Basketball
SOME REFS WANT VOTE: Derrick Stafford, a seven-year NBA referee, said a number of the locked-out officials want to bring the league's contract offer to a membership vote, according to a newspaper report.
"With some minor adjustments, I think (this offer) is good enough now," Stafford told USA Today for today's editions. "I'd say 20 to 30 feel that way. We totally support union leadership, but we feel we should have the opportunity to decide what is best for the group.
Stafford said there have been no meetings of the full membership since February. He also said membership had no knowledge of what the union's first five proposals contained, and that union president Mike Mathis turned down the league's no-lockout, no-strike proposal without a vote.
"There's a certain ego and evilness on the staff that needs to be eliminated," Stafford said. "We need to meet and let the league know what we want and eliminate the dictatorship."
Union lawyer Fred Slaughter told the newspaper only 4-5 referees want to see the offer come to a vote.
"The most important thing is what the majority wants," Slaughter said. "The voice of the minority says, `We need information.' But a good deal said, `We don't need information. Keep negotiating."
PAYTON INJURY: Team doctors examined the injured right foot of Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton on Thursday, but there was no immediate word on how long he will be sidelined.
Doctors will examine Payton again Friday, team spokeswoman Cheri White said. They want to wait until the swelling in his ankle subsides before giving a prognosis.
Payton hurt his foot while making a steal in the third quarter of Wednesday night's 106-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Minneapolis. He was carried off the floor in pain.
Payton's injury was an avulsion fracture, which in laymen's terms means the ligament pulled off the bone fragment in the lower, outside part of his foot, team officials said.
Football
SEAHAWKS MOVING? The majority owner of the Seattle Seahawks warned that he might move the team to another city if it doesn't get a new stadium, and said Cleveland was among the cities to offer a new home.
"Now Cleveland is offering the same as Baltimore gave to the Cleveland Browns," Ken Behring said, without going into specifics. Nancy Lesic, a spokeswoman for Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White, said that was "absurd."
Boxing
FOREMAN-MOORER II: The long-rumored rematch between heavyweights George Foreman and Michael Moorer is virtually set for Feb. 29 at Madison Square Garden, the Daily News reported.
Foreman, who turns 47 in January, knocked out Moorer last November to win the IBF and WBA titles and become the oldest heavyweight champion in history. But he since has been stripped of both.
Foreman last fought on April 22 when he took a majority decision over Axel Schulz of Germany in a fight many thought Foreman lost. Foreman later refused to give Schulz a rematch and was stripped of his titles.
Auto racing
TEAMS SOLD: Junior Johnson, one of the last of the pioneers of big-time stock car racing, has reportedly sold his NASCAR Winston Cup teams.
Lawyer David Blair of Batesville, Ark., purchased one of the teams and Brett Bodine, who drove for Johnson last year, bought the other, The Charlotte Observer and The Greenville (S.C.) News reported.
Johnson, 64, the subject of Thomas Wolfe's essay "The Last American Hero," won 50 races as a driver and 139 as an owner.
Tennis
WORLD DOUBLES: Top-seeded Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde beat Cyril Suk and Daniel Vacek 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 to improve to 2-0 in round-robin play in the World Doubles Championship.