Former L.A. State Coach Homer Beatty Dies at 84

Homer Beatty, a starting USC halfback and end in the 1930s and the coach at L.A. State when the school was a national college division football power in the mid-1960s, has died. He was 84.

Services will be held Thursday at noon at Forest Lawn Sunnyside in Long Beach, with a memorial to follow at Virginia Country Club.

Beatty began his coaching career with an undefeated season at Porterville High in 1940 and later coached some outstanding teams at Bakersfield High and Bakersfield College. One of his stars at Bakersfield High was Frank Gifford, who credited Beatty for changing his life and persuading him to go to USC and pursue a football career.

His 1953 Bakersfield College team went 12-0 and won the Junior Rose Bowl. His Santa Ana College team in 1962 went 10-0 and won a national junior college title. From Santa Ana he went to L.A. State--now Cal State L.A.--and coached there from 1963-65. His teams were 25-2 and the 1964 team went 9-0 and won a national college division title.

Beatty is survived by his son, Steve, and three grandchildren. He died last Thursday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach of natural causes.

Miscellany

Sacramento King center Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia and Algerian runner Noureddine Morceli are among 44 athletes up for election to eight spots on the International Olympic Committee. The IOC released a list of candidates for election to the Athletes’ Commission during the Sydney Games in September. Under the reforms adopted by the IOC, the eight athletes elected automatically become full IOC members. Seven other athletes will serve on the IOC, bringing the total to 15.

Of the 44 candidates, 22 are from Europe, nine from Asia, six from the Americas, five from Africa and two from Oceania.

Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, world-record holding high jumper suspended after testing positive for cocaine at last year’s Pan American Games, will have a hearing April 7-8 by an International Amateur Athletic Federation arbitration panel.

The IAAF also set July 6-9 as the hearing dates for 1992 Olympic 100-meter champion Linford Christie of Britain, who was suspended after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone.

Olympic champion Hermann Maier will not face disciplinary action by the International Ski Federation (FIS) after allegations of vandalism at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy, the Austrian APA news agency reported. Organizers said Maier had damaged a phone booth at a resort late Saturday night during the revelry after he won a record-equaling fourth World Cup season title.

Former general managers Bob Watson of the New York Yankees and Bill Bavasi of the Angels were picked as co-chairmen of the selection committee for the U.S. Olympic baseball team.

Pro Football

Offensive tackle Andy Heck signed a three-year contract with the Washington Redskins. Heck, 33, started all 16 games last season, but wore down late in the year before tearing a hamstring in a playoff game against Detroit. . . . The New York Jets signed their first unrestricted free agent of the off-season, defensive tackle Shane Burton, who agreed to a one-year deal. Burton, a four-year veteran, can earn as much as $700,000 through incentives for the 2000 season. . . . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed tight end Dave Moore to a three-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Moore had a career-high five touchdown catches and caught 23 passes for a career-high 276 yards last season. . . . Green Bay punter Josh Bidwell, who sat out most of his rookie season because of testicular cancer, estimated his health at about 95% recovered and said he will be ready when training camp begins.

Jurisprudence

Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier lost a lawsuit in which he claimed Philadelphia police used excessive force in arresting him on a drunken-driving charge in 1998.

A federal jury also rejected Frazier’s contention that the arrest damaged his reputation. He had been returning from an appearance at a police benefit in northern New Jersey.

Frazier, 56, was acquitted of driving under the influence in a nonjury trial five months later.

College Sports

Larry Ivy, C.M. Newton’s hand-picked successor, was appointed athletic director at Kentucky. Newton will retire June 30 after 11 years in the job. Pending approval by the university’s board of trustees at its April 4 meeting, Ivy will begin his new duties July 1.

Ivy has overseen Kentucky’s athletic budget for 23 years. During that time, the budget has grown from $3 million to $32 million and always remained in the black.

Penn State’s baseball team announced it will not play another regular-season game in South Carolina while the Confederate flag flies over the Statehouse. The Nittany Lions wore red armbands in both their games against Winthrop over the weekend to protest the flag.