Colleges

NCAA is asked to ban alcohol ads

By wire services
Published April 28, 2005

The American Medical Association has asked the NCAA to stop allowing alcohol companies to advertise their products during sporting events.

The AMA's request comes a day before NCAA officials meet in Indianapolis to review their policy allowing beer advertising during radio and television broadcasts of collegiate sporting events.

Beer companies spent an estimated $58-million on commercials during college sporting events in 2004, including $28-million during the NCAA men's basketball tournament, according to the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV.

AMA President Edward Hill said the NCAA has to end its relationship with the alcohol industry if "they really expect a change in the excessive drinking behavior of college students that results in 1,700 student deaths, 600,000 assaults and 70,000 sexual assaults and date rapes each year."

FOOTBALL: Notre Dame has been reclassified in the new four-year BCS contract. In the current BCS contract Notre Dame has special status as an independent football program. The Irish earn an automatic BCS berth if they finish ranked in the top 10 or have at least nine wins. In the new contract, Notre Dame is guaranteed a BCS berth if it finishes in the top eight of the final BCS standings and can be considered for an at-large with a top-12 ranking. The financial payout changes: If Notre Dame makes a BCS game, it will receive a $4.5-million payout, the amount a conference champion receives.

GAMECOCK PLAYER PLEADS GUILTY: Suspended South Carolina receiver David Smith has pleaded guilty to breaking into his former girlfriend's home and damaging a police car, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Smith, 20, was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation and ordered to pay $550 for kicking out the window of a patrol car.

EAST-WEST GOES EAST: The Shrine Game, played since 1923, is moving from San Francisco to San Antonio's Alamodome beginning next year. The 2006 game is scheduled for Jan. 21. The game, college football's oldest, matches standout players from eastern U.S. colleges against those from the West.

MEN'S BASKETBALL: UConn's Antonio Kellogg has been expelled and granted a special form of probation on charges stemming from two recent arrests. ... Freshman Jerrell Houston has become the latest Mississippi State player to leave. A 6-foot-7 swingman from Memphis, Tenn., Houston said he will transfer to Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. TRACK & FIELD: Florida senior Liz Wanlesshas been named SEC Field Athlete Athlete of the Week. On April 23 at the Olympic training center in Clermont, Wanless became the 12th American woman to throw 60 feet in the shot put. Her heave of 18.5 meters is a school record, an NCAA best in 2005, and the ninth best mark in the world this year.

GOLF: University of Tampa's Brian Ward, formerly of Sarasota Riverview, was named the Sunshine State Conference men's golfer of the year. Ward, a senior, compiled a 72.81 stroke average, second-lowest in the conference, en route to six top-five and eight top-10 finishes.

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 01:19:11]