The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

June 16, 1997

An experiment on mice indicates that steroid abuse, at levels roughly equivalent to those taken by humans, can lead to premature death.

According to a report in the American College of Sports Medicine's journal, mice given steroids commonly died sooner than steroid-free mice. Some of the diseases were akin to those reported among human steroid abusers. The Associated Press also reported that the diseases that preceded the mice's deaths did not appear until well after the steroids had stopped.

"The delayed effects of steroid use seen here in mice and the consequent dramatic effect on lifespan may ultimately prove to be a concern for athletes and body builders," reported Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

The mouse study is apparently the first to look for incidences of disease at abuse-level steroid dosages, said researcher Franklin H. Bronson, a professor of zoology at the University of Texas at Austin.

However, a researcher unconnected to the study downplayed the possible effect on human lifespan.

Charles E. Yesalis of Pennsylvania State University said, "We are making judgments on clinical case reports, which are increasingly numerous, but on the scientific evolutionary scale, they are at the bottom."

If there were many deaths from steroids, Yesalis said, people would have noticed by now. "You can put yourself in harm's way for certain conditions, but the probability of death, I would argue, is not that great," he said.

However, an NCAA official took a different view.

What happened to the mice in the study seemed to be similar to what happens to people, said Frank D. Uryasz, NCAA director of sports sciences.

"For years, we have been hearing reports of the effect on heart disease and liver disease," Uryasz said. "This would seem to support that."

Test of champions

Two of the NCAA's marquee champions almost were eliminated in early rounds of competition, and in both cases, the team that had them on the ropes was from the University of South Alabama.

On March 13, in the first round of the Southeast regional of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, No. 13-seeded South Alabama led the second-seeded University of Arizona, 53-43, with 7:34 to play. Arizona rallied to a 65-57 victory and went on to claim its first basketball championship.

In baseball, South Alabama was seeded second in the South I regional in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Jaguars encountered top-seeded Louisiana State University on the Tigers' home field in a winner's bracket game and defeated LSU, 11-5. LSU went back through the loser's bracket and advanced to the College World Series by taking two games from South Alabama for the regional championship. It was the only loss for eventual champion LSU in NCAA tournament play.

Power conferences

The Pacific-10 Conference swamped the field in NCAA Division I competition in 1996-97.

Pac-10 institutions took an unprecedented 14 team titles, breaking its previous record of 10, which was set in 1987-88.

Winning is nothing new for the Pac-10, which has led or tied all other conference for most NCAA championships in 33 of the last 37 years.

Stanford University led the way with six championships. In all, conference members claimed eight women's and six men's titles.

"The strength of the Pac-10 has never been more clearly illustrated than it has been the past year," said Commissioner Thomas C. Hansen. "It has proved it is, indeed, the 'Conference of Champions.' "

In Division III, the new Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will begin service July 1. It will include the nine members of the former Wisconsin State University Conference and the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

From Day 1, it will be a force in Division III men's and women's athletics. Over the past four years, institutions from the WSUC and WWIAC have won 18 titles in nine sports.

The membership includes University of Wisconsin campuses in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls, Stevens Point, Menomonie (Wisconsin-Stout), Superior and Whitewater.

-- Compiled by David Pickle

Facilities

The University of Illinois at Chicago opened its new $32 million sports facility with an April 1 women's softball game. The project, which began in early 1996, includes a softball field, two baseball fields, six tennis courts, a soccer field, two sand volleyball courts and four fields for intramurals. In addition, a 7/8-mile walking path surrounds the entire complex.

The University of Utah began renovation of Rice Stadium with a groundbreaking ceremony May 9. The expansion, which is scheduled to be completed by fall 1998, will almost completely reconfigure the stadium. An entirely new seating structure with 46,500 permanent seats will be created to give better sight lines. Chair seating will increase by 2,000 to 13,500. A three-story structure will contain new press boxes and 25 luxury suites. Financing for the project will come from several sources, including $8 million from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics are scheduled to be at Rice Stadium.

Construction of a privately financed outdoor sports stadium with an artificial playing surface will begin at the University of Maine, Orono, at the conclusion of the 1997 football season. The stadium, which will seat 10,000, will be named for Maine benefactor Harold Alfond, whose $2.5 million donation is the largest in support of the $5 million project. The all-weather playing surface will be named Morse Field for Phillip and Susan Morse, who contributed $1.5 million. The field is expected to be ready for the fall 1998 season and the stadium for the fall 1999 season. The current stadium will continue in use until the new complex is complete.

Indiana University, Bloomington, has named its outdoor track and field complex after Robert C. Haugh, who contributed $1.5 million toward a recent renovation. The work included a new press box, electronic scoreboard, entrance, hammer throw area and permanent seating.

Construction will begin late this summer on a 46,500-square-foot activities center at Millsaps College. The center will be the cornerstone of a state-of-the-art campus life complex and will include aerobics and fitness space, racquetball/handball/squash courts, and a small multipurpose gym for volleyball, intramural basketball and other indoor sports.

Expansion of Bronco Stadium at Boise State University is anticipated to be completed for the 1997 football season. Seating capacity will be increased to 30,000 by rounding out the southwest and southeast corners of the stadium. The expansion began in December 1995 and also features a Hall of Fame Gallery and Plaza, which will be finished in November. Funds for the project were raised through efforts of the Boise State Alumni Association.