Howe Clears Waivers; He’s Free to Sign

Steve Howe cleared waivers on Monday, which made it official that he has been given his unconditional release by the Dodgers. He is now free to sign with any other club.

Howe’s six-year career with the Dodgers ended unofficially when he failed to appear for the June 30 game with the Atlanta Braves and was placed on the restricted list. The Dodgers gave him his release and paid off Howe’s contract for this season.

The Dodgers also completed the trade that brought Enos Cabell from the Houston Astros to Los Angeles. The contract of minor-league third baseman German Rivera was assigned to the Astros.

The Dodgers had traded minor-league pitcher Rafael Montalvo and a player to be named later for Cabell. Rivera, who hit .292 with 8 homers and 39 RBIs at Albuquerque, was the player.

A former Memphis State official said he gave basketball Coach Dana Kirk $12,000 four years ago to help in the recruiting of star forward Keith Lee, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Sunday.

“I just gave him the money, and he said he was going to get the best basketball player he ever had,” the former school official told the Commercial Appeal. The official was not identified by the paper.

Kirk was unavailable for comment and Athletic Director Charles Cavagnar declined comment.

In June, the Commercial Appeal reported that Bob Patterson, a former Memphis State athletic director, had been questioned by the FBI about a $12,000 loan he took out in August 1981.

The Idaho State men’s basketball program has been placed on probation for two years, the NCAA announced. An investigation found that the team’s former coach and a former assistant coach had committed several violations.

The team has been prohibited from participating in any post-season competition or appearing on live telecasts during the 1985-86 academic year. The probation became effective on June 18.

In the face of a declining number of world-class entrants in the past few years, the Boston Athletic Assn. Board of Governors voted to award prize money starting next spring.

The BAA, in a statement, said the decision to award prize money is intended to continue the tradition of excellence of the race and to assure a quality field.

“I don’t think we are going away from tradition,” said Bob Weiss, one of 11 governors. “By adding prize money, we’ll attract more world class runners. That’s the delicate balance we have to watch out for over the next couple of months.”

In recent years, the quality of the field has dwindled as top entrants chose to bypass the Boston race to train for other marathons which did offer prize money.

Big-name marathons, such as New York and Chicago, offer more than $270,000 in prize money, while lesser-known marathons, such as Houston and the Twin Cities, offer $175,-000 in prize money.

Mexican soccer player Hugo Sanchez signed a $1.4-million, five-year contract to play with the Real Madrid soccer club of Spain.

Sanchez, one of Mexico’s most popular athletes, said he was “very satisfied” at having signed a contract with Spain’s No. 1 soccer team.

The contract, he said, was “the most important (thing) that has happened in my life.”

Before signing the contract, Sanchez had played four years for the Spanish team, Atletico de Madrid.

Police in Liverpool, England, have arrested 28 persons for questioning about their alleged involvement in a riot at the European Cup final in Belgium in which 36 fans died May 29.

All 28 suspects, who were identified on a videotape of the riot, have been freed until September on police bail, meaning that they are required to return to a police station when summoned.

Police have yet to decide whether the suspects, if prosecuted, will be charged with a crime in England or be sent to stand trial in Belgium.

The Philippines won the Williams Jones Cup men’s basketball championship with a 108-100 win over the defending champion United States in Taipei, Taiwan. Kenny Gattison of Old Dominion was the U.S. leading scorer with 28 points.

Names in the News

Carl Tacy, 52, resigned as basketball coach at Wake Forest, the school announced. Tacy, who did not give a reason for stepping down, has a record of 222-149 since he was hired in 1972.