DESPITE GOOD START, BULLETS SEEING SMALLER CROWDS

     Reports in the WASHINGTON POST and the WASHINGTON TIMES
profile the Bullets' attendance this season.  The POST's Richard
Justice reports team officials say it is too early to be
concerned about a few small crowds.  He notes that despite the
team's best start in nine years, attendance is down 15.8%.
Bullets President Susan O'Malley: "We're going to sell out 30
games.  But there are also going to be five or six small crowds,
and we've already had a couple of those."  O'Malley noted that
Chris Webber was hurt early in the season, and individual buyers
may have opted against attending Webber-less games (WASHINGTON
POST, 12/14).  The TIMES' Frank Hughes reports Bullets GM John
Nash places some of the blame on high expectations last year.
Nash:  "There is an old adage in marketing:  You can fool the
consumer once.  I think right now there are a lot of basketball
fans watching what happens" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 12/14).