The University of California announced late last week that it would restore 3 of the 5 sports it had announced a few months ago it would cut to deal with a large projected deficit in the athletic department. The decision also came amid reports that the California state legislature is going to cut funding for the upcoming fiscal year for the University of California system by some $500 million.
The Division I Academic Cabinet wants feedback on a legislative package for the 2011-12 cycle that strengthens requirements for two-year college transfers and provides an opportunity for prospects who need an academic boost to serve a “year of academic readiness” without losing a season of eligibility.
It is a rare occurrence when athletes call a halt to an event on the eve of the competition. Yet that is exactly what has happened in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 7 when competitors and their coaches met with the skiing world’s governing body prior to the scheduled World Cup snowboard cross event. This event was set to be held on the proposed course for the 2018 Winter Olympics and came little more than a week before an IOC group of inspectors is due to arrive in South Korea to assess the country’s bid to host the Games.
Recently Yahoo! Sports published an article titled “Deer antlers?” (yes, deer antlers) by Dan Wetzel, This article discussed the supplement deer antler velvet and its use in the NFL. In related news, recently appointed head football coach for the Oakland Raiders, Hue Jackson, was forced to cut ties with a supplement company promoting an oral spray containing deer antler velvet.
The location of this year’s Super Bowl, Arlington, Texas just west of Dallas, provides an eye opening look at the history of the National Football League. Dallas was at the center of the transformation of the NFL from a rag tag, mom and pop operation into a multibillion dollar business. This is the story of three teams from Dallas and the fortunes or misfortunes and of missed business opportunities that somehow turned into the richest sports league in the United States. Long before Tex Schramm conceived the term “America’s Team, when talking about his Dallas Cowboys, Dallas was the home to the original and real “America’s Team.” This Dallas team had two future Hall of Famers on its roster, Gino Marchetti and Artie Donovan, but little else except for a sense of humor.
The annual game of musical chairs as played by NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football programs seems to have ground to a halt for another year. A total of 21 schools will have new coaches when the fall, 2011 season begins in a few months. Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh left Stanford for and NFL job with the San Francisco 49rs. Others such as Rich Rodriguez of Michigan were fired. Some coaches, such as Brady Hoke of San Diego State, left for another college position (in Hoke’s case the University of Michigan).
Wednesday is the annual day when the current crop of high school senior (and junior college) football players can pledge their love for the college of their choice. Feb. 2 is the first day of the official signing period where future stars can sign Letters of Intent pledging them to play football for a particular school. Many of these players have been wined and dined for two years or more by coaches eager to find players who can win games and guarantee job security.
In July, 2009 former UCLA basketball star and NBA player Ed O’Bannon filed suit against the NCAA for anti-trust violations stemming from its use of his likeness in products such as cards and video games without his permission and without paying him royalty fees for the use of his image.