News Nuggets, 09.16.04
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
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Marshall coach navigates hot water over remark
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
09.15.04: USM's
Bower blasts Cal handling of postponement ... More Ivan:
Tulane-Louisville game postponed ... Big bucks lure Hawaii
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09.14.04: Ivan blows Southern Miss-Cal showdown off track ... Happy
days in Memphis over national ranking ... SMU, Texas A&M
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09.13.04: C-USA
standings, scoreboard, schedule & TV ... AP Top 25: Memphis,
Louisville make the cut ... College football weekend: stars
& storylines
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09.12.04: Southern
Miss bags big prey in Big 12 country ... Pitcher sues over
weight-training injury
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09.11.04: Tulane football crisis turns into boon for program ...
Sooners licking chops over visiting Houston?
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09.10.04: ECU
boomer Dougherty nominated for punting award ... Army's Ross
still fired up about coaching
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09.09.04: Golden
Eagles in countdown mode for Nebraska ... ESPN branching out
with new ventures ... Tar Heels book trip to Maui
Invitational
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09.08.04: It's
official: Holland the chosen one ... AP agrees: Holland the
chosen one ... Delayed start an unforgiving one for USM ...
Old skeptic Holtz goes positive
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09.07.04: Storm-related
tragedy slams Bowden family ... Army AD Greenspan enlists
with Hoosiers
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09.06.04: Backup
back bids for start after bulldozing Pirates ... Last-second
boot decides Aggie-Eagle Classic ... Frances blows Pitt-USF
game into December ... C-USA standings, scoreboard &
schedule ... Associated Press college football poll ...
College football weekend: Stars and storylines
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09.05.04: Shooting
deaths overshadow debut of State QB ... Conference USA
scoreboard & schedule ... Sunday's college football TV
capsules
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09.04.04: Big
hat tossed in the ring for ECU AD position? ... Talk 1070
slates marathon football Saturday
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09.03.04: Auburn
AD job still open after Baird, Dooley confer ... Pirate
Radio launches ECU game-day lineup ... Mountaineers prepared
to lead pared-down Big East ... O'Leary to miss UCF opener
after mother's passing
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09.02.04: Walker
panel picks Pirate-less group from C-USA ... Tye named Top
Gunn at TCU ... Satellite radio company 'Sirius' about
college football
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09.01.04: Pirates
grow numbers in Pennsylvania old-fashioned way ... Hurricane
Frances sacks Citadel home opener
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HUNTINGTON — Marshall coach Bob Pruett
will not be reprimanded for calling the Ohio State football team "a bunch of
Mandingos," a comment some thought could be offensive to blacks.
"I profusely apologize if I offended
anyone," Pruett said Wednesday. "That's the last thing in the world I wanted
to do. As I understand the term, I was trying to be complimentary."
Pruett said he used the term to mean
"superior ability, superior strength, boldness and courage."
Pruett made the original comment in his
weekly news conference leading up to last Saturday's game against Ohio
State.
"We think Coach Pruett's apology is
sufficient and I think he stated everything very well," athletic director
Bob Marcum said Wednesday.
Charles Farrell, director of Rainbow
Sports, a division of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition, said
Pruett's remarks could be offensive to some because the Mandingos of West
Africa were used as slaves.
Farrell said he also was satisfied with
Pruett's apology.
"What I was hoping is that the athletic
director or the university president would pull the coach aside and say,
'Whether you meant to or not there were some people who were offended by the
use of the term Mandigo," Farrell said. "Any coach needs to understand that
your words and actions reflect upon that university."
James Tolbert, who oversees the West
Virginia branch of the NAACP, said the comment "smacks of some racism."
But Sylvia Ridgeway, president of the
NAACP's Huntington-Cabell branch, said Pruett's comments may have been the
result of "a poor choice of words."
"I have never, ever heard him make
racial remarks before, which leads me to believe it was an indication of how
he felt about strength and boldness, not anything negative," she said.
Ohio State defeated Marshall 24-21 with
a field goal as time expired.
Air
Force locks in DeBerry through 2009
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Air Force football coach Fisher
DeBerry has agreed to a five-year contract extension.
DeBerry, in his 21st season at Air Force, has a
156-89-1 career record and has been at the academy longer than any other
coach.
"Fisher is one of the nation's best coaches and we
have now secured the future of Falcon football for the next five years,"
athletic director Hans Mueh said in a statement.
The 66-year-old DeBerry led the Falcons to a 12-1
record and a top-five ranking in 1985, when he was named national coach of
the year. His teams have had 17 winning seasons and 12 bowl appearances.
"I'm very flattered and humbled to be offered an
extension to my contract," DeBerry said in a statement. "This speaks well to
the job our coaches and players have done ..."
The contract extension comes as running back Matthew
Ward, who has been suspended from the team, faces a court-martial for
wrongful use and possession of the steroid methandrostenolone. He pleaded
innocent earlier this week.
Linebacker Overton Spence was acquitted on a charge
of wrongful use of the same type of steroid on Sept. 1, after testifying he
did not know the steroid was illegal. He was reinstated to the team Monday.
Bowling Green football player
dies
BOWLING GREEN, OH — A Bowling Green
football player died at a hospital Wednesday after becoming ill during the
first 10 minutes of practice, school officials said.
Aaron Richardson, a freshman, was taken
to Wood County Hospital, where he died, athletic department spokesman J.D.
Campbell said.
There was no obvious cause of death and
an autopsy was planned for Thursday, said Wood County coroner Douglas Hess.
Richardson, a native of Sandusky, was
participating in his first practice as a non-recruited walk-on, Campbell
said.
Campbell didn't know what Richardson
was doing when he got sick.
"The university is reviewing the
circumstances surrounding Aaron's passing," said Ed Whipple, Bowling Green's
vice president for student affairs.
News Nuggets are
compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member
schools, and from Associated Press and
other reports. Copyright 2004
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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