NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Guard Jenna Plumley has not enrolled at Oklahoma for the fall semester after being suspended indefinitely.
Team spokesman Jared Thompson confirmed that Plumley is not enrolled. Thompson also said she had not requested a release from her scholarship.
“As far as OU is concerned, her status in the past few weeks hasn’t changed,” Thompson said.
Plumley was suspended July 18 by coach Sherri Coale four days after she was accused of shoplifting nearly $35 in cosmetics at a Norman Wal-Mart.
Coale said in a statement that the suspension was indefinite and that Plumley would not participate in team activities during the 2008-09 season.
At 5-foot-4, Plumley started all 31 games for Oklahoma last season and averaged 7.8 points.
Upshaw dies of cancer
NEW YORK (AP) — Gene Upshaw, a towering lineman on the football field who went on to win untold millions of dollars for NFL players as their union leader, has died at age 63.
Upshaw had a Hall of Fame career as a guard for the Oakland Raiders — a team that won two of the three Super Bowls it reached during his 15 years in a black and silver jersey. But his work as executive director of the NFL Players Association over a quarter-century was even more important. It changed the business side of the league.
Upshaw died Wednesday night at his home near California’s Lake Tahoe, of pancreatic cancer, the NFL Players Association said Thursday. His wife Terri and sons Eugene Jr., Justin and Daniel were by his side. NFLPA president and Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae said Upshaw only learned Sunday that he had the disease, after he fell ill and his wife took him to the hospital.
“Gene was a great player. He was an All-Pro. He was a Hall of Famer. If you look at the history of the NFL you’re going to find out that he was one of the most influential people that the league has known. He did so much, not only for the players, but also for the owners, the teams, and the game of pro football,” John Madden, who coached Upshaw when Oakland won its first Super Bowl, said in a statement.
RedHawks to change name
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The name of one of Oklahoma’s minor-league baseball teams will be changed to include the word “city.”
Oklahoma RedHawks managing partner Scott Pruitt announced Thursday that the team will become the Oklahoma City RedHawks.
The team also will unveil a new color scheme for its uniforms and merchandise and a new logo. The RedHawks, a Triple-A team affiliated with the Texas Rangers, have used the same color scheme and logo since the team was founded 10 years ago.
The changes will be unveiled before the Triple-A championship game on Sept. 16.
QB Mauk appeals to NCAA again
CINCINNATI (AP) — Quarterback Ben Mauk is taking his case for another year of eligibility at Cincinnati back to the NCAA.
At the request of both sides, a judge in Hardin County, Ohio, postponed a hearing scheduled Friday in Mauk’s lawsuit against the NCAA. That puts the lawsuit on hold while Mauk submits new information to support his contention that a foot injury prevented him from playing his freshman year.
Mauk’s attorney Kevin Murphy said the material will be reviewed by NCAA staff as early as this weekend. Messages for comment were left Thursday with the NCAA.
Mauk led the Bearcats to a No. 17 final ranking last season, after coming back from arm and shoulder injuries suffered in 2006 while playing for Wake Forest.
The NCAA has rejected three earlier appeals.
Cincinnati’s second game of the season is at fourth-ranked Oklahoma on Sept. 6.
Not real deal, but Cowboys ready for real tuneup
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Tony Romo’s shoulders drooped and Terrell Owens cried after the Dallas Cowboys last played at Texas Stadium.
While that bitter home playoff loss against the New York Giants in January hasn’t doused high expectations for this season, Dallas still hasn’t won a game since.
OK, so it’s only the preseason and Romo and Owens got only limited time in the Cowboys’ losses at San Diego and Denver.
That will change when Dallas plays its first home preseason game Friday night against the Houston Texans. That’s when the Cowboys will finally put their best players on extended display.
Coach Wade Phillips plans to play his starters into the second half, maybe even the entire third quarter.
Phillips said the Cowboys made the switch out of training camp mode after getting home this week, and responded with their best practices so far. They also took a different approach to game preparation in being “more specific about what we want to do this game, than long term.”
Romo and the first-team offense got off to a fast start, going eight plays for a touchdown on their opening and only series against San Diego. There were two mistake-filled and penalty-plagued series in Denver last weekend.
“We need more playing time to come together as a team,” Phillips said.
The Cowboys return all of their NFL-record 13 Pro Bowl players from last year’s 13-win team. That includes Romo, Owens and five others on an offense that scored the second-most points in the NFL.
Owens promised this week that the Cowboys will be ready for the regular season, dismissing any notion that there was reason for concern after two preseason losses.
“Once the games start, everybody gets that lather going and you’re ready to go out there and play,” T.O. said.
There will also be a significant change on defense with still-suspended cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones getting his first start for the Cowboys.
Jones, who hasn’t yet been cleared by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the regular season, had been primarily at right corner behind Anthony Henry before working on the left side Wednesday night in the team’s last open practice before the game.
After that workout, Jones wouldn’t say what the team had planned for him. But Phillips then confirmed that Jones will start at left cornerback against the Texans in place of injured Pro Bowler Terence Newman (groin) instead of rookie Mike Jenkins.
