Behring Down, but for What?

The Los Angeles Whatevers, likened to an expansion franchise by owner Ken Behring, are off to a chaotic, confusing and almost circus-like start.

And for Walt Disney Co. conspiracy theorists, who believe the Mouse will one day run this team, there is this titillating piece of information: The attorney who is representing Behring in his lawsuit to free the Seahawks to leave Seattle, also is the attorney for Michael Ovitz, Disney president, and the same attorney charged by the Rose Bowl recently to secure an NFL team.

Strange, strange day. While Anaheim city officials had a key-to-the-city-like greeting planned Monday for Behring, including a press conference and walk-through of Rams Park, Behring was in Los Angeles meeting with Mayor Richard Riordan, and John Ferraro, president of the City Council.

As for that six-month exclusive window of opportunity Anaheim officials said they had to persuade Behring to settle permanently there, well, forget it. Apparently, it was a misunderstanding.

“It’s a natural mistake,” Behring said. “When we started talking about the Rams practice facility, Anaheim said it would like us to give them some consideration whenever we started looking for a permanent site and they said we could have the practice facility for six months without paying.

“That changed, though. We said we were going to pay as we go, so we don’t lead anyone on one way or the other.”

Anaheim city manager James D. Ruth, who had talked about Anaheim’s exclusive window of opportunity for the last two days, was unconcerned about the mix-up.

“We don’t have a problem with that,” Ruth said. “We are going to put our best proposal on the table. My opinion is that we’ll put together a very competitive package.”

Ruth compared the situation to when the city was competing with Santa Ana in 1990 to build an arena in Orange County. Anaheim won that battle by building the Pond, and Santa Ana didn’t build anything.

“This is just like the arena situation,” Ruth said. “We care about the competition, but we don’t care a whole lot. We’re going to focus on what we have in Anaheim.”

Other officials said they remain optimistic despite the now-nonexclusive arrangement.

“It’s a competitive world out there and we know that,” Anaheim Councilman Lou Lopez said. “But we also know we’ve got the best conditions to bring in a football team. We’ve got a practice facility and a place to build a stadium.”

Fact is, however, it was Riordan who had the first exclusive opportunity to chat with Behring upon his arrival in the Southland.

“I was direct and clear with Mr. Behring,” Riordan said in a press release. “We let him know that Los Angeles is serious about having a pro team in Los Angeles--a team that will be here with a total commitment . . . sharing our name is not something we take lightly.

“I liked hearing the Seahawks owners express their long-term goal of developing a facility in the Los Angeles community.”

Semantics. Riordan heard Behring talking about Los Angeles, and Behring said he talked about the Los Angeles area, which includes Orange County.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to anybody so I can’t rule anyone out,” Behring said. “We want to look at all the sites, and we’ll be looking to see how long it will take to develop them. We sure don’t want something that will take five to seven years.”

Behring said he expects to sign a one-year lease today with attached option years for Rams Park, although the Magnolia School Board failed to act on the transaction Monday night. Another hearing is scheduled tonight.

He said he has started negotiations with the Rose Bowl, and he will be touring that facility today. He has no plans to visit Anaheim.

That’s bad news for Pete Leroy, 30, who showed up looking for work with the franchise at 9 a.m., and stood waiting for more than six hours in the hopes of getting the attention of the Whatevers’ officials. Leroy held up a sign which read: “Looking For NFL Dream Job.”

“What funner job could there be than working for a pro football team,” Leroy said. “Opportunities like this don’t come around too often. It’s worth putting a day in here and wearing a suit and everything.”

Two fans, meanwhile, still dressed in their best Raider outfits, waited to welcome the “Anaheim Seahawks” with a self-made sign outside Rams Park along with a crowd of TV camera crews and reporters.

City officials, apparently unaccustomed to media interested in the local football team, sneaked two Seahawk officials into Rams Park via the Dad Miller Golf Course to discuss paint and carpet for the new team. A Times photographer took a long-range picture of the visitors, who were later identified as John Loar and Lisa Behring, the wife of the owner’s son.

Behring will make himself available today for selected media interviews as arranged by an outside public relations firm.

“It’s been a little overwhelming for us,” said Behring. “We’re trying to deal with so many things, but we’re here because this is where we intend to play.”

There were reports in Seattle that negotiations were still being conducted between Behring and King County officials to sell the Seahawks. Behring said one of the officials asked that a line of communication be maintained, but there will be no further talk about him selling the team.

“My son wants to spend the rest of his life in football and that’s why I am in this,” he said. “If my intention was to sell, I could have done that while I was there.

“We have a complete commitment here, and while it will be a little rocky for a short period of time, there are many, many solutions that can be used once time passes and emotions quiet down. They don’t want us there and we don’t want to be there, so I’m sure there’s some way to work things out.”

Despite growing sentiment, and in some cases downright conviction, that Ovitz and Disney are the strategists behind the Whatevers’ move here, Behring said there is no truth to such talk.

“It’s just not true,” Behring said. “I sure wouldn’t take them out of the running if they are interested, but we have not talked.”

Ovitz, an associate of Behring’s who helped him explore the possibility of moving before he joined Disney, has been represented in many matters by attorney Ron Olson, who also represents the Rose Bowl.

“They will be considered for a meeting to discuss their participation at the appropriate time,” Olson said. “But there is no deal and there have been no negotiations . . . My representation of Mr. Ovitz is totally unrelated to the representation of Mr. Behring except perhaps to the extent that my representation of Mr. Ovitz is part of my reputational background.”

League insiders, however, expect Behring to settle in the Rose Bowl on an interim basis, and after establishing roots in the area, they expect Disney to become the investor in Behring’s plan to have a new football stadium by 1998 or 1999.

Ruth said it would probably take Anaheim about a year to design a new stadium and two years to build it.

“It could possibly be done in 30 months,” he said, while indicating the city could move forward without knowing who the primary investor would be at this point.

The city manager added, however, that Anaheim has no intention of moving forward with any plans for a stadium unless it has a commitment from a NFL team.

City officials also said they do not intend to become entangled in any legal battles Behring and his team may become involved in.

“We’re going to proceed cautiously so that we don’t become involved in unnecessary legal action,” said city spokesman Bret Colson. “We’re not going to enter into any agreements that would result in time-consuming legal action.”

King County prosecutor Norm Maleng sent letters to various Anaheim officials and told a meeting of the county council he would bring suit against any government entity that signs on to a football arrangement with Behring.

“If any contract is entered into with another city we will file suit against that other city or entity,” Maleng said.

* Staff writers Greg Hernandez, Mike Terry and Doug Conner, and correspondents Alan Eyerly and Mimi Ko Cruz contributed to the story.