SPORTSbytes
Schott angers baseball again
DAYTON, Ohio - National League president Leonard Coleman has told Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott to approve a 1997 budget for her team, or he will do it for her, a newspaper reported yesterday.Schott has ignored telephone calls from Coleman asking about the progress of the budget, the Dayton Daily News reported, quoting sources the newspaper did not identify. So Coleman sent her a fax this week telling her that if she didn't approve a budget by the end of this week, the league office would approve it, the Daily News reported."I don't know what you're talking about," Schott told a reporter who called her at home this morning. Then she hung up.
Reds managing executive John Allen - the league's choice to run the Reds after Schott was forced out of the team's daily operation in June - has come up with a budget, but Schott has refused to approve it. Reds general manager Jim Bowden has not been able to formulate plans for the makeup of next year's team because he has no budget.
In Atlanta, National League spokesman Ricky Clemons said yesterday he did not know whether Coleman had sent a memo to Schott. Coleman was traveling and was not immediately available to comment, Clemons said.
Allen was said to be in a meeting at the Reds' offices when called yesterday morning for comment.
Bowden operated the Reds this season with a $43 million payroll, third-highest in the National League, but had to pay out only $37 million because insurance paid Jose Rijo's $6 million salary when he was unable to pitch this year because of arm problems.
Baseball forced Schott in June to surrender daily operation of the Reds through the 1998 season because of comments she made to Sports Illustrated and ESPN about Adolf Hitler, working women and Asian-Americans. Terms of the punishment still allow Schott to be involved in the team's long-term business, which includes stadium negotiations and budget decisions.
Saints hire new coach
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Saints finally got a coach - Rick Venturi.
Venturi, the team's linebackers coach, was appointed interim head coach yesterday, two days after Jim Mora's abrupt resignation and one day after another candidate rejected the job.
Venturi will coach the 2-6 team for the final eight games of the season. His immediate task: prepare the team for a Nov. 2 game with the San Francisco 49ers.
Compiled from wire reports.
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