Times wires
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
College Football
Few schools check recruits' background
An investigation of 25 top college football programs by Sports Illustrated and CBS News revealed that Oklahoma and TCU were the only ones to do criminal background checks on recruits.
SI and CBS News did criminal background checks on all the players on the rosters of SI's 2010 preseason top 25 as of Sept. 1. Florida, FSU and Miami were among them.
The study found about 7 percent of the 2,837 players (204 total) "had been in trouble with the law either before or after entering college."
NCAA president Mark Emmert said the 7 percent figure appears "pretty unacceptable," but stressed that the NCAA needs more information. "We don't know what that (number) looks like relative to the regular student body," he said. "We don't know what that looks like relative to society at large."
There were no available figures to compare the records of the football players at the schools that were studied with those of the general student populations there. Overall, in 2008 there were 6,318 arrests for every 100,000 youths ages 10 through 17 in the United States, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
AUTOS
IndyCar changes race in Texas to twins format
The Firestone Twin 275s will replace the single 550-kilometer (342 miles) IndyCar series race June 11 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Each race will pay half the points and half the bonus prizes. There will be an hour between races for teams to prepare their cars, enough time for a halftime show. Part of the break will include drivers coming up on a stage for a blind draw to determine their starting spot for the second race.
More Autos: NASCAR is moving its Hall of Fame ceremony from May to January beginning in 2012. Chairman Brian France says the move will give the event its own identity. … Three-time F1 champion Jackie Stewart, 71, is having tests at a London hospital after complaining of chest pains and passing out during a flight.
Et cetera
Soccer: Luis Moreno, a Colombian club team defender who kicked an injured owl that landed on the field and later died, has been suspended for two matches and fined $560 by league officials. … The United States beat Japan 2-1 in their Algarve Cup opener in Portugal.
Greyhounds: Aerial Battle and Hi Noon Renegade won final qualifiers in the $64,000 Sprint Classic at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg. Other dogs to advance to Saturday night's finale: Backwood Cody, Kiowa Class King, Kiowa Jsk Gustaf, M's Free Hand, Odd Inspector and Tmc's Pistol.
Don Jensen, Times correspondent; Times wires