Vikings Release Moon, 40

Warren Moon is out of work, a 40-year-old quarterback who went to the Minnesota Vikings three seasons ago hoping to take them to the Super Bowl and failing to do so.

The Vikings released Moon on Friday when he turned down a $500,000 offer to back up Brad Johnson. Minnesota was unwilling to keep him for the second season of a three-season, contract that called for $4.3 million in 1997.

Houston, where Moon spent his first 10 NFL seasons, is among several teams believed to be interested in his services. Seattle, Tampa Bay and St. Louis also might have interest in Moon.

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Oakland Raider personal seat licenses were discounted 10% from their $250-$4,000 original price and put on sale in an effort to revive fan interest and raise money to finance the $197-million deal that brought the team back to Oakland.

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The New England Patriots abandoned plans to build a stadium in South Boston. . . . The Buffalo Bills signed wide receiver/return specialist Jimmy Cunningham, who spent the last two seasons in the Canadian Football League, and kicker Carlos Huerta, who was with the St. Louis Rams. . . . Washington Gov. Gary Locke proposed a statewide vote on a proposed sports memorabilia tax to help fund a planned $402-million football stadium in Seattle.

Jurisprudence

Ram running back Lawrence Phillips, from West Covina, has been charged of a crime for the second time this week, this time on warrants issued in St. Louis for property damage, leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a revoked licensed after ramming his HumVee into a five-foot-tall pillar at the entrance to his neighborhood.

Phillips, who has a lengthening list of problems with the law, was arrested on Monday for disorderly conduct at a party in Omaha.

John Roby, 54, a part-time usher at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for 25 years, surrendered to police and is the second suspect in custody in a scandal involving employees who allegedly lured boys into sex in the 1970s and ‘80s with free tickets and other enticements.

Tennis

Jonas Bjorkman, a 24-year-old Swede ranked 42nd in the world, beat No. 26 Paul Haarhuis, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

Tim Henman, the lone seeded player left in the tournament, beat Francisco Clavet, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the European Community Championship in Antwerp, Belgium.

Top-seeded Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic beat Elena Lichovtseva of Russia, 6-4, 6-2, to lead the way into the semifinals of the Faber Grand Prix tournament at Hanover, Germany.

Auto Racing

Mark Martin grabbed two pole positions, driving Fords to lead qualifying for Sunday’s Goodwrench 400 Winston Cup race with a lap of 157.885 mph and today’s Goodwrench 200 Busch Grand National race at 151.264 over the 1.017-mile oval of North Carolina Motor Speedway at Rockingham.

Miscellany

Upset over her poor tryout for a college softball scholarship, Melissa Chambliss, a 17-year-old student in Jacksonville, Fla., was in critical condition after shooting herself in the head during practice.

Grambling State will admit to the NCAA that it lacked institutional control of its athletics program while violating eight NCAA rules, the university’s president, Raymond Hick, said.

Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria, a three-time world amateur boxing champion and a silver medalist in the Atlanta Olympics, is in Turkey seeking asylum.

Winter Sports

Luc Alphand won his second super-giant slalom in a row, taking the overall World Cup lead with his 1-minute 15.32-second run at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Russian Alexei Prokurorov was the 30-kilometer freestyle cross-country winner in 1 hour 6 minutes 28.2 seconds in the World Nordic Ski Championships at Trondheim, Norway.