STADIUM NOTES

          The Ice Palace has hosted 103 events in its nine-month
     history -- 41 hockey games and 62 special events.
     Projections for the next fiscal year "call for even more
     meeting concerts, and other sporting events" (TAMPA BAY
     BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/10 issue)....In giving a deposition in
     former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe's efforts to stop the use of tax
     money to build a new stadium, Bucs GM Rich McKay "confirmed"
     several locales that "directly wooed" the Bucs before the
     team signed a lease to stay in Tampa: Baltimore; Hartford,
     CT; Toronto; L.A.; Orange County, CA; and Florida's Orange
     and Osceola Counties.  McKay also said that the team had
     "indirect conversations" with representatives from
     Cleveland, Houston and San Antonio (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 2/13).
     ...While meeting yesterday with officials from Rhode Island,
     the Patriots said that Boston is still "the preferred site
     for a new stadium" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/13).