Donnie Webb, Syracuse Post-Standard: Terrific story involving the 1969 Syracuse-Wisconsin game at Camp Randall. Syracuse successfully converted a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter of the 43-7 victory, sparking a brawl. A Wisconsin baseball player named Fred Spytek came out of the stands, got involved in the fracas and took the helmet of Syracuse's Joe Ehrmann. Over 40 years later, Spytek found the helmet when he was moving and sent it back to Ehrmann.
Rachel Bachman, Oregonian: The University of Oregon, under order from the state attorney general, released an uncensored copy of its eight-year, $22.7 million contract with Nike. The deal falls far short of being the most lucrative in outfitting/marketing of college teams. Michigan has an eight-year, $66.5 million arrangement with Adidas. North Carolina has a 10-year, $33.7 deal with Nike. Kansas has an eight-year, $26.7 million arrangement with Adidas, and Nebraska has an eight-year $22.7 million deal with Adidas, which equals Oregon's arrangement with Nike.
Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News: The Big 12 Conference is considering incorporating high-definition video into its replay booths. An announcement could come before the conference meetings in June and the system would be in place for games this fall.
Cris Barrish, Wilmington News Journal: Delaware's last-ditch bid to have Las Vegas-style sports betting met a quiet but certain death when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the state's case.
Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch: What's expansion mean to the Big Ten? "Let's say in some of these areas you're getting a dollar a month [extra from cable subscribers for having the Big Ten Network]," Smith College economist Andrew Zimbalist said. "Each household is $12 a year. So if you add 3 million households, that's $36 million in revenue. On top of that, you'll get more revenue from advertising. Potentially, you could be talking tens of millions of dollars when you add a properly positioned team."
Bob Hunter, Columbus Dispatch: Is there "too big" in Big Ten expansion? Perhaps not. If the league were to add nine teams for a total of 20, it would have a television market that stretches from the Plains to New England with tentacles deep into the South. It would put a permanent sleeper hold on the Big East and would trump about anything the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences can do, short of a merger.
Heather Timmons, New York Times: Google sees a new role for YouTube: An outlet for live sports.
Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports.com: Spring games. Not only are the shams currently foisted upon us mostly meaningless, they're almost always boring. In terms of lasting memories, they're more disposable than a Bic lighter.
Joseph Goodman, Miami Herald: Coaches know ways to skirt the rules without breaking them. Example: They give information to recruiting sites regularly. Recruiting sites are one of the ways coaches can bypass NCAA rules to communicate and recruit kids surreptitiously during this evaluation period.
Greg Auman, St. Petersburg Times: Attorneys representing South Florida have filed a response to former coach Jim Leavitt's lawsuit against the university, asking a circuit court judge to dismiss the lawsuit's request for access to public records and to strike large portions of the lawsuit it contends are "legally insufficient or redundant, immaterial, impertinent and scandalous."
Dave Hooker, Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee's Derek Dooley said he would only release Aaron Douglas from his scholarship if the offensive lineman were to transfer to a school that was at least an eight-hour drive from Knoxville.
Wes Rucker, Chattanooga Times Free Press: Dooley said Tennessee sophomore safety Darren Myles Jr. won't miss any games despite being charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest hours after the spring game.
Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald: Former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery. Mettenberger grabbed the breasts and buttocks of a woman in a bar on March 7. "He was at the bar and was highly, highly intoxicated," district attorney J. David Miller said. "He grabbed the young lady in places he had no business placing his hands."
Patrick Orr, Idaho Statesman: Boise State senior safety Jason Robinson will spend 19 days working on the Ada County Sheriff's labor detail and begin making restitution for medical bills to a man whose jaw was broken in a February bar fight, according to terms of a plea agreement. Robinson played a key role in the Broncos' pivotal fake punt call against Texas Christian in the Fiesta Bowl.
Gene Wang, Washington Post: Navy's team made its seventh consecutive appearance at the White House to accept the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, and for the second time in a row, President Obama was there to present it. "There they are again," Obama said as he entered the East Room.
Austin Meek, Topeka Capital-Journal: John Hubert, a backup running back on Kansas State's team, was arrested over the weekend in connection with a domestic incident at a university residence hall.
Baton Rouge Advocate: Louisiana State center T-Bob Hebert was suspended from the team after his arrest for drunken driving.
Barry Jackson and Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald: FedEx has ended its 21-year sponsorship of the Orange Bowl game.
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