Morning Jolt: Donovan rebuffs St. John's offer

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Mar 23, 2010

Tuesday, March 23

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Florida's Donovan rebuffs lucrative St. John's offer

Thanks, but no thanks, said Florida Coach Billy Donovan to St. John's. According to a confidant of Donovan, St. John's wealthy alum Mike Repole -- who built his fortune as co-founder of Vitaminwater maker Glaceau -- represented himself as an advocate for the school and offered the Long Island product a contract in excess of $3 million per year to take the job. "Thank you so much but no thank you" is how the Donovan confidant described the reply. (New York Daily News)Comment

Underdogs complicate TV ratings

There may be charm to the Cinderella stories, but there is little business sense. If television ratings suffer during the upcoming rounds, it could complicate two options the NCAA is considering for next season: an expansion of the tournament to 96 teams from 64, and whether to exercise its right to opt out of its 11-year, $6 billion television deal with CBS ( CBS -- news -- people ), which has three more years to run. Experts see the latter decision as more likely to be affected by a dip in ratings. (Forbes)Comment

Chaos surrounding Niners leadership

Mike Singletary is still coach of the 49ers, but, other than that, leadership is lacking in the franchise. They don't have a steady hand on the rudder. They're not even sure that they want one. They have handed McCloughan's authority, but not his job title, to player and personnel director Trent Baalke through the draft next month. After that? "I haven't decided if we're going to have a general manager," the young team president said by conference call from the NFL owners' meetings in Orlando. (San Francisco Chronicle)Comment

Must-See Photo

The NBA playoffs are coming, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy gets in a little practice for the range of emotions that time of year will bring. (AP)

Must-See Video

It's not often someone says he is good friends with Mr. Met.

Game To Watch

The Coyotes travel to the Windy City in a showdown of the West's two best teams, 8:30 pm ET