LINEMAN CAN'T FEEL THE DRAFT.(SPORTS) - Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)

Byline: JIM LITKE

The NFL people keep calling back.

They aren't used to being told no. They've never heard a kid say on the eve of the draft that he doesn't want to be a millionaire. They give Rich Williams until the close of business Sunday to come around.

His agent is pretty sure they will be waiting much longer.

``Teams are in disbelief and I don't know what to tell them, other than Rich is that rare guy who loves things other than money,'' agent Brian Parker said Thursday.

``I've been in this business a long time and I've never had a client before who decided he didn't want to play,'' he said.

When the draft begins at noon Saturday, Williams will be on campus at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. He will be kissing somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million goodbye.

``I'll watch some of the first round on TV and then probably get something to eat,'' he said. ``For the past 10 years, I've been playing football because people wanted me to play. That's enough for me.''

He was always big and a very good athlete and when he finally settled on football, there were always carrots dangled in front of him. At Albemarle High School back home at Charlottesville, Va., it was a college scholarship. At community college, it was the chance to prove himself while playing for a real program. When he wound up at Division 1-AA Gardner-Webb, it was a shot at the pros.

In his sophomore year, the coaches switched Williams from defensive nose tackle to offensive tackle against his wishes. But they must have known something. At 6-foot-3 and 345 pounds, Williams turned out to be both faster and stronger than most defenders. He turned up on a few All-America lists, won an invitation to the Blue-Gray game and his name started getting around.

``He had visits set up with the Texans, Bears, Colts, Packers and Ravens. The 49ers and Steelers had called,'' Parker said.

``The one visit he did go on was the Dolphins. He called me the next morning and he was supposed to be headed to Houston. I'm briefing him on the whole expansion business, the new stadium, some questions for their general manager and out of the blue, he just stops me,'' the agent recalled.

Williams picks up the story: ``I told him my heart wasn't in it anymore. I went through the whole process thinking I might come around. It didn't happen.

``I finally figured I was just doing all this because I had to.''

There are a ton -- actually, closer to two tons -- of talented offensive and defensive tackles in this year's draft, and Williams, despite getting little of the hoopla accorded the big names, was looking better and better to the pros every day. He picked up one of Mel Kiper Jr.'s ``sleeper'' tags. With 225 pounds on a barbell, he did more reps than all but one other prospect.

``I could have gone to camp, lollygagged around and kept the signing bonus,'' Williams said. ``But there's no honor in that. With me trying to be a good Christian, it wouldn't have been a good way to start.''

His current plan is to work as a strength coach this summer in a youth, college or pro program -- two NFL teams have offered internships -- and then pick up his degree in sociology in December. Then he'd like to join the coaching ranks somewhere.

``I've been thinking about it for a while,'' Williams said. ``Money can't replace where my heart is, especially if it's not where everybody tells me it is.''

REEBOK DEAL GETS UW'S TENTATIVE OK.(Sports) - The Capital Times

Contractually speaking, Reebok International, Inc. defines its marketing territory as the entire world.

The University of Wisconsin took a giant leap toward landing on Planet Reebok Wednesday when the UW Athletic Board approved an amended five-year $7.9 million contract with the shoe, apparel and sports equipment company that associate athletic director Vince Sweeney called one of the best of its kind in the country.

The contract gives Reebok the right to be the exclusive supplier of sports equipment, shoes and apparel for all 22 UW sports teams. In return, Reebok will give nearly $8 million to the UW in a variety of areas, including coaches' compensation, general and athletic scholarship funds, internships as well as UW recreational sports and City of Madison sports activities.

But the deal isn't official yet. The board made four minor amendments that Reebok must agree to by May 23, which is the deadline to get the contract to the UW Board of Regents so it can vote on the matter next month. If Reebok doesn't agree, the board must re-vote on whether to accept the contract without the amendments. Such a vote failed at the Wednesday meeting.

If Reebok agrees but the deadline is missed, the Board of Regents won't vote on the contract until its July meeting and that could delay the arrival of equipment for fall sports teams.

Two of those amendments -- regarding free speech and human rights issues -- were the source of a long debate among board members and may create some consternation among Reebok officials. Still, Sweeney as well as board chairman Jim Hoyt and legal counsel Melanie Newby were all optimistic that Reebok will approve the amendments.

``It looks to me like this can be done in a matter of a few days,'' said Hoyt.

Newby said she would contact Reebok attorney David Pace, who has been working with UW officials. ``My sense is that he's going to react right away to whether this is acceptable or not acceptable,'' she said.

``I think (the amendments don't) substantively change the agreement that much,'' Newby added. ``It just clarifies a couple of things. That's how we're going to present it to them; that this is an extension to what we have already agreed to; that we want to make it more clear.''

The first amendment dealt with two paragraphs in the contract that doesn't allow disparaging remarks by either side about each other. The contract stated that during and for a reasonable time after the contract has expired, the UW can't make any official statement that disparages Reebok, the school's association with Reebok, its products or the advertising agency or others connected with it.

Additionally, the contract stated, ``the university will promptly take all reasonable steps necessary to address any remark by an university employee, agent or representative, including a coach, that disparages Reebok.''

To many board members, that statement sounded like a gag order. ``This limits freedom of speech,'' said Bobbi Wolfe.

Added David McDonald: ``There's a whiff of sanction about it.''

Newby said coaches, faculty or athletes could say what they wanted, positive or negative, about Reebok. But it was up to UW officials to respond by explaining the agreement in a positive way.

The board then amended the paragraph by adding, ``Nothing hearin is intended to abridge the rights of students, faculty and employees to express a personal or individual opinion.''

Board members then amended the contract's writing of Reebok's human rights policy by adding, ``There is an expectation between the parties that this policy will be adhered to during the term of this agreement.''

Finally, in two additional amendments, the UW wants Reebok to offer scholarships to disadvantaged youths and to give a bonus to any coach who wins national coach of the year honors as selected by the Associated Press or an equivalent group.

``I'm pretty pleased that is has come down to four minor, but certainly not lengthy, suggested amendments,'' Sweeney said.

Sweeney added that athletic department officials have worked out any problems that the school's track coaches had with the deal. There were complaints that Reebok's shoes and equipment were inferior for athletes in some track events.

``We sat down and talked with them and explained what we thought were the overall benefits of the program and that Reebok is willing to work with them and their needs and their athletes' needs,'' Sweeney said. ``We don't expect them to stand up and cheer at this agreement, but we expect them to be open-minded. They agreed to do that and work with Reebok.''

Sweeney said that Reebok's chief negotiator applauded the UW for the process it used to reach the agreement.

``We approached it with an open mind,'' said Sweeney, regarding how the athletic department accepted bids from several other similar companies, such as Nike. ``I think it's clear that certain companies are very strong marketing companies and people are pretty dedicated to one company over another. But we sat back and were open-minded. We gave everybody a fair chance. We didn't enter it with a predisposed notion of which company we were going to go with and use one company to get what we wanted from another.''

Sweeney said he couldn't imagine any other school getting a better deal.

STUDENT EMPLOYEES RECOGNIZED BY RECREATIONAL SPORTS AND SERVICES - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

CARBONDALE, Ill., March 30 -- Southern Illinois University issued the following news release:

Recreational Sports and Services (RSS) at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has announced the winners of the Student Employee of the Month honors for the final quarter of 2009.

Winners include Rachel M. Belk of Davenport, Iowa; Marcus Tyler Fichtel of West Frankfort; Areerat Kichkha of Thailand; Elizabeth A. Smith of Bloomington; Jonquil Pipkin of Chicago; and Phyllis Abigail Allen of Jerseyville.

Belk is a senior therapeutic recreation major. The daughter of Randy Belk and Kim Stevens-Belk, she started working at RSS in summer 2009 and works with special populations. She handles office duties and also assists with Family Fun Night, adaptive and inclusive recreational bowling, as a fitness partner and much more. After completing her degree, she plans to seek employment in a developmental disabilities day facility.

'Rachel started with special populations doing her field work over the summer and continued being a very valuable member of the fall staff. She has worked well with an early morning workout partner with Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation, supervised programs and worked with children. She is always reliable and has grown as a leader among her peers. Her positive attitude and good work ethic make her a standout,' said Kathy Hollister, assistant director of special populations for RSS.

Fichtel is doing his internship for his master's degree in sports management to complement his bachelor's degree in kinesiology. The son of Angie Fichtel and Steve Fichtel, Marcus has worked two years as a personal trainer for RSS with career plans to pursue a job in college or professional athletics. He's worked with the Boot Camp and earned praise from others at RSS for his ability to think about the big picture and for his marketing and advertising ideas.

'Marcus is a certified personal trainer who values healthy lifestyles and is dedicated to helping his clients achieve their fitness goals. We are fortunate to have such talented trainers working for Recreational Sports and Services,' said Lynne Thompson-Cundiff, assistant director of fitness.

Kichkha is a graduate student completing her master's in economics. She's already earned a bachelor's in business administration/hotel management along with an MBA in finance. She's a swing dance instructor for RSS where she has worked 8.5 years. Her career plans include research and teaching in international economics, finance and behavioral economics. The daughter of Pravech and Udomsri Kichkha, Areerat said dance will be her life-long hobby.

'Areerat has been teaching the swing dance classes at the Rec Center for more than five years. She is extremely committed to the success of her classes. She regularly works with our marketing department to create additional fliers that she distributes all over campus. She added a continuing section in the fall due to high interest from her students,' said Sally Wright, associate director of programs.

Smith, who has a bachelor's degree in human nutrition and dietetics, intends to complete her master's in sports management in December. She has worked for three years at RSS as an administrative assistant and supervisor. She assisted staff in creating and presenting a project focusing on the Student Recreation facility and also created a comprehensive Red Cross database for RSS student employees. The daughter of Janet and Doug Smith, she plans a career in campus recreation.

'Liz is highly respected and well-liked by her supervisors, peers and subordinates. She excels in communicating with fellow employees and is unwavering in pressure situations. We are proud we've had such a wonderful employee working with us,' said Corne Prozesky, associate director of facilities and operations.

Pipkin, a junior undecided liberal arts major, began working in the business office in September 2008. The son of Giselle Pipkin, he plans to complete his master's degree in accounting and seek employment as an accountant and sports agent. He's garnered praise for his efficiency, accuracy, dependability, and friendly, helpful personality along with his attention to detail and positive attitude.

'Jonquil began working for the Recreational Sports and Services business office in the fall of 2008 and in this year with us he has proven to be a valuable employee. He is dependable, personable and detail oriented. He is always eager to help, a quick learner and a diligent worker. He performs any task he is asked to do and always has a positive attitude,' said Arunima Bhattacharya, an RSS accountant II.

Allen, a junior public relations major, is two-year employee of RSS where she's an intramural supervisor. The daughter of Mike and Debby Allen, 'Abbi' plans to attend graduate school and become an event coordinator for a non-profit foundation. She handles database work for RSS and officiated a championship game for the intramural volleyball league.

'Abbi is dedicated to the Intramural Sports and Sports Club programs. She is a good role model for all of our participants and student employee,' said Cassie White, coordinator of sport clubs, intramural sports and summer camps.

THIS KID IS NO CHILD IN SPORTS TV - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

People in the truck ask him what time his mom is coming by topick him up. If a game goes into extra innings, one of thebroadcasters might double check to make sure he's allowed to stay upthis late.

Brad Zager, the Doogie Howser of sports production in SouthernCalifornia and beyond, says he's used to it by now. He really has nochoice.

At 27, an age when some are still serving an apprenticeship thatdoesn't get much more glamorous than picking up an ex-NFL playerfrom the airport and taking them to a studio, Zager is probably theone the gophers are now picking up.

Zager is already in his second year as the lead producer of FoxSports Net West's Dodgers coverage and this year, he's shoulderinglive game production of the weekly FSN national Pacific-10conference football games, all of which makes for one potentiallyscatter-brained September.

What makes the fast-track education process even more impressiveis that it has come with one major detour that even little Doogiecouldn't avoid before getting his medical degree (albeit as a TVdoctor): Zager never went to college, except for taking a fewclasses out of high school at Santa Monica College when he was justtrying to figure out whether or not he even wanted to live in L.A.

'It started as a joke, but I tell everyone now that I went to FoxSports Net University,' said the Detroit native who moved out tolive with his mother in 1996 and ended up with an internship at then-Prime Sports as a production assistant on Lakers and Dodgers pre-game shows. 'If ever there was a story of all the pieces fallinginto place, it's this one.'

--Adapting fast: Coming onboard as an 18-year-old with a companythat was changing and expanding to what it eventually is known todayas Fox Sports Net West, Zager quickly realized that if he wasflexible and willing enough to find the open spots that needed to befilled, he'd not only survive but move up the ladder. During a six-year period, he absorbed all that he could as graphics coordinator,associate producer and director on almost everything the network ofregional channels had going - including Big 12 football, ACC collegebasketball and Formula One, regularly logging more than 100,000airline miles a year.

As a live game producer, he jumped on FSN West 2's signature HighSchool Game of the Week three years ago and eventually earned alocal Emmy award for coverage of the CIF Division II championshipgame between Hart and Mission Viejo.

Soon came USC and UCLA football assignments. He was put in chargeof the Pac-10 basketball tournament. He landed on the Dodgers'coverage. Then the Pac-10 football package, and ...

And so much for the idea that he might be moving back to Michiganand join his high school pals at a local college, looking intobecoming a sports agent.

'Somewhere along the way, this went from a job to a career, andit's really what I want to do,' said Zager, who often works with acrew that has cameramen, technicians or stage managers who have beenin the business as long as he has been alive. 'But someone once toldme that you never say no to an opportunity, that you figure outlater how to do it because you never know when the next opportunitywill come.'

--A retro assignment: Tonight, Zager doesn't have to prepare fora Pac-10 football telecast (it's an off week) or the Dodgers-Pirates game from Dodger Stadium. To celebrate the 100th telecast ofthe high school football game of the week, FSN has asked Zager toproduce the Westlake-Hart game from College of the Canyons (7 p.m.,on FSN West, with a pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m.). Part of thespecial presentation tonight will be a look back at the top 10 gamesthat the series has produced since 1997 (it started with Alemany-Notre Dame).

'That's where so many people here learned about live gameproduction, and now we're going back to our roots,' said Zager, whowill be joined by former play-by-play man Jim Watson (now the Pac-10 football sideline reporter, who will host tonight's game) alongwith broadcasters John Jackson, D'Marco Farr and Christian Steckel.

FSN reporter Lindsay Soto, who started as an intern at thenetwork about a year before Zager arrived, said she knew by the facthe sometimes stayed up all night editing a show or feature that hehad the dedication - even if she and others wondered if he even hadan apartment to go to since he slept at the office so often.

Soto was his sideline reporter on many high school games and saidhe 'treated them like it was a Super Bowl. He knew it meant a lot tothe players and viewers, and he owed it to them to make the showspecial. He approaches every game the same way. He has a commitmentthat's hard to find.'

John Heffner, FSN West's coordinating producer and an essentialpart of the network for the past 15 years, said he could tell Zagerwould become a top producer because of all the never- endingquestions he would pester people with early on in his career.

'He really gets it,' said Heffner, who Zager says he relies on tokeep him in line. 'It doesn't surprise me at all how quickly he'sprogressed. He's very creative, and, with a lot of changes in theequipment we use, he learns it and figures out what we can or can'tuse. He might have come along fast, but he's definitely earned it.'

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

-- 'Viva Baseball,' a documentary on the achievements of Latinosin Major League Baseball, airs on Spike TV tonight (9 to 11 p.m.)available in SAP. Dan Klores, who directed the documentary 'Ring ofFire: The Emile Griffith Story,' is both co-producer and director onthis project that involved more than 100 hours of interviews withdozens of present and former Latino players, many of whom supportthe idea that Roberto Clemente's No. 21 be retired throughoutbaseball like Jackie Robinson' No. 42.

-- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who a couple of weeksago complained to the media that 'I can't trust you guys anymore ...it's no fun ... I don't like you guys anymore,' seemed to try toclarify that after his weekly press gathering. 'At lot of you guys,I think, took my remarks about not being around you ... I feel badabout that. I know what kind of job you guys got. It's a tough job.I got a tough job. And once in a while, you write things that Ithink you're jerks, and once in a while I say things and you thinkI'm a jerk. OK? But that's the way it works out.' Apology accepted.We think.

WHAT CHOKES

-- You're not looking live at neither Brent Musburger nor ABCcommenting on reports that the veteran sportscaster was cited byLincoln, Neb., police for having an open beer container while in acar near Memorial Stadium leaving Saturday's Nebraska-Pittsburghbroadcast. (Maybe he was heading to a party at Tommy Lee's dorm?)According to several news sources, Musburger faces a $144 fine forthe violation. Whether or not Musburger knows it, he's becomelegendary to college football TV fans who've created severalversions a drinking game based on his array of cliches. According tothe rules posted recently on Fanblogs.com (www.fanblogs.com/ncaa/005660.php), drinks are to be taken when Musburger says things like'pardner,' 'folks,' 'there's that man again!', 'our ol' buddy JackArute,' or if he calls a touchdown before the player actuallyscores. It comes with a warning: 'It's conceivable your whole partywill be passed out with eight minutes remaining in the firstquarter.'

RETIRED SOUTH KOREAN ELITE ATHLETES TO LEAVE UT AS GLOBAL SPORTS AMBASSADORS - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 7 -- The University of Tennessee issued the following news release:

When South Korea hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kyunsuk Kim hopes to be at the forefront of helping his country plan the international event.

Kim, 36, a retired competitive alpine skier, this fall studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, through the Next Generation Sports Talent (NEST) program, an initiative designed to prepare retired South Korean elite athletes to be coaches and international sports diplomats.

Sixteen people, from Asian Game champions to Olympic athletes, participated in the semester-long program and are wrapping up their time this week.

'We have to give back,' Kim said, noting that many of the athletes will likely work for various sports committees. He will seek an internship with the International Ski Federation, adding that he would like to help with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia as well. He eventually would like to join the Korean Olympic Committee.

NEST, in its fourth year, is sponsored by the South Korean government in partnership with the UT College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the English Language Institute, and national/international sports governing bodies.

UT Knoxville competed against five other US institutions to house this program. To date, about seventy athletes have gone through NEST.

This semester, the athletes improved their English language skills, learned sports marketing, picked up coaching techniques, and worked in their area of athletic expertise. They also were matched with UT students who served as their peer mentors.

'The overall objective is to develop future, global leaders,' NEST program director Fritz Polite said. 'We want them to be part of the global concepts of sports, including governing bodies.'

For Eunhui 'Tina' An, 23, her time at UT through NEST gave her a deeper desire to study more about how to use sports as an agent of peace in developing countries.

An, a judo champion who won a gold medal in the 2005 Hong Kong International Judo Game, said that through sports diplomacy in developing countries, 'I can give them a vision of how we can live passionately and peacefully.' For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

THIS KID IS NO CHILD IN SPORTS TV.(Sports) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

People in the truck ask him what time his mom is coming by to pick him up. If a game goes into extra innings, one of the broadcasters might double check to make sure he's allowed to stay up this late.

Brad Zager, the Doogie Howser of sports production in Southern California and beyond, says he's used to it by now. He really has no choice.

At 27, an age when some are still serving an apprenticeship that doesn't get much more glamorous than picking up an ex-NFL player from the airport and taking them to a studio, Zager is probably the one the gophers are now picking up.

Zager is already in his second year as the lead producer of Fox Sports Net West's Dodgers coverage and this year, he's shouldering live game production of the weekly FSN national Pacific-10 conference football games, all of which makes for one potentially scatter-brained September.

What makes the fast-track education process even more impressive is that it has come with one major detour that even little Doogie couldn't avoid before getting his medical degree (albeit as a TV doctor): Zager never went to college, except for taking a few classes out of high school at Santa Monica College when he was just trying to figure out whether or not he even wanted to live in L.A.

``It started as a joke, but I tell everyone now that I went to Fox Sports Net University,'' said the Detroit native who moved out to live with his mother in 1996 and ended up with an internship at then-Prime Sports as a production assistant on Lakers and Dodgers pre-game shows. ``If ever there was a story of all the pieces falling into place, it's this one.''

--Adapting fast: Coming onboard as an 18-year-old with a company that was changing and expanding to what it eventually is known today as Fox Sports Net West, Zager quickly realized that if he was flexible and willing enough to find the open spots that needed to be filled, he'd not only survive but move up the ladder. During a six-year period, he absorbed all that he could as graphics coordinator, associate producer and director on almost everything the network of regional channels had going - including Big 12 football, ACC college basketball and Formula One, regularly logging more than 100,000 airline miles a year.

As a live game producer, he jumped on FSN West 2's signature High School Game of the Week three years ago and eventually earned a local Emmy award for coverage of the CIF Division II championship game between Hart and Mission Viejo.

Soon came USC and UCLA football assignments. He was put in charge of the Pac-10 basketball tournament. He landed on the Dodgers' coverage. Then the Pac-10 football package, and ...

And so much for the idea that he might be moving back to Michigan and join his high school pals at a local college, looking into becoming a sports agent.

``Somewhere along the way, this went from a job to a career, and it's really what I want to do,'' said Zager, who often works with a crew that has cameramen, technicians or stage managers who have been in the business as long as he has been alive. ``But someone once told me that you never say no to an opportunity, that you figure out later how to do it because you never know when the next opportunity will come.''

--A retro assignment: Tonight, Zager doesn't have to prepare for a Pac-10 football telecast (it's an off week) or the Dodgers-Pirates game from Dodger Stadium. To celebrate the 100th telecast of the high school football game of the week, FSN has asked Zager to produce the Westlake-Hart game from College of the Canyons (7 p.m., on FSN West, with a pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m.). Part of the special presentation tonight will be a look back at the top 10 games that the series has produced since 1997 (it started with Alemany-Notre Dame).

``That's where so many people here learned about live game production, and now we're going back to our roots,'' said Zager, who will be joined by former play-by-play man Jim Watson (now the Pac-10 football sideline reporter, who will host tonight's game) along with broadcasters John Jackson, D'Marco Farr and Christian Steckel.

FSN reporter Lindsay Soto, who started as an intern at the network about a year before Zager arrived, said she knew by the fact he sometimes stayed up all night editing a show or feature that he had the dedication - even if she and others wondered if he even had an apartment to go to since he slept at the office so often.

Soto was his sideline reporter on many high school games and said he ``treated them like it was a Super Bowl. He knew it meant a lot to the players and viewers, and he owed it to them to make the show special. He approaches every game the same way. He has a commitment that's hard to find.''

John Heffner, FSN West's coordinating producer and an essential part of the network for the past 15 years, said he could tell Zager would become a top producer because of all the never- ending questions he would pester people with early on in his career.

``He really gets it,'' said Heffner, who Zager says he relies on to keep him in line. ``It doesn't surprise me at all how quickly he's progressed. He's very creative, and, with a lot of changes in the equipment we use, he learns it and figures out what we can or can't use. He might have come along fast, but he's definitely earned it.''

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

-- ``Viva Baseball,'' a documentary on the achievements of Latinos in Major League Baseball, airs on Spike TV tonight (9 to 11 p.m.) available in SAP. Dan Klores, who directed the documentary ``Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story,'' is both co-producer and director on this project that involved more than 100 hours of interviews with dozens of present and former Latino players, many of whom support the idea that Roberto Clemente's No. 21 be retired throughout baseball like Jackie Robinson' No. 42.

-- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who a couple of weeks ago complained to the media that ``I can't trust you guys anymore ... it's no fun ... I don't like you guys anymore,'' seemed to try to clarify that after his weekly press gathering. ``At lot of you guys, I think, took my remarks about not being around you ... I feel bad about that. I know what kind of job you guys got. It's a tough job. I got a tough job. And once in a while, you write things that I think you're jerks, and once in a while I say things and you think I'm a jerk. OK? But that's the way it works out.'' Apology accepted. We think.

WHAT CHOKES

-- You're not looking live at neither Brent Musburger nor ABC commenting on reports that the veteran sportscaster was cited by Lincoln, Neb., police for having an open beer container while in a car near Memorial Stadium leaving Saturday's Nebraska-Pittsburgh broadcast. (Maybe he was heading to a party at Tommy Lee's dorm?) According to several news sources, Musburger faces a $144 fine for the violation. Whether or not Musburger knows it, he's become legendary to college football TV fans who've created several versions a drinking game based on his array of cliches. According to the rules posted recently on Fanblogs.com (www.fanblogs.com/ncaa/005660.php), drinks are to be taken when Musburger says things like ``pardner,'' ``folks,'' ``there's that man again!'', ``our ol' buddy Jack Arute,'' or if he calls a touchdown before the player actually scores. It comes with a warning: ``It's conceivable your whole party will be passed out with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.''

--If the rest of ESPN's reality show that throws Dick Butkus out on an extreme makeover of a struggling high school football team in suburb of Pittsburgh is anything like Tuesday's debut, it could be a long season for viewers as well as the players. In the tantalizingly named ``Bound For Glory,'' the objective seems to be how an inspired group of kids at Montour High can frustrate the 62-year-old Hall of Fame linebacker, who ends up hiring former star defensive back Ray Crockett as an assistant and, in the upcoming episode, brings in Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisburger to help. The danger is twofold: When all the cameras go away, and Butkus goes back to whatever he does these days - it isn't coaching - and the team goes back to (or continues) its losing ways, how much of a bad taste will it leave in all their mouth that ESPN used them to for what won't even amount to 15 seconds of fame? Or, if by some dumb luck, Butkus does have success with this school, what happens when he just walks away from it because, well, that's the contract?

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

ZAGER

Box:

SOUND BYTES (see text)

RETIRED SOUTH KOREAN ELITE ATHLETES TO LEAVE UT AS GLOBAL SPORTS AMBASSADORS. - States News Service

KNOXVILLE, TN -- The following information was released by the University of Tennessee:

When South Korea hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kyunsuk Kim hopes to be at the forefront of helping his country plan the international event.

Kim, 36, a retired competitive alpine skier, this fall studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, through the Next Generation Sports Talent (NEST) program, an initiative designed to prepare retired South Korean elite athletes to be coaches and international sports diplomats.

Sixteen people, from Asian Game champions to Olympic athletes, participated in the semester-long program and are wrapping up their time this week.

'We have to give back,' Kim said, noting that many of the athletes will likely work for various sports committees. He will seek an internship with the International Ski Federation, adding that he would like to help with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia as well. He eventually would like to join the Korean Olympic Committee.

NEST, in its fourth year, is sponsored by the South Korean government in partnership with the UT College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the English Language Institute, and national/international sports governing bodies.

UT Knoxville competed against five other US institutions to house this program. To date, about seventy athletes have gone through NEST.

This semester, the athletes improved their English language skills, learned sports marketing, picked up coaching techniques, and worked in their area of athletic expertise. They also were matched with UT students who served as their peer mentors.

'The overall objective is to develop future, global leaders,' NEST program director Fritz Polite said. 'We want them to be part of the global concepts of sports, including governing bodies.'

For Eunhui 'Tina' An, 23, her time at UT through NEST gave her a deeper desire to study more about how to use sports as an agent of peace in developing countries.