Tide’s Spring Game Will Be On ESPNU

Thanks to ESPN – specifically, ESPNU – Alabama’s A-Day weekend will stretch from Thursday through Saturday. It was announced that ESPNU will televise Bama’s annual spring football game on April 16, and that the network will also televise the Crimson Tide’s baseball game against Tennessee on Thursday preceding the A-Day Game.

Alabama will have its 15th and final practice of spring training at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, April 16, with kickoff at 2 p.m. CDT. There is no admission charge.

Over the last four years, Alabama has totaled 345,700 fans at A-Day. UA established a college football record in the spring of 2007 as a capacity crowd of 92,138 watched head coach Nick Saban’s first A-Day at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Last year’s attendance of 91,312 led the country and an average of 86,425 have been on hand for the last four A-Day scrimmages at Alabama.

With Bryant-Denny Stadium’s expansion pushing capacity over 100,000, Alabama will once again have a chance to regain the spring game attendance record this year (Ohio State had 95,722 in 2009).

Two other Saturday events are expected to draw large crowds.

A long Bama tradition features the captains from the previous season (from 2010 it is Greg McElroy, Mark Barron, and Dont'a Hightower) having their foot-prints and hand-prints placed in concrete around Denny Chimes.

Also, this year the row of statues of Bama’s national championship coaches grows from four to five. The plaza outside the North end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium will have the unveiling of the statue of Nick Saban, who coached Alabama to the national championship in 2009. He joins the row that includes Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul Bryant, and Gene Stallings.

In addition to the game on Saturday, there will be plenty of activities going on at the Capstone A-Day weekend. ESPNU will televise Alabama’s baseball game against Tennessee Thursday night and the baseball team also hosts the Volunteers on Friday and Saturday. The softball team hosts Mississippi State April 15, 16 and 17, men’s tennis hosts Auburn later in the day on April 16, and women’s soccer has a spring game against Samford the evening of April 15.

Former Alabama football players will participate in a flag football game in Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday morning.

Following spring break, the Crimson Tide starts spring practice on Monday, March 21, and will practice over the next four weeks culminating with A-Day on April 16. All practices except the A-Day Game are closed to the public. Bama ordinarily practices on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays in the spring.