Carrie Underwood to sing National Anthem at Super Bowl

Checotah, Oklahoma's own Carrie Underwood is going to the Super Bowl - and she'll be singing the national anthem. The country superstar won't be alone in singing America's praises. Queen Latifah will perform "America the Beautiful" as well.

Underwood, who used to date Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, joins other big names who have sung the national anthem at the game, includiing Beyonce, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston.

The Feb. 7 Super Bowl in Miami pits the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. The Who will provide halftime entertainment.

Tennessee hires Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley

Tennessee’s frantic search to find a new coach was over this week, and the Volunteers are turning to Louisiana Tech’s Derek Dooley, who comes from quite a pedigree.

The son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley and the nephew of coach Bill Dooley, Derek Dooley went 17-20 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech.

The Volunteers hired him after a quick search to fill the vacancy created when Lane Kiffin abruptly resigned Tuesday night, bolting to Southern California after 14 months. Coach Derek Dooley hit the ground running. There is no question he had a lot of catching up to do.

Hired less than three weeks before national signing day, Dooley and his staff not only have to try and keep the recruits who verbally committed to the Lane Kiffin staff, but hopefully use his connections and recruiting acumen to add some of his own.

Kiffin's staff was obviously built to recruit top 10 classes. It was a priority. Dooley's current staff doesn't appear to match up with the previous staff as recruiters and it lost defensive backs coach Willie Mack Garza.

Dooley is unlikely to recruit with all the bells and whistles of the previous staff. He has a reputation of winning recruiting battles once he gets an in-home visit. It's in the living room where Dooley's personality is said to shine. Based on his initial media appearance, it's easy to see how that assessment would be accurate.

Georgia hires Todd Grantham as D-coordinator

Georgia endured plenty of rejection in its search for a new defensive coordinator. The Bulldogs finally got someone to take the job, and insisted he was the right man all along. Todd Grantham, who coaches defensive linemen for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, agreed to a three-year contract worth $750,000 annually to end a search that began six weeks ago and included several high-profile misses.

The Bulldogs have been searching for a new coordinator since Willie Martinez was fired Dec. 2 along with two other defensive assistants.

Grantham previously spent three years as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns and a total of six years as an assistant with Houston and Indianapolis. He’s also coached in the college ranks, at Michigan State and his alma mater, Virginia Tech.

Grantham was hired on the same day that rival Georgia Tech settled on former Virginia coach Al Groh as its new defensive coordinator.

Like Groh with the Yellow Jackets, Granthan plans to switch from the 4-3 alignment to a 3-4.

“We’re going to be an aggressive, attacking style of defense,” he vowed. “To make plays, you’ve got to have playmakers, and you’ve got to put them in position to make plays. The biggest thing is to evaluate players, learn what our assets are and find ways to help them make plays.”

The Bulldogs failed to make enough plays under Martinez, who was fired after steadily declining results in his five-year tenure as coordinator.

This past season, Georgia ranked 10th in the Southeastern Conference in points allowed (26.4) and seventh in yards allowed (328.4). Over the last two years, the Bulldogs surrendered at least 30 points in 10 of their 26 games.

Linebacker Rennie Curran, the SEC’s leading tackler, and safety Reshad Jones gave up their senior seasons to enter the NFL draft, but the returning players are looking forward to turning around those disappointing numbers.

“Everybody is glad the search is over and we finally know what’s going to happen and we can start learning some new things,” cornerback Brandon Boykin said.

Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup trophy unveiled in Kolkata

German football legend Lothar Matthaus unveiled the Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup Trophy 2010 at a glittering function, making Kolkata the only Indian city to showcase the prized trophy.

The authentic trophy made of 18-carat gold, was unveiled in a five-star hotel in the presence of former Indian soccer greats and a host of leading soccer organizers of the country.

Among those who graced the occasion were former Olympians Sailen Manna, P.K. Banerjee, Samar Banerjee, Nikhil Nandy, and former internationals Prasun Banerjee and Subrata Bhattacharya.

The trophy - 36.8 cm high tall and weighing 6,175 grams - has a base containing two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974.

Experts Warn Of Super Bowl Ticket Scams

They may be the hottest ticket in South Florida, but if you're searching for Super Bowl tickets, beware of scammers, WPLG-TV in Miami warns.

If you go online, you will find all sorts of deals. Some are just too good to be true. One fan told the station that he found a seller on Craigslist listing four Super Bowl tickets for $1,800. But the seller had no photos of the tickets, nor a PayPal account. The online seller also wanted the money sent through an eBay agent.

Those are all red flags that the deal may not be legitimate.

"Those private sites - you've got to be careful buying tickets, because you don't know who you're dealing with," Todd Rubin of Todd's Tickets told the station. The Better Business Bureau said that most legitimate ticket brokers take possession of a ticket and independently verify its authenticity, and only then will they resell the ticket.

"When we buy a ticket from someone, we only pay with a check. We make sure we copy their driver's license, and we also call the stadium to make sure the ticket hasn't been reported stolen," Rubin said.

Brokers at Todd's Tickets also look at the bar code, make sure the ticket is perforated, was printed on good, raised card stock, and has a hologram on the back.

Don't purchase from a seller who wants cash only until you meet the seller in person. At present, Ticketmaster's NFL Ticket Exchange is promoted as the only NFL-approved ticket exchange.

The face value of the tickets start at $1695 for two tickets.

Sports South; The AJC; WPLG-TV; 360 Degrees