Ohio State president says TCU, Boise State don’t deserve BCS title berth

Ohio State’s president says Texas Christian and Boise State don’t deserve to be in the BCS title game even if they run the table. Boise State’s president disagrees, and doesn’t appreciate the slam on his school

In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Ohio State President Gordon Gee — whose school maintains the largest athletic program in the country — said that TCU and Boise State do not face a difficult enough schedule to play in the national championship game.

“Well, I don’t know enough about the Xs and O’s of college football,” said Gee, formerly the president at West Virginia, Colorado, Brown and Vanderbilt universities. “I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it’s like Murderer’s Row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day. So I think until a university runs through that gantlet that there’s some reason to believe that they not be the best teams to [be] in the big ballgame.”

In a response to an AP writer, Boise State President Bob Kustra angrily responded to Gee’s statement. He called Gee’s claim that Big Ten and Southeastern Conference teams play a “Murderer’s Row” schedule “the greatest exaggeration I think we’ve heard this year in college football.”

Kustra had Ohio State’s last two schedules in front of him — the Buckeyes have played USC and Miami, in addition to several mid-majors and “directional” schools — and said, “If they’re not playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, they’re playing the Little Brothers.”

He added: “Maybe President Gee doesn’t go to the games of the teams that are not in his Big Ten, but he’s playing some easy marks.”

Texas Christian Athletic Director Chris Del Conte also stepped into the fray, defending the Horned Frogs’ unblemished record.

“We only worry about our house and what we do at TCU,” he said. “I’ll put our record up against anybody.”

Kustra said he had to speak up after hearing Gee’s comments.

“I don’t mind somebody stating that they don’t think we ought to be in the national championship, but to do it with such erroneous information as Gordon Gee has used, gets under the skin of all of us who thought university presidents were supposed to be standing for fairness, equity and truth in how we portray our universities,” Kustra said. “And he’s doing a very poor job of that at the moment.”

Gee, long an admirer of the BCS and the current bowl system, said he was against a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He said the current system is better for the student-athletes.

Nadal wins, Roddick loses at ATP finals

Rafael Nadal improved his record to 2-0 at the ATP World Tour Finals in London with a 7-5, 6-2 win over third-ranked Novak Djokovic.

Nadal will next face Tomas Berdych, who defeated Andy Roddick, 7-5, 6-3, winning his first match in his debut at the ATP finals and leaving Roddick at 0-2.

None of the eight players in the round-robin tournament have been eliminated or advanced after two matches each. But both the top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer need only to win one set in their final matches at the season-ending tournament to reach the semifinals.

Vladimir Guerrero wins DH award

Vladimir Guerrero won the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award after helping the Texas Rangers earn their first trip to the World Series.

Guerrero beat out Boston’s David Oritz and Minnesota’s Jim Thome. The nine-time All-Star hit .306, with 25 homers, 106 runs batted in and 73 runs in 129 games at DH. Guerrero struck out only 56 times in 523 at-bats.

Herschel Walker injured, will miss Strikeforce bout

Herschel Walker suffered a deep cut under his left eye during training that will prevent him from fighting his second professional mixed martial arts bout next week.

The injury has forced the former running back to pull out of his scheduled Strikeforce fight against Scott Carson in St. Louis on Dec. 4.

Boxer Christy Martin says husband shot her

Deputies in Florida say boxer Christy Martin was shot and stabbed by her husband while the two were fighting at their home.

Officials said the 42-year-old boxer had been shot and stabbed in her torso and left leg when she ran away from her home in Apopka, Fla., near Orlando.

Martin told deputies that her husband, 66-year-old James Martin, had confronted her with a knife and handgun. Deputies were still searching for James Martin.

Christy Martin was a pioneer in women’s boxing in the 1990s, once landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Passings: Former Dodger Danny McDevitt dies

Danny McDevitt, the former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who won the team’s final game at Ebbets Field in 1957, has died at 78.

McDevitt, a left-hander, was 21-27 with seven saves in seven major league seasons with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the Yankees, Twins and Kansas City Athletics.

He struck out nine Pirates and gave up five hits in a complete-game 2-0 victory over Pittsburgh for the Dodgers on Sept. 24, 1957, in the team’s last home game in Brooklyn.