The Michigan University, in the wake of a veteran’s paralyzed group suing them for lack of facilities to the disabled people, has decided to improve the wheel chair accessibility in the nation’s biggest football stadium. A deal was signed by the US District Judge Sean Cox that the school will provide all the facilities in an attempt to avoid a trial. This season will see an addition of 96 accessible seats along with companion seats at the eastern side of the stadium. By the start of 2010 season, 329 accessible and companion seats as well as seats in the student section will be made available.

The agreement signed by the district judge says that the court will oversee the facilities provided by the University for a period of 5 years. The disabled fans will be able to watch the football games at the Michigan stadium in the same manner as the other fans and they will also be able to enjoy themselves, as per the attorney of the Paralyzed Veterans of Michigan State. The university also has plans to work with architects in order to improve wheelchair accessibility of restrooms, parking lots and access routes. The stadium earlier had a separate enclosure of 90 seats for the disabled people but the school is planning to have these seats distributed throughout the stadium.

Jim Leavitt, the South Florida coach, has signed a new contract that extends his contract as a coach for the Bulls till 2014. Jim has been coaching the South Florida team for the past 11 years and the glorifying moment of his coaching the bulls came in the 2007 season when his team reached the number two position of the nation and also made an appearance in the Sun Bowl for the first time in the history of the school. The athletic director of the South Florida team, Doug Woolard, said that his achievement in beginning and developing a football program that is nationally accepted talks about his abilities as a coach.

Jim Leavitt’s new contract will overfill his pocket $1.5 extra million next season and it will be an increase in pay since his last contract in 2006 that pays him $ 1 million every season for seven years. It is reported that Jim is to receive a payout of $12.6 million for the next seven seasons. Jim Leavitt in his 11 seasons as coach of the South Florida team has a record of 79 – 47 and the last year was a successful year for the coach as his team had 9 – 4 result.

Andy Christensen, the Nebraska offensive lineman, was accused of sexually exploiting a woman in a bar and has been put behind the bars for the same. The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday at the brass rail bar. A 23 year old woman has alleged that Andy had approached her from behind and put his hand underneath her clothing. The woman told what has happened to the police and Andy was arrested outside the bar. The charges that were framed against Andy Christensen are first degree sexual assault on a woman, failure to comply with the police officers and resisting the arrest, according to the Police Captain Joseph Wright.

The policeman Wright said that it was unclear whether Andy was under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred and said that all the formal charges will be framed on Monday as the prosecutors are yet to decide on the type of the charges to be levied on him. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is totally upset at what has happened and has suspended the junior player from his team. He said that he will review the suspension order when more things come to light about the incident and said that this type of unruly behavior is not what he warranted from his offensive linebacker.

Defensive back player, Carlos Thompson has lost his place in the South Carolina’s football team. The player was suspended indefinably by team coach Steve Spurrier. The coach hinted that the suspension was due to breaking of team’s rules. No exact reason was given for the suspension and even the head coach did not elaborate on why he meted the suspension. Last year Thomson played as cornerback. He started 6 games out of a total of 20 appearances in the last three seasons with the school team. He made about 17 tackles and broke up six passes.

The player weighs 192 pounds and is 5-ii inches. He was with College park before joining the South Carolina. In a related development, coach for Penn University’s football, Joe Paterno has suspended the defensive tackle player Phil Taylor. Phil was recently charged with serious assault and disorderly conduct. The police accuse Taylor as well as Chris Baker and Bowman Navorro for beating up a fan. Baker, Navorro ware able to lock de bolt your car. The culprits have been charged and a preliminary hearing is to be held in the university on March 11th.

The University of Connecticut and its head coach, Randy Edsall, have mutually agreed to extend the contract of the coach for another five years running upto the 2012 season. The contract comes into effect from January 1, 2008 and Edsall will be provided with a base salary of $275,000 with an increase of $25,000 every year through the length of the contract. Edsall will also be receiving an additional amount, if the University of Connecticut reaches the bowl game. Edsall has been responsible for the Huskies to have an overall 9 - 4 wins with 5 - 2 in the Big East and also coached them to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

The Connecticut Athletic Director, Jeff Hathaway, said that Coach Edsall has been given the task of leading the University of Connecticut team into the Bowl Championship Series Conference and says that the coach will live up to his expectations. Edsall has been the head coach of the University of Connecticut for the last nine seasons and the team has a record of 39-25 results in their last 64 games. Edsall said that he was happy to have extended his contract to coach the University of Connecticut and would like to see his players perform consistently. He acknowledged the fact that he needs to put in a lot of efforts to drive the players to achieve the goals set forth in the football program.

Three senior Michigan state players and a junior player have accepted the invitation to play in the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine to be held from 20th to 26th of February at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The running back Michigan State player Jehuu Caulcrick, safety Nehemiah Warrick and tight end Kellen Davis along with Devin Thomas, the junior wide receiver, are the Spartan players who will play in the 2008 Scouting Combine.

Jehuu Caulcrick who owns a school record of rushing for 872 yards and 21 touch downs in 2007 is well known for his powerful running. Caulcrick is ranked 8th in the league for his rushing and he is virtually unstoppable when he is in full flow. The tight end Kellen Davis, a 6-6, 246 pound man, is a well known Spartan player who has a career record of 513 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns, and 32 receptions in 2007 season, of which 18 out of the 32 catches coming in the last five games he has played. He can be utilized as a possession receiver as well as a play maker. Devin Thomas was ranked as the fifth best receiver in the 2008 NFL Draft and is selected in the 32 prospects by Scouts, Inc.

The Detroit Lions are in their 75th year into the NFL season and have planned to celebrate their achievement in style by honoring the lions who wore the shirt number 75 for their games. The former players John Gordy, Lomas Brown and Jim Yarbrough as well as the current 75 player Shaun Cody will be honored as chairmen for the Lions’ annual golf outing, Detroit Lions Invitational that raises funds for the Detroit Lions Charities. The event will be taking place at the TPC Michigan in Dearborn on the 3rd of June 2008.

John Gordy was the right guard star for the Lions for 10 years from 1957 and 1959 to 67 and was awarded Pro Bowl status thrice during his tenure for the Lions. Jim Yarbrough burst into the Detroit side in 1969 and played nine seasons for the Lions. Lomas Brown was a starting left tackle player for the Detroit lions from 1985-95 and was a seven time Pro Bowl standout for the Lions. The current player who is playing for the Lions with the 75 number shirt is Shaun Cody who is a defensive tackle. He is in the side since 2005 and is a very important man in the Detroit Lions unit.

Receiver Chad Johnson from Cincinnati Bengals is being eyed by the Washington Redskins for trading.  Based on a report from the Washington Post, The Redskins are interested in going after Johnson, saying he would be a help to the team.  Daniel Snyder, owner of Redskins, said that he had been wanting to have an excellent receiver in the team, and Johnson was actually at the top of his list.  Some reports said that Johnson was also happy to sign a new big contract from Washington.

The Bengals announced they did not want to trade Johnson, but Johnson’s own agent Drew Rosenhaus had been quietly working to push through with the trade.  The former Bengals receiver has caught more than 87 passes in each of the previous five seasons.  However, he has also had conflicts with coaches and other people because of the way he played.

The Washington Post remarks that it most probably would take a low first-round pick and a third-round pick and maybe even two second-round picks to get Johnson.  But according to a coaching candidate, Snyder made it really clear that Johnson was his number one choice.  Whether Johnson gets traded over to the Redskins or not is another thing to watch out for.

The Hurricanes are slated to play their first game at the new Dolphin Stadium against the Charleston Southern, a team that plays in the football championship subdivision. The Miami Hurricanes have signed a 25 year lease agreement for playing at the new Dolphin Stadium and the entire team are looking forward to have a wonderful home season in this new stadium which is also home to  the NFL’s Miami Dolphins as well as Florida Marlin’s, a major league baseball team. Miami has left the Orange Bowl that has been their home for seven decades as the historic stadium is in a decaying state.  The shift from the historic Orange Bowl to the new Dolphin stadium will fetch Miami an additional revenue of more than $ 2 million annually and the team is also expected to get a new corporate sponsor by the year 2010. The Dolphin Stadium is undergoing a major changeover that is worth $ 300 million and the organizers are working overtime to get the stadium up and running for Miami’s opening game on the 30^th of August 2008. The Miami fans are hoping that this shift to the new stadium will bring more victories and championships to the team.

The Georgia Legislature voted to recommend NCAA to adopt the playoff for the major college football. Some oppose this rule as Georgia Bulldogs weren’t picked up for the Series title game of Bowl Championship Series, which further divide the NCAA Division I Bowl the national champions as Division I-A. On 1st February, out of 60 votes 51 were given for the NCAA while there were only 9 votes against it; which resulted in the opposing reaction of state law makers who called Bowl Championship Series BCS polling system “dysfunctional. So they claim that fans deserve a national championship not a popularity poll, they should develop a playoff system and gives a chance to the teams to play in fields. The bill said it’s a great disappointment of college football in 2007 that BCS is now accused of dysfunctional. BCS should not select teams on the basis of politics, mathematical computation or television and corporate influence which do not represent the true spirit of the national championships of football. The college football has major fan following which does not allow them to take these serious steps against the will of NCAA, although the politician love this game who have voted against the petition but still NCAA will not compromise on that.