SIDELINES : Rooney Linked to Betting Ring

The late Art Rooney, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was described in court today as a good customer of a man on trial for doing millions of dollars in bookmaking.

The comment about Rooney came in opening statements at the trial of Paul Hankish, 58, whom the government said started running a bookmaking operation out of Bridgeport, Ohio, in 1957.

“One of Hankish’s partners . . . will testify that they took out-of-state bets over the telephone, including wagers from a Pittsburgh-based group headed by Art Rooney, who they code-named No. 42,” U.S. Atty. William A. Kolibash wrote in a statement released Tuesday.

“No. 42” placed bets with a Mississippi and Texas bookmaker totaling $100,000 a weekend, the statement said. The statement referred to several No. 42s and it was unclear whether it referred to Rooney.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Reed declined to discuss whether Rooney placed bets on professional football, saying they were not planning to bring any witnesses who would discuss Rooney’s alleged betting habits.

Rooney died in 1988 at age 87 after a stroke.