ESPN's College Game Day to visit HBCU for first time
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jrpii/u. IU 1Mb CHRONICLE
Florida A&M University and the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
(MEAC) announced Monday that
ESPN's award-winning College
Football GameDay, the two-hour live
broadcast which proceeds the net
work's varied weekly televised games,
will air live from the Florida A&M
University campus Saturday, beginning
at 10 a.m.
The broadcast is the first on a his
torically black college or university
campus (HBCU) and precedes the
Rattlers and Hampton Pirates MEAC
matchup scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m.
Saturday's broadcast is also the first
appearance by the crew at a NCAA D
I FCS campus this season.
"We are pleased that ESPN will
host College GameDay presented by
Home Depot on one of our prestigious
MEAC campuses, Florida A&M
University," said Commissioner
Dennis Thomas. "This broadcast
underlines endless efforts by the
MEAC to promote the 12 outstanding
institutions, coaches and student-ath
letes on a national platform. We are
extremely pleased with our on-going
partnership with ESPN and their con
tinued commitment to diverse pro
gramming."
Saturday's broadcast will take place
at the FAMU quadrangle with the main
set located in front of the Coleman
Library with the Lee Hall
Administration Building as the signa
ture backdrop of the set.
"It is an honor to be the first histor
ically black university to host ESPN's
College GameDay," said FAMU
President James H. Ammons. "This
historical broadcast will provide ESPN
viewers with a great opportunity to
become familiar with the many aca
demic and athletic accomplishments
that FAMU has accumulated over its
121 year of history. We look forward to
having ESPN on our beautiful campus
as we take on the Hampton Pirates."
The GameDay crew will feature
veteran anchor Chris Fowler, along
with Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and
Desmond Howard. The broadcast will
preview all the day's top college
games, highlight key football personal
ities and close with predictions of
selected top nationally ranked
matchups.
The Florida A&M University cam
pus and the City of Tallahassee will be
highlighted throughout show and will
include various segments on the uni
versity's landmarks, rich history in
education and athletics and campus
atmosphere. The world famous FAMU
"Marching 100" Band, under the direc
tion of Dr. Julian White will also
appear during the broadcast, along with
cheerleaders, student body and fans.
The Rattlers enter the game with a
7-3 overall record and 3-3 mark in con
ference play. FAMU defeated North
Carolina A&T 45-7 in their last out
ing. After leading the conference
throughout most of the early part of the
season, the Hampton Pirates are 5-4
overall and 4-2 in the MEAC. They
have, dropped their last three games
including a 17-6 defeat to Bethune
Cookman in their last game.
ESPN and the MEAC are in year
four of a seven-year agreement. The
agreement highlights MEAC sports
each , year including football, men 's and
women's basketball, Softball, baseball,
volleyball, and bowling. In addition to
the annual televised contests, the
MEAC and ESPN have partnered
together to host the MEAC-SWAC
Challenge.
File photo
Hampton (Pirate running back Kevin Beverly) and FAMU
will be showcased on ESPN's GameDay on Saturday.
Photos by Charlie PfafF
WFMY-TV's Greg Kerr and WXlI's Craig Thomas
advanced to the final round.
Kerr wins field goal contest
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Greg Kerr, the sports director at WFMY-TV in Greensboro nailed a 30-yard
field goal and Craig Thomas of WXII-TV missed from the same distance last
Friday in the finals of the Allstate Media Field Goal Contest held at BB&T
Field.
Kerr nailed all three of his field goal attempts, from 20, 25 and 30 yards, on
his first try. Participants were given two attempts at each distance with the yard
line moving further away from the goal posts each time.
A total of 10 media members from the Triad participated in the contest. For
his winning kick, Kerr will receive a $500 check to be donated to his favorite
charity. Each of the other nine media members will receive $250 checks to go
to the charity of their choice.
The participants competing with Kerr and Thomas included Dave Goren and
Jeff Amernick of WXII, Alan York of ISP Sports, Anthony Hill of the Winston
Salem Chronicle, John Dell of the Winston-Salem Journal, Cabell Philpott of 790
The Ball, Jeff Tiberii of WFDD and Brian Westerholt of Sports On Film.
Among the charities that will benefit from Allstate 's donation are the Susan
G. Komen Foundation, The United Way, the Make- A- Wish Foundation, St. Leo's
Catholic School, WFDD, the Crisis Control Ministry, and the Malachi House.
York, Hill, Goren, and Westerholt all advanced into the second round with
Thomas and Kerr the only kickers to reach the third and final round.
Wake Forest is one of 65 schools from around the country that are partici
pating in the Allstate "GoodHands" Field Goal Net program. The program is
unique because it rewards the on-field performance of its partner teams by ear
marking money to the schools' general scholarship funds for each field ($300)
and extra point ($100) successfully converted by the home team at each home
game.
In 2007, Allstate 's 61 partner schools kicked a total of 476 field goals and
1 ,276 extra points at home games, generating a cumulative donation of $290,400
divided among their general scholarship funds.
Kerr nails a 30-yard field goal to win.
Carlette "The Truth" Ewell is ready to defend her titles. Here, she delivers a victious right
cross during an earlier bout.
Ewell
from page BI
more running, and it was very intense. We
worked extremely hard for this one."
Trainer Eddie Gregg added: "This was a
gut fight for Carlette. We had to lose about
six pounds before the fight. She didn't have
the energy that she might've had heading
into this fight. But she had enough heart and
desire. She wanted this win bad. And, she
was willing to work hard enough to get it."
All of the hard work seemingly paid off
as Ewell (13-7, 10 KOs) was able to leave
the Dutch side of the Virgin Islands with two
cruiser weight titles after defeating O'Neil
by unanimous decision on Nov. 1 in the L.B.
Scott Auditorium. Ewell already held the
UBC Cruiser Weight championship belt.
Ewell was able to get the best of O'Neil
by attacking the body for most of the fight.
Ewell's best rounds were the first, second
and ninth ? as well as a late flurry in the
final round.
"She definitely fought hard in the last
round," said Gregg. "I told her that it was all
or nothing. I wanted her to leave everything
in the ring."
Ewell's win wasn't easy
Gregg was a little worried after O'Neil
seemed to turn up the pace in the middle of
the bout. O'Neil was able to connect with
some powerful punches in the fifth and sixth
rounds.
"I was a little worried," Gregg said. "I
knew that Carlette was a little winded at that
time. I was a little upset with that. But I
knew that Carlette had the desire to finish
strong. And, she did. She fought hard."
Ewell added: "I had to go the distance.
So I started to attack the body. I know that
I'm a good inside fighter. So I looked to the
body. I had her screaming when I started to
attack her body. She was screaming loud. I
knew that I was gonna get her."
Midway through the final round Ewell
began to hear the crowd chant, "U.S.A."
That motivated her to put the final touches
on the special win.
"I can't tell you how I was feeling when
I heard the crowd start to chant," Ewell said.
"That motivated me to push forward. I gave
it everything that I had in the final round."
Ewell is very excited about her latest vic
tory. But she's still got her mind on taking
another step forward. She's even got anoth
er fight planned for March.
"I'm ecstatic about the win," Ewell said.
"It feels marvelous right now, especially
after the hard work. We're already working
on my next fight. I'm going to defend my
titles. The only thing bigger than my belts
are the WBA and WBC. I want to get those
in March."
Gregg added: "We've got quite a few
things we would like to do. We want to get
Carlette in the Thanksgiving Day parade.
She has some speaking engagements coming
up. Carlette is also going to defend her title
on March 5. We've got a lot of things in
store. We just want to continue to do things
around the city. I told her that she's going to
be more popular than Chris Paul."
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