PACKERS PUT KIBOSH ON ESPN DUE TO "OUTSIDE THE LINES" REPORT

          The Packers, "incensed" over ESPN's "Outside the Lines:
     Inside Titletown USA" piece that ran last month, have
     "denied the special access routinely provided to ESPN for
     Sunday's NFC Championship game," according to Bob Raissman
     of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS.  Packers officials told ESPN no one-
     on-one interviews would be allowed.  Packers management was
     "upset over three issues the ESPN program covered."  The
     Packers felt the show dealt too much on Vince Lombardi
     rather than the current Packer team, it believed citizens of
     Green Bay "were portrayed as hicks," and it felt ESPN
     "painted a slanted picture" of the racial situation in Green
     Bay by "emphasizing negative quotes from some players."  
     ESPN's Managing Editor John Walsh said the response was
     "shocking" to him, adding, "We felt the show was a tribute
     to the team, the people of Green Bay and the relationship
     the community has with the team."  Walsh has spoken with
     Packers President Bob Harlan in an effort "to repair our
     relationship with the Packers" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/10).