Tearful Blades Says Death Was Accidental

Seattle Seahawk receiver Brian Blades emerged from seclusion at his parents’ house in Plantation, Fla., Tuesday and said through tears that the fatal shooting of his cousin was unintentional.

“I know Charles’ death was an accident. The police know Charles’ death was an accident. And most important, God knows Charles’ death was an accident,” Blades, 29, said in a news conference on his parents’ lawn.

Charles Blades, 34, died of a gunshot wound to the underside of his chin in a bedroom at Brian Blades’ Miami-area home July 5. Police said the player was the only other person in the room when his cousin was shot. The death has not been classified as a homicide, but suicide has been ruled out.

Police said Monday that more than one shot was fired from Brian Blades’ .38-caliber handgun. The second bullet lodged in a wall.

“It’s nearly impossible in an accident situation for a gun to go off twice,” said police Sgt. Michael Price. “So it brings on new concerns.”

“The gun that shot Charles was a gun that I owned,” he admitted. “Neither Charles nor I ever intended that Charles would be shot. Neither Charles nor I thought Charles would be shot.”

Basketball

NBA players seeking to dissolve their union took legal steps to challenge the league’s lockout.

Attorneys for the dissident players filed for a preliminary injunction and added nine players to the original seven who first brought the class action.

Joining the original group headed by Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing were Scottie Pippen, Eric Murdock, Scott Skiles, Jim McIlvaine, Tim Hardaway, Lindsay Hunter, P.J. Brown, Don MacLean and Doug West.

“This is a class representative of all players, not just superstars,” lawyer Jeffrey Kessler said. “We want the action to represent a cross section of every type of player.”

Kessler said the injunction, filed with district judge David Doty in Minneapolis, seeks a hearing Sept. 6.

At the same time, the players withdrew their unfair-labor-practice charge of failing to bargain because the NLRB said that could affect the timing of the decertification vote.

“It will be filed in the future, if warranted,” Kessler said.

The NBA champion Houston Rockets waived Vernon Maxwell and are considering suing the star guard for allegedly faking an injury and leaving the team, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The newspaper said the Rockets actually cut Maxwell on June 30, a day before league owners announced a player lockout.

Maxwell left the team because of a purported leg injury after Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, then admitted he walked away because of diminished playing time.

The Chronicle said the team would have to file a breach-of-contract suit against Maxwell to avoid paying him the $1.8 million it would owe for the last year of his contract.

Coaches who served under him say former Baylor basketball coach Darrel Johnson was involved in a recruiting scandal at the school, even though a jury acquitted him of the charges.

Former assistants Kevin Gray and Gary Thomas, sentenced last week for their part in the scandal, say Johnson condoned the cheating.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr., put Gray and Thomas and another former assistant, Troy Drummond, on three years’ probation for their part in giving five junior college recruits term papers and changing the players’ test scores in 1993.

The same jury that convicted them of conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud acquitted Johnson.

Phil Mathews, who coached Ventura College to a 37-1 record last year and the California state community college title, was hired as basketball coach at the University of San Francisco.

Hockey

The New Jersey Devils and their landlord, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, are closer to agreeing on a new lease that will keep the Stanley Cup champions in the state.

The two sides neared agreement in a negotiating session that started at 9 a.m. Monday and ended at 2:45 a.m. [EDT] Tuesday.

“The parties left the table tonight believing there’s only one more meeting left,” a source close to the talks told the Associated Press.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said the new deal would run through 2007, five years longer than the last Meadowlands Arena lease negotiated in 1991.

Two court challenges by a social action group could end plans to build a new, $81.5 million arena for the Winnipeg Jets, the organization in charge of the project said.

Cam Osler, president of Spirit of Manitoba Inc., said if the start of construction is delayed beyond an Aug. 15 deadline, costs would go up and the publicly funded arena might not be finished in time for the 1997-98 NHL season.

Thin Ice, which is opposed to public money for an arena, has launched two court actions aimed at halting construction.

Football

San Diego quarterback Stan Humphries, who led the Chargers to their first Super Bowl appearance last season, agreed to terms on a new four-year contract.

The Denver Broncos released safety Dennis Smith and put linebacker Karl Mecklenburg on the reserve-retired list.

New Orleans Saint fullback Lorenzo Neal suffered a minor wound on his left forearm duringan early morning fight at a party in Merced, Calif., police said.

Marcus Dowdell, a former Saint receiver, was given a two-year suspended sentence and fined $1,000 after pleading guilty in Gretna, La., to the unauthorized use of a car from one of Saint owner Tom Benson’s dealerships.

Tennis

Defending champion David Wheaton used a potent service game to easily defeat Australia’s Jamie Morgan, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, R.I.

In the only other match played due to a five-hour rain delay, Australia’s Mark Philippousis defeated Kenny Thorne 6-3, 6-4.

Unheralded Belgian Kris Goossens upset top-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the $328,000 Swedish Open tournament in Bastad.

Miscellany

Three-time U.S. Open golf champion Hale Irwin has withdrawn from the British Open for the third year in a row. Organizers of next week’s tournament at St. Andrews, Scotland, said that Irwin had given no reason.

The St. Louis Blues signed right wing Brian Noonan to a three-year contract. Noonan, an unrestricted free agent, had 14 goals last season for the New York Rangers.

The Anaheim Bullfrogs beat the Phoenix Cobras, 6-5, in a Roller Hockey International game in Phoenix.