EXPOS SAY IT'S A RETRACTABLE ROOF OR BUST

     Expos President Claude Brochu "has toughened his stand on
getting a new, retractable roof at Olympic Stadium," according to
the CANADIAN PRESS.  Brochu:  "I don't care whether it's Major
League Baseball or the National Football League, teams that play
in fixed dome stadiums are dying.  It's a handicap."  Brochu said
if the Olympic Installations Board -- the Quebec provincial body
which administrates the stadium -- opts for a fixed roof, "we
would have to rethink whether we'll be there."  The Expos and the
OIB are scheduled to begin negotiations today on a new multiyear
lease.  Approval for a new fixed, steel roof to replace the
existing fixed Kevlar roof (installed in '87) was approved in
'93, but shelved by the Parti Quebecois when they assumed power
in '94 (Hamilton SPECTATOR, 12/13).  In Montreal, Jeff Blair
reports preliminary talks between the team and OIB "went poorly"
(Montreal GAZETTE, 12/13).