NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE TAKES THE FIELD & HITS THE NET

          The National Lacrosse League (NLL) debuted on January 3
     and Sal Maiorana of the Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE wrote
     that it is "strong and exciting ... with a solid framework
     and plenty of room and ability to grow, thus bringing
     normalcy to a sport that has been on the brink of madness
     for years."  All seven NLL teams are individually owned,
     with each owner responsible for "all aspects of his team's
     business," including ticket sales, PR, advertising and
     marketing, drafting and signing players and arranging
     transportation and housing.  Players are paid anywhere from
     $350 per game (rookie scale) to as much as $1,100 per game. 
     The NLL has set up an office at Marine Midland Arena in
     Buffalo led by Commissioner Jon Livsey.  There will also be
     "at least" a game of the week telecast on three separate
     RSNs -- Empire in NY, HTS in MD and Comcast in Philadelphia,
     and Maiorana added that ESPN "is interested in televising
     playoff games" (Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 1/1).
          WEB WARE: The NLL debuted its official website at be-
     lax.com, designed by NY-based Web Technologies (NLL).