800 student musicians and one of Atlanta’s best amateur vocalists to celebrate the music and creativity found at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).



The Invitational Showcase Line-Up

For the highly anticipated 2011 showdown, the curtain will go up promptly at 3:00 p.m. EST. The bill includes a special guest performance by “Bow Wow,” along with crowd-pleasing routines by the nation’s top eight elite black college marching bands. Georgia’s own Albany State University will open the show and lead this year’s “great eight” performances in the following order:

1. Albany State University “Marching Rams Show Band”
2. Tennessee State University “Aristocrat of Bands”
3. Virginia State University “Trojan Explosion Marching Band”
4. Clark Atlanta University “Mighty Marching Panthers”
5. Jackson State University “The Sonic Boom of the South”
6. Winston-Salem State University “Red Sea of Sound”
7. South Carolina State University “Marching 101”
8. Bethune Cookman University “Marching Wildcats”



Grants, Internships, and More

The Honda Battle of the Bands program not only provides a platform to shine a rare spotlight on the pageantry, pride and showmanship of HBCU music and culture, but it also is the only national music scholarship program of its kind. For the 2011 program, 45 HBCU marching bands participated in the pre-qualifying “Celebration Tour,” and received $1,000 grants for their music programs. An additional $20,000 will be awarded to the eight institutions selected to participate in this month’s Invitational Showcase.

In addition to the distribution of grant monies, the program also includes internship opportunities through the Fox Music Experience, and an HBCU Recruitment Fair will expose future college students to all HBCUs have to offer. The Fox Music Experience, now in its fourth year, provides one HBOB Invitational Showcase student-musician the opportunity to spend a few weeks during the summer months as an intern at Twentieth Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, learning film and television music production first-hand. The Honda Battle of the Bands HBCU Recruitment Fair, now in its sixth year, gives young people the opportunity to meet with marching band and admissions recruiters to discuss admissions requirements and scholarship opportunities.

Group and individual tickets for the show are still available, but moving quickly. They can be purchased at the Georgia Dome Box Office, via www.Ticketmaster.com or www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com for just $10 and $12.



For more information on the Invitational Showcase, Fox Music Experience summer internship program and HBCU Recruitment Fair, photos, press materials and video footage visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com, the official online destination and clearinghouse for all HBOB information.

Hip-Hop Icon “Bow Wow” to Perform

Hip-Hop artist and actor “Bow Wow” will be on hand as the special guest performer this year. The Columbus, Ohio native is best known for his musical lineage, taking his stage name from his mentor, fellow rapper-actor “Snoop Dog,” Bow Wow’s film credits include The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Lottery Ticket. He is also noted for his cameo appearances in the critically-acclaimed television series, “Smallville,” “Ugly Betty,” “Entourage” and others.



Amateur Vocalists Welcomed To Audition for National Anthem

The Honda Battle of the Bands national anthem will be performed by a talented local vocalist selected once through a promotional radio “sing-off.” WVEE-FM, or “V-103,” Atlanta’s top-ranked urban radio station, is partnering with the Honda Battle of the Bands once again to invite listeners 16 years of age or older to demonstrate their vocal skills for a once–in-a-lifetime opportunity to open the 2011 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase. This year, three finalists will be selected by a panel of judges at the open audition on Saturday, January 8th, 2011 at the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia, Georgia. Music fans can then log on to the station's web site and vote for their favorite rendition of the national anthem. The winner will be announced on-air on January 21st, 2011, and he or she will command the spotlight to open the showcase on January 29th.

North Carolina A&T State University Aggies All Fired Up to Host Inaugural HBCU and Small College PRO COMBINE

Greensboro, NC -- Final preparations are underway at Ford Stadium Complex, where legendary track and field head coach, Roy W. Thompson Jr., is readying the Irwin Belk Track for senior football standouts from across the country, coming next weekend for a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to show their stellar physical abilities. North Carolina A&T State University is hosting the first annual HBCU & Small College Pro Combine this Friday, Saturday & Sunday: May 21 through 23, 2010.

Thompson believes his electronically timed 40-yard dash event will catapult participants onto the “fast track” to success. “I’m privileged to be a part of this event and am looking forward to the recognition and opportunities this is going to bring to the overlooked potential of HBCU athletes,” remarks Thompson.

“This includes two of our own,” adds Head Football Coach Alfonso Lee, "NC A&T is going to be represented by two outstanding young men: Nichols Clement, a 6 Ft., 205-lb. safety, and Andre Thornton, a 6 ft. 1 in., 240 lb. linebacker.”

Also lending a hand to oversee the pull-up station will be active duty SEALs and former NAVY SEALs, retired Captain Dave Morrison and Master Chief Petty Officer Mark Courrier.
Co-founder of this event, Gene Washington, explains, “The SEALS are comprised of elite athletes with superior character and a desire to serve others in a way that not many can. Having the SEALs join us creates a unique and thrilling twist to our event.”

“These gifted athletes have some of the same unique characteristics - mature, focused, committed, self-motivated and driven, that make a good Navy SEAL”, says Morrison. “The HBCU Pro Combine is an excellent venue for us to educate these young athletes on a possible career in the SEAL Teams.”

For more information on the HBCU & Small College Pro Combine at North Carolina A&T State University, please contact info@procombine.com or call 336-937-5202. The downtown Greensboro Marriott hotel will be hosting the players, coaches, and scouts. The Combine is for draft eligible QBs, DBs RBs, TEs, LBs and Wide Outs. Running the three-day programs will be Director of Operations, Coach John Falvey, former Defensive Coordinator at Winston-Salem State University. Falvey will be assisted by the Director of Competition, Coach Alfonso Lee, Head Football Coach at NC A&T State University; and the Director of Logistics, Coach Robert Massey, Assistant Head Football Coach at Shaw University.

FOR MORE INFO: http://www.procombine.com

ASU QB race is still tight

Junior linebacker John Hogan, an all-SWAC player as a freshman, has been kicked off the team

A little over a week ago, Alabama State head coach Reggie Barlow said he wanted to name a starting quarterback at least two weeks before the Hornets' first game at Florida A&M. Saturday was Barlow's self-imposed deadline. He's going to blow it. Following a solid week of practices from both Anthony Speight and Reid Herchenbach, Barlow said the race was still too close to call, and he gave himself a few extra days to come to a decision.

"Hopefully, this week we can get the guy," he said. "What I was really hoping for is for one of those guys to step up and just blow it away, make himself the clear choice. That hasn't happened. They've both played well -- really well. It's been a tight, competitive race." If a little flash is what Barlow was looking for, Herchenbach obliged on Saturday.

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SWAC 7-game league format has pluses, minuses

The Southwestern Athletic Conference will kick off a new and somewhat controversial conference schedule on Aug. 30. The new format calls for seven games to decide the SWAC divisional races instead of nine. The thought process is that fewer conference games opens up dates for schools to schedule a "money game" against a Division I-A opponent, a game that could pay schools upwards of $500,000.

The idea was approved by the council of presidents, SWAC commissioner Duer Sharp said. The format has its pluses and minuses. Teams that are able to land games against better schools get a boost in revenue and a little national exposure for the league. "With us, the first thing you look at is how is this going to affect us from a financial standpoint," Sharp said.

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COMMENTARY: Bad athletes are tolerated if they win

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the Rockets had enough guts to take a stand with Rafer Alston? Don’t hold your breath. Hell will freeze over before a professional sports team holds an athlete accountable for bad behavior. Yes, the Chicago Bears waived Cedric Benson after his second arrest this year, but the fact Benson had been a bust on the field surely made it easier for them to take action regarding his behavior off it.

Maybe teams don’t care what kind of people they have in uniform because they know you don’t care. The Rockets were widely praised for obtaining a guy with baggage ranging from domestic violence to animal cruelty to an assortment of suspensions, fines and other bad behavior. Who’ll remember that stuff if Ron Artest smothers Kobe Bryant in the playoffs? That’s when Artest will become misunderstood.

An NFL guy recently joked, “If Jeffrey Dahmer could play, we’d say he had an eating disorder.” That’s especially true of the Rockets. A team that just acquired Ron Artest isn’t likely to get tough about a measly little misdemeanor drunk driving charge.

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A&M's Jones sees good, bad

Bulldogs coach wishes team was further ahead

Anthony Jones stood and applauded Alabama A&M's offense early on during Thursday's practice. A few minutes later, Jones voiced his displeasure as the unit failed to execute. He does the same thing when he watches film. One minute, Jones is happy. The next, he's somewhat perplexed.

Such is life for the Bulldogs' head football coach. "We've still got a lot of work to do," Jones said Thursday after his team's first week of practice. "We've got a lot of new faces that we're trying to get ready to play college football for the first time. A lot of them are guys that have been in our program, but they haven't been in the fire yet. We're making progress toward our goal, but it's slower than I would like for it to be."

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Talkative transfer takes aim at JSU Tigers' tailback role

Tigers Running Back Bloi-Dei Dorzan

Juco product Bloi-Dei Dorzan 1 of 5 newcomers vying for key starting spot in Jackson State backfield

The Lackawanna Community College pipeline is alive and well at Jackson State. Sometimes the connection works better than others. Dennis Coit has blossomed into a can't-live-without defensive tackle from the Pennsylvania school.

Quarterback A.J. McKenna quit, then came back, then quit again before ever playing a regular-season game. Oliver McNeil is somewhere in the middle as he fights for a starting spot in the secondary this season. Newcomer Bloi-Dei Dorzan hopes to follow Coit's lead heading into his first season with the Tigers. And there's plenty of opportunity to do so.

Dorzan is one of five tailbacks brought in to compete for the vacancy left by the departure of Erik Haw, Lavarius Giles and Cody Hull.

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ASU Braves up ante on coaches' salaries

AD Hamilton ushers in change as athletic budget goes from $3.1M to $4.5M

Alcorn State announced the hiring of its third new head coach since December on Tuesday. And for the third time, the athletic department made a significant financial commitment.

Tonya Edwards will make her Division I head coaching debut for the Alcorn State women's basketball program this fall. Athletic director Darren Hamilton signed Edwards to a four-year, $95,000-a-year deal. Alcorn football coach Ernest Jones was hired at $140,000 per year, a $55,000 increase over his predecessor, Johnny Thomas. Larry Smith received a $125,000 base salary when he was hired to replace Sam West in May.

Both Hamilton and Edwards repeated the mantra started when Jones was hired - that it's a new day at Alcorn State and the bar has been raised.

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New Grambling contract for Broadway would be longer, richer

GRAMBLING — Rod Broadway’s proposed new contract at Grambling State includes another year and a $14,000 increase in base pay for 2008, among other incentives.
The deal, up for approval by GSU’s oversight board during meetings held today in Lake Charles, followed interest in the first-year football coach from upper-classification Duke as well as fellow historically black college program Florida A&M.

His new agreement would begin at $170,000 then upgrade to $215,000 by 2011. It’s backdated to Feb. 7. Like most lower-division programs, there is no buyout clause: Broadway “may terminate this agreement by written notice at any time,” according to the contract.

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