Alabama’s Nick Saban with Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram Saturday in New York…
Alabama’s Nick Saban is up for coach of the year honors, and you can vote to help him win and contribute to charity at the same time, says Pat Whetstone, Director of Alumni Affairs for The University of Alabama.
In a press release today, Whetstone said these goals have been successfully achieved this year:
Winning the SEC Championship
Pasadena bound for the National Championship Game
Mark Ingram winning the Heisman
Next on the list?
Coach Saban winning the Liberty Mutual’s Coach of the Year
The final voting stage has begun. The coach who receives the most votes wins a $50,000 donation to his favorite charity plus a $20,000 donation to his school’s Alumni Scholarship Fund.
“This will be a great opportunity for Nick’s Kids and the Alabama Alumni Association,” Whetstone said.
NEW YORK — Few people ever have a chance to be arms’ length from greatness. As a lifelong fan of Alabama football, I feel lucky to know that I’ve been a witness to an event that will become a part of Alabama’s fabled history.
To have had such an opportunity twice is remarkable. On both occasions, I tried to burn each detail into my memory because I knew the events before me were celebrating a legacy of pride and greatness.
Two celebrations of excellence of historic proportions for the storied University of Alabama football program will endure in my memory.
Tom Campbell
Mark Ingram will carry the Heisman experience for the rest of his life
Over 25 years ago, as my last official act as student body president at the University of Alabama, I attended the funeral of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. As sad as Bryant’s funeral and grave site procession were, the Alabama family celebrated a man whose impact upon his players, coaches, university and fans proved immeasurable.
Economic times were hard then, and folks rallied around the prowess and class surrounding the football institution Coach Bryant built. During a time when people were losing a lot — jobs, bonuses, homes — Alabama football offered fans in the community something to be proud of and helped people feel like winners. Despite the celebratory remembrance of Bryant’s life and career, this event nevertheless marked an end.
Now, decades later, in the midst of a terrible economic climate, I had the opportunity to observe another event crucial to the history of Alabama’s football program as a special assignment reporter for the Locust Fork News Journal. However, this celebration, at the announcement of the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, marked a new beginning rather than an end.
NEW YORK — Could running back Mark Ingram become the first Heisman Trophy winner in the history of the University of Alabama? He appears to be the favorite, according to a number of sports writers and commentators who handicap these things. We will find out shortly.
Our correspondent Tom Campbell is at the Marriott Marquis in New York and will provide live coverage of the event in this space. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Central Time on ESPN.
Four of the five Heisman Trophy finalists met the media in New York Friday, the day before college football’s most coveted award is handed out. Commenting on the Heisman experience are Tim Tebow, Toby Gerhart, Mark Ingram and Ndamukong Suh.
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
