Hey, who’s this Tebow guy?

Football: Steve Spurrier cleared up the biggest mystery swirling around the Southeastern Conference when he said it was South Carolina that left Tim Tebow off the preseason all-SEC ballot.

The Gamecocks coach said Friday at the SEC’s media days in Hoover, Ala., that the director of football operations filled out the ballot in his stead and voted for Mississippi’s Jevan Snead.

The other coaches picked Tebow, Florida’s do-everything quarterback and the Heisman Trophy winner two years ago.

Spurrier said he was embarrassed about it and has already apologized to Tebow. He said the SEC has let him amend the ballot to add Tebow.

Associated Press

Ganassi counsels Patrick on move

Auto racing: Chip Ganassi said he doesn’t believe he’s the right car owner to help Danica Patrick move to NASCAR, and he advised the driver to accomplish her goals in IndyCar before switching formulas.

Ganassi, who owns race teams in IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am, was one of the few car owners with the ability to offer Patrick a slow transition into stock cars that also allowed her to stay in open-wheel racing. But speaking before NASCAR practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he said he’s not the right car owner for her potential move.

“My counsel to her was she’s pretty close to making that last step in IndyCar racing, and she could easily do that in the next three or four years and still do (NASCAR),” Ganassi said. “She’s one of those athletes that she can make a lot of turns in her career today and will still be able to make other turns in the future. It’s up to her.”

Patrick is in the final year of her three-year IndyCar contract with Andretti-Green Racing, and has said she’ll wait until the end of the season to solidify her next move.

Associated Press

That cow just ate my pineapple

Rodeo: They’re more likely to be found on a saddle than a surfboard.

The Hawaii team is right at home at this week’s National High School Finals Rodeo in Farmington, N.M., where 1,500 contestants from the U.S., Canada and Australia are tying calves, riding bulls and racing around barrels.

While most people might associate Hawaii with beaches and umbrella drinks, the rodeo athletes from the state want folks to know there are plenty of cowboys and cowgirls in the Land of Aloha.

“Everybody asks us, ‘How did you get your horses to New Mexico?’ like we paddled a boat to get here,” said Marla Loando, of Kona. Somebody else asked me, ‘Oh, they have cows in Hawaii?’ I told them, ‘Yeah, they do.’ ”

Associated Press