Recently in College Sports Category

College football fans made their voices heard and selected the best college football player in the country. AT&T* announced today that University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is the AT&T All-America Player of the Year, the only major college football award chosen exclusively by fans. Receiving more than 137,000 text votes, McCoy is the people's choice for best college football player in the nation.

McCoy led his team in total offense with 3,328 passing yards and 368 rushing yards, averaging 308 yards per game. During the Longhorns' undefeated season, he threw 27 passes for touchdowns and rushed for three. McCoy's 70.5 completion percentage ranks third nationally. McCoy is the first player in the school's history to be nominated twice as a Heisman finalist. In addition, he won AT&T's All-America Player of the Week in week 13 when he passed for 304 yards and ran for a career-high 175 yards with five total touchdowns in Texas' win at Texas A&M. He beat out an impressive field of nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year award, including University of Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram placing second, and University of Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, placing third and fourth, respectively.

"AT&T congratulates Colt on having a spectacular season and for winning the AT&T All-America Player of the Year award," said Jamie Kerr, senior manager, AT&T National Sponsorships.

"We are proud to offer this unique award that enables fans to vote for the player they believed excelled on the field throughout the entire season. Congratulations again to Colt and the other nominees, and thanks to all the college football fans who participated and voted all season long."

Fans - regardless of wireless carrier - were invited to submit a text message to vote for their pick among the following candidates:

• Colt McCoy (University of Texas)
• Mark Ingram (University of Alabama)
• Ndamukong Suh (University of Nebraska)
• Tim Tebow (University of Florida)

Polls stayed open until midnight ET Wednesday, Jan. 6. In addition to the AT&T All-America Player of the Year award, AT&T offered fans the chance to vote for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week awards through text message voting, all season long.

Last year, Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell was honored as the AT&T All-America Player of the Year, edging out Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, Texas' Colt McCoy and Florida's Tim Tebow.

AT&T customers can view video highlights and photos of each candidate and track select teams through AT&T's wireless NCAA Football Portal, which is accessible on AT&T handsets equipped with AT&T MEdia(TM) Net by launching the application and clicking through to the sports category.

Through the AT&T MEdia Net, fans can also download fight song ringtones from more than 150 colleges and universities. Animated screensavers and 3-D mobile wallpaper are available for more than 100 colleges and universities.

 

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

When the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Basketball Championship Round kicks off at Detroit's Ford Field on April 4, the teams will compete on a court manufactured in Michigan from Michigan-harvested wood.

Michigan's long and proud tradition of providing sports floor systems for the NCAA reaches back over 20 years. This year's NCAA championship court was constructed from renewable, Michigan-grown maple and assembled at the Connor Sports Flooring facility in Amasa, Michigan. The floor will make a stop at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 24, giving Michiganders a chance to see this locally made product prior to its installation in one of college basketball's most unique venues.

"Michigan's forest products industry is again honored to be a partner with the NCAA in providing high quality flooring systems for their premier sporting events," said George Berghorn, Director of Forest Policy for the Michigan Forest Products Council (MFPC). Connor's manufacturing approach emphasizes quality and sustainability. "Quality and resource conservation are important to Connor," stated Conrad Stromberg, Plant Manager for Connor Sports Flooring. "Our processes are designed to get the best yield out of the raw material that is being made into flooring; any excess sawdust is recycled to produce wood pellets, animal bedding, and mulch for home gardening," added Stromberg.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Michigan Forest Products Council have recently developed a branding program for Michigan's wood products called "Select Michigan Wood & Wood Products."

"The Select Michigan Brand showcases the bounty, and diversity, of Michigan agriculture," said MDA Director Don Koivisto. "The brand stands for high quality, Michigan-grown products, and this recognizable application of Michigan wood and manufacturing capacity is representative of the brand."

The Michigan Forest Products Council is a statewide trade association representing the $14 billion forest products industry, which owns millions of acres of timberland and employs over 150,000 men and women in Michigan. The Council works to protect, promote and sustain a globally competitive forest products industry in Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture is the official state agency charged with promoting, preserving, and protecting the food, agriculture, environmental, and economic interests of the people of the State of Michigan. Its programs serve all sectors of Michigan's $63.7 billion agriculture industry, which is the state's second largest industry.

Connor Floor was founded in 1872 and provides the marketplace with comprehensive indoor sports flooring and outdoor sports surfacing solutions for residential, community-based, educational, and commercial customers. The Connor Sports Flooring Amasa, Michigan mill began manufacturing flooring in 1976, and currently has 135 employees. Very little of the manufacturing process is automated to any degree -- the lumber used to make flooring is defected, graded, and bundled, by people who take great pride in their work.

SOURCE Michigan Forest Products Council

Fans Don't Have To Miss A Minute of the Action with AT&T Mobile TV

DALLAS, March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- College basketball fans can now catch all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship from the first round through the national championship even when they're not in front of a TV. AT&T* (NYSE: T) today announced live NCAA Division I Men's Basketball coverage available on AT&T Mobile TV as the result of AT&T's agreement with CBS and FLO TV , which powers AT&T Mobile TV.

Beginning March 19 - the beginning of the first round - AT&T Mobile TV subscribers will be able to catch every shot, steal, slam dunk and buzzer-beater directly from their cell phones through up to four additional seasonal channels aired by FLO TV. Coverage will include game highlights, score recaps and analysis from CBS Sports in broadcast quality on users' cell phones -- similar to the experience of watching from their home TVs.

AT&T is offering new AT&T Mobile TV subscribers a two-month free trial**, as well as a special promotion on one of its most popular AT&T Mobile TV compatible handsets, the LG Vu, currently on sale for $49.99 after mail-in rebate(1).

In addition to exclusive coverage of the men's tournament, subscribers enjoy mobile access to full-length television programming and sporting events from several leading entertainment brands.

AT&T | DIRECTV

Additionally, AT&T | DIRECTV customers can subscribe to DIRECTV's exclusive NCAA(R) MEGA MARCH MADNESS(R) that supplements CBS Sports' exclusive live network coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, and provides exclusive access to all live out-of-market games. Available to residential customers for $69, NCAA MEGA MARCH MADNESS offers 37 Tournament games from the first round through the Sweet 16(R) and is the only way television fans can see on television all 64 games of the NCAA Tournament, starting with the Opening Round game on March 17 and concluding with the championship game from Detroit, Mich., April 6.

NCAA MEGA MARCH MADNESS offers a host of interactive features enabling viewers to watch up to four live broadcasts on one screen with the ability to tune directly to any of the games, along with a scoreboard displaying the status of all current round match-ups. Fans with interactive receivers can make and track their own Bracket picks and see every score from every game in the Tournament.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.