In the wake of a tragic incident in which two Utah Utes football players were stabbed and a recruit was attacked during Utah's biggest football recruiting weekend, coach Kyle Whittingham is hoping the situation won't reflect poorly on his program and university. He also hopes it doesn't steer the recruit in another direction. "We've been very proactive and have addressed it with recruits," Whittingham added. "It was just a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Since Saturday night's incident - in which Utes Paul Kruger and Greg Newman, and David Kruger, a Timpanogos High senior who has orally committed to Utah, were attacked by a group of a dozen or so men after leaving a party - Whittingham and others continue to get the word out that it was a random, isolated incident. Paul Kruger was stabbed in the stomach with a knife, David Kruger was hit in the head and suffered two cuts to his cheek and Newman was stabbed in the back. The athletes are all expected to recover from the injuries. That might explain why one Utah recruit said the incident didn't scare him away. Chris Hines, a point guard out of Klein Forest High in Houston who has signed with the men's basketball team, was in Salt Lake over the weekend to familiarize himself with the Utah campus and to watch the Utah
I'm sad that it happened," said Hines, who eschewed the party to hang out with current Ute players that evening. "It's unfortunate. But that stuff happens every day. I live in Houston. A lot more than that happens down here." Jeff Rudy, football director of operations, said the party the athletes attended wasn't associated with the activities the Utes put together for the about a dozen recruits last weekend. He said the program will examine the incident, but the university believes it was a random act of violence. "It was a rarity," Rudy said. The Krugers' mother, Jennifer, said the incident was no fault of the Utes. "This had nothing to do with Utah," she said. "It was a gang of kids looking to hurt somebody. It was a random, weird thing that unfortunately happened to affect our family." In other words, the Utes have nothing to worry about. That's what Chris Fetters, a recruiting expert for scout.com, said about the incident. "When you look at the numbers and how many times something like that has happened and the history of the program, it's so out of character," he said. "It's so baffling. It seems so random."
FOOTBALL: Essien backs calls for change in Cup’s dates Ghana and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien insists that clubs have every right to complain about the dates of the African Cup of Nations finals and repeated his calls for the dates to be changed. “If you ask me, I always say the same thing; If the dates can be changed it is a good thing for us players,” Essien said here where he is representing Ghana at the Nations Cup. “We always have to fight for our clubs. The FA have to fight for the country. If the dates change there will be no more fighting.”
Club owners in Europe have in recent years increasingly agitated for a change in the biennial African Cup of Nations from January to June saying its timing disrupted their domestic season.
Several top African players have also began to publicly voice their concern saying the dates needed to be changed including Essien, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona and Bolton Wanderers’ El Hadji Diouf of Senegal. But their sentiments appear to have rubbed the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou the wrong way. The CAF boss last week accused the players of being selfish and not having the interest of African football at heart. “When the African Cup of Nations started, there were very few African players in Europe but now almost half the players at the Nations Cup play in Europe,” Essien said. The Ghanain squad for example is made up of 19 Europe-based professionals. Monday’s top table Group B clash between Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria featured only European based players with the English Premier League and French Ligue 1 contributing the bulk. CAF has, however, agreed on the need to consider changing the dates from even to odd years to stop having the Africa Cup of Nations held on the same year that the World Cup is held.
I'm sad that it happened," said Hines, who eschewed the party to hang out with current Ute players that evening. "It's unfortunate. But that stuff happens every day. I live in Houston. A lot more than that happens down here." Jeff Rudy, football director of operations, said the party the athletes attended wasn't associated with the activities the Utes put together for the about a dozen recruits last weekend. He said the program will examine the incident, but the university believes it was a random act of violence. "It was a rarity," Rudy said. The Krugers' mother, Jennifer, said the incident was no fault of the Utes. "This had nothing to do with Utah," she said. "It was a gang of kids looking to hurt somebody. It was a random, weird thing that unfortunately happened to affect our family." In other words, the Utes have nothing to worry about. That's what Chris Fetters, a recruiting expert for scout.com, said about the incident. "When you look at the numbers and how many times something like that has happened and the history of the program, it's so out of character," he said. "It's so baffling. It seems so random."
FOOTBALL: Essien backs calls for change in Cup’s dates Ghana and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien insists that clubs have every right to complain about the dates of the African Cup of Nations finals and repeated his calls for the dates to be changed. “If you ask me, I always say the same thing; If the dates can be changed it is a good thing for us players,” Essien said here where he is representing Ghana at the Nations Cup. “We always have to fight for our clubs. The FA have to fight for the country. If the dates change there will be no more fighting.”
Club owners in Europe have in recent years increasingly agitated for a change in the biennial African Cup of Nations from January to June saying its timing disrupted their domestic season.
Several top African players have also began to publicly voice their concern saying the dates needed to be changed including Essien, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona and Bolton Wanderers’ El Hadji Diouf of Senegal. But their sentiments appear to have rubbed the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou the wrong way. The CAF boss last week accused the players of being selfish and not having the interest of African football at heart. “When the African Cup of Nations started, there were very few African players in Europe but now almost half the players at the Nations Cup play in Europe,” Essien said. The Ghanain squad for example is made up of 19 Europe-based professionals. Monday’s top table Group B clash between Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria featured only European based players with the English Premier League and French Ligue 1 contributing the bulk. CAF has, however, agreed on the need to consider changing the dates from even to odd years to stop having the Africa Cup of Nations held on the same year that the World Cup is held.
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