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(04/19/07 4:00am)
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Getting the No. 1 selection in the NFL draft usually means a team hasn’t picked well in previous years. That’s half true with the Oakland Raiders.\nWhile owner Al Davis’ team has done fairly well selecting defensive players in recent years, it’s been nearly two decades since the Raiders have drafted a player who turned into an offensive star.\n“I don’t think Al Davis has forgotten what a good football player is,” draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “They have drafted very well on the defensive side of the ball. The bottom line is that some of their offensive picks have not panned out. They need to get better in a hurry on the offensive side.”\nWith two talented quarterbacks in LSU’s JaMarcus Russell and Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn and one of the top-rated receivers ever to come out of college in Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson available, the Raiders hope to remedy that situation later this month.\nAssuming Oakland keeps the top pick and uses it on one of those players, it would mark the first time since taking tight end Ricky Dudley in 1996 that the Raiders used a first-round pick on a skill position player.\nOf Oakland’s 13 first-round picks since then, there have been six defensive backs, three offensive lineman, two defensive lineman, a linebacker and even a kicker.\n“It’s no secret what Al Davis likes. He likes big guys who can run fast on either side of the football,” Mayock said. “Last year, they had the opportunity to draft a quarterback with Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler and went with Michael Huff instead.”\nWhile Leinart and Cutler were starting by the end of the season and appeared to be far ahead of Oakland’s second-year quarterback Andrew Walter, Huff had problems making the transition to the NFL.\nDavis said the decision to take Huff instead of a quarterback was made by former coach Art Shell. But few who follow the Raiders closely believe any pick is made without Davis’ approval.\nBilled as a playmaker in the secondary, Huff had no sacks, no interceptions and no fumble recoveries as a rookie. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has said he thinks Huff could have a breakthrough year in 2007 similar to the way 2003 first-round pick cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha did last season.\nAsomugha and Huff were among the eight starters on the NFL’s third-ranked defense that came from the draft. Oakland’s entire back seven is homegrown, and the team has done well in getting middle linebacker Kirk Morrison in the third round in 2005, outside linebacker Thomas Howard in the second round last season, and using first-round picks on starting cornerbacks Asomugha and Fabian Washington.
(04/18/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Big Ten basketball schedule is about to get a little tougher for everyone.\nConference officials have approved an 18-game conference schedule starting next season, although details of how it will be implemented have not yet been released.\n“The coaches know about it,” conference spokeswoman Robin Jentes said Tuesday.\nSome coaches were apparently unaware it had already passed. After speaking to the Indianapolis Rotary Club on Tuesday, IU’s Kelvin Sampson discussed the possible scenario but was uncertain when a final decision would be made.\nJentes said the measure was approved at a meeting last week.\n“There would be a big difference if we played 18 conference games this year,” Sampson said. “We already play Kentucky, Connecticut and Georgia Tech, so that’s really like 21, and then we go to Southern Illinois, too, so that’s like 22.”\nThe change will affect both men’s and women’s teams, Jentes said, and it’s uncertain how games that have already been contracted out will be affected. Two non-conference games are likely to be lost by each team.\nBig Ten schools had traditionally played 18 league games until adopting a \nconference tournament in 1997. To make room for tourney games, conference officials reduced the season by one week, cutting two Big Ten games off the schedule.\nSome, such as Purdue coach Matt Painter, support the 18-game concept.\n“I think it gives our conference a more balanced schedule,” Painter said in a statement released by the athletic department. “It’s a step toward crowning a truer regular-season champion. I also think it has the potential to help our overall conference RPI and gives our fans another home Big Ten game to watch.”\nThe move came on the same day pairings were announced for the ninth annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge.\nWake Forest visits Iowa on Nov. 26, the only game of the night. The highlighted games Nov. 27 are Wisconsin at Duke and Georgia Tech at IU. Minnesota and new coach Tubby Smith also visit Florida State on Nov. 27, while the remaining games are Purdue at Clemson and Northwestern at Virginia.\nTwo more games with potential national implications – North Carolina at Ohio State and Illinois at Maryland – will be played Nov. 28. The other three games are: North Carolina State at Michigan State, Boston College at Michigan and Virginia Tech at Penn State.\nThe ACC has won all eight challenges and holds a 48-27 overall lead in the series.\nSampson was just happy to get a home game.\n“Last year we were at Duke, so we appreciate being able to play at home this year,” Sampson said. “I’m glad we get to play at home in our non-conference schedule because last year we had so many road games.”\nIU, which went 21-11 and was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament, expects to be stronger with the addition of guard Eric Gordon, Indiana’s reigning Mr. Basketball, and forward DeAndre Thomas, one of the nation’s top junior college players. The Hoosiers got another boost when forward D.J. White announced Tuesday he would play for the Hoosiers next season rather than leaving early for the NBA.
(04/18/07 4:00am)
ST. LOUIS – The Cardinals look a lot more like September duds than World Series champions.\nTom Gorzelanny and Matt Capps combined on a four-hitter and Adam LaRoche hit a three-run homer in a 6-1 victory against St. Louis on Tuesday that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a two-game sweep.\n“They’re the big dogs in our division, and it’s good to get out there and shut them down,” Gorzelanny said. “If we can keep doing that, you’re going to be seeing a lot of good things out of us.”\nThe Cardinals’ 6-7 start is the worst by a World Series winner since the 1998 Florida Marlins were 1-11. St. Louis completed a 1-3 homestand, scoring 10 runs in a victory over Milwaukee and totaling five runs in the losses. After going 49-31 last season, the NL’s second-best home record, the Cardinals are 1-6 at Busch Stadium.\n“I’m glad we’re going away then, so we can play better,” said Albert Pujols, who was 0-for-7 with two walks in the series and is batting .160. “I’ve seen what this team can do.”\nGorzelanny (2-0) fell just short of his first complete game in 15 major league starts, allowing one run and four hits in 8 1-3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks. He faced the minimum through four innings, benefiting from a pair of double plays, and had a 12-inning scoreless streak before the Cardinals scored in the fifth on a pair of hits and Gary Bennett’s sacrifice fly.\n“Everyone expects to do well, and that’s what I expect,” said Gorzelanny, the Pirates’ minor league pitcher of the year last season. “It’s exciting that I have gotten off to this kind of start.”\nAfter So Taguchi doubled with one out in the ninth and Pujols walked, Capps came in and struck out Scott Rolen and Preston Wilson.\nIn his first game at Busch Stadium since striking out the Tigers’ Brandon Inge for the last out of the World Series, Adam Wainwright (1-1) gave up five runs – four earned – and eight hits in six innings. He has allowed 11 earned runs in 17 2-3 innings against the Pirates, a 5.60 ERA.\n“I threw a lot of pitches over the plate, just bad, bad pitches,” Wainwright said. “I’m really getting tired of telling all the media folks that it wasn’t good because I feel like I’ve been doing that a lot lately. So results-wise, it finally caught up to me.”\nPittsburgh, which entered the series with four straight losses, beat the Cardinals in consecutive road games for the first time since May 30-31, 2003. The Pirates are 6-2 on the road – they didn’t get their sixth road win last year until June 9 and finished 24-57 away from home, the worst record in the NL.\nManager Jim Tracy got his 500th major league victory (500-484).\nSt. Louis committed two errors during the first three at-bats of the game. Chris Duffy drew a four-pitch walk leading off, Jack Wilson singled to right, and Duffy scored when Wilson overran the ball.\nWilson took third when shortstop David Eckstein threw high to first on Jason Bay’s grounder, and Wilson scored on Xavier Nady’s single.
(04/18/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – NBA referee Joey Crawford was suspended indefinitely by commissioner David Stern on Tuesday for his conduct toward Tim Duncan, who contends the official challenged him to a fight.\nCrawford, who has worked more playoff games than any active ref, ejected Duncan from a game in Dallas on Sunday. He called a second technical foul on the San Antonio Spurs star while he was on the bench.\n“He looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?’” Duncan said. “If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don’t have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, ‘Do you want to fight?’”\nCrawford’s suspension will last at least through the NBA finals. He apparently will have to meet with Stern after that to discuss reinstatement.\nThe NBA also fined Duncan $25,000 for verbal abuse of an official. Crawford said Duncan referred to him with an expletive.\nStern said Crawford’s actions “failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees.”\n“Especially in light of similar prior acts by this official, a significant suspension is \nwarranted,” Stern said in a statement. “Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure he understands his responsibilities.”\nCrawford comes from an officiating family. His brother, Jerry, is a major league umpire, as was his father, Shag.\nJoey Crawford is in his 29th season as an NBA referee. He has officiated more than 2,000 games during the regular season and 252 in the playoffs, including 36 in the NBA finals.\nBut his temper has gotten him noticed before, especially in Game 2 of the 2003 Western Conference finals, a matchup involving the same teams as in Sunday’s game. Crawford called four technical fouls in the first 10-plus minutes, leading to ejections of then-Mavs coach Don Nelson and assistant Del Harris.\nCrawford also called a technical in a recent game against Duncan, who said Sunday that Crawford has a “personal vendetta against me.”\nDuncan was called for his first technical foul Sunday with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter for arguing about an offensive foul. Crawford hit him with the second technical 1:16 later after Duncan was on the bench laughing about a call that went against the Spurs.\nWith Duncan gone, the Mavericks rallied to beat the Spurs, ending San Antonio’s chance of earning the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
(04/16/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – Rachel Robinson still has vivid memories of April 15, 1947, when her husband changed America forever.\nAs Jackie Robinson was getting ready to break baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rachel was hustling to get to Ebbets Field in time to see it.\nShe waited a long time for a taxi because drivers routinely passed up black passengers. She worried their baby, Jackie Jr., would be cold because she had dressed him in spring clothes. And she stopped at a hot dog stand in the ballpark, where a vendor was kind enough to heat up the boy’s bottle.\n“It was an exciting, exhilarating time – but it also was a stressful time,” Rachel Robinson said.\nReform is rarely a breeze. Sustaining a legacy can be even more difficult.\nAs Major League Baseball celebrated the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s landmark achievement Sunday, there are growing concerns about the sport’s racial makeup.\nOnly 8.4 percent of big league players last season were black – the lowest number in at least two decades. In 1995, 19 percent of major leaguers were black, according to Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.\n“Obviously, he would not be satisfied with where we are now,” Rachel Robinson said, referring to the man she still calls Jack. “He would be disappointed, because he felt we were on the way toward some lasting change.”\nHas baseball betrayed Jackie Robinson?\n“That’s what it seems like to me – that all the work he’s done is almost for nothing,” Minnesota Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said. “Because look where we are. We should be progressing. We’re regressing.”\nTo be fair, baseball is undeniably diverse in certain areas. More and more players are coming from Asia and especially Latin America. According to Lapchick, 29.4 percent of players last season were Latino and 2.4 percent were Asian. That means 40.5 percent were minorities, just below baseball’s all-time high of 42 percent in 1997.\nWhen evaluating opportunities for minorities in sports, does it matter which minorities?\nIt does to Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office and an architect of this spring’s inaugural Civil Rights Game. His concern is baseball could reach a point where it’s too late to stem the tide of indifference among black fans.\n“Baseball more than any other sport has a heritage that it links with African-Americans and African-American participation,” said Solomon, who is black. “We don’t want to lose that heritage, that linkage.\n“But there are economic reasons as well,” he added. “The African-American buying power is significant. To ignore African-American players and fans is really shortsighted from a business standpoint.”\nThe growing disinterest already has affected Robinson’s legacy, Hunter said.\n“Nowadays, if you talk about Jackie Robinson, or Hank Aaron, a lot of black kids don’t even know who he is. That’s pretty sad,” Hunter said. “A lot of parents, they’re my age and they don’t know who they are. So how are they going to teach their kids? Pretty much, it’s at home. A lot of kids don’t even know how important Jackie Robinson is to our history.”\nHall of Famer Joe Morgan said that’s unacceptable.\n“If you’re an African-American, you should know what he did,” Morgan said.\n– AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York; AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis; Stephen Hawkins in Arlington, Texas; and Howard Fendrich in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
(04/13/07 4:00am)
DURHAM, N.C. – The local prosecutor who charged three Duke lacrosse players with raping a stripper apologized to the athletes Thursday and said the North Carolina attorney general’s decision to drop the case was right.\n“To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused,” Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong said.\nOn Wednesday, Attorney General Roy Cooper not only dropped all remaining charges against the players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, but pronounced them innocent and said they were the victims of Nifong’s “tragic rush to accuse.” Cooper branded Nifong a “rogue” prosecutor who was guilty of “overreaching.”\n“I have every confidence that the decision to dismiss all the charges was the correct decision based on that evidence,” Nifong said.\nIn what appeared to be a plea to the athletes not to take any further action, such as a lawsuit, he said: “It is my sincere desire that the actions of Attorney General Cooper will serve to remedy any remaining injury that has resulted from these cases.”\nNifong refused to answer any questions after handing the statement to an Associated Press reporter outside his office in Durham.\nSeligmann’s attorney, Jim Cooney, responded bitterly to the apology.\n“You can accept an apology from someone who knows all the facts and simply makes an error,” Cooney said. “If a person refuses to know all the facts and then makes a judgment, that’s far worse – particularly when that judgment destroys lives.”\nNifong stressed that it was own decision to remove himself from the case that gave Cooper’s office the opportunity to review the evidence against the athletes.\n“If I did not want to subject ... my own performance to such scrutiny – if, in other words, I had anything to hide – I could have simply dismissed the cases myself,” he said. “The fact that I instead chose to seek that review should, in and of itself, call into question the characterizations of this prosecution as `rogue’ and `unchecked.’”\nFinnerty’s father, Kevin Finnerty, said Nifong’s “attempt at an apology” was “disengenuous and insincere.”\n“It falls well short of whatever it might take to even remotely repair the damage he has inflicted on so many people,” Finnerty said.\nWhen asked if he accepted the apology, Finnerty said: “I do not. Too little, too late.”\nEvans’ attorney, Joseph Cheshire, accused Nifong of engaging in “revisionist history” with his statement.\n“It’s not an apology. It’s an excuse. It’s an attempt at an excuse,” Cheshire said. “It’s not an acceptance of responsibility. It’s a self-serving attempt to excuse bad behavior.”
(04/13/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – CBS fired Don Imus from his radio program Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation’s most prominent broadcasters.\nImus initially was given a two-week suspension for calling the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” on the air last week, but outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.\n“There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society,” CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. “That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision.”\nRutgers women’s basketball team spokeswoman Stacey Brann said the team did not have an immediate comment on Imus’ firing.\nTime Magazine once named the cantankerous broadcaster as one of the 25 Most Influential People in America, and he was a member of the National Broadcaster Hall of Fame.\nBut Imus found himself at the center of a storm as protests intensified. On Wednesday, MSNBC dropped the simulcast of Imus’ show.\nLosing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern departed for satellite radio. The program is worth about $15 million in annual revenue to CBS, which owns Imus’ home radio station WFAN-AM and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show across the country.\nThe Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson met with Moonves on Thursday to demand Imus’ removal, promising a rally outside CBS headquarters Saturday and an effort to persuade more advertisers to abandon Imus.\nSumner Redstone, chairman of the CBS Corp. board and its chief stockholder, told Newsweek that he had expected Moonves to “do the right thing,” although it wasn’t clear what he thought that was.\nThe news came down in the middle of Imus’ Radiothon, which has raised more than $40 million since 1990. The Radiothon had raised more than $1.3 million Thursday before Imus learned that he lost his job.\n“This may be our last Radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million,” Imus cracked at the start of the event.\nVolunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, with most callers expressing support for Imus, said Tony Gonzalez, supervisor of the Radiothon phone bank. The event benefited Tomorrows Children’s Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.\nImus, whose suspension was supposed to start next week, was in the awkward situation of broadcasting Thursday’s radio program from the MSNBC studios in New Jersey, even though NBC News said the night before that MSNBC would no longer simulcast his program on television.\nHe didn’t attack MSNBC for its decision – “I understand the pressure they were under,” he said – but complained the network was doing some unethical things during the broadcast. He didn’t elaborate.\nHe acknowledged again that his comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball players a day after they had competed in the NCAA championship game had been “really stupid.” He also said he had apologized enough and wasn’t going to whine about his fate.\nSharpton and Jackson emerged from a meeting with Moonves saying the corporate chief had promised to consider their requests.\n“It’s not about taking Imus down,” Sharpton said. “It’s about lifting decency up.”\nSheila Johnson, owner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and, with her ex-husband Robert, co-founder of BET, called Imus’ comments reprehensible in an interview with The Associated Press. She said she had called Moonves to urge that CBS cut all ties with the veteran radio star, and was worried that what he said could hurt women’s sports.\n“I think what Imus has done has put a cloud over what we’ve tried to do in promoting women’s athletics,” she said.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
The IU men’s basketball team added another player to its already illustrious 2007 recruiting class.\nChicago native DeAndre Thomas – a 6-foot-8, 295-pound forward from Chipola Junior College in Florida – signed his national letter of intent to play for the Hoosiers next season, IU coach Kelvin Sampson announced Wednesday afternoon.\nThomas will join Chipola teammate Jamarcus Ellis on the IU squad next season.\n“DeAndre is a low-block scoring machine,” Chipola head coach Greg Heiar said in a statement. “He has great hands, quick feet and is a very good decision-maker. He understands how to pass from the post and is a great scorer with his back to the basket. I’m proud of DeAndre for heading to a great institution like Indiana with so much basketball tradition and think he will be very successful.”\nThomas is the sixth player in IU’s recruiting class for next season, which is considered by many to be one of the best in the country. The defensive-oriented Sampson said Thomas brings an impressive set of skills to the Hoosiers.\n“One of the areas we feel we need to improve is scoring around the basket,” Sampson said in a statement. “DeAndre will have an opportunity to really help us because we have a need for the things he does well. He has a chance to be a really good player. DeAndre was an outstanding high school player and a part of one of the top junior-college programs in the nation. He is a great teammate, has a great personality and everyone will enjoy getting to know him.”\nThomas said he is looking forward to the opportunity to play at IU, and especially for Sampson.\n“I’m excited to be a Hoosier,” he said in a statement. “I feel great and can’t wait to get on campus. Indiana is a great program and it will be an honor to play for coach Sampson and to continue playing with Jamarcus.”\nThomas averaged 14.9 points and 5.8 rebounds at Chipola last season and shot 60.7 percent from the field. He helped Chipola to a runner-up finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and a 33-3 overall record en route to first team all-conference and all-state honors.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
PITTSBURGH – So Taguchi couldn’t have had a much better day, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and reaching base four times. With the game on the line in the ninth inning, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa felt he had an even better option.\nChris Duncan, pinch hitting for the perfect-until-then Taguchi, homered off Pittsburgh closer Salomon Torres to give St. Louis a 3-2 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday and a three-game sweep.\n“That second spot was hot today,” La Russa said.\nDuncan’s homer was his fourth as a pinch hitter in 28 at-bats the last two seasons and made for another rough day for Torres, who squandered a 2-0 lead and a save opportunity during the ninth Tuesday night before the Cardinals won 3-2 in the 12th.\n“When I saw Torres warming up, I figured that’s who I was going to face,” Duncan said. “Tony kind of gave me a head’s up. I made sure I stayed warm and I was ready to go when I got my opportunity.”\nDuncan saw nothing but fastballs when he walked against Torres the night before, and he kept looking for the fastball again until he got one below the knees on a 2-2 pitch.\n“Late in the game, you can’t afford to walk guys and (the relievers) are a little more aggressive,” Duncan said. “I knew he had a good fastball, I just wanted to make sure I was ready to hit it.”\nLa Russa said he didn’t automatically hit for Taguchi because a right-hander was on the mound – Taguchi doubled against right-hander Jonah Bayliss in the seventh.\n“It’s late in the game, the (Pirates) bullpen’s not very deep, and you know Chris has a shot to do some damage,” La Russa said. “I wasn’t thinking home run, but I thought he’d get on first base ahead of Albert (Pujols).”\nTorres blamed himself for not going after the hitters like he usually does, saying he was trying to pinpoint pitches so he didn’t get behind in the count.\n“I’ve got to put it behind me,” Torres said. “I wanted to get back out there, but I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been. Now I know what I’ve got to fix, and I’m going to fix it. I’ve done it before. I don’t have to go to school for four years to find out what I’m doing wrong.”\nThe Cardinals are 36-15 against the Pirates since 2004 and have won 31 of their last 40 against their NL Central rivals, but had not swept a three-game series in PNC Park since Aug. 27-29, 2004.\nRyan Franklin got four outs for the victory as the Cardinals won their fourth in a row and fifth in six games since dropping their first three of the season to the Mets. The Pirates lost their third in a row and are 1-5 since sweeping Houston in a three-game series.\nSt. Louis didn’t need many runs to sweep, scoring only nine runs – three in each game. But the Cardinals didn’t require many runs with the pitching they got, limiting the Pirates to four runs in 30 innings.\n“We’re doing a little bit on offense, we’re pitching well, we’re defending well,” La Russa said. “Just like when we lost three in a row, that didn’t mean we were a bad ball-club, and getting above .500 doesn’t mean we’re a juggernaut, either.”\nAdam Wainwright, a converted reliever, made his second effective start of the season by limiting the Pirates to two runs in 6 2-3 innings. But he couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the seventh as he hit pinch-hitter Don Kelly with a pitch and walked Chris Duffy ahead of a sacrifice bunt and Freddy Sanchez’s sacrifice fly.\nWith the bases loaded and two outs, Brad Eldred hit a long drive into the gap in left-center about 400 feet from home plate, but Taguchi ran the ball down.\n“We had some tough luck with that 408-foot out,” manager Jim Tracy said. “If he pulls it just a little, it’s four runs. (Taguchi) had to go a long way to get that ball. (Center fielder) Jim Edmonds had no chance.”\nEldred reached base on a force play and on Humberto Cota’s RBI single in the fourth. The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the fifth against Pirates starter Paul Maholm on run-scoring singles by David Eckstein and Preston Wilson.\nNeither team was efficient with runners on base – the Pirates stranded 13 runners and the Cardinals 11.\n“It’s very frustrating,” Sanchez said. “We’ve got to do a better job of hitting with runners on base. Hopefully, everybody will start heating up at the same time.”
(04/12/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts will be working late next season.\nLeague officials made the Super Bowl champions their feature attraction in 2007, giving the Colts five prime-time games including a Thanksgiving night game at Atlanta and four late-afternoon Sunday contests on the 16-game schedule.\nIt won’t bother coach Tony Dungy.\n“Being the defending champs, we take that as a compliment,” Dungy said after the full schedule was released Wednesday. “It makes it a little more challenging, along with the first-place schedule, but you know that goes with the territory.”\nSome of the night games had already been announced.\nIndianapolis knew it would host the league’s season-opener Sept. 6 against New Orleans, a privilege reserved for each Super Bowl winner since the Sept. 11 attacks. It also had been slated for a Nov. 22 visit to Atlanta, the second Thanksgiving Day game in four years for the Colts.\nWednesday’s announcement added a Monday night game at Jacksonville on Oct. 22 and two possible Sunday night games – Nov. 11 at San Diego and Dec. 9 at Baltimore, the second of which could be switched because of the league’s flexible television schedule.\nTo Dungy, there was only one mild surprise. The season-opener will be the only prime-time game played at Indianapolis this year, the final season for the RCA Dome. The Colts open Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008.\n“It seems we can’t get any (prime-time) games at home for our fans,” Dungy said. “It’s not anything competitively, but you’d like your fans to be able to take part in the atmosphere.”\nIndianapolis fans will still get their biggest wish, though, when rival New England visits Nov. 4. New England and Indianapolis, former division foes in the AFC East, have played six times since the Patriots’ last regular-season trip to Indianapolis in 2003 and five were in Foxborough, Mass.\nThe lone exception came in January when the Colts earned home-field for the AFC championship game and rallied from a 21-6 halftime deficit to win the title. Indianapolis has won three straight in the series.\n“It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve had them at home in the regular season,” Dungy said. “It will be tough, as games against all good teams are. But it will also be nice to have them here.”\nSome oddities on the schedule include back-to-back December trips that take the Colts coast-to-coast. The week after playing Baltimore, the Colts travel to Oakland on Dec. 16.\nThe league also flip-flopped the Colts division schedule.\nLast year, Indianapolis played its first three division games at home. This year, they’ll visit Tennessee and Houston in Weeks 2 and 3, then head to Jacksonville in October. Indianapolis will host all three division opponents in December.\n“We said last year those were important games to win at home so we’d not get caught in a must-win situation on the road,” Dungy said. “This year, they’ll be important, too, but we know if we win them early in the season, they’ll still have to come back here.”\nA six-week span from November to December also has the Colts facing all three teams – Kansas City, Baltimore and New England – they beat to reach the Super Bowl. But the most rugged stretch comes in November when the Colts play four games in 18 days, culminating with the trip to Atlanta.\nIndianapolis has faced that situation before. In 2004, the Colts won four games in 17 days.\nThe league also gave Dungy a birthday present. On Oct. 7, one day after Dungy turns 52, he’ll face his former employer, Tampa Bay, in the first game since the Colts dramatic Monday night comeback against the Buccaneers in 2003.\nTampa Bay fired Dungy after the 2001 season, and the Bucs won the Super Bowl the next year.\n“I was hoping they’d schedule it on my birthday again, but they missed it by a day,” Dungy joked. “It will be almost four years to the day since that game and it will be a fun game for me.”
(04/12/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the “Imus in the Morning” radio program, responding to growing outrage about the radio host’s racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team.\n“This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees,” NBC news said in a statement.\nThe announcement also was made on air.\nTalk-show host Don Imus triggered the uproar on his April 4 show, when he referred to the mostly black Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” His comments have been widely denounced by civil rights and women’s groups.\nThe decision does not affect Imus’ nationally syndicated radio show, and the ultimate decision on the fate of that program will rest with executives at CBS Corp. In a statement, CBS reiterated that Imus will be suspended without pay for two weeks beginning on Monday, and that CBS Radio “will continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely.”\nMSNBC’s action came after a growing list of sponsors – including American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp. – said they were pulling ads from Imus’ show for the indefinite future.\nNBC News President Steve Capus said he made the decision after reading thousands of e-mails and having countless discussions with NBC workers and the public, but he denied the potential loss of advertising dollars had anything to do with it.\n“I take no joy in this. It’s not a particularly happy moment, but it needed to happen,” he said. “I can’t ignore the fact that there is a very long list of inappropriate comments, of inappropriate banter, and it has to stop.”\nNBC’s decision came at a time when Imus’ program on MSNBC was doing better competitively than it ever has been. For the first three months of the year, its audience was nearly identical to CNN’s, leading CNN to replace its morning news team last week.\nCalls for Imus’ firing from the radio portion of the program have intensified during the past week, and remained strong even after MSNBC’s announcment. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp. MSNBC, which had been simulcasting the show, is a unit of General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal.\nBruce Gordon, former head of the NAACP and a director of CBS Corp., said before MSNBC’s decision Wednesday he hoped the broadcasting company would “make the smart decision” by firing Imus.\n“He’s crossed the line, he’s violated our community,” Gordon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “He needs to face the consequence of that violation.”\nGordon, a longtime telecommunications executive, stepped down in March after 19 months as head of the NAACP, one of the foremost U.S. civil rights organizations.\nHe said he had spoken with CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves and hoped the company, after reviewing the situation, would fire Imus rather than let him return to the air at the end of his suspension.\nA CBS spokesman, Dana McClintock, declined comment on the remarks by Gordon, who is one of at least two minorities on the 13-member board.\nThe 10 members of the Rutgers team spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the on-air comments, made the day after the team lost the NCAA championship game to Tennessee. Some of them wiped away tears as their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, criticized Imus for “racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, abominable and unconscionable.”\nThe women, eight of whom are black, agreed to meet with Imus privately next Tuesday and hear his explanation. They held back from saying whether they’d accept Imus’ apologies or passing judgment on whether a two-week suspension imposed by CBS Radio and MSNBC was sufficient.\nStringer said late Wednesday that she did not call for Imus’ firing, but was pleased with the decision by NBC executives.\nImus has apologized repeatedly for his comments. He said Tuesday he hadn’t been thinking when making a joke that went “way too far.” He also said that those who called for his firing without knowing him, his philanthropic work or what his show was about would be making an “ill-informed” choice.\nAt the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, N.J., about 300 students and faculty rallied earlier in the day to cheer for their team, which lost in the national championship game, and add their voices to the crescendo of calls for Imus’ ouster. One of the speakers was Chidimma Acholonu, president of the campus chapter of the NAACP.\n“This is not a battle against one man. This is a battle against a way of thought,” she said. “Don Imus does not understand the power of his words, so it is our responsibility to remind him.”
(04/12/07 4:00am)
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Duke lacrosse rape case finally collapsed Wednesday, with North Carolina’s top prosecutor saying the three athletes were railroaded by a district attorney who ignored increasingly flimsy evidence in a “tragic rush to accuse.”\nIn a blistering assessment of the case, Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped all charges against the players, all but ensuring that only one person in the whole scandal will be held to account: Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.\n“This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor,” Cooper said.\nCooper, who took over the case in January after Nifong was charged with ethics violations that could get him disbarred, said his own investigation into a stripper’s claim that she was sexually assaulted at a team party found nothing to corroborate her story, and “led us to the conclusion that no attack occurred.”\n“There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado,” Cooper said. “In the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly.”\nLater, at an often-bitter, I-told-you-so news conference, the three young men and their lawyers accused the news media and the public of disregarding the presumption of innocence and portraying them as thugs.\n“It’s been 395 days since this nightmare began. And finally today it’s coming to a closure,” said one of the cleared defendants, David Evans, his voice breaking at one point. “We’re just as innocent today as we were back then. Nothing has changed. The facts don’t change.”\nDefense attorney Joe Cheshire said: “We’re angry, very angry. But we’re very relieved.”\nNifong was out of town and could not immediately be reached for comment. \nEvans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were indicted last spring on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense after the woman told police she was assaulted in the bathroom at an off-campus house during a team party where she had been hired to perform. The rape charges were dropped months ago; the other charges remained until Wednesday.\nThe case stirred furious debate over race, class and the privileged status of college athletes, and heightened long-standing tensions in Durham between its large working-class black population and the mostly white, mostly affluent students at the private, elite university.\nThe woman is black and attended nearby North Carolina Central University, a historically black school; all three Duke players are white.\nThe attorney general said the eyewitness identification procedures were unreliable, no DNA supported the stripper’s story, no other witness corroborated it, and the woman contradicted herself.\n“Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges,” Cooper said. He said the charges resulted from a “tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations.”\n“I think a lot of people owe a lot of apologies to a lot of people,” Cooper said.\nNifong withdrew from the case in January after the North Carolina bar charged him with making misleading comments to the media about the athletes under suspicion. \nAmong other things, Nifong called the athletes “a bunch of hooligans” and declared DNA evidence would identify the guilty. He was also accused of withholding the results of lab tests that found DNA from several men – none of them lacrosse team members – on the accuser’s underwear and body.\nDuke suspended Seligmann, 21, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y., after their arrest. Both were invited to return to campus this year, but neither accepted. Evans, 24, of Bethesda, Md., graduated the day before he was indicted.\nIn the uproar over the allegations, Duke canceled the rest of the team’s 2006 season, the lacrosse coach resigned under fire, and a schism opened up on the faculty between those who supported the athletes and those who accused them of getting away with loutish frat-boy behavior for too long.\nThe team resumed play this year.
(04/11/07 4:00am)
The IU men’s basketball team added yet another player to its already-illustrious 2007 recruiting class. Chicago native DeAndre Thomas – a 6-foot-8, 295-pound forward from Chipola College Junior College in Florida – signed his national letter of intent to play for the Hoosiers next season, IU coach Kelvin Sampson announced Wednesday afternoon.\nThomas will join Chipola teammate Jamarcus Ellis on the IU squad next season.\n“DeAndre is a low block scoring machine,” Chipola head coach Greg Heiar said in a statement. “He has great hands, quick feet and is a very good decision-maker. He understands how to pass from the post and is a great scorer with his back to the basket. I’m proud of DeAndre for heading to a great institution like Indiana with so much basketball tradition and think he will be very successful.”\nThomas is the sixth player in IU’s recruiting class for next season, which is considered by many to be one of the best in the country. The defensive-oriented Sampson said Thomas brings an impressive set of skills to the Hoosier squad.\n“One of the areas we feel we need to improve is scoring around the basket,” Sampson said in a statement. “DeAndre will have an opportunity to really help us because we have a need for the things he does well. He has a chance to be a really good player. DeAndre was an outstanding high school player and a part of one of the top junior college programs in the nation. He is a great teammate, has a great personality and everyone will enjoy getting to know him.”\nThomas said he is looking forward to the opportunity to play at IU, and especially for Sampson.\n“I’m excited to be a Hoosier,” he said in a statement. “I feel great and can’t wait to get on campus. Indiana is a great program and it will be an honor to play for coach Sampson and to continue playing with Jamarcus.”\nThomas averaged averaged 14.9 points and 5.8 rebounds at Chipola last season and shot 60.7 percent from the field. He helped Chipola to a runner-up finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and a 33-3 overall record en route to first team all-conference and all-state honors.
(04/09/07 4:00am)
The No. 71 IU men’s tennis did not take both matches this weekend as they had hoped. But after falling 5-2 to No. 45 Wisconsin on Saturday, they came from behind on Sunday to upset No. 57 Northwestern 4-3. \nThe Hoosiers are 13-8, and their 3-3 conference record still has them in fifth place, trailing No. 2 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan, No. 8 Illinois and No. 34 Penn State.\nJust like Michigan State the week before, Wisconsin successfully split up their No. 1 doubles pairing and took No. 2 and No. 3 doubles and the doubles point, despite losing at No. 1 to IU juniors Dara McLoughlin and Thomas Richter.\nWisconsin picked up first three singles wins to clinch the match, defeating sophomore Mak Kendall at No. 6, sophomore Peter Antons at 5 and McLoughlin at 3. \nRichter gave the Hoosiers their first victory, winning 7-6 (4), 6-2 at No. 2, before senior Arnaud Roussel fell at No. 4 in a super-tiebreak, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. In the last match to finish, senior David Bubenicek scored an upset against 111th-ranked Jeremy Sonkin, 7-5, 3-6, 10-8.\n“We didn’t play that well in doubles, and our guys really came back strong in singles after that,” IU coach Ken Hydinger said. “We had some chances. Their courts are difficult to play on and the guys did a good job of fighting back, we just didn’t finish.” \nLooking to bounce back against Northwestern, IU found itself in a hole by losing the doubles point again. But the Hoosiers jumped to a 3-1 lead with wins at 1, 3 and 4 by Richter, McLoughlin, and Roussel, respectively. \nLosses by Antons and Kendall at 5 and 6 made it 3-3, and the match was on the shoulders of each team’s senior leader – IU’s Bubenicek and Northwestern’s 107th-ranked Christian Tempke. After a 6-1 first-set win by Bubenicek, Tempke prevailed in the second-set tiebreak to send the match into a third set.\nLeading 5-3, Tempke could not break Bubenicek’s serve and then was unable to close out the match himself at 5-4. Staying on serve, they went to a third-set tiebreak where a mini-break put Bubenicek ahead for good at 4-3, as he held on to clinch the match, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4).\n“I don’t think there is a team that has fought any better than that this year, and I am very pleased to be part of a good team effort like that,” Hydinger said. “Yesterday we lost in the doubles and fought back, and today we were so close in the doubles but came out and jumped on them in singles. David played a good senior. It was an up-and-down match, and it wasn’t easy. He got down and battled through it, kept working, chipped away and broke him down.”
(04/09/07 4:00am)
The IU men’s golf team tied for sixth this weekend at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette. \nThe two-day tournament consisted of 36 holes, one round Saturday and one round Sunday.\nSophomore Seth Brandon played best for the Hoosiers. He tied for fourth place, totaling 148 (74-74). Next for IU was fellow sophomore Jorge Campillo, who tied for 22nd with a score of 151 (76-75). Drew Allenspach, also a sophomore, tied for 31st place, scoring 153 (78-75). \nFreshman Alex Martin tied at 56th place with a final score of 157 (80-77). Rounding out the Hoosiers’ lineup was sophomore Brandon Pike, who shot a total of 167 (83-84), placing in 78th place. \nAfter two consecutive wins in the previous two tournaments, the Hoosiers were unable to pull off a win this weekend. It would have been the first time the team had won three consecutive matches since the 2003-2004 season. \nAfter Saturday’s round, the team was tied for third place, but Sunday’s performance wasn’t what the team needed to take home another win.\n“We put ourselves into position to have a good round today, but we just couldn’t bring it home,” IU coach Mike Mayer said in a statement. “There are some very tough holes on this golf course, and we didn’t finish them well.” \nThe tournament champions, Michigan State, finished with a total score of 593 (301-292). Finishing in second place was home team Purdue, tied with Northwestern, with a two-day team total of 602. The Hoosiers’ final score was 609 (308-301). \nBefore heading to West Lafayette, one of the team’s major concerns was the harsh weather.\n“The weather was obviously a factor today, because it was 28 degrees when we started and then under 20 with the wind chill and didn’t get much better,” Mayer said in the statement.
(04/09/07 4:00am)
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A strange week at the Masters saved the biggest surprises for Sunday – unheralded Zach Johnson won the green jacket, and he had to beat Tiger Woods to get it.\nJohnson pulled away from Woods and the rest of the pack with three birdies in a crucial four-hole stretch along the back nine of Augusta National, closing with a 69 for a two-shot victory and only the second of his career.\nThe 31-year-old self-described “normal guy” from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the least accomplished Masters champion since Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman in a playoff 20 years ago, but this was no fluke. Even as some of the thrills returned in the final round, Johnson kept his calm.\nAnd there wasn’t anything Woods could do about it.\n“This is very surreal – very, very surreal,” said Johnson, who was on the Nationwide Tour four years ago and has not won in the big leagues since 2004 at the BellSouth Classic. “I didn’t think it would be this year, but I had no idea.”\nWoods looked like a lock for his fifth Masters and third straight major when he took the lead after a short birdie on the second hole, only this major didn’t work out like so many others. Johnson and three other players came after him, and this time Woods was the one who backed off with sloppy mistakes – a broken club, shots that either found the water or the bunker and too many putts that stayed out of the cup.\nIt was the third time Woods lost a lead during the final round of a major, and the first time he ever failed to get it back.\nJohnson finished at 1-over 289, matching a Masters record last set in 1956 for highest winning score. And it ended a streak of the winner coming out of the final group at Augusta National ever year since 1991.\n“He played beautifully,” Woods said. “Look at the round he shot out there, the score. He did what he needed to do. He went out there, grinded away, made shots he needed to make.”\nThe week featured bone-dry conditions, more bogeys than birdies, frost coating the manicured lawn in the morning and one last peculiar sight – Woods walking up to the 18th green with no one left behind him on the course and no trophy waiting for him at the end.\nHe closed with a 72 and tied for second with Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini, who each shot 69 on a day when the course finally allowed something that resembled those fabled charges on the back nine.\nJohnson did it the old-fashioned way.\nSo much for that theory that the Masters is only for the big boys. Johnson didn’t try to reach any of the par 5s in two all week, yet he played them better than anyone with 11 birdies and no bogeys.\n“I knew if I stayed in the present, I’d do well,” he said. “I kept rolling that ball, and it was my day, I guess. Pretty lucky.”\nDefending champion Phil Mickelson presented him the green jacket. It was six years ago when Johnson first showed up at Augusta National with a ticket and followed Lefty around as he tried to stop Woods from a fourth consecutive major.\nNow, Johnson can come back to play in the Masters as long as he wants as one of the most unlikely champions.\nWoods walked away bitter again, not so much at his play on Sunday but for the way he finished in previous rounds. A bogey-bogey finish on Saturday that ultimately cost him the lead, and a bogey-bogey finish on Thursday that set the tone for his week.\n“I had a chance,” Woods said. “But looking back over the week, I basically blew this tournament on two rounds where I had bogey-bogey finishes. That’s 4 over on two holes. You can’t afford to do that and win major championships.”\nEven so, he didn’t help himself in the final round.\nTwo shots behind making the turn, Woods found a bunker on the 10th and failed to save par. His tee shot stopped next to a Georgia pine on the next hole, and Woods’ 4-iron collided with the tree immediately after he hit the ball, bending the shaft almost in half. He did well to save par there, and seemed to hit another gear on the 13th.\nWith his 4-iron in two pieces, he hammered a 5-iron over the creek at the 13th and watched it trickle down the top shelf until it stopped 3 feet away for his only eagle of the week.\nJohnson, who laid up short of the 15th green, was walking to his third shot when he heard the roar and “I assumed Tiger made eagle” to pull within two shots.\nJohnson made par from just off the green, then holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th to cap his run and put Woods in position of needing a charge of his own. Woods simply didn’t have it.\nHis 15-foot birdie attempt on the 14th broke across the front of the cup. And from the right rough on the 15th, needing to bend the ball around the pines, his 3-iron came up just short and into the water. He pitched to 7 feet to save par and stay in the game.\nJohnson three-putted from about 35 feet on the 17th for bogey, again leaving Woods hope. But he missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and his approach to the 17th came up short in a bunker.\n“What the hell was that?” Woods said.\nGoosen also had his chances, going out in 32 to take the lead and making only one bogey on back nine, a three-putt at No. 12. But it was a peculiar decision to hit iron off the tee at the 510-yard 13th – easily reachable in two – and he left himself only an 18-foot attempt for birdie, which he missed. He also laid up on the par-5 15th after driving into the trees.\nThe best chance to catch Johnson belonged to Justin Rose, who made five birdies in a nine-hole stretch through the 16th and was one shot behind until hitting his tee shot into the trees on No. 17 and taking double bogey. Rose finished with a 73 and tied for fifth at 292 with Jerry Kelly (70).\nStuart Appleby, who had a one-shot lead over Woods going into the last round, recovered from a double bogey on his opening hole to join a four-way tie for the lead on the back nine until he hit 7-iron into Rae’s Creek on the 12th hole and took double bogey.\nWith two double bogeys on his card, he shot 75 and finished four back.\n“I had too many doubles and a triple,” Appleby said. “You can handle bogeys out here. But once you do the big numbers, you walk yourself backwards. It was a tough day. I enjoyed the day. Would have loved a rosier finish.”
(04/06/07 4:00am)
The Indiana Relays track meet scheduled for Friday and Saturday is canceled due to bad weather, according to a news release from the IU Athletics Department.\n“Due to the forecast and inclement weather, we had teams call and a couple outright canceled,” IU women’s interim coach Judy Wilson said. “And others were very concerned, and we weren’t sure if they were going to come, so due to lack of opponents, the meet will be canceled.”\nThe relays would have been the second meet of the outdoor season for the Hoosiers but would have been the first for athletes who did not travel to Palo Alto, Calif., on March 30 and 31 for the Stanford Invitational.\nThe meet would have been the first of only two hosted by IU at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex.\nA few events, like the steeplechase, were never going to take place due to too few athletes competing in the event, Wilson said.\n“We are getting reports of 30-degree weather and snow, and after it being 80 (degrees) this week, so we are concerned with the health and well-being of our athletes,” Wilson said. “We already had the pole vault scheduled inside, and other events were probably going to be inside and that is when you start wondering whether you are having an outdoor meet.”\nThe Hoosiers will travel to Missouri for the Missouri Relays on April 13 and 14.
(04/06/07 4:00am)
The IU women’s water polo team is prepped to play the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday. But unlike most weekends, the Hoosiers don’t have to travel to play. \nFor the first and only time this season, IU will host a water polo match. The two teams begin play at 2 p.m.\nThe Hoosiers and Wolverines squared off earlier this season in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan beat the Hoosiers 12-7 during the Michigan Kick-Off, a two-day tournament that started the season for both teams. \n“Because it’s our only home game, there’s added excitement,” senior Emily Schmitt said of Saturday’s game, “Plus it’s senior night, so it’s a ceremonial last game.”\nShe said the Hoosiers-Wolverines rivalry is a big one, she said, especially because Michigan is the only Big Ten team that IU plays all year. \nSchmitt said she is happy to stay home for a change. \n“It’s really fun to play in front of a home crowd and have family in town,” she said. “But it’s also a huge game, a big rivalry game. We play them three or five times a year, and every game is amped. We get excited for it.”
(04/06/07 4:00am)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida coach Billy Donovan wanted to stay. His star players knew it was time to go.\nDonovan spurned a chance to return to Kentucky and take over the tradition-rich program, saying Thursday he hopes to build the same in Gainesville.\nHe’ll have to do it without Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah. The four juniors will enter the NBA draft, saying they have accomplished all they could at Florida.\n“I’m happy and I’m sad,” Donovan said. “Happy because I’ve never seen a group of kids grow the way these guys have grown, and sad that I’m not going to have a chance to coach them anymore. ... I do not expect any of them back here next year. Their commitment, their focus, is trying to further their careers in the game of basketball.\n“When they put their minds to something they’re usually very, very successful at doing it.”\nDonovan and the foursome led the Gators to consecutive national championships, capping the coach’s 11 years and setting the foundation for a program he hopes will someday be mentioned with the likes of Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and UCLA.\nThe Gators became the first team to win back-to-back titles since Duke in 1992. But following Monday night’s 84-75 victory against Ohio State, Donovan’s future had become the biggest question mark surrounding Florida.\nDonovan acknowledged interest in the Kentucky job this week, saying he had a lot of admiration for the Wildcats. But he also said he intended to stay in Gainesville.\nHe proved it Thursday.\n“It’s all about where you’re at in life and what’s going to make you happy,” Donovan said. “I’m happy here at Florida. I love the University of Florida.”\nKentucky received permission to talk to Donovan about its coaching vacancy Wednesday. The coach and Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart spoke early Thursday morning.\nDonovan then met with Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley and agreed to stay put.\n“We want to put basketball on the map here forever,” Foley said. “And there’s no question he’s the key component.”\nDonovan was the top choice to replace Tubby Smith, who left Kentucky last month to take the head job at Minnesota. Donovan spent five years as an assistant under Rick Pitino in Lexington, quickly learning about Kentucky’s unrivaled fan base and unrealistic expectations.\nBut he spent the last decade-plus in Gainesville, putting down roots with his wife and four children. He also turned a mediocre basketball program into a national power – at a place where football used to be king – and defied conventional wisdom held by his mentor, Pitino, his predecessor, Lon Kruger. Donovan has a 261-103 record at Florida.\nHe has two years remaining on his current contract worth $1.7 million annually, but was expected to sign a long-term extension “later this spring,” Foley said.
(04/06/07 4:00am)
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky’s restless two weeks are over. Billy Gillispie is the Wildcats’ new coach, and he insists the winningest school in college basketball history is on solid ground despite an early ouster from the NCAA tournament.\nThe former Texas A&M coach agreed to a seven-year contract to succeed Tubby Smith, university spokesman Jay Blanton said Friday. Financial terms weren’t immediately available.\nThe architect of remarkable turnarounds at UTEP and Texas A&M, Gillispie doesn’t think there’s much work to be done with the Wildcats. Kentucky went 22-12 this season, losing to Kansas in the second round of the tournament.\n“This program got turned around like 2,000 years ago and it’s been turned around ever since,” Gillispie said just before a campus rally. “Since they started putting those nets up there and used a round ball, they never needed a turnaround.”\nFans were trickling into Memorial Coliseum 90 minutes before his news conference. Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” blared from speakers while students gathered before a makeshift stage. Blue pompons were in place on the first few rows of the bleachers.\nGillispie becomes Kentucky’s sixth coach in the last 76 years and follows Smith, who spent a decade in the glare of the sport’s brightest spotlight before bolting to Minnesota. Gillispie led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 this year for the first time since 1980.\nThe Wildcats turned to Gillispie after another Billy – Florida’s Billy Donovan – decided Thursday to stay with the Gators. Texas’ Rick Barnes also indicated Thursday he wasn’t interested, but the job was never formally offered to anyone other than Gillispie.\nSmith left the Wildcats after 10 seasons to coach Minnesota last month, with four years left on his contract.\nGillispie is 100-58 in five seasons as a coach. He spent the last three years with the Aggies, molding the longtime also-ran into a Big 12 power. Texas A&M went 27-7 this season.\nHis success made him a hot commodity. He was approached by Arkansas after Stan Heath was fired, but he decided to stay with the Aggies, agreeing to a $1.75 million contract.\nThe 47-year-old coach, however, never signed, and he didn’t hesitate when Kentucky came calling. A&M athletic director Bill Byrne gave Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart permission to speak to Gillispie on Thursday night. By Friday morning the job was his.\nGillispie was an assistant under Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois before coaching UTEP in 2002. He coached the Miners for two seasons, surviving a 6-24 season in 2002-03, then producing a 24-8 record the next year.\nTexas A&M lured him in 2004, and Gillispie didn’t waste time turning around a program that went winless in Big 12 play the year before his arrival. The Aggies made it to the NIT his first season and the NCAA tournament the next two.\nBehind senior point guard Acie Law, the Aggies spent most of the 2006-07 season ranked in the top 10. They finished 13-3 in the Big 12.\nGillispie’s finest moment came at Rupp Arena, guiding the Aggies to wins over Penn and Louisville in the opening rounds of this year’s NCAA tournament. The Louisville game featured Smith’s predecessor, Rick Pitino, coaching against Smith’s successor, Gillispie, on Kentucky’s home court.\nGillispie is the sixth Kentucky coach since 1931, when Hall of Famer Adolph Rupp began a 42-year reign that turned the Wildcats into a national power. Rupp won four national titles, with Joe Hall, Pitino and Smith adding one each.\nKentucky’s failure to return to the Final Four since winning the title in Smith’s debut season of 1997-98 was a sore spot for Wildcats fans accustomed to success.\nSmith compiled a 263-83 record as the Wildcats’ coach and his teams advanced at least to the second round of the NCAA tournament in each of his 10 seasons. But because the program lost 10 or more games under Smith five times, some critics labeled him “10-loss Tubby.”\nKentucky went 22-12 this season and was seeded No. 8 for the second straight year, with the tournament outcome the same as well. Last year, top-seeded Connecticut knocked off the Wildcats in round two. This year, it was top-seeded Kansas.\nGillispie inherits a team facing a number of questions. Star center Randolph Morris, who played perhaps his best ball in the SEC and NCAA tournaments, signed with the New York Knicks.\nMorris’ top backup, Lukasz Obrzut, was a departing senior, as was starting power forward Bobby Perry and his backup, Sheray Thomas. The top center now appears to be Jared Carter, who missed almost the entire season after shoulder surgery. Seldom-used freshman Perry Stevenson could start at power forward.\nThe team returns three starting guards – freshman Derrick Jasper and juniors Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley – as well as freshman Jodie Meeks.\nSmith’s departure leaves Kentucky’s recruiting class in limbo. Smith had concentrated on forward Patrick Patterson, a teammate of O.J. Mayo’s in Huntington, W.Va., and guard Jai Lucas of Houston, son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas. The players have yet to sign letters of intent.\n- AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.
