'Super Bulldogs' to enjoy weekend packed with fun

Contact: Sammy McDavid

STARKVILLE, Miss.--For Mississippi State students, employees, alumni and friends, mid-April signals the arrival of the university's annual family-friendly Super Bulldog Weekend.

The Old Main Music Festival, a Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Championship, Maroon-White Intersquad Football Game, and SEC baseball series with Auburn University are among activities at next week's event-packed spring homecoming. SBW begins Wednesday [April 17] and concludes Sunday [the 21st].

Other athletic events, both Saturday [the 20th], include an 11 a.m. volleyball alumni match at the Newell-Grissom Building and 11:30 a.m. MSU women's soccer exhibition game with the University of Southern Mississippi at the campus soccer field.

At 7 p.m. Saturday at the MSU Amphitheater, Cage the Elephant, a five-member Kentucky funk-punk band, will headline the free festival concert. Gulfport blues/modern folk band Rosco Bandana, country music artist Ty Brown of West Point, and hip-hop artist Pell--an MSU student from New Orleans--are other performers at the Music Maker Productions-organized event. For details, visit www.msuconcerts.com/.

Also during the late-week period, the communication department's Theatre MSU is sponsoring "All Shook Up," a musical comedy built around famous Elvis Presley tunes. The curtain will rise at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the McComas Hall main theater. Advance ticket purchases are encouraged and may be made at www.comm.msstate.edu/dept/theatre, where additional program information also is available.

The other 2013 SBW highlights include:

--Wednesday, 10 a.m. opening of the two-day SEC Women's Tennis Championships at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Other matches take place at 2 p.m. that day; 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday; semifinals at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday; and final match at 1 p.m. Sunday.

--Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Dudy Noble Field/Polk Dement Stadium, opening game of AU-MSU series.

--Friday, 8 a.m., MSU-organized pig cooking contest begins behind McArthur Hall, with the Mississippi Farm Bureau and Mississippi Pork Producers cooked pig sampling getting under way at 4 p.m. at the same location. The second AU-MSU baseball game begins at 6:30 p.m.

--Also Saturday prior to the 1 p.m. Maroon-White game, an 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. open house sponsored by the athletic department will debut the just-opened Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. Cooked pig judging gets under way at 9 a.m. behind McArthur and, adjacent to Davis Wade Stadium, the popular Fan Fair at the Junction will be set up 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The concluding AU-MSU baseball game begins at 4 p.m.

Additionally, university employees, alumni and friends are invited 4-6 p.m. Friday to the Hunter Henry Center for a retirement reception honoring Jimmy Abraham, who retires later this year after nearly four decades at the land-grant institution. The university alumnus served for many years in key leadership roles of the Division of Student Affairs before becoming executive director of the MSU Alumni Association and associate vice president for development.

As has become traditional, SBW Saturday activities will coincide with Starkville's Cotton District Arts Festival that takes place 8 a.m.-5 p.m. just off campus in the residential and commercial neighborhood of the same name.

To easily download the Super Bulldog Weekend schedule, visit www.hailstate.com.