Sports FYI
BY Staff and Wire reports
Thursday, January 24, 2013
1/24/13 at 3:03 AM
Football
Former Sooner great Sandefer receives Hall of Fame honor: Former University of Oklahoma running back Jakie Sandefer will be inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame on May 6 in Abilene, Texas. Sandefer lettered for the Sooners in 1956-58 under head coach Bud Wilkinson and was a member of OU's 10-0 national championship squad in 1958.
A member of the Texas High School Hall of Fame, Sandefer was part of a state championship football team at Breckenridge High School in 1954. He was a two-year starter for the Sooners, scoring a touchdown against Duke in the 1958 Orange Bowl as a senior. A stellar multi-purpose performer during his OU career, he also registered scores on an interception return and a punt return, in addition to throwing for a touchdown. Sandefer ranked third nationally in punt return yardage in 1957.
Baseball
Sosa says he and McGwire deserve Hall of Fame recognition: Sammy Sosa says he and fellow steroid-tainted star Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame.
Slammin' Sammy also says the Chicago Cubs should retire his number, and he left open the possibility of running for president of the Dominican Republic during an interview on the website Ustream.com.
Asked if he thinks he or McGwire belong in the Hall, Sosa said: "I think so." He also said he won't say anything that will "jeopardize my future" and that time "will determine everything."
Sosa, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were denied entry to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility amid suspicions their accomplishments were boosted by performance-enhancing drugs. McGwire, 10th on the career home run list, received 16.9 percent of the vote on his seventh try, far short of the 75 percent needed for election. Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs and ranks eighth on the all-time chart, received 12.5 percent of the vote.
Track and field
Southland honors ORU's Gibson again: For the second consecutive week, Oral Roberts track standout Jeffery Gibson has been honored by the Southland Conference as the men's track athlete of the week.
Gibson, a native of the Bahamas, earned his third victory of the indoor season last Saturday at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, Neb., when he cross the line ahead of a pair of Nebraska teammates with a time of 47.44 seconds in the 400-meter event.
