Ex-Agent Lloyd Bloom Found Dead in Malibu

A man found shot to death Thursday on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu was identified by police sources as Lloyd Bloom, a former sports agent who once was at the center of a major college sports scandal.

Bloom, 36, was found by a friend about 11 a.m. at 32215 Pacific Coast Highway, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Benita Hinojos.

Hinojos said it was unclear if anything had been taken from the seaside home.

No weapon was found. Bloom was reportedly shot several times, and there was no sign of a break-in.

Bloom and partner Norby Walters were convicted in 1989 of racketeering and other charges relating to their attempts to sign college football players to representation agreements before their eligibility had expired. An appeals court reversed the convictions a year later.

Both Bloom and Walters then entered conditional guilty pleas to two counts of mail fraud for allegedly defrauding the players’ schools.

Those convictions were overturned in June.

Gymnastics

John Roethlisberger rode strong performances on the pommel horse and still rings to his third national all-around gymnastics title in four years.

In defending his 1992 championship, Roethlisberger moved well ahead of his closest challengers after only two rotations in the optional round of the National Gymnastics Championships at Salt Lake City.

He also became only the third man to win three national all-around titles, joining Kurt Thomas and Rusty Mitchell.

The 23-year-old from Afton, Minn., opened the optionals with 9.45 scores on the horse and rings, and then held off runner-ups Chainey Umphrey and Scott Keswick with 9.1 marks in the vault and parallel bars and a concluding 9.2 floor exercise.

Jurisprudence

A basketball referee released by the Pacific 10 Conference last May after he said some referees “should be weeded out” filed a lawsuit demanding his job back and more than $1 million.

The lawsuit by Tom Harrington of Chico against the Pac-10 and two conference officials was reported by the Tucson Citizen, the newspaper that published Harrington’s original comments.

The suit, filed Aug. 16 in California’s Contra Costa County, accuses the conference, Commissioner Tom Hansen and Pac-10 supervisor of officials Booker Turner of deprivation of the right to freedom of speech, defamation of character, fraud and deceit, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

An hearing on Harrington’s request for an injunction is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Attorneys for Mike Tyson filed motions asking for the Indiana Supreme Court to review the former heavyweight champion’s rape conviction.

Two Cincinnati Bengals have been named as defendants in a $2-million lawsuit that alleges they beat up a man at a suburban Cleveland nightclub in November.

In the suit filed Wednesday in Hamilton County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court, running back Harold Green and defensive lineman Alfred Williams were accused of beating Scott Smith.

Boxing

Cecilio Espino and Rudy Bradley fought to a technical draw after five rounds of their scheduled 10-round bantamweight bout at the Hollywood Palladium.

Their heads collided early in the fifth round and Espino staggered backwards, covering his right eye. Referee Lou Filippo stopped the fight because of the severity of the cut to the Mexican fighter’s eye.

Bradley was ahead on two of the three judges’ cards. According to California boxing rules, the fighter who is head-butted cannot lose, so a technical draw was declared.

Miscellany

Cedric Ceballos signed a five-year contract with the Phoenix Suns. . . . Washington Bullet forward Larry Stewart suffered a broken foot in summer league and will undergo surgery today. . . . Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes are favored in this weekend’s $750,000 Miller Lite U.S. Championships in Hermosa Beach. . . . Andrei Kudinov, a 23-year-old center who played in the former Soviet Elite League, signed with the NHL’s New York Rangers. . . . An autopsy disclosed that an eighth-grade football player who collapsed and died during a practice in Caldwell, Idaho, had a previously undisclosed heart abnormality. Jason Pennington, 13, died during practice Wednesday at Jefferson Junior High. It was first thought that he suffered an asthma attack. . . . Hugo Perez, a midfielder who played the past year with a Saudi Arabian team, signed with the U.S. national soccer team.