The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

August 18, 1997

The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) is making progress in its efforts to educate state lawmakers about the seriousness of assaults on sports officials.

At the recent NASO convention, the group announced that 10 states either have adopted the association's model legislation verbatim or have passed a law based on the legislation. Others are considering laws this year.

Barry Mano, NASO president and the publisher of Referee magazine, says that although no formal study exists on the number of assaults, he believes that the frequency of incidents is on the rise.

"We could feature in every issue of Referee various assaults on sports officials," he said. "Sports is a reflection of life, but with the volume turned up."

The NASO assault legislation is based on laws that make assault a more serious crime if it is directed at a teacher, police officer or firefighter.

"Sports officials make hundreds of judgment calls and decisions during a contest, and at any time a fan, coach or player might disagree," Mano said. "Our purpose and intent with this legislation is to put such disagreements in perspective. If someone is trying to physically harm an official, that person should be punished accordingly."

Ring goest full circle

Former University of Kentucky men's basketball coach Rick Pitino has his stolen 1996 NCAA championship ring back, thanks to a Kentucky basketball fan and a complex negotiation.

The Associated Press reported that a vacationing Wildcats fan helped Pitino reclaim the valued memento, which was stolen from his new office in Boston, where he serves as the coach and president of the Celtics.

James Sims, a University of Kentucky graduate, was approached by a man who had noticed his Kentucky baseball cap at poolside of the El Conquistador resort in Puerto Rico.

The man, a marketing director for a Boston suntan lotion company, asked Sims whether he was from Kentucky. Sims responded that he was, and then heard a startling revelation. "He told me, 'You know one of my employees has a national championship ring,' " Sims said.

The marketing director told Sims that the employee had been running around with the wrong crowd, during which time he acquired the ring.

Sims didn't believe the story until he saw the missing ring on an unfamiliar hand.

After checking the ring out, Sims saw the embedded diamonds and the engraved words "Pitino" and "NCAA Champions."

"When I saw that ring on his finger, I felt like it had been stolen from me," Sims said. "Part of me was on that young man's hand. I just knew that somehow, some way, I had to get that ring back."

Sims called a friend, Jodi DiRaimo, a business partner and good friend of Pitino, in Lexington, Kentucky. DiRaimo called Pitino -- who was also in Puerto Rico -- and confirmed that the ring had indeed been stolen.

Meanwhile, the coach received a call at the hotel from a man who said he had his ring. The two arranged a meeting, but the caller never showed up.

Finally, the marketing director was able to persuade his employee to give up the ring to Sims.

Sims then took the ring to Lexington and gave it to DiRaimo, who returned the ring to Pitino in late July.

"I think it was divine intervention," Sims said. "Somebody up there wanted to get that ring back to coach Pitino. Everything just fell right into place."

News twist

The Omaha World-Herald reports that football fans for the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, football team may see something unusual this year: a welcome mat.

While some institutions spend time trying to figure out how to keep Nebraska fans from taking over their stadiums in the fall, the city of Waco, Texas, has opted to roll out the red carpet, appropriately enough, for Baylor University's October 11 home game with the Huskers.

The World-Herald reported that Baylor gave Nebraska 10,000 tickets on consignment. Of those, Nebraska ticket manager John Anderson said about 6,000 remain, as of mid-August. The standard Big Twelve Conference ticket allotment for visiting teams is 4,000.

Waco is so eager to sell tickets to Nebraska fans that four representatives of its Chamber of Commerce visited Lincoln to get the word out about Texas hospitality. "It was the first time I've ever experienced something like that," Anderson said. "I was quite impressed."

Waco has planned special events in conjunction with the Nebraska weekend. When Nebraska mails out tickets for the game, enclosed will be a flyer advertising a street blues festival and the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo.

Waco officials have made similar presentations to other former Big Eight Conference schools, but it might work better with Nebraska, which has been sold out for every home game since 1962. For some fans, it could be the most economical opportunity they have all year to see their favorite team in person.

-- Compiled by David Pickle

News quiz

Answers to the following questions appeared in July issues of The NCAA News. How many can you answer?

1. Which group of students who entered college in 1990 posted graduation rates higher than 55 percent in the most recent NCAA graduation-rates compilation? (a) white female student-athletes; (b) black female student-athletes; (c) white male student-athletes; (d) all of the above.

2. True or false: Samuel H. Smith of Washington State University is the first chair of the new NCAA Executive Committee.

3. In which sport did the Eastern College Athletic Conference receive a $1.5 million grant from the United States Olympic Committee as part of a USOC program to aid emerging and endangered college sports? (a) men's gymnastics; (b) men's and women's rifle; (c) women's water polo; (d) men's wrestling.

4. Which city will host the Women's Final Four for the first time in 2001? (a) Kansas City, Missouri; (b) San Jose, California; (c) St. Louis; (d) San Antonio.

Answers at bottom.