Bankrupt uranium trader Oren Benton has offered to buy
his major assets out of bankruptcy court for $110M,
including a 23% share of the Rockies (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS,
1/25)....In Charlotte, Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson said
Mike McCormack will return next season as the team's
president (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/27)....Ground will be
broken today on the Warriors' practice site and executive
offices in downtown Oakland (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/25)....In San
Diego, a UNION-TRIBUNE editorial notes the Padres' marketing
efforts in the Mexican market and their new working
relationship with a Japanese team. The Padres "may be a
small-market team, but its ownership's big ideas on the
international front could help revitalize the grand old
game. Major league baseball's other owners should take
note" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/25). The Padres are
aiming to play an April series against the Astros in
Honolulu instead of San Diego, but the Astros are
"resisting." Some Padres officials claim it's because
Astros President Tal Smith "doesn't want to cooperate" with
Padres CEO Larry Lucchino, who had a "combative
relationship" with Randy Smith, Tal's son, when the younger
Smith was San Diego's GM (WASHINGTON POST, 1/26)....CNN's
Peter King reported Mike Ditka will become the Saints head
coach. King noted that Saints Owner Tom Benson, a "staunch"
Catholic, has "overlooked" Ditka's gambling history,
"including having a part of a gambling boat that ran up and
down the Mississippi. ... The league probably semi-frowns on
this hire, but he's going to do it anyway" (CNN, 1/26).
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports Ditka "might be getting a
piece of the team" ("NFL Prime Monday," ESPN, 1/25).
