AP News, January 22nd, 2007
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer will make his acting debut on Feb. 3, but he will be heard and not seen.
Palmer will play himself in the Disney Channel's animated series, "The Replacements," which will air the night before the Super Bowl.
"I am very thankful that Disney afforded me this great opportunity, and I am now a big fan of the show," Palmer said.
Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner who played for Southern California, was the first overall pick by the Bengals in the 2003 NFL draft. He'll play in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Feb. 10.
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CHICAGO (AP) _ The Chicago Bears won a championship and earned a Governor's proclamation.
On Monday, a day after the Bears beat the New Orleans Saints 39-14 in the NFC championship game, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a proclamation declaring it Chicago Bears NFC Champions Day in Illinois.
"Coach Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears scored an extraordinary victory last night," Blagojevich said in a statement. "I wish to congratulate them for their hard work and dedication, and for representing the best of Illinois during the season."
On Feb. 4, the Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl in Miami. The Colts beat the New England Patriots 38-34 in Sunday's AFC Championship game.
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NEW YORK (AP) _ Alan Webb tuned up for the 100th Millrose Games with a recent indoor personal best.
He'll focus on the Wanamaker Mile on Feb. 2 at the Madison Square Garden, after competing in the mile at the Boston Indoor Games this weekend.
"I'm feeling pretty good," Webb said Monday at a luncheon. "I'm not peaking right now, so I don't know if I have a world record in me. Things are moving in the right direction."
The 24-year-old Webb won the mile in 3 minutes, 56.70 seconds at the New Balance Games at the Armory on Saturday, the sixth anniversary of his landmark sub 4-minute mile.
He'll join a Wanamaker field that includes defending champion Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram, the 2005 world championships bronze medalist at 5,000 meters.
In his only previous Millrose appearance in 2005, Webb finished third in 4:00.91. Lagat won the race, breaking the Wanamaker Mile record in 3:52.87.
"I don't think I can run away from those guys," Webb said of the competition on the small, tight track where passing is difficult. "I'm going to have to dig up something special.
"(Bernard) has got both _ he's got the kick and he can go from the front. It's going to be exciting."
The Boston Indoor Games will be shown tape-delayed Sunday on ESPN2, USA Track & Field announced Monday. The Millrose Games will be shown with live and tape-delayed coverage Feb. 2 on ESPN2 and the next day on NBC.
It's part of a combined nine indoor and outdoor championship series events that will be shown on ESPN2, CBS and NBC. Additional coverage of the World Indoor Championships will be on Versus, along with the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships on ESPN and CBS.
Webb became the first American prep runner to break the 4-minute mark for the indoor mile at the New Balance Games in 2001, as a senior from South Lakes High School in Reston, Va. Webb finished in 3:59.86 to top the scholastic indoor mark of 4:02.70, set by Thom Hunt in 1976.
He also broke Jim Ryun's school-age mile record in the mile in 2001.
"I feel good because I'm running within myself, I'm not extending," Webb said. "I'm letting the races dictate themselves. That way, I'm not thinking about times. I'm thinking about competing and trying to win races."
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NEW YORK (AP) _ Billy Joel will sing the National Anthem during the Super Bowl pregame show Feb. 4 on CBS.
The Grammy-Award winner, who performed at the 1989 Super Bowl, will be the first to perform the song at two Super Bowls, the NFL announced Monday.
The Super Bowl between Chicago and Indianapolis will be played at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) _ Bob Knight hasn't mellowed since passing Dean Smith as the winningest coach in Division I men's basketball when it comes to dealing with the media.
During the weekly Big 12 coaches' conference call on Monday, the Texas Tech coach sparred with each of his questioners.
The sideline chin lift to get a player's attention during an early season victory over Gardner-Webb was "a situation" created by the media, he said.
Knight responded to the next question, about the historical impact of the 3-point shot, with a curt reply.
He then deflected a question about his role as a reference for Kansas State coach Bob Huggins. He called it a private conversation _ if it even happened _ with Wildcats' athletic director Tim Weiser.
"Who I talk to and who I don't talk to privately is just what it is," he said. "I don't talk about phone conversations."
A follow-up question about the limited playing time of junior forward Darryl Dora was the apparent last straw: The phone line went dead on Knight's end.
The offending question: "What's it like to be in your doghouse?"
The assembled media had plenty of time to ponder that query, with Knight dropping off just three minutes into his scheduled 10-minute time slot.
Knight moved past Smith, the former North Carolina coach, with a home victory over New Mexico on Jan. 1. Knight has since added three wins for a career record of 883-355 in 41 years at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech (14-5, 3-1).
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SALZBURG, Austria (AP) _ Former ski great Franz Klammer will lead Salzburg's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics after the campaign chief resigned because of illness.
The 1976 Olympic downhill champion takes over from Fedor Radmann, who stepped down Monday with unspecified health problems less than six months before the IOC votes on the host city in Guatemala City on July 4.
Salzburg is competing against two other finalists _ Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Sochi, Russia.
Klammer dominated downhill racing throughout the 1970s, winning gold at the 1976 Games in Innsbruck _ the last Olympics held in Austria.
Radmann is the second bid chairman to resign. Toni Schutti quit last March.
