Thursday, May 25, 2006

Reporters' Notebooks

American Football Coaches Association: Southern Methodist graduated 100% of its freshman class of 2000-01, earning it the 2006 AFCA Academic Achievement Award.

Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford benefactor John Arrillaga, a developer and major sports donor, recently made a $100 million donation to the university.

Scott Wolf, L.A. Daily News: The sexual-assault case against USC quarterback Mark Sanchez could be wrapped up as soon as this week.

Kyle Hightower, Orlando Sentinel: Central Florida will announce a contract extension Thursday morning for George O'Leary that will pay the coach $1 million a year.

Alan Schmadtke, Orlando Sentinel: Officials of the Florida Citrus Bowl want to be in position to join the Bowl Championship Series rotation by 2010.

Carter Strickland, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia linebacker Dannell Ellerbe has been suspended for the first three games of the season as a result of his DUI arrest and theft of an automobile in January (registration).

Matthew Futterman, Newark Star-Ledger: Rutgers is considering upgrading its stadium to include luxury boxes and a swanky restaurant.

Mark Tupper, Decatur Herald & Review: Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther is in a tough spot over Chief Illiwek, the school's mascot.

Steve Kirk, Birmingham News: Alabama linebacker Juwan Simpson had a felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor in the wake of his arrest on Saturday night.

Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Advertiser: Safety Leonard Peters, arguably Hawaii's best defensive player, was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

Chris Dempsey, Denver Post: Gerett Burl, a starter at cornerback last season for Colorado, has been dismissed from the team.

Associated Press: Lee Corso won't have Kirk Herbstreit to kick around any more on ESPN's "College GameDay." Herbstreit is moving to the booth for ABC's Saturday night games this fall, with Doug Flutie sliding into the studio chair.

Dennis Dodd, Sportsline: The Mountain West Conference's move to gain control over broadcasts of its games is being closely watched by the Big Ten, which is developing a similar strategy (thanks to reader Kevin).

Keith Whitmire, Dallas Morning News: The Big 12 Conference is leading an effort to save the financially strapped Houston Bowl, which could lose certification (registration).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Herbstreit's still doing Gameday every week. He'll only do the ABC Saturday nights when that game is either located near enough to Gameday for him to travel there or is at the same site.