Managers Sports

Don Ebert, a former indoor soccer player who spent the last eight years working with Forum Boxing, has been named general manager of the Splash. Ebert, 36, reached an agreement with majority owner Bill Williams over the weekend. He retired as an indoor player in 1988, and last year did color commentary on Continental Indoor Soccer League television broadcasts. Ebert was director of marketing and business development for Forum Sports under Jerry Buss.

Tim Harris once played goalie for the Los Angeles Lazers, an indoor soccer team owned by Jerry Buss. Harris, now an executive with the Lakers, said that as he looks back it was obvious what Buss was doing. "He was setting up these labs for his kids to learn," Harris said. "That's how Jeanie learned and that's how I learned. Jeanie and I chuckle at it now. It wasn't that long ago we were sitting in roller hockey league meetings and now we're sitting in NBA league meetings. " Buss earned his fame and accolades by owning the Lakers and Kings.

A four-day conference on issues in sports-event management and sports-related travel starts today at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. The conference will include workshops and panel discussions on topics such as bidding on sporting events, running and promoting them and creating related travel packages. For more information, call (310) 577-3700.

Dan Joseph is a huge sports fan. He reads the sports section religiously and, so, knows that San Francisco 49ers Coach Steve Mariucci got fired last week although the team made the playoffs. He knows that UCLA basketball coach Steve Lavin, who has taken five teams to the Sweet 16, is a dead man walking because the new athletic director has already fired a football coach whose team wasn't struggling nearly as much as Lavin's. Such is the life of a high-profile coach.

Dan Joseph is a huge sports fan. He reads the sports section religiously and, so, knows that San Francisco 49ers Coach Steve Mariucci got fired last week although the team made the playoffs. He knows that UCLA basketball coach Steve Lavin, who has taken five teams to the Sweet 16, is a dead man walking because the new athletic director has already fired a football coach whose team wasn't struggling nearly as much as Lavin's. Such is the life of a high-profile coach.

The former manager of a popular Santa Monica sports bar is suing her ex-employer, claiming that her bosses canceled her health insurance after learning she was pregnant. Patricia Roman-Neary, 30, former general manager of Legends, on The Promenade in Santa Monica, alleges she was the victim of sexual harassment and discrimination in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Santa Ana City Manager Robert Bobb isn't modest about the development he predicts for his city: a 21-story office tower to accentuate the downtown, a 67-acre high-tech center, a $400-million shopping mall and now an arena he hopes will attract a professional basketball team. Bobb says the domed arena and the hoped-for National Basketball Assn. team could spark his efforts to redevelop an aging city. "I think it's clear we don't have a Boston Commons or even a Seal Beach Pier.

A development company announced this week that it has dropped plans for a four-screen theater with underground parking as part of its proposed La Canada Village shopping center. The management of the company, Sport Chalet, made the announcement at the La Canada Flintridge Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night. The shift was made in response to community opposition to the shopping center.

Tim Harris once played goalie for the Los Angeles Lazers, an indoor soccer team owned by Jerry Buss. Harris, now an executive with the Lakers, said that as he looks back it was obvious what Buss was doing. "He was setting up these labs for his kids to learn," Harris said. "That's how Jeanie learned and that's how I learned. Jeanie and I chuckle at it now. It wasn't that long ago we were sitting in roller hockey league meetings and now we're sitting in NBA league meetings. " Buss earned his fame and accolades by owning the Lakers and Kings.

Usher, the 26-year-old R&B star who began singing at age 6, has opened a summer camp in his hometown of Atlanta to help some other prodigies-in-training. One hundred and fifty campers, ages 8 to 18, hole up at Clark Atlanta University for two weeks, honoring their specialties -- either singing, dancing or basketball -- and learning about the respective industries.

A four-day conference on issues in sports-event management and sports-related travel starts today at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. The conference will include workshops and panel discussions on topics such as bidding on sporting events, running and promoting them and creating related travel packages. For more information, call (310) 577-3700.

Don Ebert, a former indoor soccer player who spent the last eight years working with Forum Boxing, has been named general manager of the Splash. Ebert, 36, reached an agreement with majority owner Bill Williams over the weekend. He retired as an indoor player in 1988, and last year did color commentary on Continental Indoor Soccer League television broadcasts. Ebert was director of marketing and business development for Forum Sports under Jerry Buss.

The former manager of a popular Santa Monica sports bar is suing her ex-employer, claiming that her bosses canceled her health insurance after learning she was pregnant. Patricia Roman-Neary, 30, former general manager of Legends, on The Promenade in Santa Monica, alleges she was the victim of sexual harassment and discrimination in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

A development company announced this week that it has dropped plans for a four-screen theater with underground parking as part of its proposed La Canada Village shopping center. The management of the company, Sport Chalet, made the announcement at the La Canada Flintridge Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night. The shift was made in response to community opposition to the shopping center.

Santa Ana City Manager Robert Bobb isn't modest about the development he predicts for his city: a 21-story office tower to accentuate the downtown, a 67-acre high-tech center, a $400-million shopping mall and now an arena he hopes will attract a professional basketball team. Bobb says the domed arena and the hoped-for National Basketball Assn. team could spark his efforts to redevelop an aging city. "I think it's clear we don't have a Boston Commons or even a Seal Beach Pier.

It's one of those perfect, sunny afternoons, a time when most working stiffs are tethered to their desks, and Patagonia's founder, Yvon Chouinard, is pushing the limits of a wave peeling across an empty beach. The wave isn't that big, shoulder high perhaps. Still, it's powerful enough to snap Chouinard's surfboard and slam him into the sand. Chouinard comes up sputtering, but unfazed. The board's nose dangles limp and useless, like a broken limb.

How does a person get himself removed from a mailing list? It's not the political stuff or the underwear catalogues or the encouraging letters from Ed McMahon that I want to stop getting. What I would like to stop is the flood of books written by and about New York athletes. Don't get me wrong, they are all fine books, every one of them, all potential Pulitzer material. Full of insight and anecdote. Penetrating, thought provoking, riveting. Or so say the book liners.