FRANCHISE NOTES

          In N.Y., Mike Freeman writes on Giants co-Owner
     Wellington Mara's induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
     this weekend.  Freeman calls Mara's greatest asset "his
     ability to combine competitiveness on the football field
     with compassion off it.  Mara has an intense desire to win,
     but unlike others in the sometimes nasty world of sports, he
     has never lost his ability to care about the people who work
     for him" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/22)....The WA-based Professional
     Indoor Football League accepted a new franchise to be called
     the Minkota Aces.  The team will be based in Minneapolis,
     but will play in Duluth and Rochester, MN, and Fargo, ND. 
     The team is owned by World Wide Sports Group (PIFL)....In
     L.A., Bill Plaschke wrote Dodgers Owner Peter O'Malley "is
     apparently discovering that the only thing harder than
     owning the Dodgers is selling them to Rupert Murdoch.  The
     deal is so bogged down in legal stuff that there are
     rumblings O'Malley may call it off" (L.A. TIMES, 7/20).