Bandits Say Collinsworth ‘Uninsurable’

Cris Collinsworth, a three-time Pro Bowl player in the NFL who had agreed to jump to the United States Football League this season, will not play for the Tampa Bay Bandits because he’s been ruled “uninsurable,” the USFL team announced Tuesday.

The club said Collinsworth, 26, who wanted his contract guaranteed against injury, would not be allowed to join the Bandits because Lloyd’s of London had determined the wide receiver could not be insured owing to of an ankle injury suffered last season with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Team owner John Bassett was quoted in the Cincinnati Post as saying: “What Cris ought to do now is tell his agent to sit down and get a good, strong, meaningful contract with Cincinnati. I know what the Bengals offered him. It may be none of my business, but they offered him a hell of a contract. I don’t know why his agent didn’t accept it.”

Collinsworth, who had not signed an actual USFL contract, reportedly agreed to terms of a five-year, $3-million deal in June, 1983.

Houston Rocket Coach Bill Fitch and Seattle SuperSonic forward Tom Chambers have received fines and suspensions for intentional contact with officials in different games, the NBA said.

Fitch, who had grabbed a referee’s whistle and walked off the court with it, was suspended for two games--Tuesday night against Dallas and tonight at Phoenix--and fined $3,000. Chambers, who pushed a referee, was suspended for one game, tonight against the Clippers, and fined $3,000. Both incidents occurred in games Saturday night.

Fran Polsfoot, special teams and tight end coach for the Denver Broncos, has been readmitted to a hospital for treatment of brain cancer, a team spokesman said.

A Broncos spokesman, said Polsfoot, 57, was readmitted to St. Luke’s Hospital Monday with “serious complications. . . . He’s not doing very well. He’s taken a turn for the worse.”

Polsfoot, an NFL coach for 23 years, was stricken with cancer in January, 1984 and underwent surgery later in the year. He received treatment, including chemotherapy, but missed most of last season.

North Carolina State freshman quarterback Percy Moorman was found guilty of second-degree rape of a female student at a university dorm room

The jury of eight women and four men, after deliberating about three hours, also found Moorman guilty of second-degree sexual offense and misdemeanor breaking and entering.

Garry Templeton, who topped National League shortstops with a .258 batting average last season, has been given a three-year extension of his contract by the San Diego Padres. Templeton, 28, would have been in the final year of a four-year deal this season. The new agreement stretches through 1988.

Doctors at a laboratory in Helsinki say they have developed a safe and reliable method to detect testosterone, a drug banned for use by athletes by the International Olympic Committee.

Dr. Kimmo Kuoppasalmi, who helped develop the test, said the reliability of the new control method, “is very accurate and practically 100% reliable.”

Scientists had said testosterone, a male hormone, was difficult to test for because it is present, at some levels, in both men and women. With current testing procedures, doctors say it is difficult to determine excessive testosterone levels.

The National Football League Players Assn. will investigate allegations that the New York Giants conducted regular urinalysis tests on players suspected of using illegal drugs or alcohol, the union’s executive director said.

The Giants took urine tests on about 12 players on the 49-man roster last season, including some as often as twice a week, The Asbury Park Press reported Sunday, quoting sources close to the team.

Such spot testing would be in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFLPA and the league owners.

George Young, Giants’ general manager, said the team does have a drug abuse program to accommodate players who need help, but he added the club has received no complaints from players or the union concerning it.

Young would not comment on whether the team took regular urine tests on players, calling the report “whispers and rumors.”

Vida Blue, received an invitation to try out with the San Francisco Giants as a non-roster player in spring training.

Blue, 35, accepted the invitation and plans to be in training camp when it opens Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Blue, a left-hander with a 191-143 lifetime record, was released by the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 5, 1983 and spent almost three months in a federal prison last winter after being convicted of cocaine possession. He was out of baseball last season but pitched some in the Puerto Rican winter league late in 1984.

The Angels have signed pitchers D.W. Smith and Stewart Cliburn to one-year contracts. Smith, 27, led the Edmonton Trappers in saves in 1984 with 13. He had a 6-3 record in 50 appearances and posted a 3.13 earned-run average. Cliburn, 28, also pitched for Edmonton last season, compiling a 7-7 record with 12 saves in 45 appearances and had a 2.88 ERA.

Lew Erber and Norval Turner were hired to join the Ram coaching staff. Erber, 50, was offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots last season and previously spent six years with the Raiders and two with the San Francisco 49ers. He will coach wide receivers for the Rams.

Turner, 32, has served the past nine years at USC and was the Trojans’ offensive coordinator last season. He will coach tight ends and U-backs for head Coach John Robinson.

Names in the News

Pipino Cuevas, former World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion, will face Herman Montes in a 10-round super-welterweight bout on March 7 at the Olympic Auditorium.