L.A. MAYOR NAMES FOOTBALL TASK FORCE

     L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan announced the formation of
Football LA yesterday, "a broad-based task force" charged with
bringing the NFL back to that city.  Ticketmaster President/CEO
Fred Rosen was named Chair of the group, with real estate
developer Steve Soboroff named Vice Chair.  The group will add
20-25 members in the near future.  Riordan said the city will not
use public funds to bring a team to the area, but will instead
identify and woo teams that may want to move to L.A. and act as a
liaison during talks between interested teams and the NFL.  Rosen
will meet with NFL officials in the next few weeks (George
Dohrmann, L.A. TIMES, 7/26).  Riordan: "Los Angeles without a
football team is like Hawaii without surfing, or Texas without
Longhorns" (AP/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/26).  Riordan, on
his city's last team: "I've been bending over backwards for the
past five years to trying to please Al Davis.  He has no loyalty
to Los Angeles and I say, 'Good riddance'" ("SportsCenter," ESPN,
7/25).