Sports Briefs

March Madness is here

The first round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament began on Thursday with a field of 64 teams. The opening round game of the tournament, which featured 21-13 Florida A&M versus 22-11 Niagara, was played on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. The Niagara Purple Eagles handled the Rattlers of Florida A&M by a score of 77-69 to earn the 16th seed in the NCAA tournament. Niagara will take on number one seed Kansas tonight at 7:10 p.m. The field will be pared down to 32 teams for the second round, which begins tomorrow. The championship game is slated to take place on April 2nd in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.



Johnson gets four months in jail

Chicago Bears defensive lineman Terry “Tank” Johnson was sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in a 2005 gun case. He was on probation from an incident in 2005 where he was seen outside of a nightclub in his vehicle with a handgun. He was subsequently suspended for one game by the Bears. Johnson was arrested on December 14, 2006 after police raided his house and found unregistered firearms. He had been on house arrest but the judge in his case allowed him to attend practice as well as play in the Superbowl. Johnson pleaded guilty to violating his probation and was given 120 days in jail plus a $2,500 fine.