CoSIDA tabs award winners

The College Sports Information Directors of America recently recognized its special awards recipients at the CoSIDA convention June 25-28 in St. Louis.

Mary Jo Haverbeck, former associate sports information director at Pennsylvania State University, was named the recipient of the Arch Ward Award. This award is named in honor of the late sports editor and columnist of the Chicago Tribune. It is presented to a CoSIDA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information or who has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.

Haverbeck is the 43rd recipient of the Ward Award and the first woman to receive the honor. During her tenure at Penn State, she worked nine Women's Final Fours, two football national championship games (the 1982 Sugar Bowl and the 1986 Fiesta Bowl) and the Olympic Games.

Haverbeck, who took early retirement from Penn State in December, remains active in sports information.

Will Keener, the sports information director at California State University, Stanislaus, was named the recipient of the Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award. This award is given annually to a CoSIDA member to recognize civic involvement and accomplishments outside the sports information office.

William N. Wallace, a retired New York Times sportswriter, was named the recipient of the Jake Wade Award. This award is given annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of college athletics. Wallace, who retired last year after 36 years as a staff writer with the newspaper, currently is the sports columnist for Bridge, a financial news service based in New York.

David Wrath, the sports information director at Augustana College (Illinois), was named the recipient of the Warren Berg Award. This award is given annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information and who, by his or her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.

Also, three CoSIDA members were inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame: Paul Newman, the associate athletics director at Wright State University; Larry Smith, associate sports information director at Arkansas Tech University; and Doug Vance, assistant athletics director for media relations at the University of Kansas.

Wome in the books

In a growing trend that is both an affirmation of the sport's popularity and a growing concern, women's basketball has established itself as a sport to be wagered upon.

College and WNBA games are now regular features at many Las Vegas sports books. Sports Illustrated recently reported that an estimated $10 million was wagered in Las Vegas on the 2000 Division I Women's Basketball Championship, including $4 million on the final game, making it the most heavily wagered-upon event in women's sports history.

John Harper, an oddsmaker at Las Vegas Sports Consultants, told the magazine that more than half of the 45 casinos for which his company sets betting lines now take bets on Women's Final Four games.

Also on the rise are bets on WNBA games. The WNBA appears in 15 percent of Nevada sports books -- a figure that is reportedly slightly more than that of arena football.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

All-Time GTE Academic All-Americans

School -- No.