Sports

Rutgers Basketball & Eddie Jordan Reach Agreement

– via NJ.com –
Eddie Jordan has reached an agreement with Rutgers to be the Scarlet Knights’ next basketball coach, though no official announcement from the school is forthcoming in the immediate future.

The former Rutgers star guard, currently a Los Angeles Lakers assistant, spent the morning putting the finishing touches on a deal to replace Mike Rice, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The person requested anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized nor formally approved by university president Robert Barchi or lawyers for both sides.

Details of the agreement were not immediately available, though the person confirmed it was a five-year deal in excess of $1 million a year — which would make Jordan the highest-paid men’s coach in school history..

Jordan, 58, has been an NBA coach three times — with the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers — but has only limited experience as a college assistant.

He played in the NBA from 1977-84 following a storied career at Rutgers from 1973-77 that included helping the Scarlet Knights to the 1976 Final Four.

Jordan compiled a 257-343 record during his nine-year NBA coaching career.

Rutgers has been looking for a coach since Rice was fired on April 3 following the release of a video showing him repeatedly verbally and physically abusing players in practice.

Athletic director Tim Pernetti, assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and university counsel John Wolf resigned shortly after.

Jordan will eventually take over a program on the verge of unraveling a year before the school heads to the Big Ten. Leading scorer Eli Carter reportedly asked for his release on Wednesday, with teammates Mike Poole and Jerome Seagears previously making the same request.

Rutgers has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991.

Rutgers’ courtship of one of its favorite sons began last weekend, when Jordan flew in from Los Angeles to spend Saturday and Sunday meeting with school officials for preliminary talks about the job.

He then flew back to Los Angeles before returning to New Jersey Wednesday night.

Rest in Peace Pat Summerrall

– Via CNN –
Pat Summerall, the football player turned legendary play-by-play announcer, died Tuesday. He was 82.

He was best known as a broadcaster for teaming with former NFL coach John Madden for 22 years. Summerall also worked for years alongside former player Tom Brookshier and became the voice of the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s, calling most of the league’s signature games.

Summerall called games for CBS, Fox and ESPN and worked more than 10 Super Bowls.

As a player, he was a placekicker and played 10 seasons for the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants from 1952 to 1961. He scored more than 500 points as an NFL player

Summerall died Tuesday of cardiac arrest, said Jeff Carlton, a spokesman for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

His powerful and eloquent voice was well-known to thousands of football fans, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.

“For a man who could dramatically capture a moment with very few words,” Jones said, “there simply aren’t enough words to adequately describe what he meant to sports and broadcasting in this country.”

Jones described Summerall as “royalty in the broadcast booth.”

“He was respected and admired by players, coaches, commissioners and presidents of our country — and always a gentleman — someone who had time for the fans in the parking lot after the game,” he said in a written statement.

Fox Sports described Summerall as “an icon in his profession” and “the voice that defined the NFL on television for generations of fans.”

“He and John Madden helped give FOX Sports and the NFL on FOX credibility when it launched almost 20 years ago, and for that we’ll be forever grateful,” the statement said.

Madden called Summerall a longtime friend.

“We never had one argument, and that was because of Pat. He was a great broadcaster and a great man. He always had a joke. Pat never complained, and we never had an unhappy moment. He was something very special,” Madden said. “Pat Summerall is the voice of football and always will be.”

Pat Summerrall Interview With Larry King