Greek News
Two Greeks Named Head Coaches by NFL Teams
Two of the seven new head coaches hired so far by National Football League clubs since the end of the 2011 season are in NIC member fraternities. On January 20th, the Miami Dolphins named Joe Philbin, a Lambda Chi Alpha from Washington & Jefferson, as the 10th head coach in club history. He spent the last nine years on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff with the last five as offensive coordinator. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Greg Schiano, a Phi Gamma Delta from Bucknell, on January 26th after 11 seasons as head coach at Rutgers. Previously, he was an NFL assistant coach with the Chicago Bears from 1996 to 1998.
KA’s Snedeker Wins Over A Million in his third PGA championship
At the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, Brandt Snedeker, a member of Kappa Alpha Order at Vanderbilt, tied for the lead after four rounds with a 272 total, then won the second playoff hole to earn $1,080,000 for his third victory since joining the PGA Tour. Before earning his first Tour win in 2007, he trailed by five shots entering the final round. His second title at the 2011 Heritage came after trailing by six shots after three rounds. The Farmers event was similar to his earlier wins as he started the fourth round seven shots behind.
Greeks Receive Academy Award Nominations
With the official announcement of Oscar candidates on January 25th, several of Hollywood's leading Greeks in the motion picture industry will be in the spotlight when Oscar night happens on February 26th. Best Actor nominee Brad Pitt (Sigma Chi) starred in Best Picture-nominated Moneyball and also was a co-producer of the film. Pitt also had a leading role in Best Picture nominee The Tree of Life. Another Best Picture nominee, War Horse, was directed byStephen Spielberg (Theta Chi), who, surprisingly, did not get a Best Director nomination. Grant Heslov (Phi Kappa Psi) is a co-nominee for Adapted Screenplay on The Ides of March, which he co-produced.
Announcing the 2011 NIC All-Fraternity All-American Football Teams
The college football season and all the bowl games concluded a week ago. Players from a large number of fraternities and colleges have been selected on the attached press release. To review the leading Greek players and head coaches, click here.
Beta Theta Pi’s Ben Flajnik is “The Bachelor”
The 23rd season of ABC-TV's popular show, "The Bachelor", premiered on January 2nd with Ben Flajnik, a member of Beta Theta Pi from the University of Arizona, in the spotlight. The 29-year old California winemaker will "face off" against 25 single women who will be vying for his interest over the next several months. Prior to the show's opening episode, Flajnik was interviewed on the network's "Good Morning America" show.
