April 8, 2011

MONDAY Rebels' Choice Awards, 7 p.m., Ford Center, Free Tickets At UM Box Office WEDNESDAY Softball vs. Middle Tennessee (DH), 5 p.m., Softball Complex, Free Admission THURSDAY Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet, 7 p.m., IPF, Tickets FRIDAY Baseball vs. Kentucky, 6:30 p.m., O-U Stadium, Tickets Soccer vs. Memphis (Exh.), 7 p.m., Soccer Stadium, Free Admission SATURDAY Life In The NFL, 11 a.m., Grove Stage W. Tennis vs. Miss. State, 11 a.m., Palmer/Salloum Center, Free Admission Grove Bowl, 1 p.m., Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Tickets At UMAA Ticket Office Soccer Alumni Game, 2 p.m., Soccer Stadium, Free Admission Baseball vs. Kentucky, 4 p.m., O-U Stadium, Tickets SUNDAY Baseball vs. Kentucky, 1:30 p.m., O-U Stadium, Tickets

OXFORD, Miss. -- Grove Bowl Week 2011 features several exciting events surrounding  Saturday's BancorpSouth Grove Bowl, which benefits the M-Club's scholarship fund.

Opening the festivities is the inaugural Rebels' Choice Awards, Monday at 7 p.m. CT at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for Performing Arts. Honoring athletics achievement from the past year, the semi-formal event is free to the public, but a ticket is required by visiting the UM Box Office located in the Student Union.

Grove Bowl Week continues with the Chucky Mullins Courage Award banquet Thursday, at 7 p.m. in the Indoor Practice Facility. Mullins's head coach at Ole Miss, Billy Brewer, will serve as speaker for the banquet, and the 22nd winner of the award, who will once again wear No. 38, will be announced.

Tickets for the Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet are $25 for the general public and $15 for Ole Miss students and may be purchased through the UM Box Office by stopping by the Student Union location, calling 662-915-7411 or ordering online at www.olemiss.edu/depts/tickets.

Grove Bowl Saturday kicks off with tailgating 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., a star-studded group of former Ole Miss Rebels will take part in an awards ceremony and panel discussion on the National Football League. "Life in the NFL" will be held on the Grove stage and feature NFL standouts Mike  Wallace, BenJarvus  Green-Ellis, Kendrick  Lewis, Tutan  Reyes and Micheal  Spurlock, retired Pro Bowler Deuce  McAllister and 2011 Draft hopeful Jerrell  Powe.

The BancorpSouth Grove Bowl features head coach Houston Nutt's Rebels in their annual spring intrasquad scrimmage in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Stadium gates open at noon and kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Tickets are $10 general admission, $40 for the southzone club level and free for Ole Miss students, faculty and staff. All proceeds benefit the M-Club's J.W. "Wobble" Davidson Scholarship Fund.

Tickets are available by calling 662-915-7167 or visiting the athletics ticket office in Tad Smith Coliseum 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.

After the football game, fans can make their way to Swayze Field and watch the Rebel baseball team face Kentucky at 4 p.m. The three-game series also feature a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday and a 1:30 start on Sunday.

Grove Bowl Saturday will serve as Senior Day for the Ole Miss women's tennis team, as it hosts rival Mississippi State in the regular-season home finale. Game time is set at 11 a.m. at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Other sports in action during Grove Bowl Week include the softball team hosting Middle Tennessee Wednesday in a 5 p.m. doubleheader. The soccer team hosts spring exhibition matches against Memphis Friday at 7 p.m. and the alumni team Saturday at 2.

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 South 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 BancorpSouth Grove Bowl events or for assistance related to a disability, call the Ole Miss Alumni Affairs office at 662-915-7375.