NFL	NBA	MLB	NHL	COLLEGE
	SOCCER	NASCAR	GOLF

Hope is a powerful emotion. So powerful that it brought a crowd of 92,138-plus to Bryant-Denny Stadium for Alabama's spring game. Alabama officials, expecting about 60,000 fans for Nick Saban's first spring game as coach, had to stop them from entering the stuffed stadium in the second quarter. The NCAA doesn't keep records on such things, but it is believed to be the largest spring-game crowd in college football history. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Notre Dame freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen had the best pure pass of the Blue-Gold game: a bullet down the left sideline to Robby Parris for a 13-yard gain. But Clausen also short-armed a couple passes, and he had to call timeout on his first drive because of miscommunication. Yet the thing you noticed about Clausen was his grasp of the offense. He certainly didn't look out of place. Clausen completed 3 of 7 passes for 23 yards. -- Chicago Sun-Times

Rick Majerus met with St. Louis University officials Saturday but he's not expected to be staying long and no announcement of his hiring appears to be imminent. Even if Majerus decided he wanted to return to coaching, SLU would then have to decide if it wanted to hire him and it's likely SLU would at least talk to other candidates. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

With the first leg of the Wisconsin quarterback derby finished, Tyler Donovan and Allan Evridge appear to be in a dead heat. -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he is getting as much work done as he did before his leg was severely injured last fall, but he said most of the work he does now is from his home. Paterno communicates from his home via telephone or fax machine. For the most part, Paterno, who turned 80 in December, only visits the football facility to attend practices or to meet with coaches. -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Butch Davis' first recruiting class was the Tar Heels' best since the Mack Brown days, and he has brought a new level of professionalism to Chapel Hill. He's removed the doors from coaches' offices and overseen the redesign of the football complex, uniforms and stationery in an attempt to change the losing culture. Personnel shortcomings might require a couple years to shore up. -- Florida Times-Union

UCLA forward Josh Shipp, the top returning scorer from the Bruins' Final Four team, underwent arthroscopic surgery on the opposite hip from the one that cost him a season earlier in his career, but should return in time for next season. -- Los Angeles Times

At least 100 players who will be chosen in next weekend's NFL draft opted to buy disability insurance, in case an injury prevents them from reaching their first football payday. Typically, college athletes and their families will secure loans to cover the premiums. In football, the cost is roughly 1 percent of the policy's value, or about $10,000 for $1 million worth of insurance. -- New York Times

C.J. Jackson still has not decided whether he will continue with his football experiment at Illinois. A hotly recruited prep football prospect, the 6-8, 260-pound Jackson opted for basketball. It seems clear that Jackson has a much bigger football upside, whether as a tight end or a lineman. A switch not only would free up a scholarship for Bruce Weber, but Ron Zook and his staff would welcome a committed Jackson. -- Chicago Sun-Times

With two of the top three on the depth chart sidelined by injuries, Navy dressed its remaining two quarterbacks in red jerseys for its annual Blue-Gold spring football game yesterday. That is a signal to the defensive units to avoid contact with those players, but the game had hardly begun when Jarod Bryant and Greg Zingler were being flung to the ground by young and eager defenders battling for jobs on a wide-open unit. -- Baltimore Sun

	NFL	NBA	MLB	NHL	COLLEGE
	SOCCER	NASCAR	GOLF