Sosnowski scholarship announced by YSU

Sosnowski scholarship announced by YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and YSU Foundation are proud to announce the creation of the Melanie and Maggie Sosnowski Memorial Scholarship as part of the increasing University Scholarship Endowment Fund.

The scholarship will be awarded for the first time for the 2014-15 academic year to a female YSU student-athlete with preference given to athletes from Mahoning County with a 2.7 grade-point average or above.

The endowment was created to provide financial support to those in need in the Mahoning Valley and to honor the lives of Melanie A. and Maggie A. Sosnowski, two heart-felt individuals who took pride in the community.

For more information or to endow an athletic scholarship at Youngstown State University, contact the YSU Foundation at (330) 941-3211 or pmcfadden@ysufoundation.org.

Metal detectors at big league ballparks by ’15

NEW YORK

Entering a big league ballpark will be a bit like going through an airport by 2015. Major League Baseball has told its 30 teams they must implement security screening for fans by then, either with hand-held metal detection or walk-through magnetometers.

“This procedure, which results from MLB’s continuing work with the Department of Homeland Security to standardize security practices across the game, will be in addition to bag checks that are now uniform throughout MLB,” baseball spokesman Michael Teevan said Tuesday.

Notre Dame switches to Under Armour

SOUTH BEND, Ind.

Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin Plank recalls sleeping in the visiting locker room at Notre Dame Stadium in 1997, invited to the game by Georgia Tech staff and forced to bunker down because he didn’t have a hotel room. Back then, his company was about a year old and he was excited to see the Yellow Jackets take the field in Under Armour apparel.

On Tuesday, Plank was back in South Bend to announce a 10-year apparel deal with the Fighting Irish that Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick described as the largest deal of its kind in the history of college athletics. Swarbrick wouldn’t disclose terms.

Adidas, which began providing shoes to Notre Dame in 1997, issued a statement saying it would no longer partner with Notre Dame after the 2013-14 season.

AP source: Players wanted A-Rod booted

NEW YORK

Several angry major league players wanted Alex Rodriguez kicked out of their union after he sued it last week, but staff lawyers told them expulsion was not allowed. The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrator’s decision suspending him for the 2014 season and postseason.

Details were first reported Tuesday by Yahoo Sports and later confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the call. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized. The union and Rodriguez spokesman Ron Berkowitz declined comment.

$1 billion offered for perfect NCAA bracket

DETROIT

Correctly predicting the outcome of every game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is no layup. There’s now a $1 billion prize waiting for anyone able to pull off the feat this spring. Quicken Loans Inc. announced Tuesday that it will team with investor Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway on the “Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge.”

The Detroit-based mortgage lender says any qualified entrant who correctly predicts the winners of every game in the tournament will be paid in 40 annual installments of $25 million. A winner also can elect to receive an immediate $500 million lump-sum payment or share in that payment if there’s more than one perfect bracket submitted.

Staff reports/Associated Press