Members of the Buccaneers trust met with the financial
adviser for retired GA life-insurance "magnet" Arthur Williams to
continue discussions about buying the team.  Adviser James Kelly
said it was a follow-up meeting to talks he had last week with
Bucs trustee Steve Story to "firm up some of the issues."  Kelly
said Williams would have no problem buying the team for "a
reasonable amount of money," adding that he has no partners at
this time.  Williams would keep the team in Tampa (John Stebbins,
TAMPA TRIBUNE, 12/7).
     HIRED GUNS:  Hillsborough County Commission Chair Jim Norman
is "seeking approval" to make County Administrator Dan Kleman and
County Attorney Emeline Action the commission's representatives
on the Bucs sale.  Kleman and Acton would join a special task
force of local business people, politicians and civic leaders who
are looking at a possible renovation to Tampa Stadium.  County
Commissioner Phyllis Busansky also met with Pinellas County
officials to discuss the "possibility of governments on both
sides of Tampa Bay sharing the cost" of keeping the team in the
area.  Tampa radio stations are donating $250,000 worth of public
service air spots "aimed at drumming up support" for the team
(Walker and Henderson, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 12/7).
     RESPONSE FROM THE COMMISH: NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
responded to FL Gov. Lawton Chiles' request to help keep the team
in Tampa writing he would like a "strong and successful team"
there, but would give no promises the team would stay (Walker &
Henderson, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 12/7).

     Orange County, CA, became the largest municipality in U.S.
history to file for federal bankruptcy protection.  This
announcement came after an "all-day standoff" with Wall Street
bankers who "insisted" the county repay $1.2M in loans to "its
troubled investment pool."  The "stunning news" from one of the
nation's wealthiest (and most politically conservative) counties
"shook" the financial markets.  It also "raised questions about
the funding of dozens of major projects in the county," from a
Disneyland expansion to a possible new stadiums for the Rams and
Angels (Platte/Lait/Paltrow, L.A. TIMES, 12/7).  The county had
been in discussions about new facilities for both teams, but
Orange County Board Member William Steiner told the ORANGE COUNTY
REGISTER: "Right now, the county's involvement for a new stadium
has fallen off the priority list."  Wayne Wedin, a financial
consultant for Save the Rams, the Anaheim group trying to keep
the team in the area, also told the REGISTER that stadium plans
are not a "government-dependent effort and will primarily be a
private-sector effort."  Nonetheless, it is hard to see the
region extending itself to satisfy the Rams given Orange County's
financial crisis," writes Jim Thomas in St. Louis (ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH, 12/7).  CNN's Casey Wian reports that Orange
County's investment losses might even be "double" the $1.5
billion that the county claims ("Moneyline," 12/6).
     HAVE THEY MOVED ALREADY?  In a chart profiling "About Orange
County" in today's USA TODAY, the Rams are not mentioned under
the subject heading:  "TEAMS."  Only the NHL Ducks and MLB Angels
are listed (USA TODAY, 12/7).

     A disagreement with Orange County, FL, over stadium revenue
has put Norton Herrick's bid for an Orlando expansion baseball
franchise in jeopardy.  A dispute has arisen over excess resort
tax revenues and how they should be used.  The Orange County
Commission postponed a vote on funding a baseball stadium Tuesday
until next week, just one day before Orlando is to make its
"twice-postponed" presentation to the MLB expansion committee in
Chicago. Herrick, who was "obviously displeased" by the
Commission's decision said he "will weigh his options, which
include not attending the presentation next week."  Herrick:
"I'm not going to subject baseball to any problems the city and
county have."  Herrick wants the extra revenue from a penny tax
increase to the resort tax be put towards improvements for the
stadium once it is built and for retiring debt on an adjacent
garage.  The county "did not want to obligate itself to those
items."   Orange County Commission Chair Linda Chapin didn't
think the expansion bid was in trouble over the last hitch,
"calling it part of the negotiating process" (Bill Fay, TAMPA
TRIBUNE, 12/7).

     Close to 4,300 fans passed through the SkyDome yesterday to
view the facility's configuration for the Raptors.  "Roughly 400
even bought tickets as the Raptors entered their stretch drive of
their season-ticket campaign," needing approximately 4,100 to
reach the NBA-mandated goal of 12,500.  During the day, Raptors
President John Bitove was candid in his remarks on the franchise
and the inaugural ticket drive.  Bitove:  "Mistakes were made.
If we've been surprised about anything, it is that we've had
trouble selling our lower-end seats."  That trouble has led the
Raptors to eliminate mandatory licensing fees on many seats, to
launch $1M multi-media ad campaign featuring GM Isiah Thomas that
required "special board of directors approval," and to assume a
"contrite, almost apologetic, tone that contrasted with the
club's earlier confidence with meeting that quota" (Chris Young,
TORONTO STAR, 12/7).  "Reaching the NBA quota is going to be like
pulling teeth," writes Jim Proudfoot in this morning's TORONTO
STAR.  The "response to basketball (in Toronto) has been
spectacularly lukewarm.  There's an eager market for NBA
sweatshirts and NBA shoes, but for NBA tickets?  Nope" (TORONTO
STAR, 12/7).

     In their December 12 issue, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED portrays a
week in the life of the Cowboys in an "unprecedented" 40-page
story by Rick Telander.  In the piece, Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones
discusses his proposal to renovate Texas Stadium and add an
adjacent theme park as well as a three- dimensional theater.
Jones: "I believe that the Cowboys basically transcend sports.
It won't be easy.  I've got a lot of people to sell.  But it's
very doable and it's a sounder business proposition than my
buying the team was back in 1989."  The issue hits newsstands
today (SI).