Fast Break
NFL
Linehan hires John L. Smith
Former Michigan State coach John L. Smith has been hired as an advance scout by the St. Louis Rams, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Rams coach Scott Linehan worked under Smith at Idaho and Louisville and now is paying back his former mentor.
“John L.’s a great evaluator,” Linehan told the newspaper. “He can see strength and weaknesses of the personnel we’re going to play.”
Smith, living in Louisville, will make presentations to the Rams’ offensive coaching staff about upcoming opponents on most Tuesdays this season.
Linehan rates Smith as one of the most influential people in his career.
Eventually, Smith wants to get back into college coaching, but, Linehan insists, the Rams aren’t helping Smith: “He’s helping us.”
College football
Aggies think pink for breast cancer
Most people think of college football as a black-and-blue sport. For New Mexico State, it’s time to think pink.
The Aggies will wear pink socks and their coaches will wear pink golf shirts for a Sept. 29 home game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a push to raise money for breast cancer research, a cause close to coach Hal Mumme’s heart.
His wife, June, was diagnosed in late 1996. She began chemotherapy treatments a few months later — right after Mumme was hired as Kentucky’s coach.
The fundraising push is called “Aggies are Tough Enough to Wear Pink.”
June Mumme survived the disease and subsequently became active in the cause during her husband’s coaching stops at Kentucky and Southeastern Louisiana.
Baseball
Offerman charged after bat assault
Former major league All-Star Jose Offerman was charged with two counts of second-degree assault after hitting an opposing team’s pitcher and catcher with his bat during an independent minor league game.
Offerman posted $10,000 bond and is due in Bridgeport Superior Court on Aug. 23, court officials said Wednesday.
Offerman, playing for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League, was hit by a pitch from Bridgeport Bluefish starter Matt Beech and charged the mound with his bat.
Catcher John Nathans was hit in the head and sustained a concussion. Beech, a left-hander, sustained a broken middle finger on his right hand. Both players were treated at a hospital and released.