Associated Press
The college football notebook …
GREENVILLE ó East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill is recovering from hip replacement surgery.
Team spokesman Tom McClellan said McNeill was doing well after Fridayís two-hour procedure on his right hip at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. McNeill hopes to return home Monday.
The former Pirates defensive back had weight-loss surgery in January and had lost 90 pounds from a high of 388. The hip surgery was to eliminate arthritic pain which had made it difficult for him to move around and limited his ability to exercise.
TWITTER TIMEOUT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit is taking a timeout on Twitter after receiving criticism from fans of his alma mater.
In an interview with WGFX 104.5 The Zone in his new hometown of Nashville on Thursday, Herbstreit said it was ěasinineî he had to defend his allegiance to the Buckeyes. Herbstreit has questioned how coach Jim Tressel can keep his job amid allegations of lying to the NCAA.
ěI just felt it wasnít for me as I already have sufficient ways to communicate my thoughts on college football,î Herbstreit said in a statement through ESPN on Friday.
Herbstreit said in the radio interview he wouldnít interact with fans through social media ěfor a while.î His Twitter account has been taken down.
Herbstreit is hardly the first sports figure to be tweaked by tweets.
Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson closed his Twitter account Monday just two hours after opening it following a flood of abusive comments.
NCAA UPHOLDS PENALTIES
INDIANAPOLIS ó The NCAA has upheld its punishment for former Southern California assistant Todd McNair for his role in the Reggie Bush case.
McNair was punished for what the NCAA claimed was his role in the scandal surrounding the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback. USC was hit with a two-year bowl ban and severe scholarship restrictions, and McNair was prohibited from contacting recruits.
McNair was an assistant to former coach Pete Carroll for six seasons, and the NCAA claimed McNair knew about some of the gifts lavished on Bush’s family by two aspiring sports marketers hoping to land Bush as a client.
TUBERVILLE ON OBAMA
LUBBOCK, Texas ó Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville has left the gridiron and taken to the political airwaves.
Appearing on Sean Hannity’s conservative talk show on Fox earlier this week, the Texas Tech football coach said he thought President Barack Obama wasn’t releasing his birth certificate because there was something he didn’t want seen.
Speaking before the president released his birth certificate, Tuberville said the country’s got enough controversy and why didn’t the president just produce it.
In the coach’s words, “Obviously, there’s got to be something on there he doesn’t want anybody to see.” He also said the country “can’t keep going” the direction it is now.