Former Gamecock signee Murdock dies

Shocking news from Tampa this morning. It has been announced that Tennessee Titans WR O.J. Murdock, who was also a former South Carolina signee, has shot and killed himself in front of his former high school in Tampa. All the Tampa TV stations are reporting this story.

He died at 10:43 this morning. After being dismissed from the Gamecocks, he played at Fort Hays State in Kansas. He was on the IR last year for the Titans, but had not reported this year due to personal reasons.

An article with more info: http://www.tampabay.com/hometeam/blog/ex-middleton-star-oj-murdock-dies/14286/

This is sad news. He was 25 years old. He was on the same team with Kenny McKinley, who also had the same fate.

UPDATED WITH TITANS STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF O.J. MURDOCK (from WTVF):

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of O.J. Murdock’s death this morning. In his brief time here, a number of our players, coaches and staff had grown close to O.J., and this is a difficult time for them. He spent the last year battling back from an Achilles injury as he prepared for this year’s training camp. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they try to cope with this tragedy.”

Joe Mikulik melts down

During Friday night's RiverDogs game against the Asheville Tourists, Asheville manager Joe Mikulik had one of his patented meltdowns.

He stole 3rd base and gave it to a fan. You got to see this. This is from Kevin Bilodeau at Channel 5 in Charleston (WCSC).

RAW: Asheville Manager Joe Mikulik Has Meltdown Vs. RiverDogs

Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

Kannapolis to Charlotte commuter rail. Imagine it.

Imagine this. It is some time in the future. You live in Kannapolis or a town nearby (like Landis or China Grove). To commute to Concord or Charlotte, you have to fight through heavy traffic in order to get there. The only other option is to take Amtrak, which has trains 3 times a day from Kannapolis to Charlotte (which can be minutes or hours late).

Charlotte is building an extension to their Lynx light rail service, which has transformed travel in the southern part of the Charlotte metro. This, however, will only extend to UNC-Charlotte's campus. Cabarrus County has a population of over 180,000 in the county and growing. Rowan County is also nearby, providing a good sized population base.

Imagine not having to deal with I-85 commuters. Imagine not having to deal with mall traffic. You could get work done, sleep, or look around seeing the beautiful sights between the two cities.

Concord is a city of about 80,000. It has a very good transit system for a town its size. From this train, you will be able to connect from the Concord North stop to the Concord Kannapolis Transit System along with several other transit systems, including buses to Salisbury.

There will be seven stops on the system. The system will go from uptown Charlotte to downtown Kannapolis. On my Google Map, I have more info about all the stops.

I believe local governments ought to look at building this. This would alleviate traffic on all the major roads, like 85, 29, 601, and others.

Here is a link to my map. https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212787236114350670343.0004b77c6678dfed20cc7&msa=0&ll=35.764343,-79.134521&spn=1.388415,3.348083

Facebook group where you can comment about it: http://www.facebook.com/groups/136586749815491/ 

E-mail your local leaders!

Charleston Classic pairings announced

The 2012 Charleston Classic is upon us. The college basketball event will be held November 15th through the 18th at the College of Charleston's TD Arena in downtown Charleston.

The 8 teams will be Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Colorado, Dayton, Murray State and St. John’s.

This is the bracket: http://www.charlestonclassic.com/home/images/pdfs/2012ccbracket.pdf

The schedule from the Charleston Classic website:

Thu, Nov 15	12:30 p.m.	Dayton vs. Colorado	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
	3 p.m.	Baylor vs. Boston College	ESPNU / ESPN3D
	5 p.m.	St. John’s vs. College of Charleston	ESPNU / ESPN3D
	8 p.m.	Murray State vs. Auburn	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
Fri, Nov 16	12:30 p.m.	Semifinal #1	ESPNU / ESPN3D
	2:30 p.m.	Consolation #1	ESPNU / ESPN3D
	5:30 p.m.	Semifinal #2	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
	7:30 p.m.	Consolation #2	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
Sun, Nov 18	Noon	7th-place Game	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
	2 p.m.	5th-place Game	ESPN3 / ESPN3D
	6 p.m.	3rd-place Game	ESPNU / ESPN3D
	8:30 p.m.	Championship Game	ESPN2 / ESPN3D
Wed, Nov 21	TBD	Auburn at Boston College^	n/a
Sat, Nov 24	TBD	College of Charleston at Baylor^	n/a

 

Stingrays go to new NHL affiliate, Boston

Andrew Miller of the Post and Courier in Charleston says the new ECHL affiliate for the Boston Bruins will be the South Carolina Stingrays.

The Bruins previously affiliated with the Reading Royals before they went to the Stingrays.

The South Carolina Stingrays have been in the ECHL since 1993, and have one of the best legacies of any team in the league. They have won 3 Kelly Cup championships, and have made the playoffs in every season but one in their history.

They play at the 10,537 seat North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston. The Stingrays have affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, among others, and they just finished a relationship since 2004-05 season with the Washington Capitals.

An official announcement will be today or tomorrow.

The Providence Journal is confirming this news in their Bruins blog: http://blogs.providencejournal.com/sports/bruins/2012/07/south-carolina-stingrays-will-be-bostons-new-echl-affiliate.html

Silas Redd possibly transferring?

Penn State RB Silas Redd, one of the top RBs in the country, is considering transferring to USC, per Joe Schad of ESPN. He had 1,241 rushing yards last year.

He is the first of many players who will probably leave the Penn State program because of their extensive probation.

Ichiro to Yankees

Jack Curry of the YES Network says the Yankees have acquired Ichiro Suzuki from Seattle for RHPs DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar, source said.

He is hitting .261 so far for the Mariners this year, and they play the Yankees tonight in Seattle.

This trade is official. The Seattle newspaper is reporting that #ICHIRO asked to be traded for the good of the team. #MARINERS

Penn State sanctions: What I'm hearing

I am hearing that the sanctions are going to be very serious at Penn State. People I follow on Twitter are saying that there is going to be at least a 3 to 5 year bowl ban, and more than 50 scholarships lost. It may be more than that.

Benjamin Albright at NFL Draft Monster tweeted: Whispers are 3-5 year bowl ban, and upwards of 50 scholarship losses. #PSU

Be prepared Nittany Lion fans: your team will not be going to a bowl this year, probably the next year, and at least the year after. It could be very crippling for the program. That's just some of the sanctions President Mark Emmert is levying.

You might not be able to see your team on television either. Everything is up for grabs. 


Howard Eskin (well-known Philly talk show host and commentator) says: one of the #NCAA sanctions could be taking the wins away from Joe Pa from 1998 on. That would be major.

I will update this throughout the day tomorrow. 

Robert Nkemdiche visiting Ole Miss

Robert Nkemdiche has not decided. He is visiting Oxford today. Robert Nkemdiche is at Ole Miss with his coaches.

Update from Bruce Feldman:  Nation's #1 recruit Robert Nkemdiche (Clemson commit) visiting Ole Miss today. Top JC OL & 5-star RB also visiting Oxford too.

Former Gamecock football coach Carlen dies

Former South Carolina football coach Jim Carlen has died, according to WLTX. Apparently, he died late last night.

He was Gamecock football coach from 1974-81, and coached players like George Rogers and others, leading them to prominence in 1980, as George Rogers won the Heisman that season. In 1975, he led the Gamecocks to a 56-20 win over Clemson.

He led the Gamecocks to 3 bowl games, including the Gator Bowl in 1980. That same year, the Gamecocks traveled to Michigan Stadium and defeated the Wolverines. 

He is dead at the age of 79. Carlen was also head football coach at West Virginia and Texas Tech. He graduated from Georgia Tech, playing football there in 1953-54.

He had a record of 25-13-3 at West Virginia from '66-'69, including a 10-1 season in 1969 where his team faced the Gamecocks in the Peach Bowl and beat them.

From 1970-74, Carlen coached at Texas Tech, and he had an 11-1 season in 1973, still one of their best records in team history.

Here is an article about him written in 2005 from The Gamecock. http://www.gamecockshop.com/jimcarlen.htm

Albany football moving to CAA in '13

The University of Albany has unofficially announced that they are moving to the CAA for football in 2013. Albany is in the America East conference in all sports except football, and the Northeast in football.

Here is the tweet that referenced that, from their equipment manager. No official announcement yet.

@UAEQUIPMENT: Ualbany Football moving to the CAA for football For the 2013 season. Big time football for the city of Albany.

This could be interesting, as it would give the league in football another decent-sized market, Albany, a top 60 market. Stay tuned.

CofC board of trustees to discuss changing conferences

Per Jeff Hartsell of the Charleston Post and Courier, the CofC board of trustees athletic committee is meeting on Tuesday to discuss changing from the SoCon to the CAA. The entire board is having a meeting on August 2 (Tuesday).

Scott Eisberg of WCIV (along with a few other reporters) was at the meeting earlier this morning, and this is what he tweeted.

Hull says missed classtime and extensive travel with associated costs will certainly play a factor in decision for #CofC

Hull says #CofC exploring options because of future of #SOCON. Says they have to as App St and Ga. Southern are looking.

Hull says #CofC will certainly have to weigh financial options, 600 grand to leave SOCON now, 300 grand in future hefty sums

Hull says he might feel more resistance from baseball as SOCON is far superior league than CAA. #CofC

Channel 4 RT's: @SEisbergWCIV: Hull says SoCon commissioner John Iamarino has been understanding and helpful in gathering information abt the move

Hull says there is no timetable on recommendation to Board of trustees. He says he has to consider all 21 sports

Channel 4 RT's: @SEisbergWCIV: Hull says CAA is definitely a better basketball conference, with that being main revenue sport- will def be considered. Several key points from intv w #CofC AD Joe Hull. CofC intrigued by CAA TV exposure, said its much more than #SOCON
 

Tony Ciuffo, former play-by-play guy at the college tweets at Eisberg: hardest working sports man around. CAA and CofC, will b like the TAAC days. Nobody really cares. Stay n socon, start football

#CofC officially says that they've been in contact with CAA but no official offer has been made. They'll continue to discuss

@gomocs57 - still waiting-from what I understand, they'll just recommend today, they won't vote on it today.

Hull never mentioned CAA directly in his opening statement.true details will be discussed in closed executive session in few minutes

Joe Hull now addressing board at #cofc. Met with coaches and staff-athletic, economic, academic issues all weighing on decision

List of CO shooting victims (still developing)

I feel that it is the right idea to post something about the CO shooting. It is not sports related, but this is such sad news to read about.

11:15 Friday- List of confirmed victims so far:  http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/aurora-tragedy-massacre-victims-and-conditions/

Update at 10:43 MT Friday: Micayla Medek, 23, is one of the dead in #aurora #theatershooting  

It's been confirmed that Alex Sullivan, the man who took a bullet for his wife, has passed away. RIP.

KUSA just confirmed two more victims: * John Larimer, 27, was in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Aurora.
* Jesse Childress was a staff sergeant with Buckley Air Force Base.

Six-year-old Veronica Moser was killed in Aurora, Colo. theater shooting.

Killed: Jessica Ghawi, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, John T. Larimer, Alexander J. Boik, Jesse E. Childress, Jonathan T. Blunk, Rebecca Wingo, Alex M. Sullivan, Gordon Cowden, Micayla Medek and Alexander Teves.

James Holmes, the man that killed over a dozen and injured many others, was a 24 year old who was withdrawing from the University of Colorado at Denver, from a graduate program in neurosciences. Dan Abrams, reporter at ABC, says there are enough explosives in Holmes's house to take down "2 buildings."

Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan informed President Obama at 5:26amET today of CO shooting.

Just now: #theatershooting suspect's apt bldg being clear floor by floor, safe zone: 5 bldgs evac'd on advice of bomb squad.

Both the north and south towers at the research complex at Anschutz Medical Campus(CU Medical Center) on E. 19th Street where James Holmes worked are being evacuated. News 5 (KOAA) has a crew there and we'll bring you more information when we have it.-ES #theatershooting

Confirmed victims: Jessica Ghawi (Redfield), aspiring sports blogger, who had recently moved from Denver to San Antonio. More info about her: http://deadspin.com/5927673?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Zack Golditch, OL from Aurora HS in Aurora, Colorado State football commit. He was wounded last night in the Aurora theater shooting. At least one other CSU football player was there.

28 year old Brandon Hoover of Columbia, SC was also one of the victims. Article about him from The State paper: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/20/2361987/columbia-natives-were-in-colorado.html#.UAoMofWkSSp

According to the Department of Defense, 2 Air Force reservists, 1 Navy service member were among those wounded in the Aurora shootings.

No other victims have been identified yet. Do not speculate on this news.

Hakeem Nicks ineligible during '08 season

A report in the Raleigh News and Observer says that North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks was ineligible during the 2008 season.

NCAA documents show that Nicks received improper academic help in the spring of 2008 from a tutor implicated in the NCAA scandal at UNC. The NCAA called what happened “academic fraud.”

UNC already got their penalties for this year, not being allowed to play in a bowl game or in the ACC championship, but this is still very interesting news. Nicks' records will get asterisks placed on them.

 Here is the article:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/19/2209329/unc-star-nicks-ineligible-during.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/19/2209329/unc-star-nicks-ineligible-during.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Rams DE Robert Quinn arrested for DWI

Rams DE Robert Quinn was arrested for DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) on July 10 in St. Louis.

He was the 14th pick in the draft last year, and is from Fort Dorchester High and the University of North Carolina.

Quinn was pulled over July 10 in Florissant (per KSDK).  He was charged with DWI and two additional traffic charges.  He posted bond and was released from jail that night.

Matt Price facing shoulder issues

Former South Carolina P and Orioles 7th-round pick Matt Price is facing shoulder issues and may not pitch again this year.

He is dealing with a tight right shoulder capsule and may not pitch in a game this year.

Steve Melewski's article on masnsports.com talks more about it. Having already pitched in 28 games this year with South Carolina, he already has a lot of wear and tear on his arm.

The article also talks about what the plans are for Price if he gets to the majors. It is a very interesting article to read.

Here it is: http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2012/07/orioles-seventh-round-draft-pick-is-dealing-with-shoulder-issue.html

Clemson G Devin Coleman tears Achilles

We have just learned that Clemson sophomore G Devin Coleman has torn his Achilles tendon in conditioning drills today. He is out 6-8 months.

He averaged 2 points a game last year, but was supposed to be a major part of the team this year. Coleman averaged ten minutes a game last season, but grew into an important player for the last few games of the season last year. He played 26 minutes in Clemson's ACC tournament loss to Virginia Tech.

Larry Williams of Tiger Illustrated first broke the story.

Here is an article with more from Greg Wallace of the Anderson Independent-Mail. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jul/18/devin-coleman-out-6-8-months-following-achilles-te/

2012 Sertoma, interesting pairings

The Sertoma Football Classic is an event which has been a Lowcountry institution since the early 1970s. Except for a couple seasons, the games have always been held at The Citadel's Johnson-Hagood Stadium.

This year, the games will be held Thursday, August 16 and Friday, August 17. The event seems to grow every year with more and more schools playing in it. Just like what they have been doing the last year or two, they are having marquee games each night.

Thursday, August 16th

Baptist Hill VS

St Johns VS

Hanahan VS

Palmetto Christian VS

Wando VS

West Ashley VS

Stratford VS

Military Magnet

Garrett

James Island

North Charleston

Scotts Branch

Cane Bay (2 qtrs)

Bishop England (2 qtrs)

Friday, August 17th

Stall VS

Woodland VS

Colleton County VS

Northwood VS

Porter Gaud VS

Goose Creek VS

Lincoln

Academic Magnet

Pinewood

Burke

Berkeley

Fort Dorchester (2 qtrs)

 

 I will give more information as we get closer to the event. Summerville will play Ashley Ridge in a 2 quarter game Friday night.

 

CAA invites Davidson and Charleston

According to a Statesboro Herald article today, Georgia Southern AD Sam Baker said that Davidson and the College of Charleston have been extended invitations to the Colonial Athletic Association.

Monday, 12:20pm: @KevinLive5 (Kevin Bilodeau): #CofC continues to have no comment on anything related to the CAA including rumors of a press conference this week

The article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/291/article/42479/

Quote from Baker: "There’s been an invitation from the Colonial to Davidson and Charleston," Baker said. "We’ve not heard, as conference members, where that may lead. It would be hard to tell. I think they both benefit by being in our conference."

Would be interesting to see. No more info about those two schools was given, but it is an interesting article by Noell Barnidge talking about Georgia Southern's position in the league (they are staying in the SoCon).

Jason Kidd arrested for DWI

Breaking News. Knicks PG Jason Kidd has been arrested for Driving While Intoxicated in Southampton, Long Island.

He was arrested during the midnight shift for misdemeanor DWI. More info as we get it.

From Kevin Maher of News 12 Long Island: Police say Kidd's Cadillac Escalade struck a telephone pole and went into the woods. He was the only person in the car. Kidd was taken to Southampton hospital for minor injuries. He was arraigned this morning and released on his own recognizance.

Article about it: http://southampton.patch.com/articles/basketball-star-jason-kidd-arrested-on-dwi-charge

Ray Tanner press conference

Ray Tanner was named Athletic Director at South Carolina today in an afternoon press conference.

Release from athletic department: http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/235654/tanner-named-south-carolina-athletic-director.aspx 

Tanner won two national championships, six SEC East titles, three SEC regular-season titles, one SEC tournament and went to six CWS in his time as baseball coach.

According to David Cloninger, Tanner has a five-year deal worth 675K per year.

Pastides says Tanner has management skills transferable to larger organization.

550 athletes at Carolina, several candidates. William C. Hubbard, chair of Board of Trustees is there, Dawn Staley, women's basketball head coach, Tommy Suggs, announcer, I.S. Levy Johnson, Columbia attorney, and USC professor Charles F. Adams on committee.

Has a vision, leadership skills, what Pastides wants. Wants someone who would raise money and make friends. "Sometimes you have the right leader." Tanner says he wanted a "change 2 years ago." Started coaching at 28. Was one of the youngest coaches in the nation then. Tanner felt he would coach his last game soon, but was too young to retire.

Tanner said he was ready to take on a new position. Tanner wanted the job. He had ambition, and Ray Tanner was an assistant athletic director at N.C. State.

Has huge amounts of national media exposure, as Tanner will become AD August 2 says Pastides. Long ovation.

Reptar dying was his first point. Tanner informed Pastides about the desire to have that job. Coaches "move fast." He was minutes into the search process. Tanner said he would be in the bullpen waiting for the call. Pastides was thinking of Matt Price.

Tanner says he has tremendous momentum in the department. Tanner thanks Hyman and Marcy Girton. Tanner said "I'm a Gamecock and I bleed garnet and black."

Tanner says he has tremendous coaches through all sports. Two new assignments accepted. Charles Waddell will be Athletics Deputy Director and Kevin O'Connell will be Chief Operations Officer.

Tanner says the move is "no surprise." Coach Jim Valvano approached him. Tanner turned him down.  Press conference for new baseball coach at 11am Monday.

He got a standing ovation from the room crowded with athletic department employees in the room. Tanner almost cried when he thanked Mike McGee for giving him the baseball job in '96. He says he will miss being in the uniform.

Tanner: "The biggest challenge for me may be putting this neck tie on everyday. I've always been interested in whats going on w/other sports." "I've never been an "I" guy...You're only as good as the people around you. We have a great team here." "We have a program in baseball that a lot of other universities want to emulate" "I've got great rapport with all of our coaches. I've felt that support for a long time."

Steve Spurrier: Coach Spurrier on Tanner as AD: “I applaud the choice of Ray Tanner as athletics director. I believe the President made an excellent decision. Our athletics department is in very good hands with Ray Tanner."

"I look forward to working with Ray and President Pastides for several years to come.”

Bobby Hartin's thoughts on this: "The first question Ray Tanner gets as AD is 'Will you conduct a national baseball search?" "Whoever asked that should be shot."

Ray Tanner to be named South Carolina AD, Holbrook baseball coach

According to Teddy Heffner, sports talk host at 560 the Team, Ray Tanner will be named Athletic Director at South Carolina in a 2pm press conference tomorrow.

Tanner won two national championships, six SEC East titles, three SEC regular-season titles, one SEC tournament and went to six CWS in his time as baseball coach.

The Big Spur reports Tanner is likely to make $700,000 a year in his new role.

The first person to announce this: Matt Barber of Dixie Fried Sports. South Carolina will announce Ray Tanner as its next AD on Friday. Monday they will announce Chad Holbrook as Head baseball coach.

Sammy Esposito will probably be the coach replacing Holbrook in his assistant role.

Jay Phillips of 107.5 the Game: We have been able to confirm that USC will announce Ray Tanner as AD on Fri and Chad Holbrook as baseball coach on Mon.

Jay Phillips: A Board of Trustees committee has already met. Full board vote approving Ray Tanner as AD will take place Friday morning.

From Isabelle Khurshudyan: Things that made AD search looked tipped towards Tanner from start: Staley on advisory committee, prior AD experience not a qualification.

Ray Tanner is 54 years old. He has been SC baseball coach since 1997. Now, he takes over as their athletic director. Chad Holbrook I believe is 40, almost the same age as Mr. Tanner was when he took over the program fifteen years ago.

Jerry Meyers will be pitching coach, Sammy Esposito will be full-time assistant coach, & Brian Buscher volunteer.

Phillip Sims eligible for Virginia

Alabama transfer QB Phillip Sims is eligible for the University of Virginia football team this year, per the Cavaliers football team page.

He will compete for the team's starting job and will probably win it. He is from Chesapeake, in the Hampton Roads area.

Sims was the #1 QB in the 2011 class according to ESPNU in the 2010 class.

Dee Liner arrested

Auburn football commit and Muscle Shoals DE Dee Liner has been arrested for the second time in 10 days, per Nick Lough of WAFF in Huntsville.

DEE LINER: Per court records - on 7-1, a female Muscle Shoals cop pulled over a vehicle around 10:45pm at 907 Avalon Avenue. As cop....

Also charged with disorderly conduct & obstructing government operations following his arrest July 1st.

On July 1 a female Muscle Shoals cop pulled a car over. While conducting the traffic stop Liner pulled up in a 2nd vehicle. 

He was charged with criminal trespassing as well. This story is developing.

Court date set for August 23. No court date set on criminal trespassing charge.

Andrew Bone spoke to Dee Liner about his recent arrests, "I made some bad decisions, but everything is going to get better."

More info from Lough on Dee Liner: NCAA rules don't allow Auburn to comment on Liner's two arrests because he hasn't signed a LOI.

Around 1am July 11 (today) Sheffield PD caught Liner and several others jumping the fence at the Sheffield Public Pool.

If you have any questions on the arrests please ask Nick Lough. Courts are closed and pretty sure few people know exactly what happened.

SoCon "TV" football schedule out

The Southern Conference have released their "television" schedule today. This season, they are not airing any games on regular television. You have to have ESPN3.com in order to watch these games.

This is the schedule. Eight games, two of them "wildcard dates."

It is bad that in 2012, the conference can't get any television dates. Furman has 2 or 3 games on CSS.

Sept. 8         Montana at Appalachian State 
Sept. 29       Samford at Georgia Southern     
Oct. 13         Chattanooga at Furman 
Oct. 20         Western Carolina at Elon 
Oct. 27         The Citadel at Wofford              
 Nov. 3          Appalachian State at Georgia Southern
 Nov. 10        Wildcard Weekend
 Nov. 17        Wildcard Weekend


Some of these games are going to air on ESPN Gameplan as well. 


You can read more information on the SoCon webpage:


http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205501714&DB_OEM_ID=4000

November 10 game choices include Furman at Appalachian State, Citadel at VMI, Samford at Elon, and Howard at Georgia Southern.

On November 17, it looks like either Citadel at Furman or Elon at Chattanooga will air. 

Capitals end affiliation with Stingrays, go to Reading

The Washington Capitals are saying that they will no longer be an affiliate of the South Carolina Stingrays. They are going to be affiliating with the ECHL's Reading Royals, which is only 50 miles or so away from Hershey, their AHL affiliate.

The Stingrays will have to find a new NHL affiliate. I'm sure several teams will want to affiliate with them since they are one of the most storied franchises in the ECHL. They have been an affiliate of the Caps for 8 seasons.

Here is more info from the Caps website:

http://capitals.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=637482

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

Link from Reading:

http://www.royalshockey.com/news/news.asp?story_id=1783

Allmendinger fails drug test

Bob Dillner of Speed is reporting that AJ Allmendinger is out of the 22 car, and that Sam Hornish Jr. will replace him, starting for tonight's race at Daytona.

He failed a random drug test. Update: Wednesday 2:05pm- Jeff Gluck says: AJ Allmendinger tested positive for a stimulant, statement says.

NASCAR is giving an official announcement now in the media center at Daytona. Jeff Gluck says that #NASCAR says AJ Allmendinger suspended for failing substance abuse test.

Brad Keselowski says: Note- No comments on 22 car tonight as we focus on tonight's race. Thank u in advance.

Gluck also says: Allmendinger's 'A' sample was positive test. He has the right to request 'B' sample be tested. #NASCAR not releasing any further info.

NASCAR says he failed the test last week after the Kentucky race. Allmendinger has the opportunity to request a "B" sample within the next 72 hours.

From Matt Weaver: If the test comes back positive, the suspension becomes indefinite. (A negative result, no doubt)

From Jenna Fryer: Tim Cindric says NASCAR notified Penske officials within the last few hours. Focus became getting Sam back from NC.

Ray Allen signing with Heat

Micky Arison, the owner of the Heat, is reporting from London that the Heat may have signed Ray Allen.

Tweet from him, retweeted by @DanWolken: Its 2:30am in London and I was just woken up with great news. Welcome to the family #20!!

Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA writer at Yahoo! says deterioration of Ray Allen's relationship w Rajon Rondo significant factor in leaving for Miami, sources tell Y!

Girton headed to A&M

Per Aggiesports, part of the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the #2 person in South Carolina's athletic department, Marcy Girton, is also headed to Texas A&M. She has been at Carolina for four years and before that, TCU for nine years.

More info from Bryan-College Station Eagle:

http://www.aggiesports.com/article/20120705/AS01/120709791/1005/as

CofC's Andrew Lawrence makes GB Olympic team

Today, it has been announced that Andrew Lawrence of the College of Charleston has been named as one of the twelve players on the Great Britain national basketball team for the London Olympics which begin in just a few weeks.

He is from Woking in Surrey, which is about 25 miles (37 km) from London.

Lawrence has been a known player at CofC in all of his three years at the university. Lawrence did not start playing until he was 15 years old, and attended prep school at Heat Basketball Academy in Virginia. In his first season, 2009-10, a year when CofC defeated North Carolina, he averaged about five points a game coming off the bench.

In 2010-11, a season when CofC defeated Tennessee, he became a very important player, coming off the bench as a PG and averaging about six points a game. He was very important to the team that year.

Last season, in 2011-12, he averaged thirteen points a game as the team's PG. He played most entire games, averaging over 35 minutes a game for a team that won nineteen games.

This season, 2012-13, he looks to be one of the team's senior leaders.

Lawrence and his team (which includes Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu), both well-known NBA players, will play their first qualifying game for the Olympic basketball tournament on July 29th. Former Wofford player Mike Lenzly is also on the team.

They will be part of a group with Brazil, Spain, Australia and China, along with another school in a six-team group.

This will be a huge honor to participate in the first Olympics in Great Britain since 1948. Good luck to him.

The rest of the team: http://www.gbbasketball.com/news/2523.php

An exciting playoff plan

College football is going to a four-team playoff in 2014. The sport is evolving after being in a bowl culture since 1900.

A problem with this four-team playoff is that access would be cut out for many, many teams.

I have a new plan which I feel would help alleviate the problem of highly-ranked teams not making it, but would allow all the teams that have a legitimate chance to win a national title have a chance.

I believe a six-team playoff would be the best idea to help preserve the regular season, and to let all the teams that have a chance at a national championship have one. Six teams would allow the top two teams in the final poll to get a huge advantage; they would only have to play two games to win the national championship.

My real goal is a 16-team playoff involving every conference (including non-BCS), but this might not happen for 10 or 15 years.

The six-team playoff would still include semifinals on New Year's Eve and Day with the bowl games. With each semi being bid out with the bowls, along with the finals, there would be five different bowls or locations for this six-team playoff.

There would be no Champions Bowl, but the four major bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta) would still exist, allowing fourteen teams to participate in either the BCS or the playoffs.

They would select teams with the conference tie-ins. The Orange would still have the ACC tie-in, the Rose a Pac-12/Big Ten tie-in, and the Sugar a SEC tie-in. The Big 12 and Big East's top teams, along with non-BCS teams, could fill the final 3 spots.

I'll talk more in future posts, but I have a list of the what the match-ups would be in the last six seasons since the BCS National Championship was added.

2011: No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama get byes to Football Four.

No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 6 Arkansas
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 Oregon

2010: No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Oregon get byes.

No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Ohio State
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 Wisconsin
 
2009: No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas get byes.

No. 3 Cincinnati vs. No. 6 Boise State
No. 4 TCU vs. No. 5 Florida

2008: No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida get byes.

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Utah
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Southern California

2007: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU get byes.

No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. No. 6 Missouri
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Georgia

2006: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Florida get byes.

No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Louisville
No. 4 LSU vs. No. 5 Southern California

This playoff would also include the four major bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange), which would have the opportunity to present two games a year.

Fourteen teams would get a chance to be in these games every year. You'd have the six team playoff each year, then eight teams in the major bowls, which would still carry lots of prestige.

Buccaneers Eric Wright arrested

Buccaneers CB Eric Wright has been arrested for felony DUI, according to the Los Angeles Times.

More info: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/tampa-bay-bucs-and-former-usc-cornerback-arrested-felony-dui.html