FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
COLLEGE BASKETBALL COLUMNIST MIKE DECOURCY TO BE TIPOFF SPEAKER TOMORROW
The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its next scheduled meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22, at 11:00 a.m., at Calhouns on the River in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet luncheon will be served. Mike DeCourcy, Senior College Basketball Columnist for The Sporting News nationally, who has the longest running college basketball column in America, will be the featured speaker, and will be introduced by local sports broadcaster and journalist Jimmy Hyams.
THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND THIS FINAL LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE SEASON SO THAT YOU CAN SAMPLE WHAT ALL OF OUR BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ENJOYING ALL SEASON LONG AND LEARN HOW YOU CAN BE A PART OF ALL THE FUN AND EXCITEMENT NEXT YEAR! GUEST LUNCHES ARE ONLY $15, INCLUDING TWO ENTREES, VEGETABLES, SALAD, BREAD, DESSERT, DRINK, TAX, & TIP, SO YOU CANT BEAT THAT DEAL.
Due to the overwhelming demand for parking at Calhouns, the Tipoff Club has secured and is continuing to offer auxiliary parking at the former Tennessee Grille parking lot on Neyland Drive, just west of Calhouns. Anyone who can and will park there will help alleviate the crunch. It is a short, pleasant walk down the Volunteer Landing Greenway from the Tennessee Grille parking lot along the Tennessee Riverfront to Calhouns.
Please plan to arrive as early as possible for this meeting. Calhouns will open the buffet line at 11:00 a.m. to accommodate what is expected to be another overflow standing-room-only crowd to hear Mike, who will be speaking just prior to the big UT mens away game on Jefferson Pilot Sports TV at Florida tomorrow night. The program starts promptly at Noon.
The fact that UTs mens basketball team is drawing capacity crowds and is at the top of the charts in the RPI, and that the Lady Vols are just off big road wins at Georgia and Alabama with a big home game against Auburn coming up on Fox Sports Net TV Thursday night, will drive attendance upward for this meeting.
UT Womens Athletics Director Joan Cronan and UT Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt are expected to be at this meeting to say a few words about how the team has responded to the loss of guard Alexis Hornbuckle to injury for the year. Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale is going to be in attendance, as Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam was last week.
THIS WEEKS SPEAKER: Mike DeCourcy is the author of the nations longest-running weekly college basketball column, appearing continuously in The Sporting News for over a decade. He is their senior college basketball writer.
Mike has written for the Pittsburgh Press, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and Cincinnati Enquirer over two decades. He has covered 16 Final Fours, has served as president of the United States Basketball Writers Association, and has won writing awards from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists.
DeCourcys extensive broadcast experience includes five years as co-host of Sporting News Radios Tournament Central and three years as co-host of the syndicated weekly show Off The Glass. He is one of the nations busiest television guests on CNN, CNBC, ESPN, and Fox Sports, as well as on radio talk shows nationally.
The Tipoff Club will be hosting the Knox County boys and girls high school basketball players of the week, as they do weekly, who will be awarded certificates by Jesse Smithey of The Knoxville News-Sentinel and will be honored along with their coaches.
One lucky member will win a pair of tickets to each of the next home UT mens and womens basketball games, and also a set of 4 tickets to the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame by participating in the clubs weekly PickNWin Contest for only $1 and picking the winners of a selection of mens and womens SEC games. Other door prizes will also be given to guests and prospective club members. The club will have several surprise celebrity guests on hand regularly, including former players, coaches, and other nationally-known basketball personalities.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP: The club is still soliciting individual members at only $60 and discounted senior citizen memberships at only $50. Spouses of members are free, making this an excellent deal. In addition, corporate memberships, which include all members of a firm, are still being offered at only $250.
Annual membership applications are still available by calling Club President Lloyd Richardson at (865) 588-5433, by faxing a request to (865) 588-2083, by e-mailing at tipoff@utfan.com , or by visiting the website at www.utfan.com/tipoff . A membership application for downloading with the Big Orange Tipoff Club logo on it is on the webpage.
All former UT mens and womens basketball lettermen, former UT Orange Tie Club members, Knoxville Quarterback Club members, VASF donors, Boost-Her Club members, and UT students can still join for half price. UT alumni, friends, and students, as well as the general public, are invited to attend and join as well. Legendary former UT Head Basketball Coach Ray Mears is an Honorary Member. Many members of the UT athletics administration, coaches, etc., are in attendance regularly.
All media are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to record and film any portion of the meeting, ask questions of DeCourcy in a public forum at the conclusion of her remarks, and will be able to interview him, as time allows, on both a group and individual basis. Each of our meetings so far has been covered extensively by print and broadcast media, including TV stations and several newspapers. Local talk show hosts are planning live remote radio broadcasts for some meetings.
All media are also invited to call (865) 522-8547 to schedule radio, television, and newspaper interviews with various Big Orange Tipoff Club steering committee members, including Charles W. Morgan, Gary D. Rowcliffe, Barry J. Smith, Christy Gentry, Michael J. Turner, J. Mark Hancock, and Club Historian R. Larry Smith regarding the club, its promotion of UT basketball, its purposes, its sponsoring of awards and contributions to scholarships, and its charitable endeavors in supporting college and amateur athletics in East Tennessee. Steering committee members have been making radio and television appearances and doing newspaper interviews regularly, and are available for speaking engagements to any groups.
The Big Orange Tipoff Club is offering special merchandise for sale with the distinctive club logo on it, including T-shirts and caps, each for the low price of only $10. Only a limited number of each is available, and they are quickly becoming collectors items in this, the clubs inaugural year.
NEXT WEEKS SPEAKER - MARCH 1 PRE-GAME BASH AND EVENING DINNER EVENT: NBA Hall of Famer and UCLA National Champion Gail Goodrich will be speaking at a major, special pre-game bash and evening dinner event at a larger venue at The Foundry at Worlds Fair Park just prior to the final Senior Night home UT mens basketball game against Kentucky, which tips off at 8 p.m. on WVLT Channel 8 Volunteer TV, the local CBS affiliate.
The UT cheerleaders and the Big Orange Banditos Band will be on hand as well, making it a festive pre-game pep rally. Dress is game casual and very informal. Just wear whatever you normally wear to a game, jeans, sweater, etc., and take advantage of the very affordable low prices to bring your whole family or all your clients. A special commemorative "thank you" collectible gift will be given to everyone that you don't want to miss.
THIS EVENT IS NEARLY A SELLOUT. ONLY A FEW TICKETS REMAIN. PLEASE BUY YOURS AT THE MEETING TOMORROW BEFORE THEY ARE ALL GONE. THEY WILL NOT BE MAILED. THEY CAN BE PICKED UP TOMORROW OR, IF PREPAID, AT THE DOOR THE NIGHT OF THE EVENT.
Tickets are only $20 for members, $25 for guests, $10 for a special childrens menu buffet, and $250 for a reserved table of 10, and are on sale now. Many tables have already been reserved and space is limited. The cash bars will open at 4:30 p.m. and the buffet lines will begin at 5:00 p.m., with the program to start at 6:00 p.m. The event will be over by 7:00 p.m., in plenty of time to get to the big game, since it has a late tipoff time and the Foundry is only a short 5-minute ride away from the arena.
Parking will be free and plentiful. Roving photographers will be there to take individual, group, and candid photos that you will be able to purchase as souvenirs. We expect many former players to attend. There will be a silent auction of autographed UT basketballs, signed by all of our speakers this year and also by the UT mens and womens coaching staff and former lettermen. Please find a ticket order form on our website for that event for you to print and mail, fax, or e-mail back, or bring it with you along with your check to the meeting tomorrow to purchase your tickets, which are going fast.
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL COLUMNIST MIKE DECOURCY TO BE TIPOFF SPEAKER TOMORROW
The Big Orange Tipoff Club is proud to announce its next scheduled meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22, at 11:00 a.m., at Calhouns on the River in Downtown Knoxville, where a buffet luncheon will be served. Mike DeCourcy, Senior College Basketball Columnist for The Sporting News nationally, who has the longest running college basketball column in America, will be the featured speaker, and will be introduced by local sports broadcaster and journalist Jimmy Hyams.
THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND THIS FINAL LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE SEASON SO THAT YOU CAN SAMPLE WHAT ALL OF OUR BIG ORANGE TIPOFF CLUB MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ENJOYING ALL SEASON LONG AND LEARN HOW YOU CAN BE A PART OF ALL THE FUN AND EXCITEMENT NEXT YEAR! GUEST LUNCHES ARE ONLY $15, INCLUDING TWO ENTREES, VEGETABLES, SALAD, BREAD, DESSERT, DRINK, TAX, & TIP, SO YOU CANT BEAT THAT DEAL.
Due to the overwhelming demand for parking at Calhouns, the Tipoff Club has secured and is continuing to offer auxiliary parking at the former Tennessee Grille parking lot on Neyland Drive, just west of Calhouns. Anyone who can and will park there will help alleviate the crunch. It is a short, pleasant walk down the Volunteer Landing Greenway from the Tennessee Grille parking lot along the Tennessee Riverfront to Calhouns.
Please plan to arrive as early as possible for this meeting. Calhouns will open the buffet line at 11:00 a.m. to accommodate what is expected to be another overflow standing-room-only crowd to hear Mike, who will be speaking just prior to the big UT mens away game on Jefferson Pilot Sports TV at Florida tomorrow night. The program starts promptly at Noon.
The fact that UTs mens basketball team is drawing capacity crowds and is at the top of the charts in the RPI, and that the Lady Vols are just off big road wins at Georgia and Alabama with a big home game against Auburn coming up on Fox Sports Net TV Thursday night, will drive attendance upward for this meeting.
UT Womens Athletics Director Joan Cronan and UT Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt are expected to be at this meeting to say a few words about how the team has responded to the loss of guard Alexis Hornbuckle to injury for the year. Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale is going to be in attendance, as Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam was last week.
THIS WEEKS SPEAKER: Mike DeCourcy is the author of the nations longest-running weekly college basketball column, appearing continuously in The Sporting News for over a decade. He is their senior college basketball writer.
Mike has written for the Pittsburgh Press, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and Cincinnati Enquirer over two decades. He has covered 16 Final Fours, has served as president of the United States Basketball Writers Association, and has won writing awards from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists.
DeCourcys extensive broadcast experience includes five years as co-host of Sporting News Radios Tournament Central and three years as co-host of the syndicated weekly show Off The Glass. He is one of the nations busiest television guests on CNN, CNBC, ESPN, and Fox Sports, as well as on radio talk shows nationally.
The Tipoff Club will be hosting the Knox County boys and girls high school basketball players of the week, as they do weekly, who will be awarded certificates by Jesse Smithey of The Knoxville News-Sentinel and will be honored along with their coaches.
One lucky member will win a pair of tickets to each of the next home UT mens and womens basketball games, and also a set of 4 tickets to the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame by participating in the clubs weekly PickNWin Contest for only $1 and picking the winners of a selection of mens and womens SEC games. Other door prizes will also be given to guests and prospective club members. The club will have several surprise celebrity guests on hand regularly, including former players, coaches, and other nationally-known basketball personalities.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP: The club is still soliciting individual members at only $60 and discounted senior citizen memberships at only $50. Spouses of members are free, making this an excellent deal. In addition, corporate memberships, which include all members of a firm, are still being offered at only $250.
Annual membership applications are still available by calling Club President Lloyd Richardson at (865) 588-5433, by faxing a request to (865) 588-2083, by e-mailing at tipoff@utfan.com , or by visiting the website at www.utfan.com/tipoff . A membership application for downloading with the Big Orange Tipoff Club logo on it is on the webpage.
All former UT mens and womens basketball lettermen, former UT Orange Tie Club members, Knoxville Quarterback Club members, VASF donors, Boost-Her Club members, and UT students can still join for half price. UT alumni, friends, and students, as well as the general public, are invited to attend and join as well. Legendary former UT Head Basketball Coach Ray Mears is an Honorary Member. Many members of the UT athletics administration, coaches, etc., are in attendance regularly.
All media are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to record and film any portion of the meeting, ask questions of DeCourcy in a public forum at the conclusion of her remarks, and will be able to interview him, as time allows, on both a group and individual basis. Each of our meetings so far has been covered extensively by print and broadcast media, including TV stations and several newspapers. Local talk show hosts are planning live remote radio broadcasts for some meetings.
All media are also invited to call (865) 522-8547 to schedule radio, television, and newspaper interviews with various Big Orange Tipoff Club steering committee members, including Charles W. Morgan, Gary D. Rowcliffe, Barry J. Smith, Christy Gentry, Michael J. Turner, J. Mark Hancock, and Club Historian R. Larry Smith regarding the club, its promotion of UT basketball, its purposes, its sponsoring of awards and contributions to scholarships, and its charitable endeavors in supporting college and amateur athletics in East Tennessee. Steering committee members have been making radio and television appearances and doing newspaper interviews regularly, and are available for speaking engagements to any groups.
The Big Orange Tipoff Club is offering special merchandise for sale with the distinctive club logo on it, including T-shirts and caps, each for the low price of only $10. Only a limited number of each is available, and they are quickly becoming collectors items in this, the clubs inaugural year.
NEXT WEEKS SPEAKER - MARCH 1 PRE-GAME BASH AND EVENING DINNER EVENT: NBA Hall of Famer and UCLA National Champion Gail Goodrich will be speaking at a major, special pre-game bash and evening dinner event at a larger venue at The Foundry at Worlds Fair Park just prior to the final Senior Night home UT mens basketball game against Kentucky, which tips off at 8 p.m. on WVLT Channel 8 Volunteer TV, the local CBS affiliate.
The UT cheerleaders and the Big Orange Banditos Band will be on hand as well, making it a festive pre-game pep rally. Dress is game casual and very informal. Just wear whatever you normally wear to a game, jeans, sweater, etc., and take advantage of the very affordable low prices to bring your whole family or all your clients. A special commemorative "thank you" collectible gift will be given to everyone that you don't want to miss.
THIS EVENT IS NEARLY A SELLOUT. ONLY A FEW TICKETS REMAIN. PLEASE BUY YOURS AT THE MEETING TOMORROW BEFORE THEY ARE ALL GONE. THEY WILL NOT BE MAILED. THEY CAN BE PICKED UP TOMORROW OR, IF PREPAID, AT THE DOOR THE NIGHT OF THE EVENT.
Tickets are only $20 for members, $25 for guests, $10 for a special childrens menu buffet, and $250 for a reserved table of 10, and are on sale now. Many tables have already been reserved and space is limited. The cash bars will open at 4:30 p.m. and the buffet lines will begin at 5:00 p.m., with the program to start at 6:00 p.m. The event will be over by 7:00 p.m., in plenty of time to get to the big game, since it has a late tipoff time and the Foundry is only a short 5-minute ride away from the arena.
Parking will be free and plentiful. Roving photographers will be there to take individual, group, and candid photos that you will be able to purchase as souvenirs. We expect many former players to attend. There will be a silent auction of autographed UT basketballs, signed by all of our speakers this year and also by the UT mens and womens coaching staff and former lettermen. Please find a ticket order form on our website for that event for you to print and mail, fax, or e-mail back, or bring it with you along with your check to the meeting tomorrow to purchase your tickets, which are going fast.
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