by Michael Popke - Athleticbusiness.com

The football program at Peters Township (Pa.) High School is under investigation after the Washington County Children and Youth Services Department received a complaint Wednesday alleging that a "perpetrator is permitting children to play sports with concussions or concussion-like symptoms."

"I don't know if this will rise to our level or not," police chief Harry Fruecht told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, referring to possible criminal charges. "But we at least have to take a look at it."

Taking a look at it has included requesting documents from superintendent Nina Zetty related to a recent district investigation into accusations from parents and staff that first-year high school head football coach Rich Piccinini was interfering with the job of athletic trainers as they treated injured players, including those with brain injuries.

Read more at athleticbusiness.com

by Curtis Eichelberger, bloomberg.com

Men's lacrosse players were the biggest illicit drug users among athletes competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's 23 sanctioned sports, according to a survey by the governing body.

They led all other sports in the use of amphetamines, anabolic steroids, cocaine, marijuana and narcotics, according to the NCAA's quadrennial survey, which included 20,474 responses from athletes for the 2009 school year.

The athletes were asked to voluntarily fill out forms anonymously, then mail them in postage-paid envelopes to a company that scanned them and put the answers into a database. The report offered no comparison with drug use in either the general population or college population as a whole.

Read more at bloomberg.com

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died Thursday, nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah.

Burke, who lived near Whistler in British Columbia, was 29. She was injured Jan. 10 while training at a personal sponsor event at the Park City Mountain resort.

Tests revealed Burke sustained "irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest," according to a statement released by Burke's publicist.

A four-time Winter X Games champion, Burke crashed on the same halfpipe where snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury during a training accident on Dec. 31, 2009.

Burke was the best-known athlete in her sport and will be remembered for the legacy she left for women in freestyle skiing.

Read more at 9wsyr.com

by Michael Popke - athleticbusiness.com

Who says school spirit is dead? Not students at the five Michigan high schools that have made it to the finals of that state's inaugural "Battle of the Fans." Developed by the Michigan High School Athletic Association, the contest seeks to recognize the top student cheering section in the state. Organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, it will reward the section that best exemplifies the positive and festive atmosphere created when students show enthusiasm, unity and sportsmanship while rooting for their school's basketball teams.

"The Student Advisory Council decided to put its primary focus this fall on a sportsmanship campaign that would engage and motivate student cheering sections throughout the state," says Andy Frushour, council advisor and MHSAA's director of brand management. "We're thrilled with the level of participation."

Read more at athleticbusiness.com

by David La Vaque, startribune.com

When veteran referee Jerry McLaughlin skated onto the ice Tuesday night at Thaler Sports Center in Mound, he knew the game would be unlike any he had ever experienced.

McLaughlin and his two officiating partners met before the game with Hutchinson and Mound-Westonka team captains for longer than usual, reminding them they would draw five-minute major penalties for checking from behind, boarding and head contact.

During the game, McLaughlin analyzed open-ice hits more thoroughly, in fractions of a second. He called one penalty for checking from behind, although not exactly the type of headfirst crash into the boards that hurt Jack Jablonski. Hutchinson scored two goals to tie the score, drawing gripes from a Mound-Westonka assistant coach that continued to the postgame handshake between the teams.

Read more at startribune.com

In his first year as president of Alderson-Broaddus College, Rick Creehan is overseeing a transformation of the Philippi, W.Va., campus through the expansion of the school's athletics program. Football, men's and women's lacrosse, women's tennis and men's volleyball will begin play in 2012, and the college intends to add a marching band, a color guard, and cheerleading and dance programs in 2013. Groundbreaking on a new outdoor multisport complex will take place in April, although Creehan says that, as of now, the college has only raised enough money to pay for the turf and lights.

It's the same formula that Creehan followed at Adrian College as executive vice president, working under Jeffrey Docking, that school's like-minded president. Adrian doubled its enrollment and operating budget in six years through the construction of sports and recreation facilities -- the two men had similar successes earlier at Washington & Jefferson College -- and now Docking is moving on to an expansion of the academic program at Adrian while his former colleague toils at the obscure and unheralded A-B.

Read more at athleticbusiness.com

by Rick Reilly, espn.com

I've come to believe in Tim Tebow, but not for what he does on a football field, which is still three parts Dr. Jekyll and two parts Mr. Hyde.

No, I've come to believe in Tim Tebow for what he does off a football field, which is represent the best parts of us, the parts I want to be and so rarely am.

Who among us is this selfless?

Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster's), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts.

Read more at espn.com

by Rick O'Brien, Philadelphia Inquirer

Like many of his classmates, Eric Rutherford knew of West Catholic High's fate before administrators made an official announcement during Friday's assembly.

"I could just tell," said the junior, a 6-foot, 291-pound defensive lineman on the football team. "I never saw the teachers that emotional before. You could tell it wasn't going to be good news."

As had been rumored, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Friday disclosed plans to close West Catholic, a longtime fixture at 45th and Chestnut Streets, in June. St. Hubert, Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast, and Conwell-Egan are also on the soon-to-be-departed list.

Rae'Quan Williams also played football for West Catholic, which won its sixth consecutive Catholic League championship in November and earned the PIAA Class AA state title in 2010.

Read more at philly.com

by David Goricki, The Detroit News

Grosse Pointe Woods-- Wayne Gigante felt Grosse Pointe University Liggett's girls' basketball team had an outstanding chance of winning the Class C state championship this year.

Now, Liggett will have to do it without him.

Gigante resigned as head coach Tuesday because of what he termed "extreme parental interference."

Liggett finished 25-2 last season, losing to St. Ignace, 65-54, in the state title game. The team returned the majority of its players, including Michigan-bound point guard Madison Ristovski; her younger sister, Haleigh, who also has been offered Division 1 scholarships; and sophomore Bre'nae Andrews. The Ristovski's sister, Lola, a freshman, also is a key contributor on the team.

Read more at thedetroitnews.com

via cortland.edu

Not many 18-year-olds can raise charity money by selling the naming rights of their backyard hockey rink to a national restaurant chain.

Then again, first-year SUNY Cortland student Nicholas Penberthy isn't like many other college students.

While growing up in snowy East Amherst, N.Y., Penberthy played ice hockey on his backyard rink, developing a passion for the sport matched only by his desire to help others.

His family's house, situated at the end of a cul-de-sac in suburban Buffalo, became a winter hot spot for neighborhood friends because of its skating surface. So in 2009, Penberthy created the Backyard Classic, a tournament that has raised more than $10,000 for young hockey players from low-income families.

Read more at cortland.edu