WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 TERRAPINSNOTEBOOK Friedgenwants a scooter ban after 2nd player injured
Maryland coach says he can’t forbid them, but parents could
BY ERIC PRISBELL Now that a second Maryland
player has suffered a season-end- ing injury in an on-campusmotor scooter accident, Coach Ralph Friedgen plans to write a letter to players’ parents urging them to discourage or forbid their sons fromriding scooters. “A couple parents have already
calledme andsaidthey are taking scooters away from their kids,” Friedgensaid. “If Ihadtheauthor- ity to do it, Iwould. I don’t think I have the authority, so I have to rely on the support of parents.” Friedgen addressed the issue
on Tuesday, three days after cor- nerback DexterMcDougle, a red- shirt freshman, suffered a broken collarbone in a single-scooter ac- cident Saturday night. McDougle was expected to undergo surgery this week and likely have a plate inserted. Pete DeSouza, a redshirt fresh-
man offensive lineman, is recov- ering fromanOct. 21 scooter acci- dent in which he fractured both
legs.The injury requirednearly 12 hours of surgery and, Friedgen said, nearly costDeSouza his life. Friedgen said most players —
and students — do not wear hel- mets while operating scooters. DeSouza said he did not wear a helmet and Friedgen said he did not believe McDougle was wear- ing one. McDouglewas apassengerona
scooter operated by teammate Isaiah Ross when, according to a school official, the scooter hit a bump inthe road andRoss appar- ently lost control of the scooter.
forDistrict youth. Maryland officials have been concerned about whether the school will sell its allotment of 10,000 tickets because a portion of the fan base may feel that playing close tohome is a letdown after a resurgent season. Friedgen is hopeful for a large
turnout by Maryland fans be- cause he said they traveledwell to East Coast bowl games this de- cade. He said they helped to sell out the Orange Bowl (2001 sea- son) and the Gator Bowl (2003) and filled the school’s ticket allot- ment for the Chick-fil-A Bowl (2002) and Champs Sports Bowl (2006). He said this seasonregular sea-
son attendance “was not what it has been.” Attendance issues helped cause Maryland to plum- met to the eighth slot in the ACC bowl pecking order. “We have a chance to send a
message to these people who turned us down that we do sup- port a bowl,” Friedgen said. “This is right in our back yard. East Carolina is going toshowup. Ifwe really care about our football pro- gram, our fans need to show up also.”
Military Bowl bling Bowl games are permitted to
SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen, right, and East Carolina CoachRuffinMcNeill attend a news conference to promote theMilitary Bowl. “Obviously, you don’t like to
lose people on the field,” Friedgen said. “Nowwe’re losing people off the field. It doesn’t help you.”
Franklin is a candidate James Franklin,Maryland’s of-
fensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting, has grown to become a “more serious” candi- date for Vanderbilt’s head coach- ing vacancy, a source familiar
with the search said. Franklin is one of at least six
candidates for the position, the Tennessean newspaper reported, and is likely to have his telephone interview with Vanderbilt offi- cials followed up with an in-per- son interviewin the near future. Others under strong consider-
ation, according to the newspa- per, include Tulsa Coach Todd Graham,Nebraskaoffensivecoor-
dinator ShawnWatson,Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell, Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren and Stanford offensive coordinator GregRoman.
A purple invasion at RFK RuffinMcNeill, East Carolina’s
head coach, said Tuesday that he hopes RFK Stadium is awash in purplewhenthePirates (6-6)play
BASEBALL
The Nationals’ offseason spending could trickle down to Zimmerman
nationals from D1
valuable than Werth the past couple years, he is younger, and he is a homegrown fan favorite who tends to always do the right thing. One industry source spec- ulated Zimmerman, if he signs an extension similar toTulowitz- ki’s, couldcommandnearly$200 million.
Zimmerman called Tulowitz-
ki’s contract “a great deal for the Rockies and a great deal for Troy.” An extension like Tulowitzki’s “absolutely appeals to me,” Zim- merman said last Friday in a phone conversation. “I think what you’re seeing now is, what these mid-market teams start to do is lock up their young talent. Once they’re a year away from free agency, then you’re going to have to compete with every team. You throw a deal like that at someone, it’s going to be hard to turn down.” In April 2009, Zimmerman
signed his current contract, an extension that locks him up for three more seasons. For now, neither side feels compelled to start negotiations with any im- mediacy. “We just signedRyan to a contract,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said. “We just fin- ished negotiating and signing him to a contract.” Butthetimeforhimto sign his
next may be coming. Tulowitzki had signed a previous extension in 2008 that took him through the end of the 2013 season, with an option for 2014. The Rockies were motivated partly by weari- ness of big-market teams, and the Nationals may have reason for similar concerns. By 2013, the year Derek Jeter’s
contract expires, the Rockies knew the New York Yankees would likely be in the market for a shortstop. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s contract runs until 2017, but he may be forced to move to designated hitter by the time Zimmerman could become a free agent. And the Boston Red Sox have
their third baseman, Kevin Youkilis, under contract until 2012 with a team option for 2013. The Tulowitzki contract
serves as an ideal starting point because ofhowintertwinedtheir careers have been. Zimmerman was drafted fourth overall out of Virginia in 2005; Tulowitzki went seventh out of Long Beach State. They appeared together on the cover of Sports Illustrated prior to the 2008 season. Both
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
TheNationals’Ryan Zimmerman has a contract that runs through the 2013 season. The Nationals are too busy on
play exquisite defense, and their OPSes (.839 for Zimmerman, .857 for Tulowitzki) are nearly identical. An American League execu-
tive called described choosing between Tulowitzki and Zim- merman “a coin flip.”
more immediate matters at the moment to worry about Zim- merman’s next contract, and there is no reason to think the next round of negotiations, whenever they begin, will be anything but harmonious.
WINTERMEETINGSNOTEBOOK Rizzo says Nationals
a ‘long shot’ for Lee Buzz mounts after media report about Washington’s interest
BY ADAM KILGORE
lake buena vista, fla. -– Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo met with the agent for starting pitcher Cliff Lee on Tuesday, remaining in the sweepstakes for the offsea- son’s top free agent pitcher. While Rizzo called the Nationals “a real long shot” to sign Lee, they have not ruled out acquiring an even bigger free agent prize than Jayson Werth, the right fielder they signed Sunday for $126million over seven years. There was significant serious
buzz Tuesday morning about the Nationals throwing an enormous contract at Lee, culminatingwith a report by the New York Daily News that theNationalswill offer a seven-year deal that the New York Yankees would notmatch. One problem: the report
wasn't true. Even with the Na- tionals ready to spend, there is “zero chance” they will offer Lee a seven-year contract, according to one team source. Another team source added the seven- year offer is “not happening.” While the Nationals aren’t
about to offer a seven-year deal to Lee, they still haven’t eliminated themselves. Agent Darek Braun- ecker said he and the Nationals are “maintaining dialogue” in regard to Lee. “If they’ve bowed out, they haven’t told us.” Said Rizzo: “We’ve had dia-
logue with the representative. I still think we’re a real long shot to acquire the player.”
Pursuing Pavano Even aside from Lee, the Na-
tionals have been active and aggressive in meeting with free agents, Rizzo said. The Nationals have met multiple times at the winter meetings Tom O’Connell, the agent for free agent right- handed starter Carl Pavano. Pa- vano is the biggest pitching name they’re interested in after Lee, but they’ve been busy with all positions, particularly relievers. “I think we've been more
When they do start, it will be
this offseason, the one all about the Nationals, that will sets the terms. The Nationals handed Werth the biggest contract in their history, but it will not hold that title for long.
kilgorea@washpost.com
much active” this year than last year, Rizzo said. “We’ve seen many, many more agents this year and representatives thanwe have in the past. I think that’s because the depth of especially the relief pitcher market has allowed us to do that. We’ve
Maryland in theMilitary Bowl on Dec 29. EastCarolina fans alreadyhave
sold out their team hotel, and bowl officials expect ECU fans to buy the school’s entire allotment of 10,000 tickets. Bowl officials anticipate a
crowdof30,000at the45,423-seat
stadium.That total includesmore than 5,000 tickets given to the military and some 2,500 tickets
give players gifts not exceeding $500. The Military Bowl gifts for Maryland and ECU players in- clude a SonyDash personal Inter- net viewer, an Altec Lansing in- Motion portable speaker, a skull cap, a duffel bag and a tailgate blanket. Maryland is expected to check
into its team hotel in the District on Dec. 22. Coaches will set up offices at the hotel and the team will continue to practice in Col- legePark as long asweather coop- erates.
prisbelle@washpost.com
KLMNO COLLEGE FOOTBALL
EZ SU
D3
CHRIS O'MEARA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cliff Lee dominated much of the postseason this past season with Texas, and he’s in high demand as a top-shelf free agent starter.
touched base with a lot of more agents than we did even last year.”
Willingham might stay Left fielder Josh Willingham
remains available, but the Na- tionals do not appear desperate to trade him. “We’re not trying to move him,” one teamsource said. “We’re listening.” Four or five teams, including the Red Sox, have contacted the Nationals about Willingham, according to sources, but none of the talks have progressed beyond the teams indicating interest to the point of exchanging names. If the Nationals keep Willing-
ham, they could try to use a platoon of Michael Morse and a left-handed free agent first base- man that will cost less to acquire than Carlos Pena or AdamLaRo- che. It’s still most likely the Nationals add Pena or LaRoche. But if the Nationals go with the secondary scenario, they could have interest in Brad Hawpe. Hawpe, 31, would be a low-
risk, high-reward addition. In his career, he has hit .279 with a .373 on-base percentage and a .490 slugging percentage. Last sea- son, though, he hit .245/.338/ .419.
kilgorea@washpost.com
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