To be fair, Colonels fans are having trouble deciding if the new and improved school mascot looks more like a Nazi or a Communist. But it does seem clear that his aim is to smash liberty and put American slaves under the heel of his jackboot. I guess that does make him just a smidge more fearsome than a former governor of Louisiana who merely wanted blacks to know their place.

The school actually paid someone $30,000 to create this updated "Colonel Tillou" mascot and bring Nicholls State squarely into the 1930s. (Behold the power of focus groups.) They dropped the previous white-bearded, gray-suited Confederate in 2004 after the NAACP pointed out that slavery was wrong. Fortunately, there aren't many pro-Cossack organizations in Louisiana so the New Tillou might be here for awhile.

At least they didn't go with what many of the students wanted—the nutria, an invasive, semi-aquatic rodent. Unless maybe the rodent wanted to invade Poland?

New ‘Tillou' has detractors, supporters [Thibodaux Daily Comet]
New Nicholls mascot has many alumni up in arms [New Orleans Times-Picayune]

The New York Times has the sob stories of several college athletes who suffered severe, sometimes debilitating injuries, but then got stuck with the medical bills, because the school that recruited them to compete on their behalf wouldn't cover it. As you might imagine, it's the small, financially challenged schools—where athletes probably don't have full rides to begin with—that suffer the most. You could get a head transplant at Michigan State (probably from a med student, but still), whereas at Wisconsin's smaller D-III campus you're lucky to get Band-Aids.

In typical NCAA fashion, they have mandated that colleges insure all their athletes, but didn't bother to set guidelines for how much coverage they need—or give them money to do it. So most budget-strapped schools have opted for very little coverage. Power conferences, with huge TV contracts, do a pretty good job. The rest don't.

Spalding University, in Louisville, Ky., also pays for secondary coverage for athletes. "These young men and young women are representing your institution," said Charlie Just, the compliance director there. "Ethically, I think it's the right thing to do."

Well, that's nice. Of course, Spalding is a private school with no contact sports so ethics don't cost them a lot of money. Didn't Obama fix this already?

With Insufficient Insurance, Injured Athletes Add Medical Bills to College Debt [NY Times]

The indictment alleges that the two businessmen from the Detroit Metro area wagered over $400,000 on basketball games in which the point-shaving may have occurred. The athletes involved are point guard Keith Triplett, forward Anton Currie, guard Kashif Payne, and running backs Adam Cuomo, Harvey McDougle, and Quinton Broussard. The investigation actually dates back to 2007, when McDougle and a mysterious gambler named "Gary" were first accused of point shaving, but those charges were eventually dropped ... until now. (McDougle was originally accused of helping to recruit other players to the scheme.) I guess the Feds are nothing if not persistent.

The two Michigan men ("Gary" is one of them) are also accused of trying to fix horse races, but found that it is much more difficult to convince a horse to take a dive.

Today's charges shine a light into the dark corner of illegal sports book-making and reveal the unfortunate consequences that the influence of money from betting can have on the integrity of both athletes and athletic contests," U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said in a statement.

I know I'll never bet on Toledo athletics ... again? It's really hard to believe that a Rocket would be involved in any sort of rule breaking. The Free Press has the full indictment if you're into that freaky legal stuff.

Sports bribery charged in University of Toledo scandal [Detroit Free Press]
Eight indicted in Toledo point-shaving scandal [Sporting News]
Eight indicted for alleged roles in Toledo point-shaving ring [USA Today]

Here are four of the six candidates — there's also a bird and a dog — from which to choose in the poll at the Red Storm athletic site. The winner will replace Thunder, who was humanely destroyed in the recent past; himself replacing the Red Tuxedo Guy, and before that Chief Blackjack, who reigned until they switched over from the Redmen to the Red Storm in 1994. Anyone I'm missing?

Clearly what's needed here is an unofficial student mascot, as seen to hilarious effect at Dartmouth. Get on that, kids.

Perhaps they should just let Lance Stephenson pick the mascot.

St. John's Mascot Search [Red Storm Sports]

It's your move, Raiders, Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Pirates; but the recent incident off the coast of Somalia, in which a U.S. warship tricked the pirates into letting them reel in their boat before shooting them, should serve notice that committing grand larceny on the high seas is no longer cool. Pirates used to have panache; one could identify with them, even root for them, and many of them even had a code of ethics (see: Dread Pirate Roberts). But recent events have popped that iconic bubble; it's a new century. As Jerry Seinfeld said in The Puffy Shirt, "But I don't wanna be a pirate!"

Anyway, I saw this over at Every Day Should Be Saturday, which doesn't know who the original artist is. Whoever you are, nicely done, matey.

Update: Logo is from New Raleigh. Be sure to read their comments section.

New ECU Logo For This Century [EDSBS]

That means no more U. of Houston, Rice or Texas Southern coverage from local writers in the hometown paper. And presumably no mentions of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, SMU .... Fortunately, people in Texas don't really take college sports that seriously. Oh, and 12% of the paper's employees (sports and non-sports) are out of jobs.

Yeah, this economy thing sucks.

Rumors: Houston Chronicle Cuts Houston Writers [Fourth And Fifty]

Take Stanford, for instance. Winners of the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup for 14 years running — the award given to the best overall sports program in the country — the university is talking about slashing $5 million from its sports programs over the next three years. That could mean letting coaches go, and if things don't improve, even cutting loose some entire programs. From the San Jose Mercury:

Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby told a gathering of department employees that cutting sports and coaches would come only as a last resort, Cardinal squash coach Mark Talbott said. Bowlsby and the department's budget director discussed cutting travel squads and charging for parking at football games as possible solutions to budget shortfalls.

Welcome to the recession.

Other schools have taken more drastic measures. Last week, Division II Western Washington announced it was dropping football altogether. Even big-time sports schools aren't immune. Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said athletics director Gene Smith talked with the staff in December about upcoming cuts.

"We have to tighten our belts just like everyone else's in the midst of tightening theirs," Tressel said at the American Football Coaches Association in Nashville, Tenn. San Jose State coach and new AFCA president Dick Tomey already is cutting back. "It's a matter of not staying all night and trying to get back late or staying at somebody's house when you recruit," Tomey said. "It's just trying to do a lot of the things a lot of us started out in coaching, trying to save money a lot of different ways."

If you see Dallas Lauderdale hitchhiking to Bloomington next week, please give him a lift.

Of course at some schools, the big sports could be doing a better job of helping the little ones. Take our Cardinal, for instance. Attendance at Stanford's newly-refurbished football stadium has dropped steadily since it was constructed in 2006; until, this past season, it dropped below that of its final year before the new place was built.

Ray Ratto, of CBS Sports and the San Francisco Chronicle:

In other words, the problem was more than the old stadium, and more than the bad results. The problem is systemic, is going to get worse as the economy goes through its gyrations, and, in time, staff reductions will become sport reductions.

You could be seeing a change in the landscape of college football before you know it, said Skip Sauer of The Sports Economist.

"College budget cuts in the near future are going to be enormous," he said. "A lot of us have this fanatsy that sports is different, but that's just false. Sports is not immune. Every day jobs are being eliminated in colleges, and you're going to see changes in the sports landscape very quickly.

"I don't see Stanford football going away anytime soon. But you never know what could happen; things change. Brown once played in the Rose Bowl, for heaven's sake."

Stanford Football Isn't Pulling Its Own Weight [San Francisco Chronicle]
Stanford Exploring How To Trim Athletics Budget Without Trimming Sports [San Jose Mercury]
NCAA, Colleges Looking To Cut Costs [Pittsburgh Live]

In a move that leaves every person who has ever been to a Cracker Barrel aghast, two people made off with $158 in merchandise from the old country store yet left behind the wheels of cheese, butter churns, and large checker board pieces that you played on a quilt. Instead they filched North Carolina (mostly) and Duke merchandise. Yep, this combines ESPN's favorite rivalry with Mike Patrick's favorite down home cooking.

They took a UNC Tar Heels water pitcher that sells for $29.99, a Tar Heel cookie jar worth $39.99, a UNC T-shirt ($19.99), a Carolina clock ($29.99) and a UNC platter and soft basketball ($24.98), according to an affidavit. The Tysingers are also accused of stealing a set of Duke beverage coasters valued at $12.99.

I'm confused, did the platter come with the basketball? It was a duo. And it was only $24.98? They should have stolen two. Mad props though on getting the Duke beverage coasters. That was close to throwing the cops off your trail. If only those new-fangled moving image cameras weren't around.

At least a North Carolina jury will react favorably to thieves who won't even take sides in the rivalry. Or not.

Couple charged with stealing UNC, Duke merchandise
Cracker Barrel couple caught stealing UNC stuff [SportsbyBrooks]

Yet no one mentions how rapidly the cost of competing for top talent is rising. Until, that is, the Chronicle of Higher Education issued this report dated August 1. The key finding is that almost half of colleges doubled or tripled the amount of money they spent on recruiting in the last decade. In a world where athletes demand attention, top flight facilities, huge stadiums or arenas, and constant coddling from adults, it sometimes gets overlooked how few schools can compete for top players on a purely economic basis.

On the whole, the 65 biggest spenders shelled out a total of more than $61-million in 2007, an 86-percent increase from 10 years before. That amount does not include salaries for recruiting coordinators or construction and operating costs of the gleaming multimillion-dollar facilities that help lure prospects.

Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida, Auburn and Kansas State rounded out the top five biggest spenders. The graphs that follow these articles are pretty interesting; breaking down recruiting costs for those schools with football teams, without football teams, and in Divisions II and III. Ultimately it leaves you wondering where the ceiling is on the amount that colleges can spend on recruiting. Legal recruiting, anyway.

Right now, the only thing rising faster than college tuition is the cost of getting kids to come play for your college's sports teams.

Have money, will travel: the quest for top athletes [Chronicle of Higher Education]