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    April 2010 Archives

    Official Pairings Announced for Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge

    By Ryan Pensy on April 22, 2010 2:55 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

    Greensboro, Ga. (April 22, 2010) - The Chick-fil-A Bowl today announced the official pairings for the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament April 27. Twelve university teams of head coaches and celebrity alumni will compete in six groups vying for the $400,000 scholarship purse.

    The groups will tee off at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 27 and play a two-man scramble format. The tournament's championship team will receive the first place $120,000 scholarship donation to their university. All teams will win a portion of the $400,000 scholarship purse.

    Official team pairings:

    Group One:

    South Carolina             Steve Spurrier / Sterling Sharpe

    vs.

    Clemson                      Dabo Swinney / Dwight Clark

     

    Group Two:

    Virginia Tech               Frank Beamer / Dell Curry

    vs.

    Alabama                      Nick Saban / Steve Sloan

     

    Group Three:

    North Carolina             Butch Davis / Natrone Means

    vs.

    N.C. State                    Sidney Lowe / Monte Towe

     

    Group Four:

    Ole Miss                      Houston Nutt / Wesley Walls

    vs.

    Maryland                     Ralph Friedgen / Stan Gelbaugh

     

    Group Five:

    Wake Forest                 Jim Grobe / Billy Packer

    vs.

    Vanderbilt                    Bobby Johnson / Will Perdue

     

    Group Six:

    Georgia Tech               Paul Johnson / Jon Barry

    vs.

    Florida State                 Jimbo Fisher / Terrell Buckley

    The nation's premier head coach and celebrity golf event will be held at the beautiful Reynolds Plantation resort on Lake Oconee outside Atlanta.

    Over the past three years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge has provided more than $1.3 million in scholarship and charity to its participating universities.

    Past winners:  2009 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12, playoff winners), 2008 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12), 2007 Virginia Tech (Beamer/Curry / -10).

    In addition to the $400,000 scholarship purse, additional proceeds will be donated to selected charities including Chick-fil-A's WinShape Homes.

    The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is a significant contributor to the Chick-fil-A Bowl's overall charitable and scholarship donations. The Chick-fil-A Bowl leads all bowls in the country in charitable giving, including gifts of more than $5.8 million since 2002.

    The tournament is being taped by ESPN for broadcast in the fall. The date of the broadcast will be announced this summer.

    Ernie Sims Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles

    By Brandon Mellor on April 19, 2010 1:25 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
    Former Florida State star linebacker Ernie Sims is moving from the Lions Den to the Eagles Nest.

    Sims was traded Monday from the Detroit Lions to the Philadelphia Eagles in a three-team deal. As part of the trade, Detroirt obtains former Denver Broncos tight end Tony Sheffler. The Broncos will receive a fifth-round pick from the Eagles.

    Sims played in 59 career games with the Lions after being drafted in the first round of the 2006 draft. While with Detroit, Sims registered 420 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and one interception.

    "Ernie Sims is an impact player at the linebacker position," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He brings a lot of energy to our already energized defense. We are looking forward to adding him to our team."

    Rockets Sign Alexander Johnson from Sioux Falls

    By Ryan Pensy on April 14, 2010 2:51 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
    HOUSTON - Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed forward Alexander Johnson for the remainder of the season and waived forward Hilton Armstrong. Johnson, who joins the Rockets from the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA D-League, marks his first GATORADE Call-Up to the NBA this season.

    Johnson (6-9, 240, Florida State) averaged 23.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.32 blocks in 22 games (10 starts) with Sioux Falls during the 2009-10 D-League regular season. The former Florida State standout finished the season ranked 12th in the D-League in scoring average and was tied for seventh in the league in rebounds per game. Johnson also played in five games (four starts) with the D-League's Arkansas RimRockers in 2006-07.

    Originally selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round (45th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, Johnson has averaged 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 102 NBA games (25 starts) with the Memphis Grizzlies (2006-07) and Miami Heat (2007-08).

    Leon Washington Not Headed To Pittsburgh

    By Ryan Pensy on April 14, 2010 2:49 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
    Restricted free agent Leon Washington is not part of the Santonio Holmes trade, according to SI's Peter King.

    It's still possible that he could be dealt after signing his one-year tender, but King is certain that Leon is not part of this trade. King also updates that the pick acquired by the Steelers was the 151st overall, not the 155th. As long as Washington doesn't end up in Pittsburgh, this deal is robbery for the Jets.

    Ask The AD - April 12th

    By Ryan Pensy on April 12, 2010 11:50 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

    Florida State University Director of Athletics Randy Spetman wants to hear from you! In a new feature series on Seminoles.com, Randy will be taking your questions and providing his insights from inside the Moore Athletics Center.

    Have a question for Randy, Click Here.

    Q.  If I wanted to submit a song title to be played during football games (maybe when the kids run out) who would I e-mail that to?
    Jon Burton (Longwood, FL)

    Randy Spetman:
    A. Just look around when you sit down in Doak Campbell for the Samford game and imagine trying to find one style of music that would satisfy everyone in the crowd.  We know that music is very important to the experience and rely on the Marching Chiefs to set the tone, but the public address music usually reflects what the players consider most inspirational once we get closer to game time.  However, our marketing and promotions department is always open to ideas.  You can email your ideas for stadium music and promotions to promotions@garnet.acns.fsu.edu


    Q.  Is there anything you and the other AD's can do to remove the blackouts of football and basketball tape-delayed replays on Sunsports for those of us not living in the ACC footprint?
    Kevin Dempsey  (Chatham, NJ)

    Randy Spetman:
    A. As you may know, the television contract for all ACC football and basketball games is being negotiated right now.  Frankly, I don't believe that eliminating the black outs for games show outside the ACC region is something that will be possible in the current climate.  It is important for our fans to know why the Sun Sports or FOX Sports Florida tape delays are not offered outside of the ACC footprint.  The TV rights that Sun Sports and FOX Sports Florida have are 'regional' rights granted by the ACC.  When the league negotiated the previous TV package, the winner paid a considerable amount for 'certain exclusivities' one of which is granting the national cable TV partner exclusive rights to regionally-televised games outside the ACC region/footprint.  In short, it is an important part of ESPN's overall bid that ACC games are carried only on ESPN GamePlan PPV outside of the ACC.  While we have addressed it, I don't see any of the potential TV rights holders conceding that ability.

    Q.  Why does it take so long for the times of games to be announced?  I realize TV is a huge factor, but doesn't fan input have any say?
    Brandon
    Q.  I would like to know why FSU athletics keeps away football game dates a secret.  Oklahoma game has been public knowledge for months, but no date on Seminoles.com WHY?  2011 when we play Air Force, the date is set:  9/3/11 why is that not posted?
    Reese (Inverness, FL)

    Randy Spetman:
    A. I thought I could address both of these.  As members of the ACC, we are asked not to release our schedule in advance to the conference release of the entire schedule.  There are several reasons for that, but the most important is perhaps the fact that these dates and even opponents can change even at the last minute.  The reference to the game with Air Force is a perfect example as we have canceled that series after being unable to move dates as requested by Air Force.  
    By the same token, we are tremendously sympathetic with the desire of our fans to know the schedule ahead of time but with the current state of television negotiations that simply won't happen.  The networks insist on having the scheduling flexibility to react as late as possible to make schedule the very best games for television.  We have been the beneficiary of that policy more often than not, but I believe that it affects our fans and those of Clemson most intensely because of the larger numbers and the fact that many must stay overnight in our near Tallahassee or Clemson.


    Continue reading Ask The AD - April 12th.

    Weatherford gets the nod as Tampa Bay Storm's backup quarterback

    By Ryan Pensy on April 2, 2010 10:53 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

    TAMPA -- The Storm trimmed its roster to the league maximum 23 players this week with no major surprises but several tough decisions. Coach Tim Marcum said Wednesday after the Storm's walkthrough that the backup quarterback position -- won by former Florida State player Drew Weatherford over B.J. Hall -- was one of the most difficult.

    "(The backup quarterback position) was a real tough one," Marcum said. "You have to look at the whole body of work during two-a-days, but Drew made several good throws on his last series (during last week's preseason game against Orlando) and that was a big part of the decision. I thought on that last series he looked like a quarterback."

    Marcum emphasized the roster cuts were trickier because of the amount of practice time. The Storm had roughly three weeks of practice time and one exhibition game.

    "The evaluation period is so short," Marcum said. "The NFL has five weeks and four preseason games to evaluate."

    Jets' Washington in no rush to sign tender

    By Ryan Pensy on April 2, 2010 10:51 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

    It doesn't appear RFA RB Leon Washington will be signing the second-round tender he received from the Jets until the deadline for another team to send him an offer sheet passes. April 15 is the last day a team can sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet, and while no team is known to be preparing an offer for Washington, his agent, Alvin Keels, has said there is interest from other clubs.

    Washington has opted to skip the Jets' voluntary offseason workouts thus far while continuing his rehab from a broken leg at the Andrews Institute in Florida. Head coach Rex Ryan criticized Washington for making that decision and indicated that he envisions a limited role for the speedy back on offense next season. Keels has disputed Ryan's assertion that Washington is making a mistake by skipping the workouts, but Keels also insisted that Washington's absence is not meant to send the message that he is against returning to New York.

    Posey catching some looks

    By Ryan Pensy on April 2, 2010 10:47 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Even if catcher Buster Posey doesn't crack the Opening Day roster, his arrival in the big leagues isn't far away.

    The top prospect had a successful spring in the eyes of Giants coaches and officials. Manager Bruce Bochy said it's no longer accurate to rank Posey's catching skills behind his talented bat.

    "His catching is much improved and he is much more comfortable behind the plate," Bochy said. "He's really made huge strides. ... He feels he belongs."

    Posey also looked like a natural in 23 innings at first base, a position he hadn't played since the Cape Cod League. And he hit .347 while showing a balanced, no-panic approach with two strikes.

    There remains support behind the idea of starting Posey in the big leagues and finding him three to four starts a week split between catcher and first base. But the prevailing opinion is to send Posey to catch every day at Triple-A Fresno -- especially because playing time would be scarce at the outset, when the Giants play just 21 games in 25 days.

    Continue reading Posey catching some looks.

    Kate Golden Podcast

    By Ryan Pensy on April 2, 2010 10:31 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
    The Florida State women play in this weekend's Bryan National Collegiate near Greensboro, N.C., with interim coach Kate Golden leading the way. The former LPGA Tour veteran took over the Seminoles program more than halfway through the 2009-10 season and has kept the team together as the post-season gets closer. In just Golden's second tournament as a coach, FSU claimed the team title at Pinehurst Challenge, winning by an impressive 33 strokes.

    As the featured guest on this week's podcast, Golden shares with Ryan Herrington of Golf Digest.com how the transition has gone in Tallahassee and why the former University of Texas All-American decided to make the move into coaching. 


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