The Heat's Alonzo Mourning blames NBA Commissioner David
Stern for the team's loss of Juwan Howard during the off-season,
according to Amy Shipley of the MIAMI HERALD.  Speaking Saturday,
Mourning said, "David Stern runs this league. ... This whole
thing was a matter of him flexing his muscle the whole time,
letting [Heat President Pat Riley] and [Heat Owner Micky Arison]
know who was the boss."  Mourning went on to say the league
"animosity has built up over the past couple of years against Pat
Riley and Micky Arison."  Mourning: "Arison is the new guy on the
block, a young owner with lots of money, and Riley has won
everywhere he goes.  When he left the Knicks organization, the
people in New York were kind of [ticked] off" (MIAMI HERALD,
10/6).

     Hartford will host the All-Star Game for the ABL, the new
women's pro basketball league, on December 15 at the Civic
Center.  The game will be televised on SportsChannel Regional
Network (ABL)....The AFL has relocated to Chicago.  The office
and league officials are at 75 East Wacker Drive, Suite 400,
Chicago, IL 60601 (AFL).

     MLS is set to begin its playoff semifinals on Thursday,
eight days after the conclusion of the first round, which is "too
much down time," according to Frank Dell'Apa of the BOSTON GLOBE.
MLS is "in the midst of what should be the most suspenseful time
of the season. ... But instead of drama, the MLS is producing
apathy."  The league had to arrange stadium availability and
conflicts with World Cup matches, but MLS "added to the problem
by insisting on the best-of-three format."  Dell'Apa notes that
formula "has been rejected as impractical and superfluous by most
league.  Hopefully, MLS is learning why."  Under the current
system, some players will be playing in their fifth game in 11
days during the MLS Cup on October 20 in Foxboro, "not a formula
for optimal performance."  Instead, Dell'Apa recommends changing
to a two-game, home-and-home series, with total goals as the
first tiebreaker (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/8).
     REVIEWS: MLS "surprised a lot of skeptics in its freshman
season with solid attendance and cash flows that exceeded
projections at most of the ten teams," according to the latest
FORBES.  L.A. Galaxy Chair Marc Rapaport is featured for his "big
score" in the L.A. market (FORBES, 10/21)....In Boston,
Revolution investor Bob Kraft, on the future of pro soccer: "We
averaged better than 19,000 paid per game.  That's more than the
Bruins and Celtics average.  ... From what I saw at Foxboro this
year, the crowds were half-male, half-kids 8-15 years old, half
suburban and about one-third new Americans" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/5).

     CART, the IndyCar sanctioning body, released their schedule
Monday and will not run a race "head-to-head" against the IRL's
Indy 500, according to Shav Glick of the L.A. TIMES.  The CART
schedule shows a race at the yet-to-be-built Gateway
International Raceway in Madison, IL on Saturday, May 24, the day
before the Indy 500.  Last year, CART ran the U.S. 500 at
Michigan International Speedway on the same day as the Indy race.
This year, the U.S. 500 will remain in Michigan but will be run
on July 27.  Roger Penske's new California Speedway will be the
site of CART's season finale on September 28.  CART President
Andrew Craig: "Our last race gives us the strongest schedule
possible on the West Coast. We have now have five races --
Vancouver, Portland, Laugna Seca, Long Beach and Fontana -- in
the West" (L.A. TIMES, 10/8).  In Indianapolis, Bill Koenig notes
that May '97 will be much "less controversial" than this year,
but "big corporate dollars ... may still bypass the city" as
major sponsors of CART say "they'll spend their money where CART
competes."  Major sponsors reportedly told CART they preferred
the group not race on the same day as the Indy 500, and "at the
same time, representatives of companies that sponsor CART race
teams and events said they likely won't come to Indianapolis in
May -- like they did prior to the split" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR,
10/4).