Sports Boosters

The NCAA sent a stern message Wednesday to one of its oft-troubled members, Texas A&M, taking the unusual step of placing the school on probation for five years as a result of rules violations involving the Aggies' football program. Only two other schools--Southeastern Louisiana and Upsala College--have received probationary periods of a similar duration from the NCAA.

LONDON - It was early Friday night here, and neither Don Porter nor Jessica Mendoza was in a good place. Limos were gathering the VIPs from the VIP hotels along Park Lane. Soon, the opening ceremony of the London Olympics would begin. They were to be, as all Olympic openings have become, an artistic springboard to an athletic extravaganza. Porter sat in an empty lounge alcove of the Grosvenor House Hotel and watched the hustle and bustle of departing dignitaries. He attended his first Games in 1968 in Mexico City, and with the exception of the U.S.-boycotted Moscow Games and the Munich Games in 1972, he had been to every Olympic Summer opener since 1976 in Montreal.

Joe McKnight, star tailback of USC's football team, has been driving a sport utility vehicle owned by a Santa Monica businessman, an arrangement the school is investigating and which may be in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA prohibits student-athletes from accepting benefits from marketing representatives or agents or "extra benefits" based on their athletic ability. For several weeks, McKnight has been seen driving a well-kept 2006 Land Rover that, according to California Department of Motor Vehicles records, is registered to Scott Schenter.

Don James, starting his 19th season as the University of Washington's football coach, abruptly resigned Sunday, hours after the Pacific 10 Conference levied stiff penalties against the school for numerous rules infractions. The football team, which has appeared in the last three Rose Bowls, was placed on probation for two years and was banned from bowl games for the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

A University of Washington booster loaned money to the son-in-law of Husky football Coach Don James to hire a football player for a summer job, an apparent violation of NCAA rules, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. "You have to get paid from the people you work for," NCAA legislative services director Bob Oliver told the newspaper. The report in Saturday's editions said Jim Heckman, publisher of the tabloid Sports Washington, got Herb Mead of Bellevue, Wash.

In a conference call last November, USA Wrestling's athletes advisory council debated whether to ask the sport's national governing body to end its association with John E. du Pont. Amateur wrestling's most generous benefactor for almost a decade, Du Pont had been accused of racism after dismissing two African American wrestlers from the state-of-the-art training center on his 800-acre Foxcatcher Farms estate in the rolling hills near Philadelphia.

Angelo Mazzone III, the former UCLA athletic official who was allowed to buy 4,000 Rose Bowl tickets from the school, was accused by football players in 1978 of buying complimentary tickets from them at up to three times face value. A Pacific 10 Conference investigation, which included interviews with football and basketball players, and UCLA officials, found there was an inappropriate use of the tickets. But neither Mazzone nor the school was charged with violating conference rules.

The son-in-law of Washington football Coach Don James offered to pay a former Husky player $500 if the former player would recant published remarks alleging impropriety in James' program. James' son-in-law, Jim Heckman, left a series of recorded telephone messages for former Washington tailback Vince Weathersby seeking a statement from Weathersby about stories that appeared in The Times on Dec. 9.

Warren A. Gilbert Jr., operator of one of the largest U.S. Housing and Urban Development-subsidized housing projects in Dallas, defended payments of thousands of dollars to at least five Texas A&M football players as proper. Payments to the players allegedly were written off as maintenance fees for the housing projects. The players were paid year-round in apparent violation of NCAA rules, yet in some cases did no work, current and former employees of Gilbert say.

Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner knows a thing or two about captivating children with cartoon characters. Now he is hoping to hook kids on college sports -- even before they walk or talk. Eisner's new entertainment business, Tornante Co., plans to announce today the purchase of Team Baby Entertainment, a start-up company that makes college-sports booster videos aimed at children ages 6 months to 5 years.

For San Diego psychiatrist Kai MacDonald, a tough haul isn't a question of two steps forward, one step back. For him, it's one step back, and then another step back, and then tens of thousands more, until 26.2 miles have happily receded from view. At 32, MacDonald is one of a small but ardent bunch of athletes who live not so much in the fast lane as in reverse gear. They run marathons and shorter races backward, leaving many of their forward-running brethren in their dust.

Herman L. Weiner, a frustrated wannabe baseball player who became a steel industry magnate and philanthropist encouraging youths to pursue both scholastic and major league dreams, has died. He was 88. Weiner died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of cardiac arrest after spending several weeks in a coma, said his son-in-law, Mark Spitz. From 1947, when he helped his father, Jack, start Weiner Iron & Metal Co., until he sold what became Weiner Steel Corp. to Hiuka America Corp.

Long before adopting a school became popular, Don Frost endeared himself to Crescenta Valley High. And the school to him. Frost, who died last week of cancer at 72, attended more than 250 Crescenta Valley boys' basketball games, jumping on the Falcon bandwagon in 1968 and remaining one of the program's most involved boosters until attending his final game Dec. 23.

John Henry Clippinger III of Westlake, a fanatical booster of sports at USC, especially football, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 48. "He loved USC sports; it was his passion, it was his life," said Brian Luft, assistant director of athletic development at the university. "When he found out he had cancer--it was getting worse and worse--he had already ordered his [football] season tickets for this year." Clippinger was born Dec. 28, 1948.

In a conference call last November, USA Wrestling's athletes advisory council debated whether to ask the sport's national governing body to end its association with John E. du Pont. Amateur wrestling's most generous benefactor for almost a decade, Du Pont had been accused of racism after dismissing two African American wrestlers from the state-of-the-art training center on his 800-acre Foxcatcher Farms estate in the rolling hills near Philadelphia.

Here is a selection of comments on Rams owner Georgia Frontiere's plan to move the team to St. Louis. "The partnership between the Rams and the city got off on the wrong foot 15 years ago. . . . We tried over the years to encourage the Rams to embrace Orange County in a sincere way. But they have other priorities." Tom Daly, Anaheim mayor * "I don't want a stigma attached to the area where I live.

They won't be calling themselves "Save the Rams" anymore, because that no longer can be done. But the group that has battled for 10 months to prevent the NFL team from leaving Anaheim will have a new mission: to help bring a new or existing NFL franchise to Orange County. Leigh Steinberg and Jack Lindquist, co-chairmen of the organization, were optimistic in the wake of news Wednesday that league owners voted to approve the Rams' move to St. Louis.

Football boosters from Cypress High have filed a restraining order to get the Centurions into the Southern Section playoffs, booster club president Nick Eighmy said Wednesday. Cypress had to forfeit two victories after one of their players was ruled ineligible. According to Eighmy, the suit claims that since the coaches and administration were unaware the player was ineligible, the entire team should not be punished. Southern Section officials had no comment. A hearing will be held today.

The field house at St. Paul High is as dark as the day will allow. Five long tables stretch across the room. The candles on them look like lights on an airport runway. The St. Paul football team enters in silence. The players take their places, tucking their ties as they sit. Tonight's meal: shredded beef in a light sauce. Across Los Angeles, Manual Arts Coach Glenn Bell is greeting his players as they return for the night's game against Hamilton. He looks in their eyes, watches their gaits.