News Nuggets, 02.27.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Sponsors hop aboard for LeClair Invitational

The First Annual Keith LeClair Invitational has attracted a pair of prominent backers. Trade Mart and Wachovia Bank have signed on as sponsors of the three-day baseball tournament, the East Carolina athletic department announced on Thursday.

ECU, No. 11 Clemson and Georgia Southern will compete in the round-robin affair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Harrington Field.

LeClair served as head coach at East Carolina from 1998-2002. He stepped down after the 2002 season after being diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He still serves as a special advisor to the Pirate baseball program.

With weather arising as a potential factor, Bonesville.net's Al Myatt reports that ECU coach Randy Mazey and director of operations J.J. McLamb will make a decision this morning on whether to modify the Invitational's schedule.

ECU (8-0) was scheduled to meet Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. today and Clemson in the day's second game.
Information on the status of today’s games can be obtained by calling the ECU ticket office at (252) 328-4500 or 1-800-DIAL ECU.

The Invitational will reunite coaches with a connection to LeClair. Georgia Southern head coach Rodney Hennon and assistant coach Mike Tiddick played for LeClair at Western Carolina. LeClair played for current Clemson head coach Jack Leggett at Western Carolina.

LeClair, in his special column on Bonesville.net today, notes that his hopes are that the tournament will promote awareness of ALS and bring to light the acute need for more funding for developing a cure for the disease.

Saturday's schedule features a meeting between Clemson and Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. with the Pirates and Tigers meeting for the second time in two days following game one. The Invitational wraps up Sunday afternoon with Georgia Southern and Clemson battling at 1 p.m. ECU will face Georgia Southern in the invitational finale.

Check ECUPirates.com, the university's official website for athletics, for any news releases concerning weather-related changes in the Invitational's schedule.

C-USA basketball standings, scoreboard & schedule

NCAA gives green light to instant replay for Big Ten

DETROIT — Instant replays will be a part of Big Ten football games this season.

The NCAA championships and competition cabinet has approved the Big Ten's proposal to use instant replay — on an experimental basis — for conference games in 2004.

"It's about time instant replay found its way into college football," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said Wednesday. "I hope the Big Ten puts someone in the press box that isn't afraid to say what's right or what's wrong.

"Sometimes, two or three plays determine the outcome of a game. With instant replay, now we can make sure the plays are called correctly."

Big Ten spokeswoman Sue Lister said Wednesday the conference will comment after the basketball season.

"I've seen video used in college basketball and the NBA in a reasonable way," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said last year. "I question to some extent the amount it is used in the NFL. I can see how it has an effect that's negative. I can see the positives as well."

Nonconference opponents who play televised games in Big Ten stadiums would have the option to play with replay. The experimental system would use only those replays provided by the league's broadcast partners. Not all Big Ten games are televised.

A technical adviser assigned to each game by the Big Ten's officiating department would be the only person able to request a replay and render a judgment.

Earlier this month, the NCAA football rules committee recommended that instant replay be used on an experimental basis during Big Ten games after the conference submitted a proposal.

"This is a positive move," Smith said. "Why not take advantage of the technology and use video replay? Let's get the calls right. This is a good experiment, and I hope that instant replay will be adopted throughout the country in the very near future."

Last season, the Big Ten collected data on conference officiating and presented it to league coaches, who unanimously endorsed the experiment. Those results have not been released.

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News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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