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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Weekend Of Activities Surround Grove Bowl 2009
4/14/2009 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss fans will not only get a sneak peak at the heralded 2009 Rebel football team as part of Grove Bowl weekend but also honor some recent football standouts and contribute to the M-Club's scholarship fund.
On Saturday, the annual Grove Bowl features head coach Houston Nutt's Rebels in their annual spring intrasquad scrimmage in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Advance tickets, at $10 each, are available at OleMissSports.com or through the athletics ticket office in Tad Smith Coliseum. Call 662-915-7167 or visit the ticket office 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
On gameday, tickets are available in The Grove and at the ticket office on All-American Drive, next to the Starnes Athletics Center. All proceeds benefit the M-Club's J.W. "Wobble" Davidson Scholarship Fund. Stadium gates open at noon and kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Tailgating starts at 10 a.m. in The Grove with children's games. A commemorative poster and Grove Bowl t-shirts can be purchased as well as catfish, barbecue and chicken tenders. At 10:45 a.m., Rebel football players and coaches tread the traditional Walk of Champions as they head to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
At 11 a.m., 2008 All-Americans and projected first-round draft picks Michael Oher and Peria Jerry will be celebrated on the Grove stage with a special program, hosted by FOX News anchor Shepard Smith. The panel discussion, called "Path to the Draft: Ole Miss to the NFL," will honor Oher and Jerry and also include a trio of former Rebels with NFL experience in Marcus Johnson, Von Hutchins and Todd Wade.
In the event of bad weather, the ceremony will be moved inside the Student Union, adjacent to the Grove.
Other events of the weekend include a match against in-state rival Mississippi State for the Ole Miss women's tennis team, a three-game softball series between the Rebels and the Tennessee Lady Vols and the Ole Miss alumni soccer game.
The soccer alumni game will kickoff the weekend Saturday morning at 11 a.m. from the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. A large collection of former Rebels are slated to compete against the current team.
The 25th-ranked Rebel tennis team faces the Lady Bulldogs Saturday at 12 p.m, and all fans will receive complimentary hot dogs and other refreshments courtesy of Kroger and Rebel Sports Marketing. Admission to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center is free.
The Ole Miss softball squad will host Tennessee in a doubleheader beginning Saturday at 1 p.m. The two teams will play a third game Sunday at 1 p.m. and celebrate Senior Day for departing Rebels Lisa Conchos and Michelle May.
In addition, Ole Miss will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award with the annual awards banquet, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Indoor Practice Facility. For the first time in the history of the award, the Ole Miss coaching staff has named the finalists prior to the banquet, and they include cornerback Marshay Green, safety Kendrick Lewis and defensive lineman Marcus Tillman.
Fans will be addressed by Coach Nutt and former award winner and current Ole Miss Assistant Athletics Director Jamil Northcutt, and there will also be a video presentation featuring many past recipients. Tickets for the Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet, which includes admission to the banquet and a commemorative 20th anniversary poster, cost $25 each and may be purchased online in the OleMissSports.com ticket office or by calling 662-915-7404.
The Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet is sponsored each year by Phi Beta Sigma and Phi Kappa Psi fraternities, and proceeds assist Ole Miss students involved in serious accidents.
Free parking for Saturday's football game is available in the lot on the west side of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The lot adjacent to the Starnes Center is reserved for handicapped parking, and lots adjacent the Indoor Practice Facility are closed. Officials suggest that fans park in the nearby Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot at the intersection of Highway 6 and Old Taylor Road.
Davidson, a three-sport star at Ole Miss and assistant football coach for 22 seasons under John Vaught, died in 1998 at the age 79. As an assistant in 1945-68, he helped coach the Rebels to 16 bowl games and six Southeastern Conference championships. He also spent 11 years as head men's tennis coach and was adviser to the M-Club for 23 years.
The fund bearing his name awards scholarships to the children of former Ole Miss letterwinners.
The Ole Miss M-Club is an honor organization for men and women who have earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sanctioned sport sponsored by the university and have participated in a formal induction ceremony.
For more information about Grove Bowl events or for assistance related to a disability, call the Ole Miss Alumni Affairs office at 662-915-7375.
