College baseball player goes to bat for troops

Last weekend at the Vanderbilt football game my sister Jeannine, a sports reporter for ESPN, met someone she described as "an outstanding individual - intelligent, polite, ambitious."

She was talking about Alex Feinberg, a senior at Tennessee's Vanderbilt University who is the second baseman of their nationally ranked baseball team and Student-Athlete of the Month for October.

Alex has also started a non-profit business called Saturday Soldier to help the families of fallen and wounded troops:

If you see Vanderbilt football players wearing black-and-gold rubber bracelets tonight, they got them from Feinberg. They are "Saturday Soldier" bracelets. Feinberg hopes to eventually put them on every high-profile college athlete in the country.

Before the Alabama-Vandy game, Feinberg introduced himself to the Bama equipment manager. Feinberg asked him to place a Saturday Soldier bracelet in the locker of some of the star players. It was no surprise to Feinberg that he saw a number of players wearing them during the game.

The bracelets come in a variety of school colors, and it's all for a good cause.

At $2 a bracelet, all Saturday Soldier proceeds go to two charities — the Fisher House and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. They benefit families of veterans killed or injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. (...)

"We have players wearing them in every major conference around the United States," Feinberg said.

"It's something the athletes really like. I figure if the athletes like them, then the general public will like them and we can make a lot of money for charity."

College football season is in high gear, so show your support for your favorite team AND for our troops by ordering a Saturday Soldier Battle Band today.