Scorecard

NFL: Sacked by Sullivan

The $114 million judgment against the NFL handed down in a Boston courtroom last Friday broadens the restructuring of the league that began last year when the so-called Freeman McNeil case opened the door to free agency. The NFL's antiquated rules governing ownership almost certainly will be rewritten, either voluntarily or through more litigation.

Former New England Patriot owner Billy Sullivan Jr. brought suit against the league because in October 1987 it would not allow him to sell public stock to help him pay his bills. As a result he was forced to unload the franchise one year later for what he considered an unfairly low price of $80 million. Last week's ruling effectively ends the NFL's prohibition against corporate ownership, which the league has always resisted on the grounds that it would upset competitive balance. (Of course, it is part of the game in the NBA, the NHL and Major League Baseball.) Theoretically, the value of individual NFL franchises now will be driven up, and even cash-poor teams should have money for larger payrolls and free-agency acquisitions.

A football term comes to mind to describe the NFL's performance in the Sullivan case. That word is fumble. First, some of the most damaging testimony against the league was delivered by no less an establishment figure than Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt was forced to admit that the old American Football League did allow the sale of stock and that the NFL forced the no-corporate-ownership rule on the new owners at the time of the merger. Second, a 1985 memo written by a former Washington Redskin attorney that outlined the legal weaknesses of the rule Sullivan was challenging was admitted into evidence and strengthened the plaintiff's case.

Finally, the failure of the defense to call to the stand either Paul Tagliabue or his predecessor, Pete Rozelle, was extremely damaging to the league's case. When neither testified in support of their decisions in the Sullivan matter—at the time Rozelle was commissioner and Tagliabue was attorney for the NFL—Sullivan's lawyer and brother-in-law, Joseph Alioto, was able to suggest that their absence meant they could not justify their actions.

Eye in the Sky

Mitch Williams is no doubt glad that the World Series is over but no gladder than the men in blue, whose every ball and strike call was open to scrutiny by CBS's overhead camera. While the umps did a better job in the Series than they did during the league championships, they continued to call strikes on pitches that were well outside. Secretly they must have been relieved whenever ol' Mitch wound up and threw; any pitch that a catcher has to leap out of his crouch to grab can pretty safely be called a ball.

Gentlemen, we know the job's tough, but calling that outside corner is what you're getting paid to do. Someone like Philadelphia leadoff hitter Lenny Dykstra earns his millions making pitchers throw strikes, yet, on at least half a dozen occasions in the postseason, Dude could only shake his head when a pitch well off the plate got him into a hole. Of course, the camera also pointed out many instances when the umps were correct, particularly on checked-swing calls.

A larger problem is the relationship between the umpires and the men whom they adjudicate. In Game 6 of the National League playoffs, Cowboy Joe West, who is to arrogance what Madonna is to controversy, blithely waved away Phillie base runner Dave Hollins, who was about to demur after West called him out on a close play at home. The point is not that West missed the call; it's the imperiousness with which he dismissed Hollins. You don't need a skycam to see that Cowboy Joe needs an attitude adjustment.

War Games