Signing day becoming big event for college programs

UA football

Dick Tomey announced his 1997 recruiting class by handing out alist of players on Arizona letterhead during a small news conferencein McKale Center.

There were no receptions or Webcasts - heck, the Internet wasstill finding its way into our living rooms - and very little hypesurrounding a group that included future NFL draft picks BrandonManumaleuna and Edwin Mulitalo.

A decade later, Mike Stoops will unveil the Wildcats' recruitingclass as part of Wednesday's national letter-of-intent celebration.

Stoops, who last year said a list of recruits could become "likea Monet to me," knows that selling signing day is an art. Arizonawill hold a reception for more than 100 people in the Jim Click Hallof Champions, starting with a 4 p.m. meet-and-greet with Stoops andthe Extra Point Club.

National signing day has turned into a major event for manyschools as football programs especially cater to a die-hard fan baseduring an otherwise slow season.

The nation's biggest programs are taking notice. Rival ArizonaState will hold a donors-only dinner for 450 at the Fiesta Inn inTempe. Powerhouse USC will host 600 of its biggest boosters for aparty at the new Galen Center.

And for the 12th straight year, LSU will put on the BayouRecruiting Bash, an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink celebrationthat starts at 7:30 a.m. and goes well into the evening.

More than 5,000 fans are expected to pile into a downtown hall towatch coach Les Miles unveil a top-10 recruiting class.

"The event," said LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette, "is anunofficial state holiday."

Ordinary day

Arizona football recruit Rob Gronkowski won't even get the dayoff from school.

Gronkowski, the UA's top recruit for this year's class, will signhis letter of intent during an early-morning breakfast with histeammates at a Pittsburgh country club. Gronkowski will then meetwith the local media before heading to Woodland Hills (Pa.) HighSchool for his morning classes.

That's the irony of signing day: While it serves as a Super Bowlfor scouting services like Rivals.com and Scout.com and their legionof message-board minions, it can often be anticlimactic for theathletes.

"Maybe we'll take some pictures at school or something, butthat's about it," Gronkowski said.

Salpointe Catholic High School will hold a small news conferencefor USC-bound Kris O'Dowd and Army-bound Max Fritz. Devin Veal, aSierra Vista Buena wide receiver bound for the UA, will sign hisletter during an after-school ceremony.

Their days are fairly typical for new signees who verbally committo schools in the months leading up to signing day. The act ofaccepting a scholarship offer is usually just a formality.

Gronkowski announced his choice during a Jan. 10 press conferenceon ESPNU.

"Before that, I was getting phone calls like crazy every singleday. It was so overwhelming - and so annoying," he said. "Everythinghas been a lot quieter since then. Things have calmed down."

That doesn't mean everything always goes according to plan.Jeremy Crabtree, a recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, said he canalways count on a handful of signing-day shocks.

"Sometimes a recruit's letter of intent won't show up, a carbreaks down, a fax machine doesn't work or God tells him to go to adifferent school," Crabtree said. "There's always a good handful ofsurprises."

'Nobody's wrong'

In the end, Wednesday's festivities provide die-hard fans withone thing: Hope.

Whether they're attending a 5,000-person soiree in Baton Rouge,La., or a 100-person reception on the UA mall, fans are intrigued bythe future. And anxious to talk about the unknown.

"If you've had some lean years, you feel good about the directionyour program is going," said Scott Kennedy, the director ofprogramming for Scout.com. "If your school has a top-10, top-20 ortop-25 class, you can be a proud fan."

Bobby Burton, the editor-in-chief of the Rivals.com recruitingnetwork, said signing day is college football's answer to the NFLand NBA drafts.

"And, as we all know, college fans are more passionate than anyother group of fans out there," he said. "They're closer in kinshipwith English soccer fans."

Arizona fans can enjoy a few small victories. Gronkowski isexpected to contribute immediately after arriving on campus. LosAngeles cousins Apai and Vuna Tuihalamaka should compete forplaying time on the Wildcats' vaunted defense. Even a virtualunknown like UA recruit William "Bug" Wright, an undersized widereceiver from tiny Pauls Valley, Okla., will be given the benefit ofthe doubt.

For a day.

"That's the best part," Kennedy said. "On signing day, nobody'swrong."

Big deal

National letter-of-intent day has become a major event at theUniversity of Arizona and other schools nationwide. For the thirdstraight year, UA coach Mike Stoops will discuss his recruitingclass during an on-campus reception before heading to Phoenix tomeet with the out-of-town boosters the next day. Here are thedetails:

* What: Tucson Signing Day reception

* When: 5 p.m. Wednesday in Jim Click Hall Of Champions;exclusive reception for the Extra Point Club begins at 4 p.m.

* Schedule: Food and drinks served at 5 p.m.; coaches willdiscuss recruits beginning at 5:45.

* Tickets: $5 in advance, $10 at the door; call 621-2287 forreservations

* What: Stoops stop in Phoenix

* When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fox Sports Grill in Scottsdale

* Schedule: No-host reception begins at 6:30 p.m.; Stoops willaddress fans at 7. The Arizona-Oregon State basketball game will beshown on television at 8:30.

* Tickets: Admission is free

Rules

The NCAA regulates signing day events. On the big day, coachescan:

* Hold one news conference to introduce "the names of allprospective student-athletes who have signed a National Letter ofIntent or accepted written offers of admission and/or financial aidfrom that institution" to the assembled press, according to NCAArules.

* Meet with the program's booster club to discuss the recruitingclass, provided a press conference has already been held. The eventis closed to the working media but open to supporters and thepublic.

* Show one highlight reel featuring the new recruits.

* Issue a news release that includes information on each recruit.Quotes from the University's coach can be included.

Coaches cannot:

* Hold separate news conferences for each recruit.

* Show different highlight reels for each recruit.

* Invite recruits, their families or friends to any newsconference. Players are discouraged, but not forbidden, fromattending any booster meeting for fear of any inappropriate contact.

Source: NCAA rulebook

Signing Day 2007

* Athletes can sign letters of intent to play football, soccer,field hockey and men's water polo starting Wednesday.

GYM: Olympic gymnastics results

AAP General News (Australia)
08-29-2004
GYM: Olympic gymnastics results

ATHENS, Aug 28 Reuters - Olympic gymnastics results.

Team competition final.

1. Russia 51.100

2. Italy 49.450

3. Bulgaria 48.600

4. Belarus 48.000

5. Greece 46.525

6. China 46.500

7. Spain 45.350

8. Brazil 44.400
Reuters jjs

KEYWORD: OLYR GYM RESULT

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

ACT: Super 12 rugby player convicted over

AAP General News (Australia)
04-22-2004
ACT: Super 12 rugby player convicted over

EDS: TAKES IN KEY: SMITH



By Peter Jean

CANBERRA, April 22 AAP - ACT Brumbies rugby winger Henari Veratau was today placed
on a one-year good behaviour bond for driving off with a taxi after a late-night altercation
with the driver.

Veratau, 20, pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates court to taking a vehicle without
authority. A charge of robbery was dismissed.

Magistrate Michael Somes was critical of the behaviour of the victim, taxi driver Michael
Zhang, who had demanded that Veratau pay a fare deposit.

A statement of facts tendered in court said the taxi took Veratau and a woman to the
Canberra suburb of North Lyneham in the early hours of March 5.

The rugby union player then asked to be driven to the suburb of Kingston, but Mr Zhang
demanded that he first pay a deposit of $30.

Veratau placed his credit card on the taxi's console and Mr Zhang drove on but later
stopped and demanded that he get out.

Veratau got out of the taxi and opened the driver's door, the statement of facts said.

Mr Zhang also got out, an altercation occurred and Veratau pushed Mr Zhang, who than
ran a small distance.

Veratau then drove the taxi away and abandoned it in the suburb of Florey, where it
was later found by police, still containing the credit card.

Mr Somes said while taking the taxi was not a trivial offence, Mr Zhang had behaved
in an extraordinary manner during the incident and it was perhaps inevitable an altercation
would occur.

"The conduct of the driver was highly inflammatory," Mr Somes said.

He noted that a reference from Canberra Cabs had expressed concerns about Mr Zhang's
past behaviour.

Prosecutor Adrian Robertson told the court Veratau had been convicted in the past over
a similar matter which involved alcohol.

He said Veratau could have run away from the taxi driver when the altercation occurred.

"He would, one thought, have been able to run away from a taxi driver?" he said.

Defence lawyer James Sabharwal said Veratau had given himself up to police and expressed
remorse for his actions.

Mr Somes convicted Veratau, placed him on a one-year good behaviour bond and ordered
him to pay a $1,000 surety, court costs of $53 and criminal injury compensation of $50.

But Mr Somes rejected Mr Zhang's request that Veratau be required to pay $400 to compensate
him for his loss of earnings while he could not drive his cab.

Outside court, Veratau said he was glad the matter was over.

"I just want to get back to playing football," he told reporters.

A Brumbies spokesman said now that Veratau had been dealt with by the courts, he would
face an internal conduct committee within a fortnight.

Meanwhile, Mr Somes adjourned an assault hearing against Brumbies flanker George Smith
until May 6, so Smith's lawyers could continue to make representations to the Director
of Public Prosecutions.

Smith, who was not in court today, is charged with assaulting Mitchell Jack Blencowe
outside a Canberra nightclub on March 16 last year.

AAP pj/jv/sp

KEYWORD: VERATAU NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Policeman finds father among dead

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2004
Vic: Policeman finds father among dead

A Victorian policeman found his father among the dead when he arrived at the scene
of a traffic accident near his station yesterday.

A police spokeswoman has confirmed the officer was the son of one of two men killed
when the van in which they were in overturned and hit a pole before bursting into flames
south-west of Melbourne early yesterday.

Police believe the Toyota van, heading towards Melbourne on the Princes Highway near
Little River, had been hit from behind by a sedan about 5.30am (AEDT).

Two men in the van -- one aged in his 60s, the other in his 50s -- were killed.

A third person was taken to hospital after being pulled through the van's windscreen
by a passing truck driver.

The deaths bring Victoria's road toll to 44, two more than for the same period last year.

AAP RTV kw/gfr/dl

KEYWORD: TOLL VIC (MELBOURNE)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Link between drink driving offences and prison time-NBCSR

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2003
NSW: Link between drink driving offences and prison time-NBCSR

SYDNEY, Dec 17 AAP - Be warned. If you drink and drive and have more than two previous
convictions for the same offence, chances are you'll end up in prison.

A NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (NBCSR) report released today said drivers
caught with a high-range blood alcohol reading who had more than two previous drink-drive
convictions were likely to end up in jail.

The report said prison sentences were imposed on 67 per cent of those with three or
more prior drink-driving convictions in the preceding five years.

Thirty-one per cent of those with two prior drink-drive convictions in the preceding
five years were sent to jail, while nine per cent of those with just one prior conviction
were jailed, the report said.

The odds of a prison term doubled if one of those previous convictions involved a high-range
blood alcohol reading, NBCSR said.

Bureau director Don Weatherburn said that, in the lead up to Christmas, the report's
findings provided a timely warning about the penalties courts imposed on those who were
repeatedly caught drinking and driving.

AAP smb/sd/sjb/bwl

KEYWORD: DRINK

2003 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Nixon refuses to check all files in wake of records scandal

00-00-0000
Vic: Nixon refuses to check all files in wake of records scandal

MELBOURNE, Aug 11 AAP - Victorian Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon today refusedto carry out checks on whether the police files of hundreds of Victorian MPs and politicalcandidates had been accessed inappropriately.

The state opposition had requested checks on the accessing of police records on 130of its MPs and candidates after the file of one of its candidates was found to have beenwrongly accessed in the lead-up to the last state election.

Ms Nixon said she had also received requests from the National Party and Labor forsimilar checks, in some cases going back to 1992.

She said such an extensive audit of the police's "LEAP" database would be a waste of resources.

"Without any evidence of misuse, I do not intend to spend literally hundreds and hundredsof hours of police time conducting checks as part of a broad search of the LEAP system,"

she told reporters.

"This is not appropriate use of police resources and I really think the community wouldprefer that we go about our tasks of investigating crime and protecting our community."

However, she said if individual MPs and candidates requested the information throughFoI, Victoria Police would have to comply with the request.

Ms Nixon said she had already conducted a random audit of five names supplied by VictorianOpposition Leader Robert Doyle, and found no evidence of misuse of the system.

She said five names would also be checked for Labor and the National Party.

MORE bp/gfr/sco/de

KEYWORD: FILES

Experts Signal Caution on Mutual Funds

00-00-0000
Dateline: NEW YORKStung by a three-year bear market, many investors are turning to mutual funds that promise they won't lose money. But financial advisers caution the principal-protected funds are loaded with expenses and restrictions that could unduly hurt returns.

These funds come with insurance policies that guarantee the principal, typically after five or more years, minus expenses. Investors are assured of no losses in a downturn, while they can reap gains if the market recovers.

Investors have responded, pushing the funds' net assets to $9.1 billion at the end of January from $3.95 billion a year earlier, according to fund tracker Lipper Inc. Virtually unheard of five years ago, the fund are now managed by firms such as ING, Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney.

But advisers say principal-protected funds, which are now concentrated in bonds, don't make a lot of sense at a time many believe stocks can only go up, and bonds down, in coming years. They say investors can achieve better results at a lower cost by maintaining a diversified portfolio and using a buy-and-hold strategy.

"It's a feel-good product, but when the market comes back, then somebody that's not paying for that extra feel-good benefit ideally should see a much more positive response in their portfolio," said George F. Leupold Jr., a certified financial planner in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Principal-protected funds generally buy bonds when the market is falling, which is why they're currently heavy with bonds. They shift to stocks after an upturn, so they tend to lag in performance because they're late into the recovering market.

Still, investors who got into principal-protected funds a while ago benefited in the three-year bear market.

One-year returns for ING's 11 principal-protected funds, for example, ranged from 1.47 percent to 6.33 percent through February, according to fund tracker Morningstar Inc.

In contrast, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index lost 24 percent, and most money market funds are now paying yields of 1 percent or less, with no guarantee of the principal.

Mark Wilson, a certified financial planner in Newport Beach, Calif., said many investors have been calling to ask about these funds much like they did with Internet funds during the tech boom.

"The markets are down so significantly and people are so gun shy, the return guarantee sounds really, really attractive right now," he said.

But he generally advises against them, noting the restrictions can be complex. The funds are typically sold during an offering period that lasts several months. Afterward, investors must reinvest their dividends and distributions but can't otherwise add to the investment.

If money is withdrawn before the end of the holding period, typically five years or more, investors lose the guarantee on their principal and may have to pay penalties.

Expenses also can be high. The insurance may cost an additional 0.40 percent of total assets, often pushing the expense ratio up to 2.25 percent each year, compared to the 1.47 percent for the average domestic stock fund, according to Morningstar.

And the funds are generally sold through brokers and thus come with additional sales charges of 5 percent.

"You could have a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds that achieves the same effect at a cheaper cost," said Kathleen Day, a certified financial planner in Miami, Fla.

Financial advisers say the funds might be worthwhile for conservative investors with little tolerance for stock volatility or those who are saving for a specific reason, such as a child going to college in five years, and want their principal protected.

But in many cases, they add, investing in these funds may prove to be an ill-advised reaction to the market downturn.

"These funds are almost entirely sold through brokers, and a lot of people are scared into them," said Jeff Tjornehoj, research analyst at Lipper. "Make sure you're not getting sold on this."

___

On the Net:

www.ing.com/us

www.lipperweb.com

www.morningstar.com