In San Jose, 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. confirmed
he plans to make a "six-figure donation" to the Univ. of CA
as a gesture of goodwill after hiring Steve Mariucci away
with four years left on his contract. DeBartolo: "This is
not a buyout. It's just sort of a thank-you" (SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS, 5/18)....In Charlotte, Peter Kirk, who owns
three MD-based minor league baseball teams, says he "might"
have an interest in buying the Charlotte Knights and
possibly moving the AAA franchise to MD (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
5/18)....In Boston, Will McDonough notes that "in what is
believed to be a first for any team in professional sports,"
the Patriots will give each of the 17,000 fans who control
the 59,000 season-tickets at Foxboro Stadium a momento of
their Super Bowl season. Team VP/Corporate Marketing &
Sales Dan Kraft: "I don't want to say exactly what it is
going to be because we want it to be a surprise. It will
look like the Super Bowl rings we're going to give our
players and the people in our organization" (BOSTON GLOBE,
5/17)....In Philadelphia, Larry Brown "intends" to move the
76ers training camp to the UNC, his alma mater. The team's
site the last two seasons was the Univ. of Delaware
(PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/17).
