Sports Briefs

COLLEGE

FOOTBALL

Vols coach likens team

to Germans on D-Day

Tennessee coach Derek Dooley Monday compared his young, inexperienced team's struggles to that of the German forces during the Allies' invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The Vols' first-year coach described the confusion caused by the Americans' surprise landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day and the Germans' slow reaction in the absence of their leader, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

"Right now we're like the Germans in World War II," Dooley said. "Here come the boats, they're coming. You have the binoculars, and it's like, 'Oh, my God, the invasion is coming.' "

Tennessee (2-5, 0-4 SEC) has a depleted lineup because of injuries and attrition from back-to-back coaching changes. The Vols have lost three straight games.

Dooley compared Tennessee's inability to handle difficult game situations to how the Germans handled the D-Day invasion. "I don't want the German people to get upset at me," he said. "I'm not attacking them, but that's what happened.''

A Tennessee spokesman did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Dooley may not have intended to anger anyone, but comparisons between sports and war or disasters usually offend someone.

In February, North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams was criticized for telling a clumsy anecdote that was interpreted as comparing his team's struggles to the Haiti earthquake.

NBANets give $75G to fund

for Rutgers' LeGrand

The Nets are donating $75,000 to the "Eric LeGrand Believe Fund" to raise awareness of the paralyzed Rutgers football player's plight. LeGrand injured his spinal cord making a tackle in an Oct. 16 game against Army at New Meadowlands Stadium.