St. Louis’ Suit Suffers Blow

A federal judge tossed out two-thirds of St. Louis’ $130-million antitrust lawsuit against the NFL on Monday and said she has “severe misgivings” about the rest of the case.

U.S. District judge Jean Hamilton made the announcement after the league filed to dismiss the case entirely. Such a motion is common because it can be used later as grounds for an appeal.

The judge shot down the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission’s claim of “tortious” interference, which said that the NFL used wrongful action to deny the plaintiff a business advantage in dealing with the league’s 30 members.

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New Orleans Coach Mike Ditka has decided to go back to Heath Shuler as his starting quarterback. Rookie Danny Wuerffel, who started the last two games in place of Shuler, was demoted to third string. Doug Nussmeier will back up Shuler.