Scorecard

BRAWLS AND BARBECUES

The athletic mess at North Carolina State is getting even messier. Two weeks ago, police in Raleigh, N.C., charged nine current or former members of the Wolfpack wrestling team with assault in connection with a Sept. 1 attack on two men and a woman outside a town house near campus. The woman was punched in the mouth, and one of the male victims—allegedly struck on the head with a beer bottle—had to undergo surgery for a broken cheekbone and eye socket. Witnesses say the fight began after three wrestlers started urinating on the town-house lawn and the owners and a neighbor told them to leave. At least some of the wrestlers had apparently been drinking.

N.C. State basketball coach Jim Valvano—whose forced resignation as Wolfpack athletic director, the result of a state investigation of academic and other abuses in his basketball program, took effect Oct. 16—didn't tell university officials about the incident for more than a month. The reign of secrecy at N.C. State is evidently dying hard. Until Sunday, the full report of the basketball probe—which cost state taxpayers $40,000—still hadn't been made public. Samuel Poole, vice-chairman of the state university system and head of the four-member commission that oversaw the investigation, had the only remaining copy of the report and refused to release it. He had directed other commission members to destroy their copies. "I burned [mine] on the grill," commission member William Klopman told the Raleigh News and Observer. "I figured since [Poole] told me to do it, I'd do it. It ruined the grill." Finally, on Sunday, threatened with a public-records suit by The News and Observer and other groups, Poole released the report. It was harshly critical of Valvano and offered small but significant details of the violations that have plagued his program.

FORESIGHT?

This week's prize for prescience goes to baseball writer Tom Gage of The Detroit News, whose Oct. 16 story from the World Series began:

"After two losses, the Giants are down to their secret weapon.

"Earthquake.

"Barring seismographic activity which would render Candlestick Park and alternate sites inaccessible before resumption of the World Series on Tuesday, the Giants are in serious trouble. They need more time to figure out how to beat the confident A's."

UPDATE
Less than two weeks after their landmark deal to buy the Denver Nuggets from owner Sidney Shlenker (SI, July 24) had apparently fallen through, Chicago businessmen Bertram Lee and Peter Bynoe secured the financial backing necessary to complete the $65 million purchase. Lee and Bynoe, who will become the first blacks to own a large portion of a major league sports franchise, got help from NBA commissioner David Stern, who last week matched them up with Robert Wussler, head of COMSAT Video Enterprises, a Washington, D.C.-based pay-per-view system. Wussler's company agreed to put up $17 million toward the purchase of the Nuggets and thus will own 62.5% of the team. Lee and Bynoe will contribute $8 million and own 37.5% but will serve as the managing partners. Before COMSAT entered the picture, the deal had nearly unraveled because Lee and Bynoe were relying too heavily on money borrowed from venture capitalists.

HOCKEY MADNESS