BOB RIEF has been named GM of Nike Golf.  His background
includes stints with Karhu, Raichle and Nordica, and was most
recently GM of Karhu's outdoor division....CHRIS MCGINLEY has
been named golf club product marketing manager and DENNIS ALLEN
was named product manager for golf balls at Titleist and Foot-Joy
Worldwide (GOLF WORLD, 9/15 issue).

     MARV ALBERT paid a visit to David Letterman last night.
With the help of the Jets' NICK LOWERY and DON SILVESTRI, Albert
and Letterman kicked footballs into the audience.  Letterman to
Albert:  "You kick like a girl" ("Late Show," CBS,
9/20)....DENNIS RODMAN made his acting debut as a guest star on
the CBS series "Courthouse" last night ("Extra," 9/20)....LORI
HAMAMOTO has been named Dir of Media Services for the Knicks
(SportsTicker)....DIEGO MARADONA has announced the launch of an
int'l soccer players' union to promote and safeguard players'
rights (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/19)....Redskin DARRELL GREEN's
Youth Life Foundation will help pilot the National Children's
Environmental Education Program which kicks off September 26 in
Washington, DC (Youth Life Foundation).

     Walter Haas, Jr., the patriarch of the family that owned
Levi Strauss & Co. and the Managing Partner of the A's since
buying the team from Charlie Finley in '80, died yesterday of
cancer at the age of 79.  Haas, whose family has the sold the
team as of November 1, was honored at the Oakland Coliseum Sunday
even though he couldn't attend.  His family was given a standing
ovation and his name was installed on the outfield fence.  A's
star Mark McGwire called Haas the "nicest man who has ever been
put on this earth."  In San Francisco, columnist C.W. Nevius
writes, "The death of Walter A. Haas yesterday leaves the world
of sports one gentleman short, and there are no good prospects in
the farm system. ... My guess is that [Hass] was the last of a
breed, the beloved owner" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/21).