SPORTS N STUFF

Hawaii coach Greg McMackin apologized Thursday for making a derogatory remark while describing Notre Dames chant during a dinner banquet leading up to last years Hawaii Bowl.

McMackin used the gay slur during a media briefing at the Western Athletic Conference football preview in Salt Lake City.

After the remark, he uttered it two more times while trying to explain himself. After the briefing, McMackin returned to the reporters and apologized for using the inappropriate word.

What I was trying to do was be funny and it wasnt funny, he said, according to a recording of the conversation posted on the Idaho Statesmans Web site. Its not funny. Even more, it isnt funny to me. I was trying to make a joke and it was a bad choice of words. And I really, really feel bad about it. … It was really stupid.

The school followed up with a formal statement by McMackin.

I sincerely apologize for the inappropriate words that I used, he said in the statement. My comments were out of character and I have no prejudices against anyone. Im really upset with myself and Im truly sorry for my remarks.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said McMackins offensive comments brought negative publicity to the conference, at an event where the purpose was to promote the WAC in a positive manner.

While his comments clearly violate the WAC Code of Conduct, I will wait until the University of Hawaii determines its course of action before determining what sanctions the WAC may impose, Benson wrote in an e-mail.

The second-year Warriors coach added that he has nothing but respect for the Fighting Irish, who routed the Warriors 49-21 for their first postseason victory in 15 years. McMackin called it the worst loss in his 40 years of coaching.

Before joining the Warriors, McMackin spent three years with the San Francisco 49ers as associate head coach and linebackers coach under Dennis Erickson from 2003-05. He has also served as defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks and several college programs including Texas Tech, Miami, Navy, Utah and Idaho.

The news of the comments spread fast in the islands where McMackin is widely known as a warm and caring leader who often reaches out to the community.

Im repulsed, said Carolyn Golojuch, a UH alumnus and president of the Oahu chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian and Gays.

She said theres a larger issue at hand with the atmosphere of fear in football.

This goes on all the time. This is not an isolated incident. Football coaches, not just ours, continue to be abusive, Golojuch said. Why do professional football players come out of the closet after they retire? Because of fear.

This is not the first time a Hawaii athletic figure issued an apology for using insensitive language.

Former athletic director Hugh Yoshida said in 2000 that the reason the university switched from its longtime Rainbow logo was in part due to its connection as a symbol for gays and lesbians.

That logo really put a stigma on our program at times in regards to its part of the gay community, their flags and so forth, Yoshida said then, a day after the current Polynesian-style H logo was unveiled.

Sam Bradford found it tough as a teenage Oklahoma fan to watch the Sooners losing national championship games.

As a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, it was an even tougher to to be part of Oklahomas latest national title game loss.

Its all you think about, its all you dream about, and to have the opportunity to play for a national championship and come up short, its not a good feeling to have, Bradford said Tuesday at Big 12 media days.

After passing up a chance to enter the NFL draft after his sophomore season, which ended in January with a 24-14 loss to Florida in the BCS championship game, Bradford is back for another chance to win the trophy he really wants.

That would mean the world to me, he said.

The Sooners have won the last three Big 12 titles. But their last national championship was in 2000. They are 0-3 in title games since – twice (2003-04) with Bradford watching and still dreaming of being their quarterback, then last season when he threw for a school-record 4,720 yards and NCAA-best 50 touchdowns.

Coach Bob Stoops knows it will be hard for Bradford to improve on those numbers.

But hopefully with a better defense, you dont have to, Stoops said. Its doing what you need to do and manage the game to win, be consistent like he has been. … Remind him youre not Superman. You dont need to remind Sam of that. He plays within the system.

The Sooners return seven defenders who started every game last season, and three more who started at least five games.

Still, the focus is on the offensive changes, including the loss of four offensive linemen and a trio of receivers – Juaquin Iglesias, Manuel Johnson and Quentin Chaney – who combined for half of Bradfords passing yards and 21 TDs.

Obviously, we have some young guys that are going to come in, but I feel like they made tremendous steps in the offseason, I feel like theyll be prepared to play, Bradford said.

That is a necessity for another title chance, especially in a Big 12 South filled with potent offenses and star quarterbacks such as Texas Colt McCoy, another Heisman finalist last season – and Oklahoma States Zac Robinson.

You know youre going against another high-powered offense and the quarterback has got the ability to answer every time you score, Bradford said. It makes my job even more fun than it is.

Iglesias and Johnson, both in Oklahomas career top 10 for receptions, didnt have the option like Bradford for another season.

They left. Guys come in and play, and thats how it is, tight end Jermaine Gresham said. Put the pads on and lets play football. Nothings going to change.

Gresham (66 catches, 950 yards, 14 TDs), the 6-foot-6, 258-pound tight end who can split wide, also could have gone to the NFL as a high draft pick. But he opted to return for his senior season, knowing Bradford was coming back.

Me and Sam always kept in contact with our decisions, Gresham said, smiling. We always knew what we were going to do. I knew I wasnt going to be without him.

The Sooners also have 1,000-yard rushers Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray and receiver Ryan Broyles, who caught 46 passes for 687 yards and six TDs as a freshman.

Mossis Madu, a junior running back who has been working at receiver, and Adron Tennell, a senior who could get his first chance as a starter, will get their chances to catch passes.

Weve spent a lot of time this year just throwing routes, Bradford said. We got back from the national championship game and we just got those guys in there and started running routes. Weve probably thrown more routes just this year than we have since Ive been here.

Throwing to new receivers wasnt the only adjustment Bradford had to make this offseason.

As a Heisman Trophy winner, the reserved Bradford had to adjust to being recognized everywhere he went.

Im really trying to stay the same person, not let it affect my life, said Bradford, though he wouldnt say where he keeps his Heisman Trophy.

Its a secret, he said. When my parents had it, people called and asked if they could come see it and take pictures with it. … But Ive never really taken it out.

The top administrator of the Mountain West Conference said Wednesday that it could take five years to change the way college football championships are decided.

Acknowledging the MWC was still sore about undefeated Utah being shut out of last years national championship game, Commissioner Craig Thompson vowed to keep lobbying Congress, Bowl Championship Series administrators and college footballs 10 other conferences for a revamped playoff system.

We feel a change needs to be made and inclusion needs to be broader, he said.

In the meantime, Thompson said conference board members decided not to penalize athletes by balking at signing a broadcasting contract and walking away from the existing postseason bowl system. The Mountain West on July 8 became the last conference to sign a broadcasting deal with ESPN for the 2011-14 seasons.

We couldnt take our kids voluntarily out of the chance to play in a BCS bowl game, Thompson said during a state-of-the-conference address to media members at a Las Vegas-area casino resort. As much as we would like to see change in the system, it is the only system.

At issue are the number of automatic bids awarded to conferences for postseason play in top-tier bowls, and the money those appearances bring.

Six conferences – the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC – get automatic BCS bids, plus about $18 million each.

The Mountain West, which doesnt get an automatic bid, calls the system unfair. It has proposed an eight-team playoff featuring first-round play in the four top current BCS bowls – Sugar, Orange, Rose, Fiesta. Winners would advance to a championship.

In a telephone interview, BCS administrator Bill Hancock acknowledged criticism of the current system, which picks two top BCS teams for a championship game based on two polls and six computer rankings.

We know the BCS is not perfect, Hancock said from Kansas City. But it is the best proposal that has been presented that meets the needs of all 11 conferences.

Last years championship matched 12-1 Florida against 12-1 Oklahoma, while undefeated Utah beat Southeast Conference powerhouse Alabama, 31-17.

The fact is, six conferences had individual bowl deals before the BCS, Hancock said of the system that began in 1998. The BCS has to offer them at least as good a deal as they had before, or they wouldnt participate.

Hancock added that the other five conferences can earn an automatic qualification, depending on their teams performances over a four-year span.

Thompson vowed to fight within and challenge within, and try to coerce and convince and cajole … our fellow 10 conferences to change the system over the next couple years.

Thompson, the only commissioner the Mountain West has had since the conference started in 1998, said he was proud of the rising level of play by the nine conference schools – TCU, BYU, Utah, Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming.

He said the MWC would continue its $265,000 contract with a Washington lobbying firm to keep the BCS issue before Congress, which held hearings on the matter May 1.

But he said MWC efforts werent connected with calls by Utah state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch for investigations of whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.

I dont know what those people are going to do, Thompson said, adding that he felt that as league commissioner the best way to elbow into the BCS was for MWC teams to win games.

If you perform and you win games and youre playing quality opponents and youre beating the Oklahomas, the Alabamas, the UCLAs, the Michigans, and all the people weve beaten, he said, that should be our statement.

Dan Mullen can coach Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, help lead teams to championships and even tweet under pressure.

I am on stage, the Mississippi State coach hastily punched into his Twitter account before addressing a few hundred reporters at Southeastern Conference media days Wednesday.

It was the first time taking center stage for Mississippi States 37-year-old new leader since his hiring away from defending national champion Florida and famous pupil Tim Tebow.

This might not be a bad thing. Mullen hasnt made incendiary public comments, like Tennessees Lane Kiffin. His hiring was praised instead of panned, unlike Gene Chizik at Auburn.

On the contrary, he said Wednesday Mississippi State fans have welcomed us with open arms. Everywhere weve been in the state, people have come up to us and embraced us and made us feel welcome.

There is a lot of excitement around Mississippi, offensive tackle Derek Sherrod said. I cant say how many fans have spoken to us about how they cant wait for the first game. Ive never seen anything like this before.

That was evident when nearly 32,000 fans showed up at the Bulldogs spring game, up from 6,000 the year before.

Being on Urban Meyers staff for two national championship teams at Florida and a perfect season at Utah has certainly helped for a first-time head coach taking over a program that went 4-8 and won just two SEC games last season.

Mullens own enthusiasm probably doesnt hurt, either. He sprinkled his rapid-fire 14-minute opening statement with 15 variations of excited and used the word passion 10 times.

Nor does the multiple spread offense he brings to a program noted mostly for running between the tackles under Sylvester Croom and his predecessors. The prospect even has Bulldog defenders excited.

At Mississippi State, weve always been pounding the ball, linebacker K.J. Wright said. But now weve got this new young coach to try to spread things out and put some points on the board.

We all feed off his energy.

And even off his Tebow references. He always brags on Tim Tebow, because we all know hes the man, Wright said.

Mullen has been preparing for this job since he was a graduate assistant under Paul Pasqualoini at Syracuse, filling up a notebook with things he wanted to do or not do as a head coach.

There was plenty of fodder in 10 seasons with Meyer.

No. 1 on that list: The offseason work players put in, when the coaches cant watch their every move.

You win a lot of football games at 5:45 in the morning on a Wednesday in February, Mullen said.

You also win a lot of games with Tebow, the Heisman winner two years ago and a finalist last season. Or with Alex Smith at Utah, among others.

Now, Mullen is trying to choose a No. 1 quarterback from returning starter Tyson Lee, freshman Tyler Russell and sophomore Chris Relf.

Our quarterback battle will go on until I find that we have one true leader and a guy thats going to win football games for us, Mullen said. That might be in two-a-day camp, that might be right before the first kickoff. Thats the most important part of that position.

Lee and Russell, the states Mr. Football last year, both have experience in the spread offense.

Mullen did seem to give a hint to which way he was leaning while describing the quarterback competition as pretty stiff.

We really need Tyson Lee to step up for us, to give that leadership, he said. We might rotate the other guys and play more than one quarterback, but we do need him as a steady leader and a winner for us out there on the field, to get our program going in the right direction.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden isnt ready to give back those wins the NCAA wants to remove from his record due to an academic cheating scandal.

The 79-year-old Seminoles Bowden said Tuesday he still hopes the NCAA-vacated wins will be restored after a university appeal, keeping his race with Penn States Joe Paterno going.

Paternos 383 wins is currently one more than Bowden.

Of course, Im hoping to win that appeal. Ive been coaching 55 years and I never have been involved in cheating, said Bowden, seated next to his three coaching sons at the University of North Alabama. Here Ive done nothing and Im going to lose 14 ball games. It doesnt seem right, but it could happen. And I wont cut my wrists if that doesnt happen. There are more important things in life.

But I do hope that they rethink that like they did with Oklahoma and Georgia Tech (in recent years), where they first said they were going to take away wins and they changed their minds.

The NCAA said 61 Seminole athletes cheated on an online test in a music history course from the fall of 2006 through summer 2007 or received improper help from staffers who provided them with answers to the exam and typed papers for them.

The university has appealed, arguing that stripping the school, its coaches and athletes of victories in several sports is too harsh.

Bowden spoke about the prospect of losing the wins during A Day With the Bowdens Tuesday at North Alabama, where son Terry is approaching his first season as football coach. Terry, Tommy and UNA associate head coach Jeff Bowden hosted a prayer breakfast and seminars with teenagers and adults.

The NCAA vacating 14 Bowden wins is not the way Paterno wants the chase for the winningest coach status to end.

The NCAA is going to do what its going to do, but I would hope they would not take away 10 or 12 wins away from him, Paterno told the Reading Eagle in Pennsylvania. I dont think thats fair. He coached the team he had; they played against people, and they won. They ought to be wins for them.

Asked about the comments, Bowden said: That doesnt surprise me. I would say the same thing if it was facing him. I hope that doesnt happen because there will always be an asterisk out there.

Hes in the lead right now, he added. Of course if you vacate those 14 wins, that thing is over.

Tommy Bowden, who is out of coaching after his midseason resignation at Clemson, said his father doesnt discuss the wins record at family functions, but only when the media brings it up.

Terry badly wants those family bragging rights.

I think its important to everybody that played for Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno, said Terry, who hasnt coached since his abrupt departure from Auburn six games into the 1998 season. I want to bounce my grandkids on my knee and talk about Bobby Bowden and not Joe Paterno as the winningest coach ever. I think it has value to a lot of people in a lot of ways.

Bobby Bowden is approaching his 34th season with the Seminoles, with offensive coordinator and head coach-in- Jimbo Fisher designated as successor.

With birthday No. 80 approaching in August, he isnt letting himself be pinned down on a retirement date.

Im not going to coach until Im 85, he said. Im just not going to do that. Its a year to year thing. People ask me, How long do you want to coach? I hope I dont ever have to say it because people start counting the days.

My days are numbered. I know about when its going to be, but I wont say it.

He and Paterno spent time together during a Nike-sponsored trip to Puerto Rico in the spring with other coaches. The win thing doesnt come up, Bowden said.

Joe and I kind of hang around a little bit, but you know we never discuss that, he said. Were both aware of it. The thing about it, there aint nobody with us. Its just me and him. The next guy is going to take 25 years to catch us. One of us is going to be it and I cant think of a better guy than Joe, unless its me.

Minnesota lost two key players for next season when coach Tim Brewster announced that safety Tramaine Brock and star recruit Hasan Lipscomb will not play for the Gophers.

Brock started all 13 games last season after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He finished third on the team with 73 tackles and also had an interception, adding some toughness to a defense that was one of the worst in the nation the year before he arrived.

Brock left school for academic reasons in January, and Brewster said then he expected the hard hitter to return in time to play this fall. But he has been unable to improve his academic standing enough in the ensuing six months to become eligible to return to the Gophers.

Kim Royston, who sat out last season after transferring from Wisconsin, will likely step in to fill the void.

Academic issues also will keep Lipscomb, a highly regarded running back from Houston, from playing for Minnesota this season. Lipscomb scored 41 touchdowns in the last two seasons for Cypress Ridge High School and was expected to compete for major playing time in the backfield.

Now Lipscomb will spend next season at a junior college instead. That leaves the Gophers with Duane Bennett, who is returning from knee surgery, DeLeon Eskridge and Kevin Whaley as the primary candidates for the starting tailback job.

Brewster also said recruit Josh Campion, an offensive lineman from Fergus Falls who also drew interest from Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, recently had surgery on an undisclosed injury and will miss the 2009 season.

The coach said in a statement that he is looking forward to Campion joining the program sometime in the future.

A former University of California lineman who spent time in the Tennessee Titans camp in 2001 has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

Prosecutors say 30-year-old Reed Diehl entered his plea Monday in Orange County federal court. He was indicted last year by a federal grand jury on charges that he bilked a developer out of $2.5 million.

The U.S. Attorneys office says Diehl falsely represented himself to potential clients as a banker who made hard money loans.

According to a plea agreement, Diehl admitted that he caused losses of just over $5 million.

Diehl is scheduled to be sentenced September 28. He faces up to 70 years in prison.

The Penn State Nittany Lions workout schedule Friday includes lifting weights and pull-ups, followed by an odd assortment of drills like pulling sleds and pushing around giant tractor-trailer tires in front of hundreds of fans.

The routine feels just as grueling as it sounds, receiver Brett Brackett said.

All for charity, though.

What started as a weightlifting event six years ago to raise money at Penn State for kidney cancer research has turned into a full-fledged philanthropic organization called Uplifting Athletes involving other football programs dedicated to fighting rare diseases.

Its a grueling workout in general, said Brackett, head of Penn States chapter. The thing that makes it worthwhile is its for charity, and the fans really seem to enjoy it.

Other chapters are now located at Maryland, Colgate, Boston College and even at Big Ten football rival Ohio State. Organizers say more chapters are in the works.

The BC chapter started shortly after senior Mark Herzlich, the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year and one of the nations top linebackers, learned in May that he had Ewings sarcoma, a cancer found in bone or soft tissue.

With Bracketts assistance, Eagles receiver Ryan Lindsey quickly helped organize BCs inaugural lifting competition, scheduled for July 30.

Everyone is just pulling for our teammate, Lindsey said in a phone interview.

The organization took root in 2003 after Scott Shirley, then a Penn State player, and his family visited numerous doctors in an effort to treat his fathers kidney cancer. Shirley said they learned little could be done because it was a rare disease – kidney cancer affects less than 200,000 Americans, providing little financial incentive for research.

He shared that news with then-roommate and teammate Damone Jones.

Damone just shrugged his shoulders, Why dont we do something about it? Shirley recounted in a phone interview. Take advantage of the position that were in.

The Lift for Life challenge was born. Shirleys father died in 2005, though the event went on.

Its now a summertime success in Happy Valley, though by 2006, Shirley and other organizers began to seriously explore expanding it to other campuses.

With the help of Dave Wozniak, a Penn State alum who works as a vice president for Lincoln Financial Group, what had been a Penn State-only organization became Uplifting Athletes. Now 28, Shirley quit his job as an engineer in Washington and moved back to the Harrisburg, Pa., area two years ago to become executive director.

You work on it for as many hours as you can stay awake, he said.

Each schools chapter is run by the players, and not the coaches or school. Each team chooses its own cause for which to raise money, typically based on a personal experience of a player or coach.

Colgate started its challenge last year to benefit Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is a defect to connective tissue that supports skin, muscle and ligaments.

Ohio State and Maryland dont lift, but have video game challenges among players for charity. More chapters are in the works, Shirley said.

At Penn State, players have raised about $300,000 over the first six years. The lifting competition comes at a natural point in offseason workouts, when players transition from strength training to conditioning drills to prepare for preseason practice in August.

It happens as a normal voluntary summer workout, Shirley said. We always just say the stakes are a little higher.

After taking its fight to change the Bowl Championships Series to Congress, the Mountain West Conference is reluctantly agreeing to a BCS television deal.

That doesnt mean the conference is finished pushing for a playoff.

University of Utah president Michael Young issued a statement on behalf of the conference Wednesday, one day after he testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

In the statement, Young said the Mountain West felt it had no choice but to sign the agreement with ESPN, which runs through the 2013 season. The Mountain West champion would still not automatically qualify for a spot in one of the top-tier bowls.

While the Mountain West has expressed serious concerns with the various fundamental flaws in the current BCS system, our various good faith initiatives to generate reform have thus far not been accepted, Young said. If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.

Its fitting the MWC statement comes from Young. The Utes have twice gone unbeaten in the BCS era. Each time the Utes were left out of the national championship game, but soundly defeated an opponent from one the leagues with a guaranteed spot in another BCS game.

Last year it was Alabama, which Utah beat 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes were the only unbeaten team in major college football and finished No. 2 in the final AP poll last season.

Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system, Young said.

Young was in Washington on Tuesday to speak before the Senate subcommittee, which includes Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. Hatch wants the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.

The other major conferences that make up the BCS, along with Notre Dame, rejected a Mountain West proposal for an eight-team playoff to determine a national champion.

Utah Sen Orrin Hatch urged the Justice Department on Tuesday to investigate college footballs Bowl Championship Series for what he views as violations of antitrust laws.

Hatch made the comment after conducting a standing-room-only hearing in the Senate subcommittee with antitrust oversight, where he serves as the top Republican.

Frankly, theres an arrogance about the BCS that just drives me nuts, he told reporters. Hopefully this hearing will open the door to have some people reconsider their positions. And if nothing else, the Justice Department ought to be looking at this. He said that its clear to him that the BCS is in violation of antitrust laws.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said: Were aware of his request and will respond as appropriate.

Hatch said that the BCS is exploiting a position of power, and its just not right.

Hatchs comments followed up on testimony by a lawyer for the Mountain West Conference, which does not get an automatic bid and has pressed for changes to the BCS. Utah, which is in the Mountain West, was bypassed for last years national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season. The title game pitted Florida against Oklahoma – each with one loss.

The lawyer, Barry Brett, called the BCS a naked restraint imposed by a self-appointed cartel in written testimony, and said that a Justice Department investigation would serve the public interest.

Under the BCS, some conferences get automatic bids to participate while others dont, and the automatic bid conferences also get far more of the revenue than the other conferences. Hatch and other BCS critics view that as anticompetitive behavior, while the BCS says it simply recognizes the teams people want to watch.

I dont think its arrogant if youve thought about something for five or six years, and concluded thats its really hard to do something different, said Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the new chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.

As to a possible antitrust challenge, Perlman said: Its hard to see why anyone would litigate this.

We are university presidents, and we are sensitive to what Congress thinks, and sensitive about what the president thinks, Perlman added, referring to President Barack Obamas stated preference for a playoff system. But our primary responsibility is to manage our institutions in ways that protect student athletes, that acknowledges their academic pursuits as well as their athletic pursuits.

The current system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings.

Championships should be decided by competition, not by conspiracy, said Utah President Michael Young.

In his own testimony, Perlman prefaced a comment by saying he didnt want to sound disrespectful to Utah.

And you dont want to be in this room, Hatch quipped to laugher.

Perlman conceded that some teams, because of factors such as history or reputation, have a better chance to play in the national championship than others.

The problem is that we dont all play each other, and theres no conceivable way for that to happen, he said.

It was the second congressional hearing on the BCS this year, following one in the House two months ago. At that hearing, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, warned the BCS to switch to a playoff system. If not, he said, Congress would move on his bill that would prevent the NCAA from calling a game a national championship unless its the outcome of a playoff.

Although Tuesdays hearing attracted quite a few spectators, senators mostly stayed away. Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committees subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, left a few minutes after starting the hearing. New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer briefly popped in, but didnt ask any questions.

It was, for the most part, Hatchs show.

In talking to reporters, he took umbrage at the suggestion that the hearing amounted to political pandering.

Thats just bull, he said.