Florida Sentinel Bulletin

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – In a massive shakeup, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier were fired Wednesday night by the board of trustees amid the growing furor over how the school handled child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

The longtime coach, the winningest in major college football, was ousted at the end of day that began with his announcement to retire at end of the season, his 46th.

After hearing news of the firing, Paterno released a statement, saying: “I am disappointed with the Board of Trustees’ decision, but I have to accept it. A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed. I appreciate the outpouring of support but want to emphasize that everyone should remain calm and please respect the university, its property and all that we value.”

Tiger Woods took the high road in making his first public comments about his former caddie, Steve Williams.

“Stevie’s certainly not a racist, there’s no doubt about that,” Woods said in a packed press conference. “It was a comment that definitely shouldn’t have been made, and he certainly regrets that comment.”

Woods said he and Williams met face-to-face in Sydney, Williams apologized and the two shook hands.

The former world No. 1 was seemingly the last person to comment on the inflammatory insult that stunned many.

“My aim was to shove it up that black a———,” Williams said.

Although the event was billed as a bawdy roast in which all comments would be off the record, the racial comment—made into a microphone on stage, and in front of several players, media and others—made its way around the world quickly.

“It was hurtful, certainly,” Woods said. “But you know, life goes on.”

As for their relationship in the future, he added, “We’ll see what time does. As we all know time heals all wounds.”

LINDEN, N.J. — Santonio Holmes overcame sickle cell to become a Super Bowl MVP and one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.

Watching his young son, Santonio III, suffer with the disease has the New York Jets receiver determined to try to help find a cure. Holmes raised nearly $34,000 for Sickle Cell Anemia research with a charity bowling event Monday night attended by dozens of teammates, including Mark Sanchez and coach Rex Ryan.

Two Penn State university officials who are accused of misleading a grand jury in its investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against a former assistant coach have stepped down, the university said early Monday morning.

Penn State Athletic Director Timothy Curley, 57, and Gary Schultz, 62, the university’s senior vice president for finance and business, face charges of one count of perjury each.

They stepped down late Sunday after an emergency meeting of the university’s board of trustees.

The man at the center of the case is former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, 67, who served 23 years as defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions football team.

Penn State students are in ‘disbelief’ that Sandusky allegedly engaged in fondling, oral sex and anal sex with young boys over a period of more than 10 years, according to an investigative grand jury’s summary of testimony.

SHANGHAI — Tiger Woods’ former caddie caused another sensation, this time by using a racial slur to disparage his old boss during a caddies award roast in Shanghai.

Steve Williams received a mock award Friday night for “Celebration of the Year” for his TV interview after Adam Scott won the Bridgestone Invitational.

That was the day Williams said it was “the best win of his life,” despite being on the bag with Woods for 13 majors.

At an awards party filled with banter, Williams said of his interview, “It was my aim to shove it right up that black a——.”

That line drew the biggest reaction at a party attended by several players, caddies, officials and some media. There was a mixture of laughter and shock, with some players turning to each other with eyes widened and jaws agape.

The provision of the party is that all comments are off the record, yet several caddies couldn’t stop talking about it long after it was over.

Approached early the next morning at breakfast, Williams was stunned to learn that British tabloids had gone with the story.

“Why would they do that?” he said. “The whole thing was meant to be fun.” Hours later, Williams posted a comment on his website. “I apologize for comments I made last night at the Annual Caddy Awards dinner in Shanghai,” it said. “Players and caddies look forward to this evening all year, and the spirit is always joking and fun. I now realize how my comments could be construed as racist.

However, I assure you that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to Tiger and anyone else I’ve offended.”

Woods was in Australia, though it didn’t take long for the comments to get back to him.

PHILADELPHIA — Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has liver cancer and is under hospice care.

The 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago, Frazier’s personal and business manager said Saturday. Frazier had been in out and out of the hospital since early October and receiving hospice treatment the last week.

NEW YORK — NBA players have until Wednesday to accept Commissioner David Stern’s latest offer, though the response already seems obvious. “Right now, we’ve been given the ultimatum, and our answer is that’s not acceptable to us,” union president Derek Fisher said. But the next proposal promises to be worse, surely moving players and owners even further apart and threatening to destroy the season.

Early Sunday morning, the league said it offered players up to 51 percent of basketball-related income – a figure the union insists is fiction. Regardless, it will drop to 47 percent Wednesday if players don’t accept the current offer by the league-imposed deadline. No agreement by the deadline likely will trigger more calls to disband the union and take on the league in court, a battle that would take months.

SAN FRANCISCO – Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former NFL star Terrell Owens after he failed to show up last month for a court date regarding child support payments.

Owens’ spokeswoman said Saturday the free-agent wide receiver tried to reschedule his Oct. 24 hearing in Contra Costa County Court because he had set up a televised workout in the hopes of securing a new contract. No teams attended the workout.

Owens said he was looking for a new attorney and was representing himself while trying to change the court date. She said his new attorneys will deal with the warrant issued this week.

Bianchini said Owens is seeking to modify his child support payments because they were based on the approximately $12 million a year he was making in 2007 when he played for the Dallas Cowboys.

NEW YORK — At Sunday’s New York City Marathon, Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai detonated the men’s course record by over two-and-a-half minutes in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds — with the second and third place finishers also under the course record — and Ethiopian Firehiwot Dado won the women’s race in a swift 2:23:15, the sixth-fastest time ever in the five boroughs.