Saints are sold for $70 million
Months of wheeling, dealing and dickering for the New Orleans Saints finally ended Monday with the announcement that local auto dealer Tom Benson had struck a $70 million deal to purchase the team from John Mecom Jr. and keep the Saints in Louisiana.
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”We have witnessed a major miracle which is the culmination of a series of minor miracles,” said Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who joined Benson, team president Eddie Jones and coach Bum Phillips at the press conference. ”I can`t tell you how many times we needed one more little miracle to bring about this major miracle. And knowing Tom Benson, I know he`ll bring about the next great miracle in the life of this city–a winning season.” That`s something the Saints have never had in 18 years.
To help pay for the ”miracle,” Saints` fans will have to add between $2 and $3 more per ticket.
— In a United States Football League game, Danny Miller kicked three field goals and quarterback Cliff Stoudt went one yard to score in the fourth quarter to rally Birmingham (11-4) to a 29-27 victory over the Gamblers (9-6) at Houston, clinching at least a wild-card playoff berth. . . . Jacksonville Bulls` quarterback Brian Sipe is expected to undergo surgery Wednesday to repair the second shoulder separation he has suffered this year to his throwing arm.
More NBA teams?
A plan to add several teams to the National Basketball Association is on the agenda for the league`s summer meetings later this month, according to commissioner David Stern. Stern told the New York Times that the plan involves expansion for the 1987-88 season, but the newspaper said several owners believe there would be enough support to take on additional teams–possibly Miami, Minneapolis, Charlotte, N.C., Toronto and Santa Ana, Calif.–for the 1986-87 season.
— Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics is the NBA`s Most Valuable Player, the fifth man to win the back-to-back MVP awards. The others are Boston`s Bill Russell (1961-63), Philadelphia`s Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of Milwaukee (1971-72) and Los Angeles (1976-77) and Moses Malone of Houston (1982) and Philadelphia (1983).
Leppert loses his spot
Former Houston Astros` coach Don Leppert contended last week he had been fired in a shake-up of the Astros` coaching staff while general manager Al Rosen said Leppert was only being reassigned. Leppert repeated his
dissatisfaction with the move Monday and said perhaps he didn`t fit in with an organization that seemed more interested in looking clean-shaven than winning baseball games. Now Leppert officially is out of a job. ”I talked to Don this morning and told him I don`t think we can use him anymore if he can`t go along with what we feel are the best interests of this ball club,” Rosen said after reading Leppert`s comments in a Houston newspaper.
— White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, who batted .500 and had a slugging percentage of 1.333 with 5 home runs last week, was named Monday the American League Player of the Week for May 27-June 2. Former Cubs` outfielder Carmelo Martinez, who batted .423 with three home runs and seven runs batted in
(including one on a squeeze bunt) for the San Diego Padres last week, took National League honors.
— Five-time All-Star pitcher Steve Rogers, released by the Montreal Expos last month, signed a contract with the California Angels` Class AAA team in Edmonton, Canada. Rogers, 35, was 2-4 with a 5.68 ERA in eight games with Montreal this season.
— Now that the New York Yankees are winning (19-11 since Billy Martin replaced Yogi Berra as manager), owner George Steinbrenner is in love with Martin, calling him a ”premier manager who is getting the job done. Some people say it`s Don Baylor`s leadership, or this or that. That`s baloney. It`s Billy Martin. He`s got them playing, running and working together.” Just wait.
Gators won`t give up
Southeastern Conference commissioner Boyd McWhorter sidestepped a confrontation with Florida, saying he was sure the Gators would ”do the right thing” in a dispute over the 1984 football title. Florida president Marshall Criser announced earlier that the school wouldn`t honor the decision of the SEC university presidents, who voted 6-4 last week to strip the Gators of the championship. Criser also said the university would continue to review ”every legal option open to us,” including possible withdrawal from the conference. McWhorter said the decision by the presidents was final and the conference wouldn`t recognize Florida as champions.
A real sport
Former light heavyweight champion Archie Moore will take over training Thomas Payne, a 7-foot-2-inch former pro basketball player who was convicted of rape and imprisoned for 11 years. Moore, 72, will be in Payne`s corner Thursday when Payne fights Randy Davis in San Diego. Payne, 32, is 4-1 as a professional boxer. ”He`s big but he`s also very fast and very agile for a man his size,” Moore said. ”When he learns to throw short punches, he`ll be devastating. He has skills unseen in a fighter with so little experience.”