kind of a letdown ...

This one just came in over the wires: Alabama Gridiron Bash Canceled.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- The Gridiron Bash events scheduled for the day before Alabama's spring game have been canceled.

MSL Sports and Entertainment informed the university late Friday that all festivities set for that day, which included a pep rally with the team and Crimson Tide coaches, have been called off. Country singer Alan Jackson's concert scheduled for April 11 at Bryant-Denny Stadium is also off.

"While we are very disappointed that the Gridiron Bash has been canceled, we very much appreciate the tremendous support of our fans," said Alabama athletic director Mal Moore. "Our ticket office will issue ticket refunds very soon."

The event was to feature a pep rally with head coach Nick Saban, his team, the Million Dollar Band and cheerleaders, followed by the concert.

Alabama was leading participating schools in fan voting on the event. The top three universities with the highest number of votes/points determined by a combination of event attendance (70 percent) and fan voting (30 percent) were to share a total of $1,750,000 for scholarships.

The events were canceled because of NCAA questions about whether player participation violated rules.

As usual, the NCAA felt the need to spoil everyone's good time. Way to go, NCAA! Another swell job of putting out a grease fire while Rome burns around you. Well done.

wlh