College Football
Frazier finally gets his call to the College Hall of Fame
NEW YORK – Tommie Frazier waited a couple of years longer than many Nebraska fans felt was appropriate to get into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Being snubbed didn’t bother Touchdown Tommie. He’s just glad the call finally came and that so many appreciated his play.
Frazier is one of 12 former players who were inducted by the National Football Foundation in the College Hall of Fame on Tuesday night in New York.
Also among the inductees were Heisman Trophy winners Ron Dayne, Vinny Testaverde and Danny Wuerffel and former coaches Wayne Hardin of Temple and Navy and Bill McCartney of Colorado.
Frazier guided the Cornhuskers to back-to-back national championships in 1994 and ’95, then played a year in the Canadian Football League. He was selected for Hall of Fame induction in the third year he was eligible.
The rest of the Hall of Fame class included: Ted Brown of North Carolina State; Tedy Bruschi of Arizona; Jerry Gray of Texas; Steve Meilinger of Kentucky; Orlando Pace of Ohio State; the late Rod Shoate of Oklahoma; Percy Snow of Michigan State; Don Trull of Baylor.
Donald, McCarron, Narduzzi win end-of-season awards
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald won the Bronko Nagurski award given to the nation’s top college defensive player.
The 6-foot, 285-pound Donald averaged 2.2 tackles for loss per game while ranking 10th in forced fumbles and 13th in sacks per game.
BALTIMORE – Alabama’s AJ McCarron won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the top senior quarterback in college football.
McCarron completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,676 yards and 26 touchdowns for the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide (11-1).
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The defensive coordinator for fourth-ranked Michigan State won the Broyles Award, given annually to college football’s top assistant coach.
Pat Narduzzi structured the Spartans’ defense, lifting the team to a 12-1 record and a spot in the Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford.
MLB
Trumbo winds up in Arizona after a three-team trade
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The winter meetings got busy Tuesday with a three-team trade that sent slugger Mark Trumbo to Arizona, and Oakland dealt pitcher Brett Anderson to Colorado.
Halfway through the four-day swap session, the 15-foot-wide dais at the Dolphin Hotel near Walt Disney World has been used for three announcements involving player transactions – triple the total of last year’s inert meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
In the big deal of the day, the Chicago White Sox acquired outfielder Adam Eaton from Arizona for left-hander Hector Santiago, and the Diamondbacks then sent Santiago and left-hander Tyler Skaggs to the Angels for Trumbo. Arizona also will receive a player to be named or cash from each of the other teams.
Oakland GM Billy Beane has made four trades in a nine-day span, also acquiring closer Jim Johnson from Baltimore, reliever Luke Gregerson from San Diego and outfielder Craig Gentry from Texas.
WNBA
Sun shines on Connecticut with the No. 1 lottery pick
SECAUCUS, N.J. – The Connecticut Sun won the top pick in the WNBA draft lottery Tuesday.
The Tulsa Shock earned the second pick, with the San Antonio Silver Stars getting the third choice and the New York Liberty the fourth pick.
Connecticut, which finished last in the Eastern Conference last season, had a 44-percent chance of winning the top pick. New York and Tulsa each had a 23-percent chance, and San Antonio had a 10-percent chance.
The rest of the first-round selections are: Indiana, Washington, Seattle, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, Los Angeles and Minnesota.
Associated Press
