NBA Makes New Offer to Union

The NBA put a new collective bargaining offer on the table Friday, although the players’ union said it barely varied from the owners’ previous proposal demanding a hard salary cap.

It was the first formal offer made by the owners since May 27. Union director Billy Hunter said he would prepare a detailed response to be presented to the owners Tuesday.

“Once we respond, we’ll decide collectively where we go from there,” Hunter said.

A new labor agreement would have to be in place by the second week of October--at the very latest--in order to save the 82-game regular season. The league has already canceled some exhibition games and postponed the start of training camps indefinitely, and the players have been told to expect the lockout to extend into December--or longer.

“If we don’t have a deal by the first or second week in October, I don’t think we’ll see much NBA basketball in 1998,” Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said.

Names in the News

Golfer Justin Leonard made five birdies en route to a second consecutive five-under-par 67 at the Texas Open in San Antonio. His 10-under 134 total gave him a share of the lead with John Maginnes, who normally plays the Nike Tour. . . . Vijay Singh of Fiji, playing his first European event since winning the PGA Championship, fired a seven-under 65 for a one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the German Masters at Cologne. . . . Playing in his third tournament as a senior, CBS golf announcer Gary McCord shot a seven-under 65 for a one-stroke lead in the Boone Valley Classic at St. Louis.

Thomas Johansson had a perfect Davis Cup debut, beating fifth-ranked Carlos Moya in three tough sets, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), to give Sweden a commanding 2-0 lead in the semifinals against Spain at Stockholm. Jonas Bjorkman beat Alex Corretja, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, in the first match.

Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario defeated Anna Kournikova, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Toyota Princess Cup tennis tournament at Tokyo. The Spaniard’s opponent today will be Anke Huber, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Olga Barabanschikova. The other semifinal pits second-seeded Monica Seles, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Julie Halard-Decugis, against Tamarine Tanasugarn, who defeated Amy Frazier, 6-1, 6-3.

Pontiac driver Ernie Irvan won the pole for the NAPA AutoCare 500, the final short-track event of the Winston Cup season, with a lap of 93.608 mph around Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. . . . Dana Rosenblatt, despite losing the last four rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards, was able to hang on for a 12-round unanimous decision over Terry Norris in a lightweight fight at Mashantucket, Conn. . . . Ian Thorpe, 15, broke the world record for the men’s short-course 400-meter freestyle at the Australian swimming championships at Perth, winning in 3 minutes 39.82 seconds, .64 of a second faster than the record held by New Zealander Danyon Loader. . . . Joseph Vogt, 25, was fined $500 after being convicted in Norman, Okla., on a misdemeanor charge of stalking gymnast Shannon Miller. Vogt said he never intended to annoy the most decorated gymnast in U.S. Olympic history. . . . Two Spanish cyclists were expelled from the Tour of Spain after failing a blood test. Juan Carlos Dominguez and Daniel Calvero of the Vitalicio Seguros team reportedly had an abnormally high number of red blood cells, after a test administered by the International Cycling Union before the 20th leg of the 22-stage race. . . . Funeral services for longtime San Fernando Valley sportswriter Pete Kokon, who died Thursday at 85, will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Oakwood Memorial Park (22601 Lassen St.) in Chatsworth.

Soccer

The 2002 World Cup may begin earlier and perhaps with a significant rule change designed to reduce the number of shootouts.

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, said that the 2002 event, with Japan and South Korea serving as hosts, would remain in the customary period of June and July, but may open earlier in June.

The International Football Assn. board will discuss a suggestion that two extra substitutes be permitted during overtime in World Cup matches. That could open up play in the extra sessions, which often are conservatively played and marred by the exhaustion of the players.

That, in turn, could lead to more games decided in overtime, avoiding shootouts. Only one game in France 98 ended in overtime, when the host team defeated Paraguay, 1-0.

In its first game since finishing last in the 32-nation World Cup competition, the U.S. team will play Australia in an exhibition game Nov. 6 at San Jose.

Miscellany

Central Florida has taken a step closer toward bidding for the 2012 Summer Olympics, despite concerns about how much the event could cost.

The Tampa City Council voted, 6-1, to endorse a nonprofit committee’s effort to bring the games to the area, but only after it was promised the effort wouldn’t use tax money.

Taxpayers in New South Wales can expect a surplus of $17.7 million after the 2000 Sydney Games, Olympics Minister Michael Knight said.