 | In the PSP version of NCAA 2007, three yards and a cloud of dust becomes no yards and a cloud of dust. Courtesy of EA Sports |
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By Matthew Waxman
HOT: NCAA 2007 feature
Homework procrastination takes an ironic twist as EA Sports' new college football offering includes a "Back to School" feature in which "you try to excel in the classroom to improve your overall character, and then balance your time wisely between studies, practice and social events as you live the life of a Student Athlete."
NOT: NCAA 2007 glitch
In a review of the PSP version of the new game, the site Gamespot complained that -- beside the fact that the graphics of Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium and Washington's Husky Stadium were "flat-out wrong" -- there seemed to be a glitch in which short runs would be marked as no gain. EA issued this response: "During running plays, the ball will be spotted at point of first contact where the tackle is initiated. The ball will not be spotted where the player is ultimately taken down." In the words of 'Lil John we ask, "What?"
HOT: Twins
Twin sisters Ebony and Ivory Hatcher were among 15 female Ohio State undergrads who received a four-day, all-expenses paid trip to Middle Bass Island, OH, to pose in bikinis for a Women of OSU calendar produced by a company called Student Body University. "It was really fun," Ebony told the student newspaper, The Lantern. "The shoots lasted about 15 minutes for each girl and the rest of the day we were able to lay by the pool and get some sun."
NOT: Look-alikes
The college football blog Everyday Should Be Saturday released a Separated at Birth: Coaches and Dictators list. Among those linked were Nebraska coach Bill Callahan with Turkmenbashi dictator Sapurmurat Niyazov, and former UNC coach Carl Torbush with Belarussian tyrant Aleksandr Lukashenko.
HOT: MySpace recruiting
The new way to land blue-chip recruits has nothing to do with escorts, tractors or lobster tails. Kentucky Wildcats fans have been encouraging West Virginia Player of the Year Patrick Patterson, a 6-foot-8 junior at Huntington High to come to Lexington by posting on his Myspace page. One of his 705 "friends" wrote: "patrick i'm a big blue ky fan. i heard our fans been going crazy on your page cuz they want u hear. we really need u at tha 4 spot. i seen video's of u, u got game. i hope u choose uk ...make tha right choice." Because the university self-reported the secondary NCAA violation, it will likely receive no punishment.
NOT: Facebook spying
The Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida's Independent, student-run student newspaper, published an expose about illicit material on the Facebook pages of UF athletes. It mentioned a picture of an underage Gators offensive lineman doing a keg stand, and a posting on a cross country runner's page in which he claims that he "smokes a bowl every day right before practice."
HOT: Baseball/football star Bryon Gettis
After getting cut by the Royals, K.C.'s 2003 minor league player of the year will play football as a student at Southern Illinois. Gettis, 26, is a former high school quarterback who signed but never attended the University of Minnesota. "I'm in my prime," he told the Belleville News-Democrat. "I'd probably regret it if I never played football at a higher level than high school."
NOT: Football/baseball star Jeff Samardzija
When asked what it was like to throw in the bullpen at Wrigley Field, the Fighting Irish pitcher/wide receiver admitted, "I caught a lot of heck for being an ND guy because, well, we always do." Samardzia, a fifth-round draft pick by the Cubs, added that he was given a USC shirt by former Trojan Mark Prior. "But I didn't wear it."
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