Seattle Wins First Round of Seahawk Fight

King County officials won home-court advantage Friday in their legal fight to keep the Seattle Seahawks from leaving town.

The Washington Supreme Court said King County Superior Court is the place to decide if Seahawk owner Ken Behring can legally move his team to Southern California.

The sides filed lawsuits within 30 minutes of each other on Feb. 2, a day after Behring informed King County officials that he intended to move the team, contending the Kingdome was unsafe in an earthquake.

Seattle officials rushed to King County Superior Court to try to prevent the team from leaving immediately, and the Seahawks scurried to Kittitas County with their lawsuit in an effort to break their lease with the Kingdome.

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Former Dallas Cowboy defensive end Harvey Martin, 45, was arrested at his home in Dallas and charged with cocaine possession and assaulting his common-law wife, Debby Clark.

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Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin made a return appearance before a grand jury that has been considering evidence from a motel drug bust at which he was present.

Three others who were with Irvin in the room where cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia were discovered March 4 have been offered immunity from prosecution for their testimony, according to broadcast reports.

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Prosecutors in Indianapolis charged Colt linebacker Quentin Coryatt with brandishing a handgun at another motorist in an incident two weeks ago.

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Former Stanford kicker Eric Abrams, 22, the leading scorer in school history, has been ordered to continue counseling as part of a sentence for trying to get nude photos of high school players. He pleaded no contest in Palo Alto Municipal Court to seven counts of phone harassment.

According to officials, Abrams telephoned players dozens of times and told them he was a Stanford football scout who needed nude photos to evaluate their physical condition.

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Former Cleveland Brown running back Mike Pruitt, 41, was charged with lying on an application for a $1.2-million loan from the Ohio Minority Development Financing Commission.

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Dorothy Hamill, 39, the women’s figure skating gold medalist in the 1976 Winter Olympics, has filed for bankruptcy in Santa Ana after a series of financial setbacks.

Football

Frank Warren’s operation for two clogged arteries ended both playing and coaching for the former New Orleans Saint defensive lineman, who resigned as a coach two months ago in hopes of returning to the football field.

The Minneapolis-based Norwest Bank has agreed to commit $850,000 per game to sponsor the next two Sun Bowls in El Paso.

Stadiums

Only days after the San Francisco Giants won voter approval for a privately financed ballpark, 49er representatives are talking up a $250-million November ballot measure to rebuild Candlestick Park. . . . Tampa Bay Buccaneer owners and Hillsborough County officials agreed to a compromise proposal for a new stadium, breaking an eight-month impasse. A referendum is scheduled in September. . . . Moving quickly to keep from losing both the NHL’s Florida Panthers and the NBA’s Miami Heat to neighboring Broward County, the Miami City Commission and the Metro-Dade Commission voted to help pay for a $210-million sports arena.

Auto Racing

Mark Martin gave Ford its first NASCAR Winston Cup pole of the season, taking the top spot for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol [Tenn.] International Raceway with a 123.578-mph lap around the 0.533-mile high-banked track. . . . Jimmy Vasser gained his first pole in 58 career tries with a 105.583-mph lap on the street course at Surfers Paradise, Australia in qualifying for the Australian Indy car race in the CART series. . . . Jean Alesi of France drove his Benetton-Renault to the fastest lap in first-day qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, the second race in the Formula One season. . . . Eddie Hill (top fuel), John Force (funny car) and Warren Johnson (pro stock) led their respective pro categories in rain-shortened qualifying for the NHRA Slick 50 Nationals at Baytown, Texas.

Boxing

WBC super lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez sustained a minor hand injury while training for his June 7 title bout in Las Vegas with Oscar de la Hoya, according to Mexico news agencies. Doctors said Chavez will rest for three days before an evaluation is made.

Miscellany

Texas hurt its chances for a runaway in the NCAA swimming championship with a disappointing performance in the afternoon preliminaries at Austin. Auburn outscored Texas, 182.5-161, leaving the Longhorns ahead, 331-302.5, going into today’s final day of the meet.

Brian Bonin, Minnesota’s center and captain, was announced as winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, presented to the nation’s top college hockey player.

Monica Seles, who has already missed two tournaments because of a shoulder injury, withdrew from next week’s Family Circle Magazine Cup at Hilton Head, S.C.

Names in the News

Former UCLA basketball coach Walt Hazzard, 53, who suffered a stroke last week, underwent surgery at the UCLA Medical Center to replace a faulty heart valve. . . . Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden will present the John R. Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award to Alan Rothenberg, who brought World Cup soccer to Los Angeles, at the Great Sports Legends Dinner of the Paralysis Project of America on April 11 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.