Rahal-Letterman Racing In Doubt For 2009 IRL

The Rahal Letterman Racing team says it is making a last-ditch effort to find a sponsor so it can compete in the 2009 IndyCar Series.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said Thursday the situation looks "pretty grim" but he remains hopeful the reeling economy won't prevent his cars from running.

Earlier, Rahal said in an e-mail to The Associated Press: "At this time Rahal Letterman will not be in the IRL in 2009." But he's not giving up.

"We are continuing to search for sponsorship to run the 2009 season and to run in the Indianapolis 500," he said in a statement, "and we feel that there is still time for us to put something together that will allow that to happen."

The IndyCar opener is April 5.

RLR is co-owned by talk-show host David Letterman.

Rod Tidwell Will Be In The House At Super Bowl

It has confirmed that "Rod Tidwell" himself will be at the Super Bowl as his Arizona Cardinals play in the game for the first time.

Nancy Kane, who represents Cuba Gooding Jr., told us that the actor who won the Oscar for his role as the Cardinals wide receiver in "Jerry Maguire" will be in attendance this weekend in Tampa.

It is not known whether Gooding Jr. will be wearing his No. 85 jersey around town. He attended last year's Super Bowl in Arizona, but spent the previous year in New York City at the 40/40 Club.

Here are a couple interesting tidbits on the Rod Tidwell character:

The No. 85 is currently worn by tight end Jerherme Urban. The best Cardinals player to play in that jersey since the movie (1996) was Rob Moore, whose footage was used in the flick.

Reebok sued Tri-Star because they thought they weren't portrayed in a positive light. As part of the settlement, a Reebok commercial featuring Tidwell was attached to the end of the movie.

Four companies currently have live trademarks to the phrase "Show Me The Money."

It includes the rights to use the phrase on clothing, on slot machines, on radio programs and has even been trademarked by a sports management firm.

The play-by-play announcer for the game against the Dallas Cowboys, where Tidwell had his big catch, was Al Michaels. Michaels will be the play-by-play announcer this Sunday.

Stanford Considering Cutting Sports

Stanford’s athletic department is projecting a $5 million loss in revenue over the next three years and is considering cutting staff and eliminating some sports teams, The Associated Press has learned.

The school is expected to decide in the next 30 to 60 days on staff cuts, a Stanford employee familiar with the budget issues told the AP on condition of anonymity because the person is not authorized to discuss the shortfall.

The person also said Tuesday it wasn’t clear which teams, if any, would be considered for elimination—and it likely wouldn’t be until next season so at the earliest in the fall.

“That’s the last thing they want to consider. They don’t want it to affect student-athletes,” the person said, noting another department was looking to eliminate 50 positions from a staff of about 140. “We do have some serious budget problems. We’re looking at other ways (to save).”

Reducing travel costs also was being discussed.

Times are tough all over. Because Title IX essentially puts a cost on men's teams that is not placed on women's teams, how will Title IX be used if it comes to cutting teams?