LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL
Notre Dame tower fall kills 1
A Notre Dame student died Wednesday after the tower from which he was filming football practice fell over. Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was transported from the LaBar practice complex to a South Bend, Ind., hospital, where he died. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Declan’s family and friends,” Coach Brian Kelly said in a release. “Declan was a diligent student worker in our video department and had a tremendous personality and great sense of humor. He brightened the days for all that had the privilege to work with him, and the Notre Dame football family will dearly miss him.” Authorities were investigating the incident. The hydraulic scissor lift, which can be lowered or raised depending on needs, stretched across a nearby street. Winds in the area were gusting to 51 mph at the time, according to the National Weather Service, and the team practiced indoors Tuesday because of the blustery conditions. Notre Dame was making grief counselors available for students, andNotre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins will preside over a special Mass in Sullivan’s memory today.
The Big 12 Conference suspended Nebraska linebacker Eric Martin for Saturday’s game against Missouri for his hit against Oklahoma State’s Andrew Hudson. Martin blindsided Hudson with a block during Niles Paul’s 100-yard kick return in the first quarter of last week’s 51-41 victory. No penalty was called on Martin.
Tennessee senior fullback Kevin Cooper has been suspended for Saturday’s game at South Carolina. Coach Derek Dooley said Wednesday he was suspending Cooper because he violated a team academic policy. Cooper has played in all seven games this season and started five. He’s caught six passes for 39 yards.
HORSE RACING
Zenyatta enters Classic
Zenyatta will put her 19-0 record on the line when she defends her title in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, going against the boys for the second consecutive year. A record total of 184 horses, including 26 from overseas, were pre-entered Wednesday for the $26 million, 14-race Breeders’ Cup world championships at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 5-6. Zenyatta was pre-entered in the Classic, along with 13 others, including Preaknesswinner Lookin At Lucky and runner-up First Dude, Whitney winner Blame and Woodward and Metropolitan Mile winner Quality Road. Final entries and the post-position draw will be Tuesday. Zenyatta has won all five of her starts this year and will be looking to end her spectacular career with a victory in the 11/4-mile Classic. It will be her second start on dirt this year. She won the Apple Blossom for the second consecutive year at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs in April.
BASKETBALL
Heat-Celtics draw big ratings
The Miami Heat’s new Big Three earned big TV ratings. The debut of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Tuesday’s opener drew the most viewers for an NBA regular-season game in cable history. TNT said Wednesday that Miami’s 88-80 loss to the Boston Celtics had a 4.6 rating and was watched by 7.4 million people. The rating is second only to the 4.9 for the Chicago Bulls-Los Angeles Lakers game Feb. 2, 1996, when Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson met for the first time after both came out of retirement. Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Tuesday’s game actually earned a higher rating in Boston (17.1) than in Miami (15.5). It drew a 10.6 in James’ jilted former home of Cleveland.
The NBA will hold its 2011 draft in Newark, N.J., while Madison Square Garden undergoes renovations. Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday the draft will take place at the Prudential Center on June 23.
BASEBALL
Sabathia to have surgery
New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will have arthroscopic surgery Friday to repair a small meniscus tear in his right knee. Sabathia is expected to begin his pre-spring training routine three to six weeks after the operation.
The New York Yankees declined 2011 options on first baseman-designated hitter Lance Berkman, reliever Kerry Wood and first baseman Nick Johnson, and exercised their option on pitching prospect Andrew Brackman. Berkman’s option was for $15 million, Wood’s was for $11 million and Johnson’s was for $5.5 million. Berkman will get a $2 million buyout, and Johnson will receive a $250,000 buyout.
Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco will have surgery on his left elbow Friday and is expected to be ready for spring training. Polanco will have bone fragments removed from his elbow, in addition to having his extensor tendon repaired. He is expected to need eight to 10 weeks of recovery.
The Toronto Blue Jays have exercised their $1.2 million option for catcher Jose Molina, keeping him with the team through the 2011 season. Molina, 35, batted .246 with 4 doubles, 6 home runs and 12 RBI in 57 games this season.
Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker, 75, left the hospital Wednesday following heart surgery eight days ago. It was Uecker’s second heart surgery this year. This one repaired a tear from the previous valve replacement in April after doctors believed a staph infection caused the complication.
TENNIS
Courier Davis Cup captain
Jim Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion, was hired by the U.S. Tennis Association to lead the country’s Davis Cup team, replacing Patrick McEnroe, who resigned last month. “I’ve always known, once I got a taste of playing Davis Cup, if I were given an opportunity to be the captain, I would certainly want to take it,” Courier said Wednesday during a news conference in New York. Courier helped the United States win the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995 as a player.
NHL
Polak out indefinitely
St. Louis Blues defenseman Roman Polak will have surgery to repair a severed tendon in his right wrist and will be sidelined indefinitely. The injury will be re-evaluated in 10 days to two weeks, but the team said it didn’t believe the defenseman would miss the rest of the season.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Colby Armstrong needs surgery for a finger injury and is expected to be out for at least four weeks. Armstrong was hurt Tuesday in a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS NCAA: Athletes’ graduation rates improve
INDIANAPOLIS - Studentathletes are earning degrees at record rates, graduate at higher rates than other students, and football players and black men’s basketball players are making big gains in the classroom, the NCAA said Wednesday in releasing its annual Graduation Success Rate figures.
The report shows 79 percentof all Division I athletes entering school between 2000-2001 and 2003-2004 earned a degree within six years. That matches last year’s record number.
The latest freshman class, from 2003-2004, also hit 79 percent, tying the record mark set each of the past two years.
“The reality is that student-athletes are doing at least as well as other students at universities,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said.
Traditionally, student-athletes have graduated at higher rates than the overall student body and this year was no different. According to federal numbers, student-athletes had a 64 percent graduation rate compared with 63 percent of all students.
The numbers differ because the NCAA includes transfer students in its calculation. The federal rate does not, and NCAA officials maintain their numbers are more accurate.
The biggest gains came in the highest-profile sports.
One-year measurements showed that the graduationrates among Football Bowl Subdivision programs improved from 66 percent in 2009 to 69 percent this year, and that the rates of black men’s basketball players jumped to 60 percent - a three-point increase over 2009 - for the first time.
“What I have seen asa university president is that the culture of the football and basketball programs on campuses has had a really important shift,” said Emmert, the former president at Washington who officially took over the NCAA three weeks ago. “The coaches, the staffs have been really attentive to the fact that they have to be more aware of academic success than they have in the past.”
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/28/2010