Rome getting ready to welcome NAIA teams
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There are going to be some big cats in town beginning today as the University of Sioux Falls Cougars and Lindenwood University Lions are scheduled to arrive in Rome for the Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship.
They’ll be welcomed by a big dose of warm, Southern hospitality for which Rome is known. And they will no doubt appreciate that and our 50-degree-plus temperatures since they’re traveling from the chillier climes of South Dakota and Missouri, where on Tuesday it was 6 degrees in Sioux Falls and about 20 degrees in St. Charles, Mo.
The Lindenwood team buses are expected to roll in mid-afternoon today and the Sioux Falls team is flying in later tonight to Atlanta and is expected to get to town around midnight.
In the meantime, city crews will be starting to paint stencils on downtown streets and organizers are still working behind the scenes to get everything ready for the coming events.
The excitement has been building in Rome as signage and logos have been popping up around Barron Stadium, and downtown businesses are sporting signs to welcome NAIA guests to town.
On Tuesday, Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau staffers and volunteers were at the Civic Center putting together gift bags for guests.
Plans are under way for “Welcome to Rome” dinners at First Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Rome. The suppers are encore events after last year’s church dinners were a hit with the visiting teams.
Tickets to Thursday morning’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Champions of Character Breakfast and Friday night’s Banquet of Champions have already sold out their 600 tickets, according to Lisa Smith, CVB executive director.
The breakfast will feature 2008 FCA National Coach of the Year, Shorter College’s head football coach Phil Jones.
“We have had remarkable response to this year’s breakfast event, which will again be sponsored by Chick-fil-A,” said Rome attorney Bob Berry, who serves as co-chair of the Host Committee for the NAIA national football championship. “We are confident that the FCA breakfast will be a great start to an exciting championship week.”
A pep rally and block party are slated to follow the Friday banquet this year to get more of the Rome community involved in the spirit of the national championship.
Both Berry and Smith encourage area residents and visitors to attend the Friday event — dubbed FANatic Friday and presented by the Downtown Business Improvement District.
“We are very pleased to have added FANatic Friday to this year’s championship event,” said Berry. “Hosting the NAIA championship is truly a community event, and we wanted to find a way to involve the community to a much greater level. Friday’s entertainment offers a great chance to enjoy an entertaining evening and to get to know the teams who are visiting our community.”
The FANatic Friday event is free and open to the public and will feature performances by Hot Shots Cheerleading and the Georgia Blues Brothers.
“We want everyone to come out Friday and be ambassadors for Rome and Floyd County and show our visitors how thrilled we are to host their national championship game,” said Smith.
The banquet is at 6:30 p.m. Friday and then the public celebration begins outside The Forum on the Town Green at 7:30 p.m. with a performance by Hot Shots Cheerleading. Beginning at about 8:25 p.m., members of Rome High School’s Sound of the Seven Hills Marching Band will perform. Following next will be the introduction of the two teams vying for this year’s NAIA national title. The Lindenwood University Pep Squad will also perform.
Capping FANatic Friday will be a two-hour concert featuring the Georgia Blues Brothers.
On Saturday the No. 1 Cougars and No. 3 Lions face off in the 2009 Russell Athletic-NAIA National Championship game. Kickoff is slated for noon in Rome’s Barron Stadium on West Third Street.
Smith said each team has about 110 people in its team entourage. Thousands are expected to be on hand for national championship title game this weekend.
So look for Rome to be awash in the USF’s purple and white and Lindenwood’s gold and black. Lindenwood is chartering two buses for fans for the 532-mile road trip to Rome.
“We’ve had lots of people calling looking for things to do and getting information about Rome,” said Smith.
Tickets to the title game are $25 and are available for purchase by contacting The Forum at 706-291-5281 or 800-858-7601, or by visiting www.forumevents.org. Fans may also purchase tickets at the gate on game day.
“Both Sioux Falls and Lindenwood are undefeated in 2009, so the championship match-up promises to be exciting,” Berry said. “Saturday’s Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship will be the perfect opportunity to enjoy a great afternoon of football.”
And Smith says the weather should make our visitors’ time in Rome all the more special.
“The weather is going to be great,” she said. The forecast is calling for daytime temperatures in the mid-50s and no rain.
And after three years of a rainy, muddy championships, a game-day forecast without rain is certainly welcoming news to the NAIA teams, fans and our host city.
They’ll be welcomed by a big dose of warm, Southern hospitality for which Rome is known. And they will no doubt appreciate that and our 50-degree-plus temperatures since they’re traveling from the chillier climes of South Dakota and Missouri, where on Tuesday it was 6 degrees in Sioux Falls and about 20 degrees in St. Charles, Mo.
The Lindenwood team buses are expected to roll in mid-afternoon today and the Sioux Falls team is flying in later tonight to Atlanta and is expected to get to town around midnight.
In the meantime, city crews will be starting to paint stencils on downtown streets and organizers are still working behind the scenes to get everything ready for the coming events.
The excitement has been building in Rome as signage and logos have been popping up around Barron Stadium, and downtown businesses are sporting signs to welcome NAIA guests to town.
On Tuesday, Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau staffers and volunteers were at the Civic Center putting together gift bags for guests.
Plans are under way for “Welcome to Rome” dinners at First Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Rome. The suppers are encore events after last year’s church dinners were a hit with the visiting teams.
Tickets to Thursday morning’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Champions of Character Breakfast and Friday night’s Banquet of Champions have already sold out their 600 tickets, according to Lisa Smith, CVB executive director.
The breakfast will feature 2008 FCA National Coach of the Year, Shorter College’s head football coach Phil Jones.
“We have had remarkable response to this year’s breakfast event, which will again be sponsored by Chick-fil-A,” said Rome attorney Bob Berry, who serves as co-chair of the Host Committee for the NAIA national football championship. “We are confident that the FCA breakfast will be a great start to an exciting championship week.”
A pep rally and block party are slated to follow the Friday banquet this year to get more of the Rome community involved in the spirit of the national championship.
Both Berry and Smith encourage area residents and visitors to attend the Friday event — dubbed FANatic Friday and presented by the Downtown Business Improvement District.
“We are very pleased to have added FANatic Friday to this year’s championship event,” said Berry. “Hosting the NAIA championship is truly a community event, and we wanted to find a way to involve the community to a much greater level. Friday’s entertainment offers a great chance to enjoy an entertaining evening and to get to know the teams who are visiting our community.”
The FANatic Friday event is free and open to the public and will feature performances by Hot Shots Cheerleading and the Georgia Blues Brothers.
“We want everyone to come out Friday and be ambassadors for Rome and Floyd County and show our visitors how thrilled we are to host their national championship game,” said Smith.
The banquet is at 6:30 p.m. Friday and then the public celebration begins outside The Forum on the Town Green at 7:30 p.m. with a performance by Hot Shots Cheerleading. Beginning at about 8:25 p.m., members of Rome High School’s Sound of the Seven Hills Marching Band will perform. Following next will be the introduction of the two teams vying for this year’s NAIA national title. The Lindenwood University Pep Squad will also perform.
Capping FANatic Friday will be a two-hour concert featuring the Georgia Blues Brothers.
On Saturday the No. 1 Cougars and No. 3 Lions face off in the 2009 Russell Athletic-NAIA National Championship game. Kickoff is slated for noon in Rome’s Barron Stadium on West Third Street.
Smith said each team has about 110 people in its team entourage. Thousands are expected to be on hand for national championship title game this weekend.
So look for Rome to be awash in the USF’s purple and white and Lindenwood’s gold and black. Lindenwood is chartering two buses for fans for the 532-mile road trip to Rome.
“We’ve had lots of people calling looking for things to do and getting information about Rome,” said Smith.
Tickets to the title game are $25 and are available for purchase by contacting The Forum at 706-291-5281 or 800-858-7601, or by visiting www.forumevents.org. Fans may also purchase tickets at the gate on game day.
“Both Sioux Falls and Lindenwood are undefeated in 2009, so the championship match-up promises to be exciting,” Berry said. “Saturday’s Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship will be the perfect opportunity to enjoy a great afternoon of football.”
And Smith says the weather should make our visitors’ time in Rome all the more special.
“The weather is going to be great,” she said. The forecast is calling for daytime temperatures in the mid-50s and no rain.
And after three years of a rainy, muddy championships, a game-day forecast without rain is certainly welcoming news to the NAIA teams, fans and our host city.
I have nothing against law enforcement doing its job, as long as their enforcement of the law is consistent. Rome's finest seem very selective about whom they pull over and what laws they enforce, e.g. moving violations. I am routinely tailgated, passed in no passing zones, and nearly run over by speeding vehicles on residential streets, and there is never a "po-po" in sight.
Your use of the term "po-po" pretty much tells me you have no respect for the law and the only interaction you have had with law enforcement is because you did something to get their attention.
More likely the criminals that already live here will think it will be "easy pickins" with the tourists in town.
Hopefully our law enforcement professionals will be out and about keeping an eye on the useless individuals out there who breaking the law giving our town a bad name.