United States Sports Academy

McCollough Presented Daniel Moore Painting

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

McCollough Presented Daniel Moore Painting

27 January 2012

Academy President and CEO Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich (left) presents Dr. Gaylon McCollough (right), a painting by Alabama artist Daniel Moore, the Academy’s 2005 Sport Artist of the Year. McCollough gave a presentation Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Academy about legendary University of Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s secrets to success.

Concept Unveiled for New Original Oil Painting of the Academy’s 2011 College Football Game of the Year Winner

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Concept Unveiled for New Original Oil Painting of the Academy’s 2011 College Football Game of the Year Winner

26 January 2012

Prominent Alabama artist Daniel A. Moore has announced a single forthcoming masterwork in oils that will both commemorate Alabama’s recent BCS National Championship and serve as the basis for the United States Sports Academy’s official 2011 College Football Game of the Year Award® artwork.

For six years, Moore has created artwork that has become an integral part of the College Football Game of the Year Award®. The prestigious annual award was initiated by the United States Sports Academy in 2005 to pay tribute to a team whose efforts in a college football game exemplify the principles of high athletic endeavor, complete dedication to victory, and unified team effort. The award is a part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport series, established as “a tribute to the artist and the athlete.”

“My heartfelt congratulations go out to the Alabama players and coaches and the entire Bama nation,” says Moore, the Academy’s 2005 Sport Artist of the Year, from his studio in Hoover, Ala. “As an Alabama graduate, artist and documenter of sports history, I am certainly thrilled about commemorating this historic event. I am especially honored to work with the Academy in creating the official artwork for the 2011 College Football Game of the Year Award® and Limited Edition fine art print and canvases.”

Moore has designed a single painting that pays tribute to Alabama’s success in all phases of the 2012 BCS Championship Game—encompassing the offense, defense and special teams. The bottom section of the painting will focus on Alabama’s dominating defense that recorded a shutout against previously No. 1-ranked LSU. Designed to serve as a stand-alone painting, Moore will first paint this bottom section, which he has titled, “The Shutout.” This work will then be published as the Official College Football Game of the Year® Limited Edition Giclée Prints and Canvases.

“‘The Shutout’ is my special artistic tribute to the 2011 Crimson Tide Defense—one of the best ever,” Moore says. “For this lower section of the painting, I have utilized my traditional ‘single-scene’ format, reminiscent of ‘The Goal Line Stand,’ ‘The Kick,’ ‘The Sack’ and others. However, I have added the element of ‘time’ as a nuance to ‘The Shutout,’ making it a time-lapse portrait of the swarming Alabama defenders as they are depicted at different points in the game, yet appearing together in one visual setting.” (Shown in the preliminary sketch.)

Upon completion of “The Shutout,” Moore will then proceed to complete the upper portion of his specially designed painting. The overall finished work will be titled “Restoring the Order” (Shown in the preliminary sketch.) and will be offered as Limited Edition Fine Art Lithographs by New Life Art, Inc. For more information, go to http://www.newlifeart.com.

Alabama’s Shutout of LSU in National Championship Game Chosen as the 2011 College Football Game of the Year

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:12:15 GMT

Alabama’s Shutout of LSU in National Championship Game Chosen as the 2011 College Football Game of the Year

20 January 2012

The United States Sports Academy’s 2011 College Football Game of the Year is Alabama’s victory over LSU in the Allstate BCS Championship Game.

The Alabama defense smothered the LSU offense in the rematch of the two top-ranked Southeastern Conference rivals to win the national title game, 21-0, and earn selection as the Game of the Year by a panel of eminent sports leaders who are on the Academy’s College Football Game of the Year Committee.

The dominating performance moved the Crimson Tide (12-1) into the top spot in the final Associated Press poll for the eighth time, tying Notre Dame for the most of any team in college football. Alabama’s defense prevented LSU (13-1) from crossing midfield until there were 8 minutes left in the game. The Tigers finished with just 92 yards and five first downs.

Alabama place kicker Jeremy Shelley tied a bowl record with five field goals and the Crimson Tide defense did the rest, posting the first shutout in the 14-year history of the BCS. It was the second BCS title in three years for Alabama led by head football coach Nick Saban.

In the team’s regular-season battle in Week 10, LSU won a defensive struggle, 9-6, with a field goal in overtime against Alabama on the road.

Each week the Academy’s College Football Game of the Year Committee selects a Game of the Week winner. Each week’s winner is then considered for the award honoring the best College Football Game of the Year at the end of the regular season. The 2010 winner was Auburn for its 22-19 victory against Oregon in the BCS game.

The committee, which reads like a “Who’s Who” in college football, is currently chaired by Jack Lengyel, the former athletic director at the United States Naval Academy. Lengyel was also a college football coach best known for being the head coach who resurrected the Marshall University football program, as depicted in the 2006 film, “We Are Marshall.”

Daniel Moore, the American Sports Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA) 2005 Sport Artist of the Year, is commissioned by the Academy each year to create a painting honoring the selected College Football Game of the Year. The Academy will donate Moore’s painting to Alabama for being named this year’s top college football game, along with $5,000 to Alabama’s general scholarship fund.

The contest was developed to pay tribute to a team whose efforts in a game exemplify the spirit and principles of athletic endeavor, dedication and teamwork. The College Football Game of the Year Award is a part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport series.

The Academy is the largest graduate school of sport education in the world. The Academy became the first and only free standing, accredited university in America devoted entirely to sport programs when it opened in 1972, a distinction that continues to this day.

Congratulations to Our Newest Graduates!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:56:52 GMT

Congratulations to Our Newest Graduates!

19 January 2012

With rolling enrollment, the Academy’s students start their courses as soon as they are accepted without having to wait for the next semester to begin. The Academy is proud to announce its latest monthly graduates.

Bachelor’s Students

Ron J Burton (Moxee, WA) - B.S.S. Sports Management
Carmine J. Zappola (Avenel, NJ) - B.S.S. Sports Management

Master’s Students

Christian Ahmad Ahangar (West Allis, Wisc.) - M.S.S. Sports Management NCAA Compliance Emphasis
Peter Herbert Alewine (Evans, Ga.) - M.S.S. Sports Management/M.S.S. Sports Coaching
Renea Danielle Dunn (Jacksonville, Fla.) - M.S.S. Sports Management
Nerissa Chevonne Lockhart (Miramar, Fla.) - M.S.S. Sports Management
Brion R Packett (Summerville, S.C.) - M.S.S. Sports Coaching
Catherine Gael Reynolds (Daphne, Ala.) - M.S.S. Sports Fitness and Health
Nolan Victor Steputis (Costa Mesa, Calif.) - M.S.S. Sports Management
Andrew Lee Walters (Tarrytown, N.Y.) - M.S.S. Sports Fitness and Health

40th Anniversary Logo Created to Celebrate Academy’s Founding

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:47:36 GMT

40th Anniversary Logo Created to Celebrate Academy’s Founding

19 January 2012

This year marks 40 years since the United States Sports Academy was established to upgrade the profession of sport in the United States and throughout the world through education.

The university officially began April 22, 1972 when it became the first and only free standing, regionally accredited school of sport in America, a distinction that continues to this day. While many things have changed over the years, the mission at the Academy, also known as America’s Sports University, remains the same: To prepare men and women for careers in sport.

To celebrate the university’s founding, a 40th Anniversary logo has been designed by Australian artist Charles Billich, the Academy’s Sport Artist of the Year in 2000. The contemporary design emphasizes the school’s tradition. Playing off the original logo it features an eagle seemingly soaring to new heights and uses the school’s same red, white and blue colors.

The Academy was born from the United States’ need for a national school of sport, highlighted by the U.S. Olympic team’s poor performance in the 1972 Munich Olympiad. This was further emphasized by the Blyth-Mueller Report in 1974 that found the poor preparation of coaches resulted in an increase in severe sport injuries.

Today, the Academy is the largest graduate school of sport education in the world. During its history, thousands of students have earned degrees in its bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs and the school has provided sport education to more than 60 nations around the world. In addition, the school has moved its education to 100% online giving its students the utmost flexibility to take courses whenever and wherever they want in today’s demanding times.

Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich, who founded the sports university and is the school’s President and CEO, says the Academy strives to achieve its mission as an innovator in higher education.

“We pride ourselves on the commitment the past 40 years of our faculty and staff to helping its students to grow and to prepare for responsible positions within the profession of sport,” Dr. Rosandich says. “Given our track record of success, we look forward to the future and to continuing to be the national and worldwide resource for sport education.”

New Academy TA Gets Teaching Opportunity with Thailand Program

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

New Academy TA Gets Teaching Opportunity with Thailand Program

19 January 2012

Most Januarys Amber Magner is in the middle of the women’s basketball season trying to coach and mold her players into a winning team.

Now a first-year doctoral teaching assistant at the United States Sports Academy, she will travel to Thailand to teach coaching to students there in the International Certification in Sports Coaching and Sports Management (ICSC and ICSM) program.

A college basketball coach for more than 10 years and standout player at the University of New Orleans, Magner looks forward to her new assignment and the experience. It’s a step toward reaching her goal of furthering her career in sports management at the collegiate level.

“This is a great opportunity and one of the reasons I wanted to come here,” Magner says. “The chance to teach overseas was a big factor. In every aspect, it will be a new experience for me. But coaching is coaching.”

Magner’s course, Coaching Methodology, leads off the Sports Authority of Thailand’s (SAT) 2012 school year. The course is scheduled from Jan. 23-27.

The Academy has a long-standing relationship with the SAT, sending instructors to Thailand to teach certification courses in the sports coaching and sports management programs. The SAT is Thailand’s primary sport organization and plays a vital role in the development of sport. For nearly four decades, the Academy has provided programs in sport education to students throughout the nation and to more than 60 countries across the globe.

Magner, who is one of five students who began the Academy’s three-year residential doctoral program in September, holds a bachelor’s in business and master’s in sport management from New Orleans. Previously, Magner coached women’s basketball for 10 years, including seven years as the head coach at California State University, Monterey. Magner led Cal State through the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.

In addition, she taught foundations of coaching in the university’s Sports Management program and created, designed, implemented and ran the intramural program. As a player, Magner starred at New Orleans where she earned a Louisiana All-Academic Scholar Athlete Award and was named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s All-Academic Team three times.

Already, Magner has planned activities for the Thailand students who will cover a wide-array of subjects, such as developing practice plans, pre-season and post-season training and a coaching philosophy.

“Since I have coached a number of years, I have a lot of ideas about what to do with the group,” she said. “I’ll have to make sure the work applies to what they’re doing. I know they have a different perspective on sports since no one in the world has a collegiate system like we do.”

While there Magner hopes to have time to learn, too, about the country and culture.

“The only foreign country I’ve been to is Costa Rica and that was for a vacation,” she says. “I’ve heard Thailand is really beautiful and it would be great to see some things while I’m over there.”

Academy Starts Body Composition Testing on About 420 Athletes

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Academy Starts Body Composition Testing on About 420 Athletes

19 January 2012

The Academy is beginning testing on about 420 male and female athletes in its Human Performance Lab as part of a major research project studying body composition.

Dr. Jordan Moon, Department Head of Sports Fitness and Health, and Dr. Enrico Esposito, Chair of Sports Medicine, are heading up the projects for the Academy that is examining more than a dozen devices and techniques that measure body composition to determine which ones are the most accurate.

“This data will help those athletes and athletes all over the world to help choose which devices are more accurate measurements of body composition,” Dr. Moon says. “The validity and accuracy of many devices are unknown for most athletes because athletes’ bodies are more developed and different from the average persons.”

For its investigation the Academy is seeking about 420 males and females between the ages of 14 and 45 to volunteer to undergo testing. Athletes will go through the approximately 4.5 hours of testing during one visit and will receive more than $500 worth of testing for free.

In addition, the athletes will be provided detailed information about their body fat, muscle mass, as well as segmental fat and muscle mass, such as the amount of muscle in their legs, arms, trunk, etc. They will also learn the precise amount of calories they should be eating if they want to gain muscle or lose fat. This information will be invaluable to helping develop their nutrition and training regimens and to determining their effectiveness, Moon says.

Among other purposes of the study are to develop new algorithms (fat mass, fat-free mass and total body water) for some bioelectrical impedance devices.

Already a Mobile-area rugby club and the University of South Alabama track and cross country team have athletes scheduled for testing. Slots are filling up fast but more volunteers are needed to complete the study that ends in April. Groups, teams and elite athletes are encouraged to come in for the testing that is being conducted mostly on the weekends, but weekdays are also a possibility.

For more information or to sign up for the study, please contact research@ussa.edu or call 251-626-3303 ext. 7155. Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by.

To view or download a flyer about the study, please click here.

Presentation of Alabama Football Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s System of Winning

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Presentation of Alabama Football Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s System of Winning

11 January 2012

Dr. E. Gaylon McCollough played on legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1964 national championship team and later was one of his doctors and confidants.

For the first time, Dr. E. Gaylon McCollough is speaking about what legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant taught his players about winning in the games of football, business and life.

McCollough will reveal Bryant’s secrets to success in a presentation, “Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant: Grandmaster of Mind Over Matter,” at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25 at the United States Sports Academy, which is located at One Academy Drive in Daphne, Ala. The event is free and open to the public.

McCollough has condensed from Bryant’s playbook on his system of winning into 46 short lessons, which he first explained in November at a Gulf Coast Athletic Club meeting in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Based largely on his insightful book, “The Long Shadow of Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant,” McCollough draws on his experiences as a center who played on Alabama’s 1964 National Championship team. He won All-America honors as a player and student and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Later, McCollough became a confidant of Bryant’s as one of his doctors.

“I wanted to do something on Coach Bryant that people could use to teach their children or grandchildren or use in their own everyday life,” says McCollough, an internationally known facial plastic surgeon, teacher, author and motivational speaker who is also a United States Sports Academy Board of Visitors member. “I know a few of the little known facts that made him the winner he was. He had a system of winning that could and should be carried into the game of life.”

McCollough starts his motivational talk with a story about how sports writers frequently asked Bryant: “Coach, what’s the secret to your success?” Bryant would invariably glare at them and in a low growl give his pat answer: “If I knew, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you.”

But Bryant did know and he drilled his winning system into his players, like McCollough. The coach would often tell his players that he was teaching them things they needed to live by after football, McCollough says.

Throughout the presentation, McCollough paints vivid pictures with words to illustrate Bryant’s sage lessons on being prepared, making the right choices, adapting to change, conducting yourself like a winner, never giving up and so forth.

Coach Bryant never stopped teaching and McCollough recalls the last time he wore an Alabama uniform he learned Lesson #46.

In the Jan. 1, 1965 Orange Bowl between Alabama and Texas, McCollough lined up at center on fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line. He was snapping to future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, who planned a quarterback sneak. Namath appeared to slip across the goal line to complete an incredible comeback to defeat Texas on the game’s last play. But the referee marked the ball six inches shy of the end zone.

Walking off the field, one of the Alabama players shouted, “We scored Coach!” Bryant shot back, “Well, if we walked it in there would never be a question about it, would there?”

Translation by McCollough: “To win in football, business or life, always go beyond what’s expected and never leave any room for doubt.”

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research, and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. For more information about the Academy, call 251-626-3303 or visit ussa.edu.

WHAT: Presentation, “Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant: Grandmaster of Mind Over Matter,” by Dr. E. Gaylon McCollough on legendary Alabama football coach Paul Bear Bryant’s system of winning.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25
WHERE: United States Sports Academy, One Academy Drive, Daphne, Ala.
COST: Free
DETAILS: 251-626-3303, ext. 7206 or communications@ussa.edu

To view McCollough’s talk, “Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant: Grandmaster of Mind Over Matter,” to the Gulf Coast Athletic Club, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXiDzHAkT5c.

To buy McCollough’s insightful book, “The Long Shadow of Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant,” visit http://www.mccolloughplasticsurgery.com/about/books.html.

Time Running Out for Artists to Enter the U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:27:44 GMT

Time Running Out for Artists to Enter the U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest

10 January 2012

"Olympic Spirit" by Edward Eyth is latest entry into U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest open to submissions by all American artists until Feb. 1.

American artists have just three weeks left to enter the 2012 U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest, which is accepting submissions through Feb. 1.

The United States Sports Academy is conducting its fourth consecutive art contest under the auspices of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The call for American artists of all ages went out in September, offering the winners of the United States contest a chance to advance to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Art Competition. They have a shot in the international phase to win $30,000 and have their art displayed at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The latest artist to enter the U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest is the 2008 winner in the sculpture category—Edward Eyth. The internationally known artist’s sculpture, “Balance,” features a gymnast gracefully poised on a balance beam.

For the 2012 contest, Eyth submitted, “Olympic Spirit,” into the graphics work category and he plans to submit a sculpture again. His painting depicts a male and female athlete elevating the five rings that symbolize the Olympics. Eyth did a similar large outdoor sculpture that was selected for inclusion in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Landscape Sculpture Design Exhibition.

“My success in the 2008 competition left me feeling twice the enthusiasm and ambition, hence my decision to submit work in both the 2-D and 3-D categories this time,” Eyth said. “With insights gained from my experience in 2008, I decided to style the work in a more dynamic, vibrant and contemporary way.”

Eyth’s submission followed the entry of another prominent artist, Primo Angeli. His graphic works entry, “London Calling,” depicts the classic portrayal of the ancient Greek discus thrower with an armband displaying the 2012 London Olympic logo.

Angeli, who once owned one of San Francisco’s oldest and largest design studios, has a long history of working with the Olympics. The late IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch personally chose a design created by Angeli as the official poster of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which was the 100th year celebration of the modern Games. He also created pieces for the 1998 Nagano and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Other American artist can enter their graphic works or sculptures interpreting the theme of the London 2012 Art Competition, which is “Sport and the Olympic Values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.” Artists can combine the three values and/or depict only one of the values in the work submitted. Both categories include abstract art and there are no restrictions on the choice of techniques utilized by the artist.

No works that already belong to a museum or private collection can be entered into this art contest. All works entered must be free of any third-party rights. Sculptures cannot exceed 44 pounds and 4 x 3 x 3 feet, including packaging. Graphic Works cannot exceed 4 x 3 feet, including frame.

Submissions along with the Artist’s Declaration must be received by Feb. 1, 2012 at the Academy’s American Sport Art Museum and Archives. The institution’s mailing address is: One Academy Drive, Daphne, Ala., 36526.

You can view the official rules and regulations online.

A jury will select the winners in sculpture and graphic works. The winners will then move on to the IOC competition, which is scheduled to be judged in June.

ASAMA, a division of the Academy, is dedicated to the preservation of sports art, history, and literature. The ASAMA collection is composed of more than 1,500 works of sport art across a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, assemblages, prints and photographs. The museum is free and open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Olympian and Painter Teaches Sport Art to Youth for 2012 London Games

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Olympian and Painter Teaches Sport Art to Youth for 2012 London Games

10 January 2012

Roald Bradstock

Roald Bradstock is uniquely qualified to teach youth about the strong connection between sport and art.

He’s an Olympian javelin thrower who competed for Great Britain at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games and for the United States in 1996. Bradstock reverted to his British citizenship in order to make a bid for the 2012 Olympics.

And as an artist, Bradstock won the U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest for the 2000 Sydney Games. Bradstock, who a United States Sports Academy 2003 Sport Artist of the Year, earned the nickname, “The Olympic Picasso.” Bradstock, who holds dual citizenship in the United States and Britain, is again competing in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Sport and Art Contest, submitting a painting of a triumphant runner for the Graphic Works category.

Bradstock has now lectured about sport art to more than 20 Sports Colleges around Britain in his role as Legacy Ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust’s 2012 Legacy Programme. Backed by London 2012 organizers, the education program seeks to transform physical education and school sport for young people leading up to this summer’s Olympics.

Teaching has become another passion of Bradstock’s working for the Youth Sport Trust, which includes Science, Technology and Music education, as well. He says he starts of his workshops by asking how many students think strong ties exist between sport and art. Usually, only a few hands go up.

Then, during his introduction and demonstration he shares a series of 12 collages he did titled, “2012,” that are inspired by the upcoming London Olympics. By the end of his lecture all the students understand how sport and art are intertwined and they’ve created a work of sport art themselves.

“I look at the work I have been doing the last three years as an art project with the Sports Colleges being my canvas and the students being my medium,” says Bradstock, who began lecturing in 2009. “It has been really successful. It enables the students to explore and create something few have thought about before.”

Bradstock, who is a founding member of Art of the Olympians, says the students have shown talent in his workshops with the paper collages he has them make.

“The work that has been produced by the students and teachers at my workshops has been nothing short of stunning,” he says.

The Youth Sport Trust is now producing an interactive, educational DVD for teachers and students that it plans to make available in the fall.

What will Bradstock produce for the British Olympic trials this summer when he attempts to make his fourth team in the javelin? He is known for designing wildly patterned uniforms to wear for his competitions.

“The UK is very strict about what you’re allowed to wear but I’m creative,” says Bradstock, who turns 50 in March. “I want to do something a little different. You’ll be the first to know.”