Notre Dame’s Mirer: I wasn’t drunk
Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer defended himself yesterday against accusations of drunken and disorderly conduct at an off-campus party Friday night.
“It was a misunderstanding, and the only thing I can say about that is I was not publicly intoxicated and my conduct was not disorderly,” he said.
The arrests of Mirer and linebacker Demetrius DuBose, who was with Mirer at the party, have caused dissension within the South Bend, Ind., police department. An internal memo written by an acting shift commander criticized a police spokesman for siding with Mirer, according to yesterday’s South Bend Tribune.
After Mirer and DuBose were released on $100 bonds, police department spokesman Lt. Norval J. Williams drove the pair to the Tribune so they could give reporters their side of the story. “They weren’t drunk,” Williams said. “I think it was a case of them being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Golf
Teams from Clifton Park Golf Course and Chestnut Ridge Country Club earned places in the Oldsmobile Scramble championships in qualifying at Wakefield Valley Golf Club in Westminster.
Professional Joe Lotito guided four amateurs to a 17-under-par round of 28-2755. Although the team also had the low net (53) among 29 entries, it opted for the gross division in the nationals at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., later this month.
Chestnut Ridge, with pro Steve Hord, won a chip-off from Holly Hills CC, led by pro Mike McGinnis, after the two tied at net 56. The lower total of three chip shots (of the five) closest to the pin determined the winning team.
The margin was 30 feet, 9 1/2 inches to 38-3 1/2 . A shot to within 6 feet by Bob East was the key shot for the winners.
Boxing
A grand jury in Indianapolis could decide as early as Friday whether former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson should be charged with raping a beauty pageant contestant, Marion County (Ind.) prosecutor Jeffrey Modisett said. The grand jurors are expected to meet today and Friday.
An 18-year-old woman who competed in the Miss Black America pageant told police Tyson raped her July 19 in a room at the Canterbury Hotel, where he was staying as a guest.
Pro basketball
The agent for Milwaukee Bucks rookie Anthony Avent says his client will play in Italy next season because the NBA team can’t fit a contract for the 6-foot-10 forward under the salary cap.
Agent Norman Blass said he was notified by the Bucks that they wouldn’t be able to clear enough money under the cap, which is $12.5 million next season.
Blass told the Milwaukee Journal that Avent would leave for Italy this weekend and sign with the Italian champion Caserta, which begins play Sept. 22. Avent, who played at Seton Hall, will sign a one-year contract for about $1 million, the Journal reported. The Bucks used their first-round pick to acquire Avent in a three-way trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets.
Auto racing
Bobby Rahal, the points leader on this year’s CART Indy-car circuit, will leave the Galles-Kraco racing team to sign with Pat Patrick Racing, Galles-Kraco managing partner Rick Galles said.
Rahal, in his second season with Galles-Kraco, holds a slim CART lead over Michael Andretti with four races remaining in the season.
Rahal had been holding out for a one-year contract next year, while Galles-Kraco wanted a longer term, Galles said.
* Any major renovation of Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International’s Turn 5, where stock car driver J.D. McDuffie was killed last month, won’t come until after the racing season, a track spokesman said.
J.J. O’Malley said the track is adding a few extra rows of tires to a barrier at the turn for the final two race weekends, but any permanent change will come later.
McDuffie, 52, died Aug. 11 when a wheel came off his car as he came down the straightaway leading into Turn 5 during a Winston Cup event. The car went into a 160-mph slide, flipped over and landed on its roof. The Sanford, N.C., native was killed instantly.
Semipro football
The Baltimore Bears of the American Football Association will play the Washington Stonewalls at 1 p.m. Sunday at Patterson High. The Bears are 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the Mason-Dixon Football League. The Stonewalls, who also are 2-0 in the Mason-Dixon, are ranked second nationally by the AFA. The Bears, who have outscored opponents, 80-26, this season, are ranked fourth.
They came
