Junior signs with Sony for Hendrick ride

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has signed an endorsement deal with Sony Electronics, but he still isn’t saying what role longtime sponsor Budweiser will have with him when he joins Hendrick Motorsports next season.

"I’m a big electronics fan. I’m a big computer guy. It’s products I can dig," Earnhardt said yesterday in Oakville, Calif. He will be competing Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in nearby Sonoma.

His deal with Sony is a personal services contract that gives the company use of his name, likeness and voice for promotions. He also has a similar deal with Budweiser that will continue next year, regardless of what’s on his car.

Budweiser has been Earnhardt’s primary sponsor since 1999, and the beer manufacturer wants to continue its relationship with him at Hendrick. But car Owner Rick Hendrick isn’t actively pursuing new sponsors, and it’s possible Bud could get shut out.

Earnhardt also said a possible endorsement deal with sporting goods manufacturer adidas was "on the wish list."

Neither Earnhardt nor Stuart Redsun, Sony’s vice president of corporate marketing, would discuss the financial arrangement or the length of the deal.

CU put on probation for meals violations

Colorado was placed on two years’ probation and fined $100,000 by the NCAA yesterday for inadvertently undercharging 133 athletes for meals totaling $61,700 over six academic years. The school also was ordered to cut one football scholarship for the next three seasons.

The violations are considered "major," the infractions committee said. The fine is to be paid to a hunger- or homeless-relief charity.

The probation will not limit CU’s television exposure or NCAA Tournament appearances, however.

Most of the infractions occurred in football (86) and women’s soccer (29), but also in women’s volleyball (six), tennis (two) and golf (one) and in men’s basketball (nine).

Two of the violations found that some walk-on student-athletes paid a dining hall meal-plan rate instead of the higher training-table rate.

"Training table meals are approximately $14, $15," Athletic Director Mike Bohn said. "Meals at the dining hall are about $7 or $8."

The nature of the infractions, because they were inadvertent and promptly reported, gave the NCAA reason to limit the penalty, said Paul Dee, infractions committee chair.

Summitt released from hospital

Tennessee women’s basketball Coach Pat Summitt was released from a hospital today after being treated for dehydration.

"She is at home and will be resuming normal activities immediately," Lady Vols spokeswoman Debby Jennings said.

The 55-year-old Summitt, who won her seventh NCAA championship this past season, had a dizzy spell and fainted at her home yesterday.

She was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment for dehydration and spent the night for observation. Jennings said running several summer basketball camps in gyms without air-conditioning probably contributed to Summitt’s collapse.

MasterCard settles suit with FIFA

MasterCard Inc. said yesterday it will accept a $90 million settlement and discontinue its sponsorship of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup soccer tournaments, in a move to end its legal dispute with FIFA.

MasterCard and soccer’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, have been fighting in court over MasterCard’s right to sponsor the tournaments. A U.S. district judge ruled in December that FIFA did not honor its agreements with the credit card issuer when it awarded sponsorship rights to MasterCard’s rival, Visa International Inc.

In May, a federal appeals court asked the lower court judge to review her ruling because of uncertainties over whether a 2006 contract was valid. MasterCard had served as the tournament’s official sponsor since 1994.

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