Novelist Clancy Withdraws Bid to Buy NFL’s Vikings

Close the book on Tom Clancy. The same bidders who tried three months ago to buy the Minnesota Vikings were back in the running Wednesday after the novelist withdrew his $200-million bid.

It was unclear whether they would get another shot--at least in the near future. Clancy’s financial advisor, Marc Ganis, was trying to put together a deal with other investors. And at least two of the Vikings’ 10 co-owners said the team may be better off waiting until the postseason to find a new owner.

The sale to Clancy started unraveling when the best-selling author and Ganis skipped a meeting in Coral Gables, Fla., with the NFL’s finance committee. They had been scheduled to present their plan to buy the Vikings to the nine-member committee, a crucial step in gaining league acceptance.

Clancy had said he would be the 30% owner in his group, meaning he would invest at least $60 million. But he is going through a divorce, and questions about his ability to come up with a significant portion of that payment in cash threw the deal into disarray.

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The NFL will again experiment with instant replay in the preseason, but it will not carry over when the games count.

NFL owners, wrapping up three days of meetings at Coral Gables, Fla., approved the use of TV replays during this year’s preseason. Club owners voted replay down for regular-season use at a March meeting in Orlando.

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In a minor surgical procedure, 49er receiver Jerry Rice has had several irritating screws removed from his knee that were placed there after surgery in December, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Motor Sports

Jeff Gordon turned a fast lap of 182.976 mph to edge Ward Burton for pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, Mass.

Also at the speedway Wednesday night, David Hutto overpowered the field for his 12th NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series victory, pulling away to win the Tom Johnson Camping Center/EasyCare 100.

Tennis

Michael Chang and Jim Courier lost their matches at the eight-nation $1.9-million World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany, and the United States was eliminated by the Czech Republic.

Petr Korda, ranked No. 2 in the world, outlasted Chang, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3, in a nearly 2 1/2-hour battle after Slava Dosedel routed Courier, 6-3, 6-1.

The Czechs advanced to Friday’s red group finals against Australia, which eliminated Sweden, 2-1.

Top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile beat Germany’s Marc Goellner, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix ATP tournament at St. Poelten, Austria.

American Vincent Spadea lost his first set, then rallied to beat Australian Richard Fromberg of Australia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Golf

Arizona State’s Grace Park, shot a record-tying seven-under-par 65 and her team shot a school- and course-record 11-under 277 in the opening round of the NCAA Division I women’s championship at Madison, Wis.

On the strength of Park’s personal-best performance, the Sun Devils took a seven-stroke lead over surprising Indiana into today’s second round. Duke and Florida are eight strokes back. USC is in 13th place, 22 strokes back.

Miscellany

Real Madrid won soccer’s European Champions Cup for a record seventh time, beating Juventus of Turin, 1-0, at Amsterdam, Netherlands, on a 71st-minute goal by Yugoslav forward Predrag Mijatovic.

Nicola Miceli finished three seconds ahead of a pursuing group and won the fourth stage of the Tour of Italy cycling race at Porto Santo Stefano, Italy.

Serguei Gontchar of the Ukraine barely held to the overall lead, maintaining a one-second edge over Michele Bartoli.

Lester Earl, a forward on the Kansas basketball team, will undergo knee surgery Friday but should be ready to play by the start of next season, the school announced.

The National Federation of State High School Associations announced that it will leave Kansas City and move to Indianapolis to remain close to the NCAA, which is also relocating there.

With a throw lifted by strong crosswinds, John Godina set a world’s best mark for the year in the discus throw with a 229-foot, 4-inch toss to win the event Tuesday at the 19th annual Hartnell Throwers Meet in Salinas.

Randy Harvey has the day off.