Black college alumni are prominent on the list of 133 candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

Savannah State great Shannon Sharpe is a first-year candidate among 133 players, coaches and contributors on the preliminary list of modern-era nominees. Sharpe won Super Bowl rings with Denver and Baltimore and retired in 2003 as a four-time all-NFL pick and eight-time Pro Bowler over a 14-year career.

Hall of Fame voters will choose 25 candidates as semifinalists, and that list will be announced in November next month. Other previous nominees include S.C. State's Donnie Shell, a hard-hitting safety who won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, former Grambling State cornerback Albert Lewis (Kansas City Chiefs), and Tennessee State's Richard Dent, Super Bowl XIX MVP and a sack machine as a Chicago Bears defensive end.

Two previously announced Senior Selection Committee nominees, Bob Hayes (Florida A&M) and Claude Humphrey (Tennessee State), are on the list. They were selected in August. Hayes, a three-time All-NFL pick, caught 371 passes for 7,414 yards and 71 touchdowns during an 11-season career with the Dallas Cowboys (1965-74) and San Francisco 49ers (1975). ...

Say good-bye to the Pioneer Bowl for 2008. SIAC and CIAA officials have called off the Division II postseason game scheduled for Dec. 6 at Johnson Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

The SIAC's Council of Presidents and Athletic Directors' Committee and CIAA Board of Directors decided to focus on improving the game's viability after several years of lagging sponsorship and attendance.

"Obviously, the CIAA is disappointed that there will be no Pioneer Bowl this year," CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry said in a statement. ...

A couple of Southwestern Athletic Conference football officials earned an unexpected weekend off on Nov. 1. And it's not a good thing. The league suspended the officials for their actions during the Mississippi Valley State-Jackson State game on Oct. 25.

Jackson State won, 29-27 to keep the Tigers tied atop the Eastern Division at 3-1, 4-4 overall. The Delta Devils are 0-3, 2-5 overall. SWAC officers didn't identify the game officials, but they were sidelined one game each by Commissioner Duer Sharp and Harold Mitchell, the league's coordinator of Football Officials. No details were revealed as to what the officials did to merit a time-out, but Sharp wasn't pleased with how the game was called. "All of our officials are expected to meet certain standards when officiating games,"

Sharp said in a statement. "After evaluation, it was determined that two officials did not meet those standards. While errors such as these are part of sports and the human aspect of officiating, the conference office is disappointed with this unfortunate situation and will continue to improve the performance of its officials."