LAS VEGAS – The Las Vegas Bowl has a new sponsor, Maaco Inc., and will be played Dec. 22.
Bowl executive Tina Kunzer-Murphy on Tuesday announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with the King of Prussia, Penn.-based auto repair chain.
Kunzer-Murphy says Christmas scheduling is pushing the 18th annual game to a Tuesday for the first time since 2001. The event is owned by ESPN Regional Television. It will be broadcast by ESPN.
Plans call for the champion or first selection from the Mountain West Conference to play the fourth or fifth selection from the Pac-10 Conference.
Arizona beat BYU last year, 31-21, before more than 40,000 fans at Sam Boyd Stadium last Dec. 20 in a game sponsored by Pioneer Electronics.
Missouri rapped in death
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri officials failed to follow policies for medical emergencies when freshman linebacker Aaron O’Neal collapsed and later died during a 2005 summer workout, according to legal documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The university agreed in March to pay $2 million to O’Neal’s parents to settle a lawsuit. But the sworn testimony of several key university employees who supervised the workout show a series of missteps.
Athletic department employees also showed an unfamiliarity with potential exercise-induced complications caused by sickle cell trait despite NCAA, school and professional association requirements. O’Neal carried the inherited blood disorder that affects an estimated 8 percent to 10 percent of African-Americans.
The school’s strength and conditioning director, who supervised the workout, testified he lacked the necessary professional certification to be hired.
And the athletic department’s sports medicine director rejected requests from concerned colleagues and players to examine the 19-year-old reserve linebacker even after he exhibited signs of medical distress, legal documents show.
Deposition transcripts were provided to the AP by a person close to the lawsuit who requested anonymity because of the case’s sensitive nature.O’Neal’s death has loomed large over a Missouri football program that under coach Gary Pinkel vaulted into the nation.