The Day You've Been Waiting For

It's 5:00 A.M.
Your alarm clock rings and in a Thanksgiving induced blur you stumble in the dark to put on your running shoes and favorite sweatshirt.
Why?
It's Black Friday, and you're about to put those running shoes to use and race to the best sales of the year.
This is the day you've been waiting and preparing for!
With your holiday list of gifts to give in hand, on Black Friday you plan to get your shopping done for all of your relatives, neighbors and neighbors' relatives.

We here at Alumni Hall want to help you on your mission. We've stocked our shelves and brought out some of our best apparel to make your Black Friday experience, a good one. We have awesome deals in our stores that are sure to make great gifts for anyone with that strong college spirit. Take a look and see what we have to offer!


First up, the majestic Snuggie, modeled by Josh (Store Manager-Raleigh,NC).

"Help! I'm being eaten alive by the collegiate Snuggie!"-Josh

The collegiate print Snuggies will be available on Black Friday at the low price of $14.99. The Snuggies are available for NC State, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Louisville. Swing by your nearest Alumni Hall and pick up a Snuggie for your friends and family!

We are having a HUGE sale on our sweatshirts, just in time for winter! Select crew neck sweatshirts and select hoodies are only $15.99 for Black Friday.

We have a great selection of crew necks available!

Just a taste of the hoodies we have in our stores!

We have J. America and Pressbox sweatshirts on sale for $29.99! Our stores have a big selection of sweatshirts to choose from that represent the schools you love. You can be sure you will find the perfect sweatshirt for that perfect occasion at the perfect price.

J. America sweatshirts are available for men and women!

Our Columbia and Collosseum fleeces and sweatshirts are also %20 off. Make sure you take a look at these styles as well!

Show your school pride and add one of our scarves to your Columbia and Collosseum outerwear!

If sweatshirts aren't what you are looking for, we have you covered! We have popular styles of jackets that are on sale for only $49.99.

Stop by Alumni Hall on your Black Friday excursion and grab some apparel for your fellow fans and alums. We will have our regular in-store deals (ex. 2 t-shirts for $20 dollars) along with the Black Friday deals so you will have plenty to choose from at incredible prices! See you on Friday!

* Thank you to the employees of Alumni Hall at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, NC for modeling our apparel!

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For more information about Alumni Hall Stores, click here to visit our website.

A Memorial for UGA VII

by Nick Buchan

2009 has been a tough year to be a Georgia Bulldog. At 6 – 5, the football team does not look like what most have come to expect from the Dawgs. With losses to Kentucky and Tennessee, and what seems like the perennial slaughter at the Gator Bowl, this season has not left Georgia fans with much to hope for, other than its end.

In the midst of this turmoil, a tragedy much closer to the heart has now fallen upon our woe begotten football family. On November 19, 2009, Uga VII died of an apparent heart failure, as his father did just over a year ago. A wreath was placed in his house between the hedges of Sanford Stadium for the loss to Kentucky this past weekend, and he will most likely be represented by one of his brothers for the much anticipated clash with Georgia Tech on November 28. He will be laid to rest with his predecessors in the Uga Mausoleum, near the entrance to Sanford Stadium.

Uga VII came from a long line of English bulldogs descendant from Georgia’s original mascot, who in 1942 traveled with the team to its first Rose Bowl victory and National Championship. Since that time, Frank “Sonny” Seiler and his family have tended for the mascots of the Georgia football team. Sonny is also well known for the character based on him in John Berendt’s famous novel, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Over the years, the Seiler family bulldogs have taken on somewhat different characters. Georgia fans recall with delight the 1996 game in which an Auburn player ran out of bounds with the ball on Georgia’s sideline and was summarily bitten by UGA V. The pregame antics of UGA VI chasing people and inanimate objects alike were always a crowd pleaser. UGA VII was more subdued than his predecessors; he enjoyed lounging with cheerleaders and interacting with players on the sidelines. Unfortunately for Georgia fans and UGA VII, his tenure as Georgia’s mascot only lasted for less than two seasons.

The Seiler Family and the University of Georgia will, most likely, not crown UGA VIII until some time closer to the 2010-2011 season. Whichever Seiler family bulldog is crowned the new Uga, and whichever predecessor he resembles in character, Georgia fans need to be reminded of why our mascot is the bulldog. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries, when many people in America raised farms and cattle ranches, ranchers always faced a dilemma with bulls they needed to round up. Bulls, which weigh an average of 2000 pounds, were notoriously dangerous to control if they got loose of their pen. In this case, rather than risk impalement at the hands of a charging bull, cattle ranchers would send in a bulldog to bite the bull in the face, and hang on for dear life, distracting it long enough for them to ensnare it. Bulldogs get their reputation from being unwaveringly tough in the face of overwhelming adversity. As a longtime Georgia fan, I hope we can all remember this spirit in the days and weeks ahead, and give UGA VII the best memorial any UGA could ever hope for: beat Georgia Tech to a pulp.

Reach for the Summitt!

College basketball season is upon us which means a new season of traditions, rivalries and memories. At Alumni Hall we celebrate all aspects of college basketball, from the chants in the stands, to the players and coaches. In honor of our excitement for college basketball we are pleased to announce that COACH PAT SUMMITT will make an appearance at Alumni Hall in the West Town Mall in Knoxville,TN on Friday, December 4th!

Coach Summitt is entering her 36th year coaching the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history with a career record of 1007-193 including eight NCAA National Championships. In addition to her outstanding athletic record, Coach Summitt's Lady Vols have a 100 percent graduation rate!

You can meet this legendary coach on Friday, December 4th from 6pm-7pm at Alumni Hall in West Town Mall! Coach Summitt will be meeting her fans and signing her new book, "Summitt." "Summitt" features an exclusive look into the illustrious career of Coach Summitt. A portion of the sales from "Summitt" will be donated to the United Way of Greater Knoxville. Make sure you don't miss your opportunity to meet one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time!

The address of the Alumni Hall at West Town Mall is:

7600 Kingston Pike
Suite 1112
Knoxville, TN 37919
# 865-560-9556

Remember, this event is free and open to everyone!

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and become a fan of one of our pages on Facebook

For more information about the United Way of Greater Knoxville click here.

All information on Coach Summitt was found here.

United Way Day at Alumni Hall!

If you live in the Knoxville, TN area and would like to make a positive impact in the community, here is your chance!

Alumni Hall has partnered with the United Way of Greater Knoxville to help those in need. The United Way of Greater Knoxville is focused on initiatives such as healthcare, literacy and poverty, issues that directly affect the Greater Knoxville community. The United Way of Greater Knoxville is dedicated to changing and improving the lives of those around us and we at Alumni Hall want to do our part to make sure citizens of the Knoxville community have the resources to have the best life possible.

Want to get involved? Here's how you can help!

On Thursday, November 12th, a portion of all sales from the Alumni Hall stores in West Town Mall and Turkey Creek (Knoxville, TN) will be donated to the United Way of Greater Knoxville. Therefore any purchase you make is helping someone in need! The locations of the stores are below:

Alumni Hall at West Town Mall
7600 Kingston Pike Suite 1112
Knoxville, TN 37919
865-560-9556

Alumni Hall at Turkey Creek
11305 Parkside Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37934
865-675-2625

One more thing!

On Thursday (11/12) Coach Bruce Pearl is going to sign autographs from 6pm-8pm in the West Town Mall location! Coach Pearl is the men's basketball coach for the University of Tennessee and has the most wins as an active coach in the SEC. In the four years under Coach Pearl, the Vols have won one outright SEC championship, they have more SEC wins than any other school in the SEC, and they have had four appearances in the NCAA tournament with appearances in the Sweet 16.

Coach Pearl at a UT Lady Vols basketball game in 2007

Come join one of the most exciting coaches in the nation at Alumni Hall while making a difference in the community around you! See you there and Go Vols!

For more information about the United Way of Greater Knoxville, click on the icon below.

For more information about Coach Pearl, click here!

Don't forget to follow Alumni Hall on Twitter and become a fan of one of our Facebook Fan Pages.

All information about Coach Pearl can be found here.

Welcome Home!

The month of October and the first week of November is a very important time for Alumni Hall! All across the southeast, college campuses have held or will be holding their Homecoming, a great tradition for many colleges and universities.

Homecoming is an annual tradition in which current students of a college or university welcome back alumni. The celebration of "coming home" can last up to one week and includes many events during the week for current students and alumni. Most Homecoming festivities are centered around a sporting event (usually a football game) during which a Homecoming Queen and King are crowned. Though Homecoming is celebrated in different ways on campuses nationwide, the pride felt by fans for their university resonates during Homecoming as each person reminisces about what makes his or her college great.

One of the first Homecoming sporting events held in the early 1900's

Of the teams we represent, the Tennessee Volunteers, NC State Wolfpack, UNC-Chapel Hill Tarheels and the Auburn Tigers will have their Homecoming this weekend. If you are a fan of any of these schools, show pride in your team and grab some gear from Alumni Hall!

-For Vols gear, stop by any of our stores in Tennessee at West Town Mall (Knoxville), Turkey Creek (Knoxville), Rivergate Mall (Goodlettsville) and The Avenue(Murfeesboro).

-For Tigers gear, stop by our store in Alabama at Tiger Town (Opelika).

-For Wolfpack gear, stop by our store in North Carolina at Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh)

-For Tarheels gear, stop by our either of our stores in North Carolina at Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh) or at Hanes Mall (Winston-Salem).

NC State and UNC-CH gear at Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh,NC)

Can't make it to one of our stores, visit alumnihall.com and shop from home!

Alumni Hall has great sales this week on sweatshirts and t-shirts. As the weather starts to get cooler, make sure you bundle up in your favorite team sweatshirt. For additional savings, click here to join our mailing list to receive coupons for Alumni Hall.

We would love to hear what your favorite Homecoming traditions are for your school. Let us know by posting a comment on this blog or send pictures/stories to info@alumnihallstores.com. Your picture or story may be posted on this blog!

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and become a fan of one of our schools on Facebook!