Landeta

In a surprise move, the New York Giants waived veteran punter Sean Landeta yesterday and replaced him with Mike Horan, who played for Giants coach Dan Reeves when both were with the Denver Broncos.Landeta, a Division II All-American at Towson State who played at Loch Raven High, averaged 42.1 yards this season with one punt blocked.But he averaged only 39.6 yards on seven punts in Sunday's 31-9 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and several were low, allowing the Cowboys returns for good field position.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sean Landeta is getting married. It's the final blow.Juicy sports gossip is virtually nonexistent these days, except when someone gets indicted, suspended or sued. But in his heyday, Landeta was a one-man National Enquirer. The original playboy punter.He got Donna Rice's phone number before Gary Hart. He dated Marla Maples before Donald Trump. He charmed fashion models and centerfolds, and now he's marrying Pamela Schmidt, a former paralegal from Long Island he swears is "the prettiest of them all."

Word has trickled down that if the Orioles do decide to make a managerial change, the club would be interested in a familiar name -- Dave Johnson.Not Dave Johnson, the pitcher who's now on the disabled list, but Davey Johnson who was the second baseman here during the O's glory years and went on to manage the Mets to a World Series championship in 1986.Johnson was fired by the Mets last year, but some of the New York writers who were here for the Preakness last week said the Mets were better managed by Johnson.

* PRIME TIME: Giants punter Sean Landeta rejected a request to judge a bikini contest at the Riviera Club Wednesday night. "The manager of the club said he heard I was a viable candidate to do a nice job in that kind of circumstance," said Landeta, a bachelor who has a steady girlfriend these days.* PRIME REASON: Responding to speculation that coach Bill Parcells might step down if the Giants win Sunday, linebacker Gary Reasons said, "It's within his prerogative. I don't see any reason he wouldn't want to continue.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Punter Sean Landeta has fond memories of playing in a championship game at Tampa Stadium.The Baltimore native, who played at Towson State, kicked for the Philadelphia Stars when they beat George Allen's Arizona Wranglers in the 1984 United States Football League title game.He'll kick Sunday at the stadium for the New York Giants in the Super Bowl."Surprisingly, it's been very similar," Landeta said of the week leading up to the championship game."The only difference, of course, is the interest for the game is maybe [magnified]

TAMPA, Fla. -- Enumerating the mechanical factors that go into punting a football -- meaning angle of the drop, thrust with the kicking leg and how high and far it spirals -- can lead to a case of paralysis by analysis. But not for Sean Landeta, the verbose specialist of the New York Giants, who follows a simplistic method that he is pleased to say is self-taught.That makes Landeta, the leading punter in the National Football League with an average of 44.1 yards this year, an absolute natural.

THE BLAST will face the hottest player in the Major Soccer League -- Tatu -- when the Dallas Sidekicks come to the Arena tomorrow night (7:35). Tatu, who is noted for tossing his shirt into the stands after scoring, has had 10 goals and six assists in his last three games. Although the Blast's record is only 4-5, coach Kenny Cooper, for once, is being patient. He's breaking in some new players, among them goalie Hank Henry, who has impressed everyone.* A win over arch-rival Loyola Thanksgiving morning would not only give Calvert Hall a .500 season but would make the Cardinals' year.

Sean Landeta and Dave Meggett would like to be in the Chesapeake Room at Towson State's University Union Thursday afternoon. They would tell the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee what playing football at Towson meant to them. They would argue vehemently for the continuation of the sport.But they won't get the chance. Not in person, anyway.At 2:35 p.m. Thursday, five minutes after an open forum on the state of Towson football starts, Landeta and Meggett will begin punt return practice for the New York Giants in the Meadowlands -- Landeta kicking, Meggett catching.

The space that separates the New York Giants from the Washington Redskins is often the narrowest of slivers. One week it's a last-minute field goal. Another week it's a last-gasp pass that finds unfriendly fingers.Two weeks ago, that margin was the fortuitous bounce of a Sean Landeta punt, a break that catapulted the Giants past the Redskins one more time.In a rivalry that falls somewhere between morality play and Armageddon, the Giants have beaten the Redskins five straight times. But the last four games have been whisker close, decided by four points or less.