The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) has announced that tickets to its famed Annual Awards Dinner, which this year will celebrate the organization's 60th Anniversary, are sold-out. On December 4, the sellout crowd of 1,500 will pack the storied three- level Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City for the majestic event.
The final KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon of the year features Chicago native Tom Lemming. Lemming has become one of the popular recruiting gurus through his "Prep Football Report" and as a contributor to USA Today, ESPN, and ESPN.com. He also hosts his own show on CSTV "Tom Lemming's Generation Next" - a weekly look at national football recruiting. The Luncheon will be held on Thursday, Oct. 18. For more information, please visit www.collegefootb all.org.
The College Hall of Fame also participated in nationwide "Museum Day" last Saturday. Fans received free admission to the Hall with a special Museum Day Admission Card, which was available in the Sept. 2007 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. For more national Museum Day information, please go to www.smithsonian.com/museumdaycard.
NFF Distinguished American Award recipient and College Hall of Famer Eddie Robinson was memorialized last weekend at the Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic between Grambling State and Prairie View A&M at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. Coach Robinson, who died at 88 in April after complications from Alzheimer's Disease, won his 407th (of 408 total) game against PVA&M in the 1997 State Fair Classic during his final season as a head coach at Grambling. His widow, Doris, was honored with a special tribute from Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, and both school bands performed a special salute to the legendary coach.
Navy bested Air Force before a record crowd of 37,615 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last weekend. It's the Midshipmen's first step toward garnering its fifth straight Commander-in-Chief trophy... Bowling Green and Western Kentucky (based in Bowling Green, Ky.) had the "Battle of Bowling Green Mayoral Challenge" last weekend in Bowling Green, Ohio. The new rivalry joined traditional trophy games played on Sept. 29 such as LSU- Tulane (The Battle for the Rag, Tiger Rag); Utah-Utah State (Battle of the Brothers Beehive Boot); UNLV- Nevada (The Battle for Nevada, The Fremont Cannon); Notre Dame-Purdue (The Shillelagh Trophy); and Fresno State-Louisiana Tech (Battle of the Bulldogs)... Ohio held "Heroes Day" to honor uniformed service personnel and law enforcement authorities throughout the Athens, Ohio, region last Saturday... Purdue's 5-0 start is just its second five-win start since 1945... Georgia Tech is auctioning a "VIP Sideline Experience" offer for fans to get an up-close look at the Yellow Jackets during their Oct. 20 Homecoming bout with Army... Tennessee players raised spirits at four area hospitals on Sept. 24 with visits to UT Medical Center, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, and St. Mary's Medical Center... Central Michigan players paid a special visit to nearby Renaissance Public School Academy to offer some words of encouragement to the young students... Iowa State revealed its new football helmet design, home and road uniforms prior to last week's Big 12 fracas at Nebraska. Votes from over 35,000 fans via the internet went into the decision-making process... Nevada is emphasizing its "Stay True, Wear Blue" promotions for sportsmanship and fan support at home contests... South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier won his 100th SEC contest last week against Mississippi State... Dennis Raetz has been named interim head coach at Indiana State... Former Texas A&M head coaches Jim Myers, Gene Stallings, Emory Bellard, Tom Wilson, Jackie Sherrill, and R.C. Slocum were featured at Aggie Alley in an autograph and greeting session last week before the A&M-Baylor contest... Hall of Famer Dick Butkus (Illinois) will be in New York on Oct. 8-9 to promote the Play Clean campaign to encourage high school athletes, coaches, parents and others to train hard, eat well, and playing with a positive attitude instead of using steroids... Former Utah running back great Jamal Anderson was the featured speaker at The Mtn "Friday Night Pep Rally" program last Friday in Salt Lake City.
Alabama, Clemson and Atlanta Sports Council officials continue to have meetings about a possible 2008 Alabama-Clemson match-up in the Georgia Dome... Cincinnati is starting a funding campaign for enhancement of its existing practice fields and a new indoor football workout facility... New Orleans Saints QB and former Purdue standout Drew Brees has made a $2 million grant to Boliermaker athletics... Montana has added a $25,000 annual donation skybox at its football facility... Eureka (Ill.) will dedicate its new Rigazio Lobby and Bonati Fitness Center areas of the Reagan Physical Education Center on Thursday. The Reagan Center was named in honor of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his older brother Neil, both football players at the college... Richard R. and Anne A. Collins of Key Largo, Fla., have made a donation of $6 million to Maine, which will partially go to athletics... Central Arkansas has begun a $35 million capital funding campaign for athletics.
Missouri director of athletics Mike Alden has received a two-year contract extension through the 2011-12 academic year... Jeff Wuerth is the new assistant sports information director at South Florida.
The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl offers "Fiesta Bowl Live" on KTAR Radio in Phoenix, featuring Tostitos Fiesta Bowl chair Dick Stemple, president John Junker and commentator Dave Burns. "Road to the Tostitos Fietsa Bowl" is a regular feature on The Fan 1060 AM Radio with CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd, Mike Muraco and Dan Manucci. KTAR also has "Fiesta Bowl College Game Day Show" each Saturday with ESPN's Beano Cook, Doug Franz, Stemple, and Junker... The AT&T Red River Rivalry features customized messages via audio or text with Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, Texas head coach Mack Brown, and Heisman Trophy winners Billy Sims of OU and Earl Campbell of UT via www.attblueroom.com/sports. Fans also can qualify to win tickets to the 2007 Red River Rivalry. FSN is running a week of television specials Monday-Saturday on the Oklahoma- Texas rivalry and the 102nd AT&T Red River Shootout at Dallas' Cotton Bowl Stadium - the site of the series since 1929... Last Friday's ESPN telecast of nationally ranked foes West Virginia and South Florida represented one of the highest composite-ranked Big East Conference contests ever in September.
Daktronics and NACDA have extended their corporate sponsorship through 2012. Delta Airlines also has partnered with NACDA as official airline supplier for the organization... GMAC Financial Services and Ball State had a special drawing among the student body for a $1,000 scholarship and a chance to win a 2008 Chevy Malibu after last week's game with Buffalo... Toyota rented most of Hawaii's athletics facilities for its a.nnual national dealers convention in Honolulu.. Rutgers and Gold Mobile cellular service are combining forces for instant text messaging (stats, wallpapers, game highlights) after RU tussles... PepsiAmericas has placed Arkansas State 2007 football schedules on commemorative Pepsi soft drink cans... Almost 50 colleges and universities have adopted the Wounded Warrior Project Coin Toss Program, a joint effort of NACDA and the Wounded Warrior Project, which honors war on terror veterans who have suffered a catastrophic injury and allows them to participate in the pre-game football ceremonies.
College Football Hall of Fame nominee and former Syracuse great Don McPherson will serve as an honorary captain at the SU-West Virginia game this weekend... 1986 College Football Hall of Famer Jim Ray Smith (Baylor) has been selected for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame along with North Texas RB Abner Haynes, Texas A&M All- America DL Ray Childress and legendary Texas college and high school coach Spike Dykes... NFF Hall of Fame coach Charley McClendon, former 1987 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Dr. Joseph "Nacho" Albergamo and former Tigers' center Kevin Mawae joined the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame last week... In honor of the SEC's 75th Anniversary, The Mobile (Ala.) PRESS-REGISTER named the conference's five top linebackers linebackers in history: Alabama's Cornelius Bennett (College Football Hall of Famer), Alabama's Lee Roy Jordan (College Football Hall of Famer), Alabama's Derrick Thomas, Florida's Wilber Marshall, and Ole Miss' Patrick Willis... Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf is the third nominee for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, which will be announced at the end of the 2007 season. Langsdorf donated a kidney last summer to Laurie Cavanaugh, the wife of Oregon State offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh.
Bob Sign, 66, father of NFF chief operating officer Matthew Sign, died on Sept. 25. A former football player at Cincinnati, he served as the Chairman of Global Initiatives for the Amateur Athletics Union at the time of his passing... Glenvall Estes, 84, 57-year sportswriter, Mississippi Sportswriters Association Hall of Famer and longtime member of the NFF Miss-Lou Chapter, died last week.
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