The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 15

The Pes Moines Register State Edition Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Page3B NFL Report pated," he said. "That said, I'm leaving Iowa Speedway with a heavy heart. That's a team that's second to none in the motorsports business and we have the greatest fans in North Ameirca. "Next May, I'll be in the grandstands cheering. I won't be a stranger." Majority owner Conrad Clement was not immediately reachable for comment.

The speedway, built on 226 acres of farmland, had an assessed value of $44 million as of June 2009. The original estimate of the track's worth when it was built was $70 million. Season tickets at the speedway have grown as well, jumping from 5,300 in 2008 to nearly 20,000 by 2009. Companies, which online sites indicate was founded in 2001, specializes in motorcycles, Jauron said. "I'm excited to start there," Jauron said.

"I'll miss the team and fans very much, though. I'll miss shaking hands on race day in the parking lot. "The speedway has a ton of momentum, though, and I don't see that slowing down one bit. Great things are happening there. "I won't miss the 80-hour weeks, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I never worked harder, but I never had more fun." JAURON Continued from Page 1B That's what it is. I don't know what the ideal time is to leave a place. Is there one? "As a business leader, you want to move on when things are great and you're holding your head high. "And I'm going to work here another month. That should be indication enough that things are on good terms here." Jauron led the speedway for 3V2 years, during the time of its most explosive growth.

In July, the speedway announced that the Clement family of Cresco's Featherlite Trailers had purchased controlling interest of the facility from the Manatt family of Brooklyn, la. The new owners, along with track architect and minority partner Rusty Wallace, pledged support at the time for continuing the track's leadership, with Jauron mentioned in particular. Jauron said the decision to leave was his, and indicated the Clements were surprised when he resigned. "I would say that my resignation was not antici- Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan led the Falcons to two touchdown drives during the fourth quarter to beat Atlanta in the Georgia Dome on Sunday, john amisap Tough Irishman' Ryan draws praise from coach NFL notebook OUT FOR SEASON: The season is over for Jamaal Charles. The All-Pro running back will go on injured reserve after tearing the ACL in his left knee, a person familiar with the injury told The Associated Press, leaving the winless Kansas City Chiefs without one of their best offensive players.

FINED: The NFL on Monday fined Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson $40,000 for his hit on Philadelphia's Jeremy Maclin in which he led with his helmet and crashed into Maclin in the third quarter of the Falcons' 35-31 win over the Eagles on Sunday night. Robinson was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. INJURIES: Green Bay Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins was ruled out for the season Monday because of a neck injury. He was carried off the field on a stretcher after sustaining a frightening injury in the fourth quarter at Carolina on Sunday. An MRI exam Monday revealed that New York Jets All-Pro center Nick Mangold has a high ankle sprain that could sideline him for at least Sunday's game against Oakland.

Cincinnati slot receiver Jordan Shipley has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, ending his season. By CHARLES ODUM Associated Press FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. Mike Smith calls Matt Ryan a "tough Irishman." The Falcons coach says that toughness helps make his quarterback a fourth-quarter winner. Ryan was pounded by Philadelphia's pass rush for three quarters, but he was at his best at the end. He led two touchdown drives in a near-perfect final quarter to rally the Falcons to a crucial 35-31 victory over the Eagles on Sunday night.

"He's a tough Irishman," Smith said. "I've said that before. He gets hit and he takes that hit and he keeps going. He is a guy that will never give up. When you have a guy like that leading your football teamit's going to pay dividends in the long run." Ryan was sacked four times all in the first three quarters struggling after one to rise from his knees.

He was also hit six times, usually landing hard on the turf. Despite the beating, the fourth quarter belonged to Ryan. His No. 2 jersey commanded the respect of a Georgia Dome sellout crowd packed with Michael Vick's No. 7 in Falcons' red and Eagles' green.

Ryan completed 8 of 10 passes with a touchdown to rally the Falcons from a 31-21 deficit. Vick, the former Falcons star, left with a third-quarter concussion, spitting blood on his way off the field. Ryan won the battle of endurance before winning. A victory the Falcons needed. They were coming Colleges Sooners looking for some 'stability ByJIMVERTUNO Associated Press Oklahoma cleared the way Monday for its possible departure from the Big 12, with university president David Boren demanding the league move toward an equal revenue-sharing model and create stability or else lose the Sooners to the Pac-12.

Rival Texas also moved closer to the door, raising the prospect that one of the nation's biggest conferences could lose its two richest, most powerful programs. After being granted the power to choose a new conference home for the Sooners, Boren said he is focused on only two options: a fractured Big 12 that isn't currently suitable or the expanding Pac-12, which already claimed Oklahoma's conference rival, Colorado, last summer. "The status quo is certainly not stable," Boren said. "That's one of the things we're weighing: Can it be made stable?" Texas counterpart Bill Powers, granted similar decision-making power by his regents less than an hour later, said he would consider options "including continued participation in the Big 12" but made no mention of the Pac-12, the ACC or any other potential destinations. The Big 12 has moved to the brink of extinction just one summer after the remaining 10 members pledged to stick together, then hammered out a $1.2 billion television contract.

They decided not to create a conference network similar to the ones in place by the Big Ten and Pac-12, not to split revenue equally and not to create any barriers to Texas' creation of the Longhorn Network through a 20-year, $300 million agreement with ESPN that proved to be divisive. "I would simply say it is not a strong vote of confidence in the conference office that this has happened in such a short period of time," Boren said. Texas has already said it plans to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference by July if legal issues can be addressed. If Oklahoma leaves, so will Oklahoma State. "Whatever we do, we're going to do it together and I think that's very good news for the state of Oklahoma," Boren said, adding that he speaks daily with Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis.

"Oklahoma State has attractive options and we are working with our colleagues at the University of Oklahoma to make sure the best interests of both institutions and our state are achieved," Hargis added. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said in a statement that the conference is "assuring our members that maintaining the Big 12 is in the best interest for their institutions." "It is my opinion that the case for the Big 12 Conference continues to be as strong today for all of our current members as it was last year, especially considering the welfare of those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility the student-athletes," Beebe said. As far as other interested conferences, there is no guarantee the Pac-12 will welcome new members from the Big 12 Conference, especially without Texas. Ultimately, the Big 12's future likely comes down to whether the schools raking in the most money want to share enough of it with those earning the least, or if they'd rather leave their current rivals behind and chase a bigger paycheck. utes remaining.

"That is probably as well as I've seen Matt play in those circumstances," Smith said. Overall, Ryan completed 17 of 28 passes for 195 yards with a career-high four touchdowns and two interceptions. Smith said the fourth-quarter win also showed him more about his team. "This is a team that doesn't blink," he said. "This is a team that stays focused, knows what the task is, and to the best of their abilities goes out and tries to perform." The sacks are a growing concern, however.

Ryan was sacked five times and hit 11 more times in the 30-12 loss at Chicago. Ryan already is almost halfway to his career-high total of being sacked 23 times last season. "We have got to protect the quarterback," Smith said. "We've got to make sure schematically that we put our guys in the best situations and we've got to win our one-on-one matchups." COACHING SEARCH The Energy have released the following tentative schedule for their coaching search: Friday Final candidate list selected Sept. 27 Telephone interviews completed Oct.

2 In-person interviews completed Week of Oct. 3 New Energy head coach hired position as an assistant at Iowa State shortly before head coach Greg McDer-mott left for Creighton. When Fred Hoiberg was hired in Ames, Nurse found himself without a job and quickly returned to the Energy. "We have heard from college coaches, from other D-League coaches, both head coaches in the past and current assistants. We have heard from one or two former NBA head coaches and multiple NBA assistants," said Makris, who plans to pare the list to 5-10 for phone interviews, then three or four for personal interviews.

"To a point, I'm surprised, but not completely. These coaches know that the talent level is very high in our league. And they know it's the quickest way back to the NBA." Energy managing partner Jerry Crawford praised the work the 44-year-old Nurse did in four seasons, three of which netted playoff berths. "Nick came to see my 5'2 years ago with this idea of an NBA Development League team in Des Moines," Crawford said. "We went to see (Iowa businessman) Gary Kirke, who said, 'Let's do "Nick helped generate the idea, implement the idea, and won a title here.

So you can't overstate his importance to the franchise. That said, we've got a great organization. It will be easier for our next head coach, since we had to build this from scratch." Nurse, a native of Carroll who played four seasons at Northern Iowa, will face his former team right off the bat. Iowa travels to Rio Grande Valley for games Nov. 30 and Dec.

1, the third and fourth contests of the season. But the Vipers are not scheduled to play in Des Moines this winter, sparing Nurse that potential awkwardness. "As I took the job here this weekend, one of the first things I looked at was the schedule," Nurse said. "I was relieved that we don't play up there. It would probably be too emotional." Executive sports editor Bryce Miller contributed to this report.

NURSE Continued from Page 1B how they have a proven track record with (Chris) Finch, of putting him in here and bringing him up. My goal every year is to grow as a coach, and I thought this was a great place to do that." Finch, a longtime friend of Nurse's, was promoted to assistant coach of the Rockets after two seasons at the Vipers' helm. Nurse said he and Finch spoke often this summer while helping prepare Great Britain's Olympic team for the 2012 Games (Finch is head coach of that squad, and Nurse his assistant) about the opportunity in Rio Grande Valley. Unlike the situation with the Energy, who are affiliated with three NBA teams but operate independently of them, the Rockets control the basketball operations for the Vipers. Nurse said he sees that arrangement as providing a clearer path to the job he has long coveted, as an NBA assistant.

For example, he will report directly to Gersson Rosas, who is the Rockets' vice president of player personnel and the general manager of the Vipers. Nurse said he will be involved in Rockets' training camps and team meetings, with Houston just a 45-min-ute flight from Hidalgo, Texas, where the Vipers play. "It was a chance to grow. I did about as much as I could do (in Iowa)," said Nurse, who interviewed for an NBA assistant job as recently as last week before accepting the Vipers' offer on Saturday. "I don't devalue the 50 or 60 games a year that I coached there.

That's great experience. But a lot of times (NBA executives) will hire people they know a little better." The move south, after four years of coaching the Energy, will also allow Nurse to see a little more of his 7-year-old son, Noah, who lives in Dallas. The Energy, meanwhile, turned toward finding Nurse's replacement, which they hope to announce during the first week of October. The D-League draft will be the first week of November. General manager Chris Makris said he had already been flooded with applicants by Monday.

"It's no different really than an NBA callup; you've just got to be ready to move forward," said Makris, adding that the team was aware Nurse had been interviewing for other jobs. The Energy thought they had lost Nurse last April when he accepted a College Football Realignment Big East, Big 12 officials off a 13-3 season that ended with a disappointing home playoff loss to Green Bay and opened with an ugly loss at Chicago following a winless preseason. Another setback would have left an opening for doubts to enter the Falcons' locker room before this week's game at Tampa Bay. Ryan, in his fourth season, has led 14 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime. Smith said this may have been Ryan's top showing with the game on the line.

"Matt was at his best in the fourth quarter," Smith said. "It would be hard to think of him in those two drives playing any better since we've been here." Ryan passed for 76 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter while leading two touchdown drives. He had a 1-yard scoring pass to Ovie Mugh-elli to cap a 12-play drive that covered 80 yards and then led another 80-play drive which ended with Michael Turner scoring from the 3 with less than 5 min- To our readers: The Des Moines Register typically does not publish stories that fail to identify sources or directly attribute information. When the Register contacted Iowa State last weekend about news related to the university, Big 12 and Big East, officials declined comment and said they would treat it like a confidential coaching search moving forward. of regents voted Monday to give their presidents the right to choose a new conference, though the Texas regents still held the right to give a final approval.

If the Big 12 loses those four members, it would leave Missouri, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State scrambling. Without Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the Big East still has six football members, Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida, Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia. Plus TCU is slated to join in 2012, giving the Big East a presence in Big 12 country. Also talking about a merger is the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA. talk merger Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson told the Idaho Statesmen that he and CU-SA Commissioner Britton Banowsky "resurrected this consolidation concept with Conference USA from a football-only standpoint." A union between those schools could create one BCS automatic qualifying league, but there's no guarantee some of those schools won't also look elsewhere.

The Southeastern Conference has voted to accept Texas as its 13th member, and speculation has Missouri and West Virginia as candidates to become No. 14. The ACC might not be done adding Big East teams. The conference reached 14 members with the recent additions, and UConn and Rutgers would allow it to continue to expand its presence in the Northeast. The Big East also has seven non-football members in St.

John's, Providence, Marquette, Seton Hall, DePaul, Villanova and Georgetown, and Notre Dame which competes in the Big East in everything but football. Associated Press NEW YORK The Big East and Big 12 might join together in their fight for survival. School and conference officials from the two leagues have been discussing ways to merge what's left of them if Texas and Oklahoma leave the Big 12, a person involved in the discussions told The Associated Press. The person, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about what is going on behind the scenes, said Monday there has been dialogue between athletic directors and high-level officials in the conference offices. "Those conversations are alive and ongoing," the person said.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh have announced they will be leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Texas and Oklahoma are both trying to decide whether to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-12, taking Oklahoma State and Texas Tech with them. Both universities' board.