FRANCHISE NOTES

          MLB: News from N.Y.'s gossip pages:  The POST's "Page
     Six" reports that the Yankees Fan Fest -- a seven-year-old
     tradition at the New York Coliseum -- "has been cancelled
     for mysterious reasons."  The event raised money for various
     charities with Yankee autographs (N.Y. POST, 1/6).  The
     DAILY NEWS' Rush & Molloy reported that a source said
     Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan wants to buy a piece of the
     Yankees.  Spokespeople for Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner
     and Cablevision would not comment (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/23).
          OTHER NOTES: In L.A., Earl Gustkey notes that the ABL
     Long Beach StingRays have the worst attendance in the league
     and reports that if those numbers don't improve, the team
     could move to Long Island or Dallas (L.A. TIMES, 1/6).
     ...ESPN's David Aldridge writes that 76ers head coach Larry
     Brown and G Allen Iverson "aren't coexisting."  Aldridge:
     "Would the Sixers deal Iverson if the price is right? ...
     Philly's ad campaigns, its team identity, its ticket base
     are all intertwined with Iverson.  A trade would be hard to
     explain, harder to make up in sales" (ESPN SportsZone, 1/6).