A productive day at the AHSAA

By David Morrison
High School Sports Reporter
Published: July 30, 2009

Your intrepid preps reporter ventured all the way to the Gump today for the first annual AHSAA Media Day.

Part orientation on the inner workings of the organization, part question-and-answer session, part thanking us for covering prep sports and part complaining that we don’t cover enough positive stuff, it turned out to be a very useful tete-a-tete between the higher-ups (them) and the unwashed masses (us).

And they fed us!!!!!!!!!

Here’s some highlights:

Birmingham got a national basketball tournament…and it’s a big stinking deal: Here’s the press release.

MONTGOMERY –Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Steve Savarese announced Wednesday that T-Mobile has awarded the AHSAA and the state of Alabama the 2009 T-Mobile Invitational basketball tournament.

The T-Mobile Invitational is the only basketball tournament sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and the field is composed only of schools from NFHS-member associations. The NFHS’ 51 member associations oversee and administer athletics within those states.

The high school basketball tourney, now in its fourth year, will feature four of the nation’s top high boys basketball teams and four of the nation’s most outstanding girls teams. An Alabama team in each division will represent the AHSAA. None of the schools invited to compete were disclosed Wednesday.

The tournament is tentatively scheduled to be played the last week of December in Birmingham at an as yet undetermined site.  T-Mobile and NFHS representatives and AHSAA officials toured three sites last week: the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Bartow Arena on the University of Alabama-Birmingham Campus and the Pete Hanna Arena at Samford University.

“This is a great event for the State of Alabama,” said Savarese, who made the announcement at the first annual AHSAA Media Day held at the association’s state office. “It is an educational based athletic event that will be nationally televised.  We have an opportunity to showcase our state to the rest of the nation. We want to thank the National Federation and T-Mobile for having the confidence in us to host this national event.”

Savarese said team selections and specific details will be announced as soon as possible. “I want to thank our staff, especially Joe Evans and Wanda Gilliland, the Birmingham Tip-Off Club, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Foundation, the City of Birmingham and our basketball coaches who were involved in helping us land this tournament,” he said.

Class 6A two-time defending state champion Bob Jones played in the T-Mobile tourney at Muncie, Ind., last year, falling to Washington High School of South Bend, Ind., in the finals at Ball State’s Worthern Arena, 64-55. Lawrence North of Indianapolis beat South Atlanta, Ga., in the boys finals in 2008.

Mobile-LeFlore High School reached the boys finals of the inaugural T-Mobile Invitational at Seattle, Wash., in 2006. The Rattlers fell to Fairfax, Va., in the finals 52-42. The 2007 T-Mobile tourney was held at Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico’s “Pit” arena with St. Anthony. N.J., winning the boys title and Long Beach Poly of Los Angeles winning the girls title.

The Mobile Press-Register’s Josh Bean won the second annual AHSAA Media Award: Josh is a great guy as far as I can tell from my interactions with him, and I’d like to congratulate him on the award.

And I’d like to think that he reads my blog and knows that I’m congratulating him. And I’d like to think I was in the top 250 in voting or whatever for the award.

But I know those last two aren’t true.

A lot of people get thrown out of high school sporting events: But not nearly as many as there used to be.

Savarese said the number of ejections has dropped 40 percent in the past couple of years, but the number for last school year wsa still in the 550-560 range.

The AHSAA’s goal is 0. That may take awhile.

Leeds coach Keith Etheredge not only remembered my face, but also my name and the fact that I had covered his team at one time: I don’t think I’m a very memorable person.

So it’s always nice when someone like a football coach, who probably has to memorize thousands of names and faces, still recognizes mine.

I hadn’t seen coach Etheredge since January, but I had covered Leeds all season during its Class 3A championship run in the Birmingham News.

He was there for the Champions Challenge press conference (which I’ll get to in a sec), and not only did he do the obligatory wave and hand shake, but actually got up from his seat to come say “hi” and talk to me for a little.

And that was kind of special.

And he had a huge ring on his finger.

Looks like we got a comedian in the room…or about six: The six coaches who were there for the Champions Challenge press conference (to be held Aug. 21-22 at the Cramton Bowl…the games, not the press conference) were not above cracking a few jokes to make us media types guffaw.

Here’s the pick of the litter:

Alphonso Pogue, Montgomery-Carver coach on their opponent for the Challenge, Prattville: “They’re the king of the jungle…and it’s going to be a rumble in the jungle.“
Analysis: Points for slant rhyming and shouting out Ali. But I’m pretty sure Prattville’s mascot (Lions) will be more at home in the jungle than Carver’s (Wolverines).

Jamie Riggs, T.R. Miller coach on his players’ size: “We don’t grow them very big in Brewton: our mothers and daddies don’t grow them very big. Lot of short people in Brewton.“
Analysis: Too true. Take a look at this guy. ‘Nuff said.

John Grass, Oxford coach on his counterpart, Josh Niblett of Hoover, who was impeccably dressed in a beige suit jacket and pants, white shirt and orange-and-white striped tie after flying into Birmingham from an undisclosed location and driving down to the Gump (presumably in a Hummer stretch limousine): Well, he’s already beaten me on dress…“
Analyis: Grass is the big winner of the day. Not only did he contribute this gem, but when talk turned to Riggs’ signature tie and how he wore it again last year after suffering a subpar year without it, Grass deadpanned, “Can I borrow that tie?“

Well done, Grass.

Well done.