Nfl

Remember back to the dispiriting offseason of locked out players and no transactions in the NFL. Relive the anxiety and angst surrounding whether there would be a season at all (although I wrote repeatedly it would all work out). Recall the two incredible weeks in which every single draft pick and free agent had to be signed. Think of the truncated training camp schedule and the number of new coaches and new systems that needed implementing. This seemed an unlikely prescription for the unprecedented success and domination that the NFL produced.

A man convicted of murdering a wealthy Newport Beach businessman in 1994 is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in a Santa Ana courtroom. Eric Naposki was convicted in July of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for committing murder for financial gain in the slaying of Bill McLaughlin. Prosecutors claimed in court that Naposki plotted the murder with former girlfriend Nanette Packard in order to collect $1 million in life insurance and live for free in his beachfront home in Newport Beach.

The NBA lockout drags on with games canceled this week. On Tuesday a federal mediator will meet with the sides in New York. A mediator is not someone empowered to force the sides to compromise - as in binding arbitration. Good mediators are skilled at moving between two groups in conflict and painting apocalyptic visions of a future in which they do not settle. He conveys offers back and forth between parties that are in different rooms. He cajoles and threatens hour after hour until an agreement is reached.

This weekend begins my favorite time of year. It marks the return of high school, college and NFL football. Combined with the pennant races in Major League Baseball and many other sports, it is a cornucopia of sports participation and television viewing that lifts every fan's spirit. There are certain circles where this phenomenon is not as welcome. I once represented a hard-core sports fan in a spoof on the Roseanne Barr show whose wife was suing him for alienation of affections on the grounds that his couch obsession was ruining their marriage.

As an ESPN NFL reporter speculated where a big-name free agent would land, Chris Dingman smiled because he knew the location. Dingman, who is in charge of The Dingman Group, is not a rival reporter or a sports agent. As a man behind the scenes he finds out some of the transactions before they are reported. He specializes in a unique business. He relocates athletes, helping them find new homes, move, transport cars and other off-the-field details that go with joining a new team.

SANTA ANA — A jury on Thursday found a former NFL player guilty of murdering his lover's boyfriend for financial gain in Newport Beach. Eric Naposki, 44, was found guilty of first-degree murder for plotting the shooting death of Bill McLaughlin on Dec. 15, 1994. The Orange County Superior Court jury agreed with prosecutors on all counts, and added a sentence enhancement for murder for financial gain. As the verdict was read in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Naposki shook his head and turned to look at his fiancée, who was sitting behind him in the audience.

NEWPORT BEACH — Cheta Ozougwu walked into the bar at the Balboa Yacht Club on Thursday with his hands in his pockets. What use did he have for his hands? He doesn't drink alcohol. Plus, without the hands inside the pockets of his jean shorts, they are empty. Ozougwu doesn't have much money right now. He hasn't received a contract from the Houston Texans because of the NFL lockout. The last player taken in the NFL Draft is trying to earn a buck or two while in town as Mr. Irrelevant.

NEWPORT BEACH — Mr. Irrelevant met the Nigerian Nightmare for the first time. Cheta Ozougwu was just happy to hear his name pronounced correctly by someone other than his Nigerian parents. Christian Okoye said "oh-ZOO-goo" just once. To the former running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, Ozougwu was still Mr. Irrelevant, the last player picked in the NFL Draft. As for any advice for Ozougwu, who will try to make the Houston Texans, Okoye chuckled at first. The laughs started well before a roast of Ozougwu at the All-Star Lowsman Banquet at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa on Wednesday.

ANAHEIM — Cheta Ozougwu is as much a fan of the characters at Disneyland as he is of an animated one on the NFL Network. He wanted to meet Mickey Mouse before Warren Sapp on Tuesday. A trip to Disneyland was in store before Ozougwu rode to Culver City to do an interview on the NFL Network. Ozougwu planned to high-five Mickey Mouse on his first trip to Disneyland. Later in the day, he could shake the right hand that helped Sapp record 961/2 sacks during his 13-year NFL career as a defensive tackle.

Whether I am talking to the toll-taker on the 73 toll road, eating at the Cheesecake Factory, working out at 24 Hour Fitness or standing in the lobby of the Regal Theatres, each person approaches me with anxiety and a frown and says "Oh, it's you, will there be an NFL Season?!" I would like to provide a community service for all NFL fans living on Don't worry, there will be an NFL season the West Coast, to help drop the anxiety level dramatically. Yes, there will be a normal NFL season!