Fast Break

Cheerleading

Vandals dress down

University of Idaho cheerleaders will unveil their new, more demure, uniforms at the home football game today against Nevada.

Complaints that the previous uniforms were too short and revealing prompted the change.

The original outfits, first worn during the Sept. 6 game against Idaho State, were shiny and featured halter tops and very short black skirts with white trim. They cost $4,200 to equip the 19 women on the squad.

The new two-piece uniforms are primarily black with silver accents. The tops are also a halter-style with silver accents and a silver “I” on the chest; the skirts are black with a wide silver band along the bottom, but are about 6 inches longer than the earlier versions. They cost a total of $2,200, raised from private donors.

Cheerleaders have declined interviews since shortly after the complaints were made. In a news release, Spirit Squad member and new coach Jessica Gudgel said the team made the change to deflect attention from its outfits and place it back on the football team.

Football

Phillips sent to prison

Former football star Lawrence Phillips was sentenced in Los Angeles Friday to 10 years in prison, two years after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

The sentencing was repeatedly delayed while Phillips fought to withdraw a guilty plea in a domestic abuse case that could have led to a stiffer sentence.

The former Nebraska and NFL running back has been jailed since August 2005, when he drove onto a field near Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and his car struck three boys, ages 14 and 15, and a 19-year-old man, who suffered cuts and bruises.

Phillips, 33, was allegedly upset after losing a pickup football game to the youths and accused them of stealing some of his possessions.