SSU officially in MEAC

SSU officially

a MEAC member

NORFOLK, Va. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference confirmed Thursday that Savannah State and North Carolina Central universities have met the criteria to become full members of the conference effective Sept. 1, 2011.

We are elated to have North Carolina Central and Savannah State to become full members of the MEAC family, MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas said. I am pleased to announce that both institutions have done a great job at meeting detailed criteria to be confirmed for full membership.

Their additions sustain our long range and strategic plan of adding up to 14 members, Thomas added. Adding these outstanding academic institutions completes the geographical footprint that bridges our South Carolina and Florida institutions.

As full members, SSU and N.C. Central are immediately eligible to participate in all conference championships and earn the conferences automatic berth to NCAA postseason competition in all sponsored sports.

The additions give the MEAC 13 total members with 11 football-playing institutions. Thursdays announcement reaffirmed the provisional membership status North Carolina Central received in 2009 and Savannah State received in 2010.

ESPN leagues with anti-Semitic names removed

NEW YORK ESPN has removed fantasy leagues with anti-Semitic names from its website after the Simon Wiesenthal Center pointed them out.

The Jewish human rights organization is praising the sports network for quickly responding to its complaint, which it brought to ESPNs attention on Wednesday.

The Wiesenthal Center says that among the offensive team names were Jews are Immoral and Jews Are Terrible.

Network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said that while ESPN has systems in place to protect against inappropriate team and league names clearly with millions of users and deceptive ways around the safeguards, we can never completely eliminate it.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center said Thursday that ESPN responded in good faith to its concerns.

Jags get more time to avoid

blackout

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Jacksonville Jaguars have requested and been granted a 24-hour extension to the NFLs blackout deadline, meaning the team likely will televise its home opener locally and in secondary markets.

The Jaguars have about 5,000 non-premium tickets remaining for Sundays game against Tennessee. Its unlikely the team would sell that many by Fridays deadline, but owner Wayne Weaver could deem many of those as complimentary tickets or write a check for the remaining allotment at 34 percent of the face value.

Jacksonville blacked out seven home games in 2009, becoming the poster child for sluggish ticket sales. But the small-market franchise sold enough tickets to avoid any blackouts last year. The economy and the NFL lockout slowed sales this summer, leaving Jacksonville to face several blackouts.