Monday's Chalktalk

News and Notes From Around College Football
for March 10, 2008

Tournament of Roses Establishes Scholarship for NFF Chapter

More than 200 guests attended the 39th Annual NFF Pasadena/San Gabriel Chapter Scholar- Athlete Awards Banquet in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, March 3. Among those in attendance were NFF board member Dave Davis, College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Occidental Bill Redell, chapter president and member of the Coaches Hall of Fame of the California Coaches Association and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Jim Brownfield and Rose Bowl Game Director of Media Gina Chappin. CSULA Professor Knox Wasley emceed the event which honored 24 high school scholar-athletes. Brian Kimball of La Canada High School was presented with the first annual Tournament of Roses President's Scholarship Award.

Longtime Athletics Administrator Dick Martin Passes Away at 75

Richard D. Martin, 75, former commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference and athletics director at the West Virginia University, died Saturday in Kansas City.

Martin was a football letterman and a 1955 graduate of Ottawa (Kansas) University. From 1963-68, he served as athletics director and football coach at Rose Polytechnic in Terre Haute, Ind. and held the same positions at Washington University in St. Louis from 1968 until 1971. In 1974, Martin returned to Kansas City as assistant commissioner of compliance operations for the Big Eight Conference. He became athletics director at West Virginia in 1979, where he would eventually hire College Football Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen, the winningest football coach in Mountaineers' history, and spearheaded the move to construct Mountaineer Field. He left WVU to become commissioner of the MVC in 1981 and held that position until 1985 when he resigned to enter private business.

Martin is survived by his wife, Margaret; two sons, Michael and Steve; and one grandson.

NFF News

NFF board member Jerry Jones (Arkansas), president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, will deliver the keynote address at the NACDA Convention at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas, on June 10... College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank Broyles will be the featured speaker at the August 18, 2008, Jim Thorpe Association's Community Leadership Luncheon in Oklahoma City.

The NFF Oklahoma Chapter scholar-athlete banquet is set for Apr. 15 at the OU Stadium Club in Norman, and guest speaker will be ESPN commentator and College Football Hall of Famer Mark May (Pittsburgh).

The NFF Springfield (Ohio) Chapter Scholar-Athlete banquet last Wednesday included special guest appearances by featured speaker Jim Lachey of Ohio State, the Washington Redskins and Ohio State's radio network; Miami University head coach Shane Montgomery; Wittenberg head coach Joe Fincham; and Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres.

For the second year in a row, the 38 high school scholar-athletes from the NFF Toledo Chapter plan to visit patients at the Toledo Children's Hospital prior to the chapter's banquet this evening.

The NFF Passaic County (N.J.) Chapter held its 33rd annual Scholar-Athlete Dinner last Thursday to honor athletes from the 15 high schools in the county. NFF Delaware Valley Chapter president and The College of New Jersey head football coach Eric Hamilton was one of the featured guests along with Benjamin Albert, Jr. , associate head football coach at Delaware.

At the NFF Southern Arizona Chapter Banquet last weekend at the University of Arizona, Cheryl Smith, widow of former UA football coach Larry Smith, added $1,000 to each of the 10 scholarships awarded to Southern Arizona scholar-athletes honored that night.

1997 NFF Gold Medal recipient Jackie Robinson, a four-sport standout at UCLA, has been selected in the third class for the College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas.

Scott Creelman, a former standout at Dartmouth College before distinguishing himself in the business world, has been selected by the NFF Western Massachusetts Chapter as the recipient of the Henry Butova Award. The Butova Award honors a former football player or individual from the region who is devoted to the game and has distinguished himself after his playing days. Creelman, the head of Spalding Sports Worldwide, will receive his award at the chapter's annual banquet, which is set for Tuesday, Apr. 8, at the University of Massachusetts.

Other upcoming NFF Chapter scholar-athlete gatherings in the coming days are Toledo on Monday; Riverside County (Corona, Calif.) and Delaware Valley (Princeton, N.J.) on Mar. 16; Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) on Mar. 18.

Two-Minute Drill

Arkansas and Texas A&M have agreed to play a multi-year series to be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, starting in 2009... The Temple-Army game at West Point has been moved to Friday, Aug. 29, for an ESPN Classic national telecast... Kansas agreed to host Southern Miss in football in 2009 and visit the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg, Miss., in 2010... Navy has arranged for its Sale of the Century II to help the public purchase equipment, game jerseys and other academy memorabilia on Saturday, Apr. 19... Arkansas fans have recycled over 45 million tons of plastics and other reusables during the 2007-08 academic year in its "Recycling with the Razorbacks" deposits program. That is over 33 percent of the total refuse at every athletics event... Arkansas State's athletics teams will be called the Red Wolves starting this fall, after almost 80 years of being known as the Indians... Kentucky native Wynonna Judd will be one of headliners at Kentucky's Gridiron Bash prior to the Wildcats' spring game. Arizona State will host the singing group 3 Doors Down during its Gridiron Bash before the annual spring tussle on Apr. 19... Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl XVII will be played on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, at Sam Boyd Stadium with a 5 p.m. (PST) airtime on ESPN... Aetna Student Health will be a corporate sponsor for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference... The Sun Belt Conference hosted an academic summit around its men's and women's basketball tournaments in Mobile, Ala., last week with faculty representatives and other key personnel to help emphasize and enhance student- athletes' classroom performance... McNeese State hosted a "Denim and Diamonds" fundraiser for athletics last Thursday in Lake Charles, La... The website www.profootballtalk.com has created "The Joe Delaney Award" to annually honor one of the NFL's best running backs who also demonstrates admirable character and unselfishness, traits embodied by the College Football Hall of Famer and Northwestern State (La.) standout.

Bowling Green received the largest gift in its 100-year history - an $8 million donation for athletics facilities by Mary Lu and Kermit Stroh... Dickinson (Pa.) has received clearance for $2.8 million in improvements to Biddle Field... Last Tuesday, Ole Miss was awarded its Sports Event Security Awareness Seal of Approval from the Mississippi Homeland Security Office for its athletics facilities... Oklahoma State regents approved plans for an indoor practice facility for the Cowboys... Idaho State received a land donation from alumna Sylvia Papenberg, whose husband Don was a football player at the university from 1959-60. The donation, which is 40 acres and valued at $1.6 million, is the largest single donation in the athletics department's history. The school's new outdoor practice facility will be named Papenberg Field.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt has received a raise from the university board's executive committee... Ted Roof was selected as defensive coordinator at Minnesota... Wake Forest's Brad Lambert was promoted to defensive coordinator... Derek Dooley, second-year head football coach at Louisiana Tech and son of College Football Hall of Fame coach and longtime Georgia AD Vince Dooley, was named director of athletics at Tech... Buffalo director of athletics Warde J. Manuel was named to Street and Smith Sports Business Journal's national "Forty Under 40" award winners to recognize national sports business figures under the age of 40... Idaho State has named Jeff Tingey as interim AD after placing director of athletics Paul Bubb on paid administrative leave.

FSN college football analyst Chris Sanders (Chattanooga) received the starting nod at quarterback for the AFL Dallas Desperadoes for the first time last Friday... ViewCast Video Streaming Services is offering expanded and high quality video coverage of Texas athletics... CSTV.com rates Southern California's 2008 football slate the toughest and Georgia's the second toughest for the coming year... Minnesota's new TCF Bank Stadium will utilize Daktronics new HD- X light emitting diode (LED) video scoreboard display... The NAIA and Daktronics also have extended their corporate sponsorship agreement through the 2009-10 academic year... DIRECTV will begin offering the Mountain West Sports Network (The Mtn.) no later than Sept. 1.

Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler received the 2007 Johnny Vaught Coach of the Year Award, named after the NFF College Hall of Fame mentor from Ole Miss... The Texas Sports Hall of Fame will name the TCU wing of the new $4 million Southwest Conference Annex in honor of Horned Frogs' retired director of athletics and longtime administrator Frank Windegger... Three Wyoming football standouts - Sonny Jones, Jr. , Brian Lee and Steve Scifres - will be inducted into the Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 16th class in Sept. 2008 at the UW Union Ballroom... American Football Monthly named its Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year selections: FBS - Kevin Yoxall (Auburn); FCS - Henry Briscoe (Central Arkansas); Division II - Mike Doscher (Valdosta State - Ga.); Division III - Jake Anderson (Central College - Iowa); and NAIA - Joe Nemith (Ohio Dominican).

The Division II Football Committee wants to adjust the "earned access policy" used to select teams for the championship bracket. The policy allows teams represented in the top 10 of regional rankings to earn access to the playoffs by bumping highly rated teams within the top six nationally. The committee also agreed to produce a weekly top 10 ranking instead of the top 12 which is currently used. Lastly, members discussed establishing predetermined sites for the semifinals based on a regional rotation. All changes must be approved by the Division II Championships Committee.

Ashland (Ohio) Athletics Hall of Fame member and Ohio sports legend George Valentine, 84, died on Mar. 2... Jack Voorhies (Northwestern), 81, of Florence, Ala., longtime sportscaster for North Alabama and hundreds of Alabama high school football contests, died last Tuesday. He also had a syndicated radio comedy program "Irving Loblolly on Sports," which had a large following in the Southeast.

Key NFF Dates

May 1: 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class Announcement - New York, N.Y.
July 18-19: College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival - South Bend, Ind.
July 23-27: NFF Play It Smart National Conference - Arlington, Texas
Dec. 9: NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.
Jan. 5, 2009: National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 9, 2009: Presentation of the MacArthur Trophy to the BCS National Champion - Miami, Fla.

2009 BCS Schedule

Jan. 1: Rose Bowl presented by Citi - Pasadena, Calif., ABC
Jan. 1: FedEx Orange Bowl - Miami, Fla., Fox
Jan. 2: Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La., Fox
Jan. 5: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Ariz., Fox
Jan. 8: FedEx BCS National Championship Game - Miami, Fla., Fox

 

- NFF -

 

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Founded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Play It Smart, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.footballfoundation.com