Newsmakers
Rallied Scores of students, alumni and athletes marched to the administration building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and rallied for hours Monday in response to reports that officials will shut down the football program. Chanting “We want football” and “We are UAB, We are Birmingham,” demonstrators demanded that UAB president Ray Watts come outside to discuss the future of the program, which earned a possible bowl appearance with a win on Saturday.
Expected Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty says he feels good and expects to play Saturday night against Kansas State even while still experiencing some concussion-related symptoms. Petty said that he woke up with a headache, but that such occurrences have been “kind of off and on, and it’s starting to get shorter on and longer off.” Petty was knocked out of Saturday’s 48-46 victory over Texas Tech with what was termed a mild concussion.
Traded The Tampa Bay Rays have traded utilityman Sean Rodriguez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named and cash. Rodriguez played every position except pitcher and catcher for the Rays during the past five seasons. He has a .225 career average and appeared in 96 games this year, batting .211 with 12 homers and 41 RBIs.
Announced Offensive coordinators Lane Kiffin of top-ranked Alabama and Scott Frost of third-ranked Oregon are among the five finalists for the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the top assistant coach in college football. Other finalists announced are Tom Herman of Ohio State, Doug Meacham of TCU and Missouri’s Dave Steckel.
• Thierry Henry is leaving Major League Soccer after 4 1/2 seasons, unable to lead the New York Red Bulls to the team’s first championship. The 37-year-old French star made the announcement Monday, two days after the Red Bulls lost the Eastern Conference final to the New England Revolution. He said he had made the decision back in 2010 to leave when his contract expired.
Fired Tulsa fired football coach Bill Blankenship three days after the Golden Hurricane wrapped up a second consecutive losing season. The Golden Hurricane finished 2-10, with a 49-32 home loss to East Carolina on Friday night. Blankenship took over at his alma mater in 2011 after Todd Graham left for Pittsburgh. The program has crashed the last two seasons. Tulsa was a preseason favorite to win Conference USA last year and went 3-9.