A SOLDIER'S STORY SOON TO END AS BEARS DEAL NEARS?

     Bears VP Ted Phillips met with city officials yesterday and
said the team expects to know "within weeks" whether they can
make a deal with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on his $400M plan to
put a retractable roof on Soldier Field, according to Kass &
Pearson in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE.  Phillips: "Within a month, we'll
know.  A lot of the issues to one degree or another have been
discussed in the past."  Included among issues is the team's
demand that it receive "at least" $35M in annual net revenues and
whether grass would "really grow" under a retractable roof.  City
officials indicated they hope a deal can be done by November in
order to present it to the General Assembly during its fall veto
session  (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/27).