National sports briefs

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) -- Clifford "Fido" Purpur, a North Dakota hockey pioneer and a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, has died at age 88.

Purpur died Wednesday after suffering seizures at Valley Eldercare Center, where he had lived since May.

Scott Purpur, one of six sons of Cliff and Mary Purpur, said his father was proud to become the first North Dakotan to reach the National Hockey League. But what made Cliff Purpur even happier was being able to help his parents, Annie and Adolph, financially, his son said.

XFL offers Xtra ads

NEW YORK (AP) -- The XFL is going to air extra ads for sponsors getting less bang for their bucks than was promised.

"We are working proactively with our advertisers to live up to our guarantees," XFL president Basil DeVito Jr. said Wednesday. "We are providing them with commercials to deliver the audience which we promised in advance."

The fledgling league reached about half as many TV viewers in Week 3 as advertisers were told to expect when they paid about $140,000 for 30-second spots.

Saturday night's XFL broadcast on NBC was the lowest-ranked prime-time show on any of the four major networks last week, tying for 89th place in households with UPN's "Star Trek Voyager."