Vote clears way for developers in Industry to begin NFL talks

By Lance Pugmire

Feb. 27, 2009 12 AM PT

Staff and Wire Reports

City Council members in the City of Industry unanimously approved a proposal Thursday for a pro football stadium intended to lure a team back to the Los Angeles area.

The vote helped clear the way for developers of the $800-million venue to begin talks with NFL teams about a possible move to the industrial and warehousing city 15 miles east of Los Angeles.

Majestic Real Estate Co. managing partner John Semcken said the company would begin shopping for a team on April 1, the deadline for opponents of the project to file a lawsuit.

At least eight franchises, including the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings, have been identified as possible targets for relocation, he said. Developers are confident the NFL would approve a move by a team, he said.

JURISPRUDENCE

Vick to be on house arrest

Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick will be allowed to serve the last two months of his sentence under home confinement because there is no room at a halfway house for him, a government official said.

Vick is serving a 23-month sentence at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in eastern Virginia’s Surry County. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs.

TENNIS

Djokovic wins; Murray out

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the $2.23-million Dubai Tennis Championship with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Marin Cilic, but No. 2-seeded Andy Murray withdrew because of a viral infection hours before his match in the United Arab Emirates.

Mardy Fish reached the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Florida with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Vince Spadea. Fish will next play sixth-seeded Florent Serra, who beat Mischa Zverev, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

GOLF

Van Pelt shoots 63 to lead

Bo Van Pelt birdied seven of his last nine holes for a seven-under-par 63 and the first-round lead in the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Chris Riley and Jarrod Lyle opened with 65s. Rookie Scott Piercy, who has three top-25 finishes in four starts this year, was in a group at 66.

Jin Joo Hong of South Korea emerged as a surprise first-round leader after shooting a six-under 66 at the $1.45-million LPGA Thailand in Pattaya. Hong fired six birdies and an eagle against two bogeys to open a two-stroke lead over Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson and four Americans: Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford, Kristy McPherson and Brittany Lang.

ETC.

Molina signs with Goossen

Javier Molina, the Commerce boxer who earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, has signed to fight for promoter Dan Goossen and will make his professional debut March 27 on a card at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

-- Lance Pugmire

Shotput and discus thrower John Godina is retiring after a career in which he won two Olympic medals and four world championships. . . . Adam Rippon, a 19-year-old from Clarks Summit, Pa., easily won his second straight men’s title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, scoring a personal-best 147.70 in the free skate and 222.00 overall at Sofia, Bulgaria. . . .

PASSINGS

Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr, 76

Johnny “Red” Kerr, the former Chicago Bulls coach who spent more than three decades as a broadcaster for the team, has died. He was 76.