BRIEFLY.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Heisman sold to L.A. man

Noted sports collector Gary Cypres of Los Angeles paid a record $395,240 for the 1941 Heisman Trophy given to Minnesota tailback Bruce Smith at an auction Friday in New York.

Smith's Heisman is the fourth famed statue sold at auction, this time by Lelands.com. The previous high for a Heisman sold at auction was the second one ever given, in 1936 to Yale end Larry Kelley, which sold for $328,110.

The Heismans once given to USC tailbacks O.J. Simpson in 1968 ($230,000) and Charles White in 1979 ($184,000) have also been sold.

In addition to Smith's Heisman, his game-worn Golden Gophers No. 54 jersey sold for $7,702 and his Minnesota letterman sweater went for $3,819 at Friday's auction. The items were donated by his family.

Cypres has a 27,000-square foot private sports museum in downtown L.A. that he is trying to open to the public in the future.

- Tom Hoffarth

FRANCHISES: The owners of the Oakland Athletics expressed a interest in purchasing an expansion franchise from Major League Soccer to quickly return the sport to San Jose.

Owners of the two-time MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes announced Thursday that the franchise will move to Houston before next season, citing money losses and a difficult arrangement with Spartan Stadium in San Jose. Anschutz Entertainment Group repeatedly tried to sell the Quakes to local investors, but couldn't strike a deal.

San Jose could get an expansion franchise as early as 2007, according to MLS commissioner Don Garber, who already agreed to a letter of intent with the city. The new team would retain the Earthquakes' name, colors and history.

L.A.-based Lewis Wolff is the managing partner of the A's ownership group, which includes billionaire investor John Fisher and A's general manager Billy Beane. They purchased the A's on April 1.

``I believe getting involved in another major-league sport is a logical addition to our management's skills and interests,'' Wolff said in a statement. ``I am familiar with the San Jose area and consider the community a great sports market.''

GOLF: The Sandy Lane resort and golf course in Bridgetown, Barbados will host the World Cup of golf next December.

The event will feature the world's top 18 golfers competing for a purse of $3.3 million, organizers said. Tiger Woods was married at the Sandy Lane resort last year.

Twenty-five teams, including the top three teams from each of the World Cup qualifying matches in Mexico and Asia, will compete in the Dec. 4-10 tournament.

TENNIS: A breach-of-contract lawsuit contending that Venus and Serena Williams and their father reneged on promises to play in a 2001 ``Battle of the Sexes'' match won't be retried until late next year.

A mistrial was declared earlier this week after more than two weeks of testimony.

BOXING: Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali will receive a German peace prize today in Berlin for his human rights work. Ali is expected to attend, as well as watch his daughter, Laila, fight tonight in Berlin.