'Seasonal shows' add to CBS/NCAA coverage package

Thanks to the bundled-rights agreement the NCAA has with CBS Sports, the network will air NCAA seasonal shows highlighting championships that have never before had television coverage.

CBS, which owns the broadcast television rights to 66 of the NCAA's 87 championships, will debut a new show, "CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA."

The first episode of the seasonal show will air Saturday, December 28, at 1 p.m. Eastern time, and it will feature 14 fall championships with stories, highlights and behind-the-scenes footage from all three divisions of field hockey; Divisions II and III men's and women's soccer and cross country; Divisions II and III women's volleyball; and the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship.

"When CBS and the NCAA reached our historic agreement, a high priority was television coverage of NCAA championships that had not previously received it," said Mike Aresco, CBS Sports senior vice-president of programming. "The cooperation CBS received from the NCAA and the individual conferences and schools enabled us to give viewers an exciting and varied look at the intensity of various competitions, as well as an appreciation for the dedication of the outstanding student-athletes participating in the championships."

Check www.ncaasports.com under "TV schedule" for updated television listings.

Hazing garners arrests at Methodist College

Methodist College suspended a football player and disciplined four other football student-athletes after a teammate was sodomized in the locker room with a pen November 11 after football practice.

The five student-athletes and two others were arrested and charged with hazing, and one also was charged with a second-degree sexual offense. The school has not released the names of anyone involved.

"This entire situation has been both sobering and disturbing," said Methodist College President M. Elton Hendricks. "This incident is completely out of character with the mission and beliefs of Methodist College. What resulted should not occur in civilized society, and certainly not in an academic community."

Each year, the athletics director and coaching staff present the college's policy and rules related to hazing to all student-athletes. The college plans to review its policies and perhaps implement changes next semester.

"This incident has made us acutely aware that our presentation and enforcement of the college's policies regarding inappropriate behavior and hazing need to be re-examined," Hendricks said.

Wilber first woman to reach mark in soccer

Last month, William Smith College head soccer coach Aliceann Wilber became the first female head coach in college soccer to earn 300 victories.

Wilber led the Herons to a 1-0 overtime victory against State University College at Cortland to reach the all-divisions mark. She also is only the fourth women's soccer coach in any division to reach 300.

William Smith attained its 16th consecutive NCAA championship berth in women's soccer this season, eventually losing to two-time national champion Ohio Wesleyan University in the Division III semifinals last month.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Looking back

Special recognition

The only time the Theodore Roosevelt Award was not given since the NCAA Honors Program began in 1966 was almost 15 years ago when the Association honored retiring Executive Director Walter Byers at the 1988 Convention with a Special Recognition Award.

Byers, who had served as the Association's first CEO since 1951, announced in September 1987 that he would become executive director emeritus as of October 1 and that former University of Virginia Athletics Director Richard D. Schultz would assume CEO duties on that date.

An ad hoc committee chaired by Livingston University President Asa N. Green developed the ceremony to recognize Byers' 36 years of NCAA service. The salute in the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, featured a video highlighting Byers' career, narrated by ABC sports commentator Keith Jackson, who served as master of ceremonies. Byers also received several gifts, including the keys to new car from the NCAA Executive Committee.

Byers, in his typical humble fashion, told attendees that "suggesting that I am responsible for all of this (the NCAA) is a hyperbole, an exaggeration."

He went on to talk about college athletics, saying it was subject "to a glaring and searching spotlight. No other undergraduate program on our campuses is exposed to such accountability.

"I leave intercollegiate athletics firmly believing that it delivers on its promise to its student-athletes really better than higher education delivers to the student body in general," Byers said.

"Intercollegiate athletics is a symbol of the real world because it has true accountability. I am so privileged to have been a part of this scene for as long as I have. Thank you for the rare privilege."