Chicago State University to Study Athletics Program
Chicago State University’s President Dr. Wayne Watson announced today that on August 30, 2010, Chicago State University began an 18-month, campus-wide effort to study its athletics program as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program.
Specific areas the study will cover are academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, and commitment to gender/equity and diversity and student-athlete well-being.
While academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities, this program focuses solely on certification of athletics programs. Following a two-year pilot project, the NCAA Division I membership overwhelmingly supported the program and its standards at the 1993 NCAA Convention. Chicago State University completed its first certification self-study in 1998. At the 1997 Convention, the NCAA Division I membership voted to change the frequency of athletics certification from once every five years to once every 10 years. Chicago State University completed its second certification self-study in 2002. Thus, the current self-study will be the third in the certification process for Chicago State. Read more
Dodge Brand Teams Up with the Challenged Athletes Foundation
The Dodge brand announced its partnership with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) for the 2010 Million Dollar Challenge and 2010 San Diego Triathlon Challenge. The Million Dollar Challenge kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 16 in San Francisco. The San Diego Triathlon takes place on Sunday, Oct. 24.
Dodge has been named the official vehicle of the Million Dollar Challenge. The challenge is a seven-day cycling event which takes riders on a 620-mile journey down the breathtaking California coastline from San Francisco to San Diego. The ride begins on Saturday, Oct. 16, in San Francisco and finishes in San Diego on Friday, Oct. 22. Two specially wrapped Dodge Grand Caravans will lead bikers to the finish line located at Kellogg Park, La Jolla Shores, Calif.
Money raised for the Million Dollar Challenge will help towards the payment of handcycles, racing chairs, sports chairs and sports prosthetics for challenged athletes, as well as help subsidize their competition and training expenses.
The Dodge brand also will be on hand at the San Diego Triathlon Challenge, a 1.2-mile swim, 56 mile-bike ride and 13.1-mile run distance triathlon. Over the past 17 years, this event has helped to raise more than $28 million to support thousands of challenged athletes. The Dodge brand and the Ability Center of San Diego will participate in the event’s expo and will have a Grand Caravan equipped with a mobility package. Dodge and the Ability Center will have specialists on site to answer product questions.
Fans and participants can follow the Dodge brand’s presence at both events via the brand’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dodge and the brand’s Twitter handle (@dodge).
“Like the Dodge brand, the challenged athlete refuses to live life in the slow lane,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO – Dodge Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. “We are proud to partner with the Challenged Athletes Foundation on the 2010 Million Dollar Challenge and the San Diego Triathlon Challenge. We are truly inspired by the vigor and determination demonstrated by these remarkable athletes.” Read more
Championship Manager 2011 Out Now on iPhone and iPod Touch
Beautiful Game Studios, part of Square Enix Europe, are pleased to announce that the brand new Championship Manager 2011 is available now on iTunes across Europe for just 3.99 pounds Sterling/5.49 euro.
Download the game for iPhone and iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store by clicking http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/championship-manager-2011/id396417931?mt=8
In a radical overhaul, 2011 boasts hundreds of tweaks, improvements and new features to deliver a more intuitive game. Along with thousands of additional players and dozens of teams – Championship Manager 2011 is the complete football management experience built specifically for Apple devices.
“With Championship Manager 2011, we’ve focused on delivering a game that takes full advantage of the platform’s functionality and usability,” said Roy Meredith, General Manager of Championship Manager. “We’ve also been careful to listen to feedback from our fantastic community, for example this year we’ve added Custom Formations – now users can drag and drop their players into any formation they want as well as setting individual runs for players.” Read more
FOX Threatening World Series, NFL Blackout for Viewers Across Nation
Holding Sports Fans and other Viewers Hostage
The Sports Fans Coalition urged News Corporation’s Fox to lift its current blackouts of regional sports networks across the nation and back off its threat to extend the blackout to Fox broadcast stations, depriving viewers of the NFL and World Series.
“Fox has blindsided sports fans this month by taking its regional sports networks off of a pay-tv provider as a form of leverage in contract disputes,” said Brian Frederick, executive director of the Coalition. “With the professional and college football seasons well underway and postseason baseball just getting started, many sports fans are already extremely upset about missing the games they want to see. We have written News Corp. CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch, urging him to settle these commercial disputes off the field, but keep the games on the air.” Full letter available here.
The Sports Fans Coalition is a nonprofit fighting to give sports fans a voice on issues like media blackouts, college football playoffs, stadium construction and high ticket prices.
Fox has already removed its regional sports networks from a major pay TV provider in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee and Los Angeles and is threatening to do the same with the Fox broadcast network in cities that include New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Minneapolis. Many of these cities have teams in the MLB playoffs.
“Sports fans should not be treated like fumbled pigskin in a clash between corporate behemoths,” said Frederick. ”Because sports are so important to Americans, sports coverage is often used as the primary form of leverage in contract disputes between broadcasters and pay-TV companies. We ask that this October, Fox not engage in this practice.”
Collegiate Cricket Attendance Record Set Saturday at The College of Wooster
When The College of Wooster found itself without a football opponent for Homecoming, it created a bit of a sticky wicket, but some quick thinking by Wooster’s administrators led to a novel back-up plan. How about a friendly game of cricket? And while we’re at it, why not try to set the U.S. collegiate cricket attendance record?
The saga began earlier this year when Earlham College dropped out of the North Coast Athletic Conference, leaving the Scot football team with an opening on Oct. 9. It was too late to change the date for Homecoming and too late to find another team, meaning the stadium would be vacant on this traditional day of celebration for the first time in the 112 years of intercollegiate football at Wooster.
Wooster President Grant Cornwell decided to give the cricket club a place in the spotlight. After all, the college has a large number of international students and alumni, and the match would be a great way to showcase diversity, both on campus and in the community. Not only that, but this year’s Forum — Wooster’s annual fall lecture series — focused on South Asia, where cricket is extremely popular. Last week, Cornwell added another element to the plan by attempting to draw the largest crowd ever to watch a college cricket match in the U.S.
College officials scrambled to find the current record, which, after some research, was pegged at 400. Word spread quickly across campus and throughout the community, and by late Saturday afternoon, a record 967 fans had filed into John P. Papp Stadium to watch the college’s club team take on a team from the community consisting of professionals in business and industry who had played in their native countries before relocating to the U.S. Read more