Report: Nebraska to hire former Raiders coach Callahan
By Wire services
Published January 9, 2004
OMAHA, Neb. - According to ESPN and the Omaha World-Herald, former Raiders coach Bill Callahan will be hired as Nebraska's football coach today, ending a long search to fill the vacancy at one of the sport's premier programs. Callahan accepted the job after meeting Thursday with AD Steve Pederson.
Gary O'Hagan, Callahan's Minneapolis-based agent, did not return a phone message from the Associated Press.
O'Hagan said earlier in the day that Callahan was "very interested" in the job.
The Huskers fired Frank Solich on Nov. 29.
ALABAMA: The NCAA has told the school it will not face further sanctions even if new information surfaces in a federal court case against Memphis businessman and longtime Alabama booster Logan Young. Chairman Thomas E. Yeager said his NCAA infractions committee determined that "a reasonable time has elapsed" since the program was placed on five years' probation.
KANSAS STATE: The Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney's Office declined to press charges against quarterback Ell Roberson, who was accused of sexually assaulting an acquaintance on New Year's Day. KSU lost to Ohio State the next day in the Fiesta Bowl. Coach Bill Snyder said Roberson and others would lose their scholarships for the spring semester, valued at $8,500, for violating team rules.
MOTORSPORTS: Rally racers pay up
At least 100 racers in the Paris-Dakar Rally were stopped at Mauritania's border by armed guards demanding $64 to pass. Customs officials had imposed the fee, and though rally organizers overturned the order, word apparently did not reach border guards, race spokesman Roger Kalmanovitz said. The racers paid. France's Stephane Peterhansel took the overall lead after the eighth stage.
TENNIS: Rusedski tests positive
Greg Rusedski revealed he failed a drug test, but insisted he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. He said he tested positive for "a low concentration" of nandrolone, and that he is to attend an ATP hearing in Montreal on Feb. 9.
"This is a very complex situation which, once understood, will clearly demonstrate my total innocence," said Rusedski, who is recovering from back problems. He was eliminated from the AAPT Championships in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday. Ex-No. 1 Patrick Rafter, returning to the tour after an absence of more than two years, lost in doubles.
CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE: Wimbledon champion Roger Federer began his 2004 season by beating Max Mirnyi 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the exhibition at Hong Kong.
ASB: American teenager Ashley Harkleroad and defending champion Eleni Daniilidou won two matches each to reach the semifinals of the women's tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.
ET CETERA
ARENA FOOTBALL: Vince Dooley still has a knack for recruiting - particularly when Herschel Walker is involved. The longtime Georgia athletic director convinced Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, to join an advisory committee for the Georgia Force, a panel that Dooley will organize and run. He will leave Georgia in June, when his contract expires.
BOXING: Former world welterweight champion Carlos Palomino leads a group of 14 former champions, officials and ring personalities who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 13. He now coaches young fighters in the Los Angeles area as well as acting in films and television.
SKIING: Olympian Kikkan Randall and unheralded Leif Zimmerman braved frigid cold to win the 1-kilometer freestyle sprint titles at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Rumford, Maine.
