This will be a free event to be held at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham, Ala., located in the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center complex at 2150 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. Phone: (205) 323-6665. The Sheraton Hotel of Birmingham — phone (205) 307-3045 — is located across the street from the ASHOF for those interested in checking on rates for an overnight stay. Lunch will be on your own. Several restaurants are located within the Sheraton Hotel.
10 a.m. CST. Welcome from Alabama Sports Hall of Fame director Scott Myers. Recognition of those in attendance.
10:15 Overview of APSE for newcomers from Phil Kaplan of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Jon Johnson of the Dothan Eagle and John Bednarowski of the Marietta Daily Journal.
10:30 Facebook and Twitter in sports: Presentation by Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel
11:30 until 12:45 p.m. Break for lunch, tour of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
1 p.m. Column writing — connecting with the reader: Presentation by Tommy Hicks of the Mobile Register and Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News.
2 p.m. Q&A with SEC commissioner Mike Slive and associate commissioner Charles Bloom
3 p.m. Breaking news: Presentation by Phil Kaplan of the Knoxville News Sentinel on Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin resignation.
4 p.m. Roundtable on copy sharing between newspapers.
5 p.m. Meeting concludes
For more information or to confirm you will be attending, please email Jon Johnson, Southeast Region Chairman, at jjohnson@dothaneagle.com.
You can also view updates or sign up to attend at http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=230134298923.
Dothan Eagle partners with company for Super 12 banquet
For the first time in the 20 years, the Dothan (Ala.) Eagle has selected Super 12 teams, the top high school athletes from the 42-team area are now being honored at banquets sponsored by Southern Bone & Joint Specialists.
The first banquet was held Dec. 14 at Southeast Alabama Medical Center when this season’s Super 12 football and volleyball teams were honored. Huntingdon College head football coach Mike Turk was the guest speaker.
Banquets will follow in early April for girls and boys basketball and two banquets will be held after the spring, one for softball and baseball Super 12 teams, and one for girls and boys Super 12 soccer teams.
Each Super 12 player is allowed to bring two family members and their head coach as guests. They are treated to a buffet dinner.
Following dinner, a short bio is to be read about each player as they are introduced and called up to receive a plaque, which has their Super 12 photo on it. They will also be presented an additional copy of the newspaper in which the Super 12 team was recognized.
Southern Bone & Joint Specialists present invitations to the Super 12 members during their photo shoot for the newspaper’s Super 12 team and are in charge of arranging and covering any costs for the banquet facility. Southeast Alabama Medical Center is providing the meals free of charge.
According to the sponsorship package, Southern Bone & Joint Specialists will also have an ad for their company at the bottom of each Super 12 page in the Dothan Eagle.
Dothan Eagle sports editor Jon Johnson, who originated the Super 12 teams back in the late 1980s, believes the banquet is another benchmark in the history of honoring the top athletes in the area.
“I believe this will add to the prestige of being selected on the Dothan Eagle Super 12 team, and I’m appreciative of the partnership in this with Southern Bone & Joint Specialists,” Johnson said.
“Honoring some of the top athletes in the area by way of the Super 12 is something our sports department has always taken great pride in, and the banquet is an excellent opportunity to further recognize and celebrate their accomplishments.”
