VENUS WILLIAMS and her father, RICHARD WILLIAMS, were
     featured by CBS's MORLEY SAFER on "60 Minutes."  Safer
     called Venus "a godsend to a sport that has suffered
     declining interest in recent years.  He debut at the U.S.
     Open was breathtaking -- speed, brute force and grace.  And
     the bleachers ate it up. ... [A] star was born.  An attitude
     one part Tiger Woods, three parts Muhammad Ali."  Venus: "I
     am the best.  Why shouldn't I believe that?  And what's
     wrong with me thinking that I'm the best player out there?"
          RACISM? Safer: "Your dad said that there is a lot of
     racism is tennis.  Do you agree with that statement?" 
     Williams: "I'm not political."  Safer: "No, but you have
     feelings."  Williams: "Yes."  Safer: "And what do your
     feelings tell you?"  Williams, pausing: "I'd really rather
     not talk about that because when I go out there, I just go
     out there to play tennis."  Safer: "But, a lot of African
     American athletes whom I've known over the years, are forced
     to feel that they're playing for more than their own
     victory, that they're playing for their people.  Do you ever
     feel that?"  Williams: "No.  Maybe if I got older.  When I
     go out there, I'm playing for me.  Me and my family."
          ON DAD: Safer, on Richard Williams: "He is a cunning
     maverick, promotional genius, control freak and loving
     father."  Richard, on his critics in the tennis
     establishment: "Anyone that's a professional tennis player
     or anyone that has anything to do with professional tennis,
     I don't think very much of them in no way.  So I could care
     less what these experts think because these experts are
     worse than the girls that play.  They're interested only in
     money.  I'm interested in my daughter."  Conde Nast Sports
     For Women Senior Contributing Writer SALLY JENKINS:
     "Observers like me have thought he was a little goofy, but
     it looks as though Richard has taken all of the advantages
     from the tennis world and none of the disadvantages." 
          VENUS: Safer, on Venus: "She is unfailingly polite, has
     a sunny personality and a head full of nearly 2,000 beads.
     ... Those beads have become a fashion statement in inner
     city communities where Venus goes to tell kids they too can
     succeed."  Safer's conclusion: "There are those who feel
     that the complexion of this game will soon change radically. 
     The Williams sisters [Venus and younger sister Serena] and
     certainly their father have already upset a whole lot of
     people in the lily white world of tennis by not so much
     bucking the system as ignoring it with matchless self
     confidence" ("60 Minutes," CBS, 11/30).  

          MI-based Penske Motorsports announced the following
     personnel moves: JAY LUCAS was named Dir of PR for Penske
     Motorsports; PETE MERKEL was named Dir of Corporate Sales
     for the MI Speedway and TONY NAGORSEN was named Dir of
     Corporate Sales for the MI Speedway.  At the Homestead-Miami
     Speedway, BRIAN SKUZA was named GM while DOUG BLAND was
     named Assistant Dir of Marketing (Penske Motorsports)...
     The Red Wings named JOHN HAHN as PR Dir.  He was SID at the
     Univ. of MI before becoming a sales manager for MI-based
     A.L.S. Enterprises (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/29)....The
     Mariners named RON SPELLECY Dir of Team Travel (Mariners).

          Sportscaster TIM RYAN will host the LEE RYAN CUP, a
     tennis event honoring his wife, LEE, who has been diagnosed
     with Alzheimer's and is living in a facility in CA.  The
     exhibition, featuring JOHN MCENROE and JIM COURIER, will be
     held December 13 at the Bank of America Center in Boise, ID. 
     Proceeds will be split by the National Alzheimer's
     Association and a Boise chapter of the association (N.Y.
     TIMES, 11/29)....PETER JACOBSEN, on TIGER WOODS: "Humanize
     Tiger. ... The best thing for Tiger is to be an approachable
     superstar.  If I were going to give advice to IMG, the next
     step is to develop the other side of being an idol. Right
     now people don't connect with Tiger. ... People know more
     about FLUFF COWAN than Tiger" (L.A. TIMES, 11/29).

          PHILIP ANSCHUTZ is profiled by Morris & Brull in
     BUSINESS WEEK.  Anschutz on his new ventures, including the
     $300M downtown L.A. arena and his investment in telecom
     company Qwest: "I am a student of strategic timing and
     cycles.  And, I think these will prove to be right."  Morris
     & Brull report that to Anschutz and partner ED ROSKI, the
     Kings "are purely a real-estate play.  Ownership of the team
     ensures a permanent tenant for their glitzy downtown arena
     and entertainment center. ... And with an option to buy a
     25% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, the duo have a deal
     with Laker owner JERRY BUSS to move the basketball team to
     their arena as well."  Anschutz' "obsessive privacy -- he
     avoids having his picture taken or conducting interviews for
     the most part -- allows him to walk around a Kings game
     unnoticed by the crowds" (BUSINESS WEEK, 11/30 issue).
          MOLDED CLAY: Lions Vice-Chair WILLIAM CLAY FORD JR.
     will succeed ALEX TROTMAN as Chair of Ford Motor Co. when he
     retires at the end of '99, according to Ron Stodghill of
     TIME.  Ford Jr.'s decision two years ago to take over the
     family's small business, "the lowly Lions, may have led to
     his taking over the big one.  For one thing, he proved that
     his reputation for being overly diplomatic -- read mousy --
     was undeserved.  He not only restructured the Lions
     operation but in doing so took on the NFL owners." 
     Regarding the NFL and his stewardship of the Lions,
     Stodghill writes that Ford Jr. is "talking tougher,
     negotiating harder and mincing words less than ever during
     frequent rants about an industry he says is desperately out
     of touch with its core consumer" (TIME, 12/1 issue). 

          Bucs RB WARRICK DUNN made down payments on houses for
     four Tampa mothers, enabling them to celebrate Thanksgiving
     as first-time home buyers, according to Patty Ryan of the
     TAMPA TRIBUNE.  City programs helped the families qualify
     for low-interest loans while Badcock, Publix, Sears, GTE,
     JCPenney, Home Depot and others donated supplies and
     furniture (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 11/26).  In St. Pete, an editorial
     said that Dunn "showed the meaning of community and the
     power of giving back.  In an age when so many public figures
     abuse their status, Dunn has honored his community, his fans
     and his employer" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 11/27).