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ESPN Announces 2006 MEAC / SWAC Challenge Game
February 27, 2006
Birmingham , Ala. - ESPN Regional Television
(ERT) announced the opponents for the 2nd Annual Ford MEAC
SWAC Football Challenge. 2005 conference champions, Hampton
University (MEAC) and Grambling State University (SWAC), will
tangle at Birmingham’s
Legion Field, September 2, 2006. This announcement was made
today ( 2/27/06) at a press conference hosted by Buffalo Rock
Company. These two teams shared the 2005 Black College Football
National Championship, posting identical 11-1 records.
This event promises to bring more than just a game, but a
tradition with planned events for the whole community. “This
will be more than a football game… it is truly an event.
. . [The] pageantry is a great tradition of black college football”,
said Pete Derzis, Senior Vice President and General Manager,
ERT. Planned activities leading up to the game include an ESPN
Career Expo, Kick-off Luncheon, Step Show, and Team ESPN which
is a corporate outreach program that will host a sports career
panel for high school seniors.
In last year’s game, the MEAC’s South Carolina
State defeated SWAC’s Alabama State 27-14 in the first
Ford MEAC/SWAC challenge. The score was recalled today as MEAC
Commissioner Dennis Thomas threw down the gauntlet by stating “MEAC
is 1-0, we’re batting 1.000%”.
New features of this year’s game will include an exclusive
showing of the new Ford Edge which is a cross between a car
and sports utility vehicle. Marc Perry, Multicultural Marketing
Manager for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands stated, “Ford
Motor Company continues its long standing commitment of supporting
the academic and athletic pursuits of college students and
their families by providing its second-annual sponsorship support
of the MEAC-SWAC Challenge”.
Although there has not been a set time, tickets for the Ford
MEAC/SWAC Challenge football game are available now online
at ticketmaster.com,
and all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets for the step show will
also be available this summer through Ticketmaster. Public
tickets for the luncheon will also be available this summer
through the Ford MEAC/SWAC Challenge Birmingham office at 205-733-3776.
Encouraging more community support, the SWAC Commissioner
Robert Vowels stated, “The community has to come in and
step up to grab the event, if you are not here on Labor Day
you must not be alive. It’s about education, changing
lives, and gaining long lasting relationships.”
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