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COLLEGE FOOTBALL D2
HIGH SCHOOL, LOCAL SPORTS D3
BASEBALL D5
SPORTS
SECTION
D
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
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IN BRIEF
BASEBALL
Outfielder to miss
8 games after brawl
Nyjer Morgan’s wild week
has landed him an eightgame suspension, one of
nine punishments handed
out Friday by Major League
Baseball following a brawl
between the Washington
Nationals and Florida Marlins.
MLB suspended Nationals
outfielder Morgan and fined
him an undisclosed amount
for three separate incidents
the past week. The penalty
is in addition to a sevengame suspension he received
Aug. 25 that is currently
under appeal. Six players,
both managers and a coach
were cited after a review of
Wednesday night’s odd and
ugly game in Miami, won 16-10
by the Marlins.
NFL
Lions’ Suh fined
Detroit Lions rookie defensive
tackle Ndamukong Suh was
fined $7,500 by the NFL on
Friday for his roughing-thepasser penalty on quarterback
Jake Delhomme in a
preseason game against the
Cleveland Browns on Aug. 28.
The No. 2 overall pick in April’s
draft grabbed Delhomme’s
facemask and twisted it, then
wrapped his arms around
the quarterback’s head and
slammed him to the ground.
Suh was assessed a
15-yard penalty.
BIO BOX
BY GREG JOHNSON
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
ON THE AIR
Michigan State vs. Western Michigan,
noon today on ESPN2
Michigan vs. Connecticut,
3:30 p.m. today on ABC
MORE
Michigan prepares to open season
in new-look stadium against tough
Connecticut team, D2
ND, Martin a match made in football heaven
noticed.
Notre Dame truly is
Martin’s dream venue,
from his youth in the
Chicago area until the
day it became clear
Kelly would become
head coach and might
summon him to join Chuck
the Irish staff.
Martin
On today’s Act
One of his new regime, Brian Kelly
insists he will be too consumed with
the task at hand to fully appreciate
leading a Notre Dame football team
out of the tunnel to play Purdue.
He does not expect the same from
Martin, a fellow former head coach
at Grand Valley State.
“He’s a Notre Dame coach,” Kelly
said. “He was made to be a Notre
Dame coach. I don’t know if he’s
going to be head coach, or a top
DAVID
MAYO
SPORTS COLUMNIST
GVSU’s former leader ‘made
to coach’ Irish, Kelly says
S
OUTH BEND, Ind. — Brian Kelly,
Massachusetts native, used to call
Boston College his dream job, until
Notre Dame called. Then, like any
good Irish-Catholic son, he flopped
allegiances and became answerable
only to the various real-slashmystical powers which loom over
Fighting Irish football.
Chuck Martin suffered no such
confused loyalty, as Kelly has
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US
131
Pick ’em
should go 4-0 in a painfully soft
nonconference season.
Press columnist David Mayo picks
four of the weekend’s top games:
Notre Dame 28, Purdue 23 (today):
Even in a state of disrepair the past
two years, the Irish won this matchup.
Connecticut 31, Michigan 24 (today):
Connecticut has won eight-plus games Brian Kelly gets his opening win while
the Boilermakers give an opening
three consecutive years and has a
veteran starting group. The Wolverines indicator that they’re tussling with
Indiana and Minnesota for the bottom
easily could win if they demonstrate
of the Big Ten Conference.
a running attack, some solid pass
defense and a reliable kicking game.
Virginia Tech 27, Boise State 24
The operative word is “if.”
(Monday): If Boise wins, it’s back to
the major bowls, maybe even the
Michigan St. 44, WMU 21 (today):
BCS Championship game. First, it
Not much has changed since late last
season, when the Spartans outgained must stop sophomore Ryan Williams,
who rushed for 1,655 yards and
the Broncos by nearly 400 yards.
21 touchdowns last year.
With a win against Notre Dame, MSU
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616-452-2143
28th St.
CHRYSLER • JEEP • DODGE
THE GAMES
SEE MAYO, D2
Division
$100 million deal OK’d
The NHL has signed off on Ilya
Kovalchuk’s latest contract
with the New Jersey Devils.
Five weeks after rejecting the
Russian’s landmark 17-year,
$102 million contract with the
Devils, the league approved a
revised 15-year, $100 million
deal Friday after reaching
an agreement with the NHL
Players Association.
— Press wire services
Class: Junior
Position:
Quarterback
Size: 6-foot-3,
202 pounds
Hometown (high
school): Holland
(Holland Christian)
Notable: In 2009,
he became only the second
sophomore to be named a captain
in MSU’s 113 years of football.
Robert McCurry was a sophomore
selected in 1949.
Stats: He has completed
230-of-371 passes (62 percent) for
2,990 career yards with 12 starts at
quarterback. He already is tied for
eighth in career touchdown passes
at MSU with 21.
Quotable: “Kirk is great, keeps it
positive and practices hard. He
has all the ingredients a leader
needs.”
— Spartans guard Joel Foreman
his junior season as one of the Spartans’ captains.
SEE MSU, D2
Lions make roster cuts today, D3
NHL
Kirk Cousins
EAST LANSING — Michigan
State’s Kirk Cousins jumped for joy
as he ran on the practice field.
“Rudy music, Rudy music, turn it
up,” he bellowed.
The soundtrack from the movie
“Rudy,” which chronicled the
story of Notre Dame walk-on Rudy
Ruettiger, played on as players
stretched before practice.
Cousins clapped his hands, jumped
up and down and then suddenly
dropped into a defensive line stance
and started kicking his right leg up.
It was his imitation of “Rudy” in
the final scene of the movie as he
prepared to rush the quarterback.
“I love Rudy,” Cousins shouted.
Michigan State’s starting quarterback lets others know how he feels,
on and off the football field.
In practice, he seemingly talks with
everybody, hustles from spot to spot,
points, directs and rarely makes a
poor throw.
One minute he is answering a
question from backup quarterback
Andrew Maxwell, the next he is talking with the wide receivers or running
in a drill and hitting a receiver with a
pass in the numbers.
“He’s our quarterback, our leader,”
senior center John Stipek said. “He
knows what he is doing, but also what
you are supposed to be doing.”
Cousins has coveted his role as
quarterback and leader since his first
day on the Michigan State campus.
He leads the Spartans today as starting quarterback and a second-year
captain against Western Michigan
PRESS PHOTO/JOEL HAWKSLEY
in the season opener at Spartan
Stadium.
Ready to throw: Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins practices for
Eastern
mlive.com
SPARTANS LOOK TO COUSINS IN QB’S SECOND SEASON AS STARTER
Madison
GVSU: Read more about the
football team’s season-opening
win. Plus, the unranked Lakers
volleyball team upsets the
nation’s top team.
Corner of 28th St. SE & Madison
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