College football roundup: Irish radio analyst Pinkett suspended
Notre Dame will not allow radio analyst Allen Pinkett to call Saturday's game in Dublin, Ireland, against Navy.
Pinkett will be replaced in the booth by WNDU sports director Jeff Jeffers, according to a press release from IMG Notre Dame radio network announced.
"Allen Pinkett, a commentator on the IMG Notre Dame Radio Network who made unacceptable comments this week about student athletes, will not be part of this weekend's broadcast in Dublin," IMG's statement read. "Don Criqui and Jeff Jeffers will handle the broadcast duties. Notre Dame taking on Navy at the Emerald Isle Classic in Dublin is an historic game showcasing the very best of American college sports. The event deserves to be free of distraction. Further decisions on this matter will be made in the coming days."
Pinkett made what athletic director Jack Swarbrick called "unacceptable comments" on WSCR-AM in Chicago on Wednesday. Pinkett said Notre Dame needed "bad citizens" and "criminals" to be successful and declined a chance to rephrase when the radio show hosts offered multiple opportunities to clarify.
FOXSports.com's Jason Whitlock reported Pinkett was fired, but clarified that it was only a suspension.
---Former Southern Cal football player Armond Armstead reportedly filed a law suit charging that team doctors forced pain-killing drugs that caused him to have a heart attack.
Armstead, 22, is playing in the CFL. The Sacramento Bee said the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday, names the University of Southern California, football team physician Dr. James Tibone, University Park Healthy Center and an unnamed pharmaceutical company. Armstead is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
He also claims Southern Cal blocked his attempts to transfer from the school and ultimately get to the NFL.
Armstead did not play football as a senior. He started 12 games in 2010 and was hospitalized in March 2011 with an undisclosed medical condition. He was never again cleared medically by the Trojans.
--As penance for past wrongs, Penn State must return all football team trophies awarded from 1998-2011.
The Nittany Lions won six bowl games in that span. As part of the NCAA sanctions against Penn State as a result of the findings of the Freeh Report investigation into the university inaction during the Jerry Sandusky criminal scandal, 112 wins were stricken from the program's record.
--Southern Cal linebacker Simione Vehikite returned to practice Wednesday after serving three months of a suspended jail sentence for felony DUI and identity theft. On Thursday, he was back on the Trojans' defensive depth chart.
Coach Lane Kiffin said Vehikite was back on the team -- and on scholarship -- when he met with media after Thursday's practice.
The timing of the addition of Vehikite is curious in that walk-on Will-Andrew was apparently told this week his scholarship wouldn't be renewed.
--Purdue dismissed its second-leading tackler from 2011, Dwayne Beckford, before the start of the regular season.
Beckford was suspended indefinitely after his fourth arrest since June 2011. He was charged with marijuana possession in December and on Monday was arrested and charged with possession of a synthetic drug and two counts of possession of paraphernalia.
Police reportedly discovered bath salts in Beckford's apartment when responding to a call about a verbal confrontation with a female.
--The threat of Hurricane Isaac notwithstanding, Tulane's season-opener against Rutgers Saturday night at the New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome will go take place as scheduled.
A decision to play was made Thursday morning, after the Superdome suffered only superficial damage from the storm. Superdome chief Doug Thornton told ESPN.com that the stadium never lost power and the roof never leaked.
