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News Nuggets, 09.19.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Frogs to collaborate with European reality TV show

FORT WORTH — The Texas Christian football program has been selected to be part of a new European reality television show entitled "Wedding Bells in America," the TCU Athletics Department announced last week.

The show, which is being produced by Sultan Sushi in Belgium, will feature eight soon-to-be married European couples who travel to the United States to learn American culture while competing for the ultimate American wedding and honeymoon in Las Vegas.

While in Fort Worth, the couples will learn American football from TCU football staff members and former players, and then will face off in a game of flag football. TCU cheerleaders, showgirls and SuperFrog will be on hand at the game.

The public is encouraged to attend the taping in Amon Carter Stadium on Monday, Sept. 20, noted the announcement. On-field taping is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. and conclude at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Other challenges for the couples in the show include cooking a meal in New Orleans and singing the blues in Memphis.

More information about the Fort Worth taping can be obtained by contacting Jeff Crane, TCU Athletics Marketing Director, at (817) 257-6928.

Texas Christian Media Relations

Historically black schools get showcase game

NEW ORLEANS — A nationally televised all-star game over the Martin Luther King holiday will feature athletes from the nation's 43 historically black colleges and universities with NCAA football teams.

Organizers said the HBCU All-Star Classic will provide an NFL scout showcase for the schools, which send only about 3 percent of the players in the four major all-star games, and will bring people to New Orleans during a slow season.

"Traditionally, HBCUs have a huge following for football," said Toni Rice, president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network, a sponsor of the game.

ESPN2 has a two-year agreement to broadcast the game from Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans' City Park, said the game's executive director, Richard Harvey, who played in the NFL from 1989-2000.

Tad Gormley was chosen because it is less expensive than the 70,000-seat Superdome, because its 26,500 seats are more likely to sell out, and because the park is better for tailgating than downtown New Orleans, said Harvey, who played with the New Orleans Saints.

The budget for most college all-star games is about $1.5 million. "We're well below that," Harvey said, though he wouldn't provide specifics.

The coaches and 16 current and former NFL players will donate their time, with the bowl covering travel and hotels, Harvey said. He said he is looking for a $400,000 title sponsor.

Amtrak will provide free tickets for players, as it did for last year's HBCU football camp in New Orleans.

The game will be modeled on the Shrine game, with an East and a West team. A selection committee will choose 96 seniors who are eligible for the NFL draft from the 38 HBCU schools in four conferences, plus five independents.

The East team will be made up from players from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and three independents: West Virginia State, Cheyney, and Savannah State.

The West team will be chosen from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and independents Tennessee State and Stillman College.

Rice said she believes the game, which includes almost a week of lead-in activities, will eventually become as big a black tourism destination as the Essence Festival and the Bayou Classic football game. Each of those brings in more than 100,000 people.

Cal under the gun to fund stadium upgrades

BERKELEY — California has a promising football program, but could be in danger of losing coach Jeff Tedford unless the school's cramped and aging stadium is improved.

Tedford, who has led the Bears to two winning seasons, has a buyout clause in his contract that drops from $1 million to $500,000 if ground isn't broken by the end of the year. The amount would be zero if the same situation exists at the end of next year.

Sweeping changes have been proposed to upgrade the 1920s-era Memorial Stadium, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the proposal is unlikely to move forward unless a donor willing to give something in the range of $20 million or more steps forward.

The upgrades were originally projected to cost $140 million but could go as high as $175 million.

The athletic department has raised some money, but isn't close to the 40 percent the university requires before going ahead with detailed plans.

In 1997, UC regents approved seismic upgrades at the stadium, which sits on an earthquake fault. However, not much has happened except for the dismantling of a seismically dangerous press box in 2002 and the construction of a temporary facility.

Along with the earthquake retrofit, proposed improvements include a new locker room, offices, weight room and meeting rooms. Improvements aimed at drawing fans include chair backs in stadium seating and better restrooms, along with possible luxury suites or club seating.

The present weight room is so small only one-quarter of the team can lift at one time. Some players share lockers and meeting space is so tight the offense and defense can't meet at the same time.

The program needs the upgrades to retain Tedford, boost recruiting and draw enough fans to offset an annual deficit.

Tedford is in the second year of a five-year contract renegotiated after his first year. In addition to the buyout clauses, if ground is not broken on the stadium project by the end of this year, a clause prohibiting him from going to another Pac-10 school would be dropped.

School officials say they're confident the project will be successful, although the improvements are not going to be completed before Tedford's contract deadlines. However, officials are hoping the coach will stay so long as progress is being made.

Legislation takes aim at sleazy sports agents

Congress has moved to impose tougher penalties on unethical sports agents who lure student athletes into contracts that compromise their amateur standing and damage the reputations of their schools.

The legislation, which passed by voice vote in the Senate and was sent to the president for his signature, was promoted by Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the former Nebraska football coach.

"As a former coach, I witnessed time and again sports agents illegally using cash and gifts to recruit student-athletes," Osborne said in a statement Friday. "This unethical behavior on behalf of the sports agents threatens the athletes' eligibility and harms the integrity of college sports."

The NCAA has rules, and some states have standards, for sports agents, but Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., principal author of the bill, said that hasn't stopped some unscrupulous agents from "aggressively pursuing these kids anyway, possibly ruining a chance to compete on the college level and get a degree."

The legislation would bar agents from recruiting student athletes by giving false or misleading information or providing anything of value to the athlete or his family before entering into a contract.

The agent must also disclose in writing that the athlete may lose NCAA eligibility after signing an agency contract and requires the athlete and the agent to notify the school's athletic director that the athlete has signed a contract so the school does not play a now-ineligible athlete in a game.

Violators would face civil actions by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general and fines of up to $11,000 a day could be levied for each offense.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the legislation would provide a federal backstop for NCAA efforts on behalf of the Uniform Athlete's Agent Act, which requires sports agents to be registered with the states in which they operate and provides uniform laws addressing their conduct. He said the legislatures of 29 states have passed the act.

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 published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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