AFTER LAST NIGHT'S RAIN, WE CAN SEE WHY THEY CHOSE ORLANDO

          MLS's All-Star Game last night drew 24,816 at Giants
     Stadium amid heavy thunderstorms (Mult., 7/10).  
          NINE GOALS? In N.Y., Filip Bondy, on the 5-4 Eastern
     Conference win: "Soccer is cursed in this country.  There
     can be no doubt about that any more, after the great
     Meadowlands flood."  But Bondy added: "The match produced
     enough goals to satisfy the most ignorant, avaricious fan"
     (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/10).  ESPN SportsZone's Phil Green
     writes the game, carried on ESPN, "was just what the second-
     year league was looking for -- a made-for-TV spectacle of
     offense" (SportsZone, 7/10).  In Orlando, Tim Turner, on the
     '98 All-Star Game in Orlando: "If Disney and MLS officials
     ... learned anything from this game, it was this: Make sure
     to pair the All-Star Game with a high profile international
     match, and pray for sunshine" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/10).
          GOT NEXT? ISL, the marketing arm of FIFA, said "most or
     all" of its corporate marketing partners will sign on as
     sponsors of the '99 Women's World Cup (USA TODAY, 7/9).