Icing that???s not on your cake. The game-winning field goal attempt is one of the most exciting moments in football, and recently, the moment has become longer than ever before. Coaches have always used timeouts to ice kickers before the big moment, but now, the strategy has evolved to a new level. In an effort to aid clock management, the NFL and NCAA allow coaches to call timeouts from the sidelines. The result has been disastrous for kickers, many of whom have had to attempt two game-winning kicks as coaches whisper timeout in the sideline official???s ear right before the ball is snapped. The kicker usually doesn???t get the memo in time and the play happens despite the fact that it doesn???t count. Everything has to happen a second time, and kickers are not happy about the tactic. I tend to agree with the strong-footed species ??? there seems to be a complete lack of sportsmanship and respect. Coaches are well within the rules to call last-second timeouts, but there???s something that just doesn???t feel right about the new way to ice kickers. Do you agree, or is all fair in love and football?

NIT says YES to more hoops. Beginning next fall, the NIT Season Tip-Off will guarantee four games to each member of its 16-team field. First- and second-round games will continue to be hosted at four campus sites, and the four winners will continue to meet in New York???s Madison Square Garden over the Thanksgiving holiday. In the past, the 12 teams that didn???t advance to the Garden would move on to the remainder of their schedules, but that won???t be the case in 2008. Those dozen squads will play third- and fourth-round games on three campus sites; teams in the bracket won???t play each other twice. The NIT has evolved significantly in the last three years and this is the latest in a long line of excellent enhancements. If you???re a team that loses in one of the first two rounds, why wouldn???t you want to get two more games like the winners?

En Español. If you???re a prospective student-athlete, the NCAA???s Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete is a remarkable resource. The guide, which helps prospects and their families understand the rules of the road, will be published in Spanish for the first time this year.