NAMES IN THE GAMES : Ron Swoboda Keeps Icy Promise

The blue lips provided an interesting contrast to the black-and-gold boxer shorts worn by former New York Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda, but at least it can be said he didn’t welsh on a bet. Clad only in underwear with a New Orleans Saints motif, Swoboda stood on a busy street corner in the downtown business district today and sang “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It was a blustery day, with the temperature about 50 degrees.

Swoboda is now a sportscaster with WVUE television, and he got himself into the situation with an on-air comment about the Saints’ chances at a winning record when they were 2-5.

“I said if this team has a winning record, I’ll strip to my skivvies, paint my body black and gold and sing ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ in front of One Shell Square.”

The Saints finished 8-8 and got into the playoffs by beating the Rams 20-17 Monday night.

Louisiana State University basketball player Wayne Sims was kicked off the team a few hours after he was booked by campus police for driving while intoxicated early this morning. “This is one of the heartaches of coaching, when you have to discipline someone you love,” LSU Coach Dale Brown said. Sims, 22, from DeRidder, La., is a senior at LSU and played in 104 games, starting in 74 since he was a freshman.

Denver Broncos Head Coach Dan Reeves got a clean bill of health after a follow-up examination of his heart condition, a spokesman for North Colorado Medical Center said. Reeves had chest pains and was taken to NCMC last August. He was admitted and found to have a blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, a condition known as hardening of the arteries. The next day he was flown to a hospital in Redwood City, Calif., where a procedure was performed to cut the blockage out of the artery.