Ueberroth Favors Lease Exit Clause

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth said Wednesday that he supports a controversial exit clause in the Seattle Mariners’ new Kingdome lease agreement.

“I think it’s essential,” Ueberroth said at a news conference. “Any community that thinks it can keep any kind of sports franchise by hammering them with some type of legal restraint is going to lose.”

Under the new Kingdome lease agreement in principle, Mariner owner George Argyros could move the Mariners to another city after the 1987 season under certain circumstances.

Former University of Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar “is officially through with school” and is eligible to be selected by the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League’s supplemental draft, Kosar’s agent said.

“He took his last final (examination) Monday, and the University of Miami has notified the NFL commissioner’s office that he has graduated,” said Dr. John Geletka, a Youngstown, Ohio, dentist and family friend who will represent Kosar in contract talks.

The Browns own the first pick in next week’s supplemental draft because of an April trade with the Buffalo Bills. The Browns have said they intend to use the pick to select Kosar, and Geletka said he expects to begin contract talks with the Browns this week.

The Illinois House of Representatives approved a measure supported by residents of Chicago’s Wrigley Field neighborhood that would allow temporary lights for postseason games only--assuming the Cubs get that far.

However, the Senate earlier endorsed legislation backed by the Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs, aimed at letting the team play up to 18 regular-season night games at Wrigley in addition to any post-season contests.

The Chicago City Council would still have to override a 1983 city ordinance that also bans night baseball in the North Side ballpark.

Jim Fitzgerald, former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, is being retained as a consultant by Golden State Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli in exchange for arranging a $4 million loan.

Fitzgerald, 59, defined his role in an interview with the San Jose Mercury-News.

Joe Namath may join ABC-TV’s Monday Night Football team, his agent and the network said.

Agent Jimmy Walsh told USA Today that an agreement had been reached with ABC for Namath to replace Don Meredith. Namath will sign a two-year contract with the network when details are completed, the newspaper said.

The West Coast Athletic Conference will add five sports for women, beginning with the 1985-86 academic year, Commissioner Michael Gilleran announced.

The schools composing the women’s membership are Loyola Marymount, Nevada Reno, Pepperdine, University of San Diego, Santa Clara, University of San Francisco and U.S. International University in San Diego.

All seven conference schools will compete for championships in four sports (volleyball, basketball, cross-country and tennis), and all but Pepperdine will compete in softball.

Alkis Panagoulias, coach of the U.S. national soccer team, and Karl-Heinz Heddergott, director of coaching, have been dismissed less than a month after the American team was eliminated by Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying competition.

Werner Fricker, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, insisted, however, that Costa Rica’s 1-0 upset victory in Los Angeles May 31 had nothing to do with the decision.

A guilty plea by a former Tulane student to charges of conspiracy will make him the third defendant to reach a plea-bargaining agreement in the basketball point-fixing scandal.

Court records revealed that Mark Olensky, 21, a former accounting major from Fair Lawn, N.J., will enter guilty pleas to two counts of conspiracy to commit sports bribery, with the other counts to be dismissed by the state.

One additional count of conspiracy and 10 counts of sports bribery against Olensky were dismissed by prosecutors.

Names in the News

The Kansas City Chiefs signed quarterback Bill Kenney to a four-year contract believed to be worth about $2.5 million.

Cynthia Scholefield, 24, of Los Angeles, shot a two-under-par 71 on the 6,245-yard Broadmoor East course to lead eight qualifiers and three alternates for the U.S. Women’s Open next month. The UCLA graduate was two strokes ahead of her nearest challengers, Heather Farr of Phoenix and Kathleen McCarty of Fresno.