WASHINGTON - A consumer group known for criticizing the fat in things like movie theater popcorn, fast food and pizza has a new target: alcohol advertising in college sports.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest kicked off a campaign Wednesday aimed at getting colleges and universities, athletic conferences and the NCAA to stop taking money from alcohol advertisers.
George Hacker, director of the CSPI's alcohol policies project, said college administrators trying to cut down on underage drinking on campus can't look the other way when it comes to beer ads during televised games.
"University officials are selling their students and other young fans to beer marketers, and at the same time their greatest concern on campus is alcohol problems," Hacker said. "They lose a great deal of credibility."
Helping the campaign were Dean Smith who, at North Carolina, was college basketball's all-time winningest coach, and Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the former Nebraska football coach.
" ... Ninety percent of the disciplinary incidents that I encountered were precipitated by alcohol-related events," Osborne said. "At the time of the disciplinary episode, the majority of these individuals were under the legal drinking age."
Smith said since the sale of beer is prohibited at the NCAA Final Four, it should also be prohibited from being advertised.
Hacker charged beer marketers are clearly targeting underage drinkers, a point the alcohol industry disputed.
"The fact is that the vast majority of those persons that watch and attend college sports, as well as the majority of students in college, are of legal drinking age, 21 or older," said Jeff Becker, president of the Beer Institute, a trade association.
ALABAMA: Tailback Ray Hudson was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Hudson was found with a small amount of marijuana when members of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force executed a search warrant at a Tuscaloosa residence last week, Capt. Jeff Snyder told the Tuscaloosa News.
"It was an amount that would indicate personal use," Snyder, the task force commander, told the paper. Hudson, 22, was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
Also, the News filed a motion asking a judge to deny requests by the NCAA and other defendants to keep the public from seeing some records in a lawsuit filed by two former football coaches. Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams have sued the NCAA and six other defendants, including NCAA enforcement representative Richard A. Johanningmeier, for defamation. The judge will consider the motions in a hearing Friday.
WEST VIRGINIA: Safety Jahmille Addae (shoulder), defensive lineman Fred Blueford (knee) and offensive lineman Tim Brown (Achilles' tendon) are out for the season.
Wednesday's game
MIAMI, OHIO 45, MARSHALL 6: Ben Roethlisberger passed for 282 yards and two touchdowns through a howling wind as the host RedHawks ended the Thundering Herd's dominance of the Mid-American Conference.
Playing with their first national ranking since 1976, No.23 Miami (9-1, 6-0) earned its ninth consecutive win. Marshall (6-4, 4-2) had won all six MAC East titles since the league split into two divisions in 1997. Miami clinched a berth in the conference's championship game.
As fans huddled against gusts of more than 30 mph and teammates tried to keep their balance, Roethlisberger was smooth.
"I was trying not to get blown away a few times," he said. "I told the receivers it's not going to be pretty, but I'll get it there. If you can't throw a spiral in this wind, you're in trouble."
Roethlisberger put Miami ahead to stay with a 14-yard touchdown to Matt Brandt on its opening drive into the wind.
"They just whipped us, what can I say?" Marshall coach Bob Pruett said. "We've put those kinds of whippings on people and walked away with a grin. They deserve to grin and walk away as champions."
