ROBERT ERB, Dir of Sports Marketing at adidas; PAT
     WILLIAMS, Magic Senior Exec VP; PAUL BEESTON, MLB COO; HAL
     PRINCE, Mach One Marketing President and RICHARD KREZWICK,
     President of the New Boston Garden, will all be keynote
     speakers at the 1998 National Sports Forum, January 18-20,
     in Boston.  The NSF is the largest conference dedicated to
     team marketing and sales, and will feature discussions about
     "Team and Event Marketing," "Fan Entertainment," "Group and
     Season Ticket Sales Strategies" and "Corporate Sponsorship."

     Eighteen breakout sessions and a "behind the scenes" tour of
     Fenway Park and the FleetCenter are also included. For
     attendance/trade show exhibitor info, contact Seaver
     Marketing Group at (619) 469-4101.  THE DAILY is the
     Official Publication of the National Sports Forum. 

          MARTY GILBERT was named COO of IL-based sports
     information company STATS Inc. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/6).
     ...ESPN named MIKE WADE Manager/Corporate Communications. 
     Wade had been a Senior Account Exec with Cohn & Wolfe since
     '96.  He will be based in N.Y. (ESPN)....Oakley promoted JON
     KRAUSE to VP/Operations, a newly created position.  Krause
     had been Oakley's Dir of Information Technology (Oakley).
     ....ScheerSports, Inc., named JAMES MARTIN and LARA BETH
     JOHNSON Account Execs.  They will be responsible for selling
     ECHL Greenville Grrrowl season tickets (ScheerSports). 

          The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL listed its fifth-annual "25
     Most Powerful and Influential People in Canadian Sports." 
     In Toronto, James Christie wrote that players are "no longer
     mere gears in a big machine run by the owners.  More and
     more, they are becoming partners" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/2):

RANK   NAME                   POSITION/ORGANIZATION
1)     Bob Goodenow           Exec Dir, NHLPA
2)     Suzanne Steeves        Senior VP, CTV Sports & Baton/CTV
3)     Larry Walker           OF, Rockies
4)     John McCaw             Chair, Orca Bay Sports  
5)     Gary Bettman           NHL Commissioner
6)     Claude Brochu          President, Expos
7)     Allan Slaight          Owner, Raptors
8)     Don Baizley            Agent
9)     Allan Rock             Canada's Health Minister
10)    Bobby Clarke           GM, Canadian Olympic Hockey
11)    Alan Clark             President, CBC Sports
12)    Shannon Miller         Coach, Can. Women's Olympic Hockey
13)    Ken Dryden             President, Maple Leafs
14)    Carol Anne Letheren    CEO, Canadian Olympic Assoc.
15)    Bob Nicholson          Senior VP, Hockey Canada
16)    Lorie Kane             Professional Golfer
17)    Harley Hotchkiss       Part Owner, Flames/NHL Board 
18)    John Tory              CFL Chair 
19)    Gordon Craig           Founder, TSN; CEO, NetStar
20)    Bob Sauve              Agent
21)    Greg Rusedski          Tennis Pro
22)    Larry Tanenbaum        Minority Partner, Maple Leafs
23)    Jacques Villeneuve     Auto Racer
24)    Tiger Woods            Professional Golfer
25)    Louis Daignault        Journalist

          ABC's "Bad As I Wanna Be: The DENNIS RODMAN Story" has
     been given a February 1 airdate (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/31).
     ...Chiefs RB MARCUS ALLEN "has agreed to buy most" of Kansas
     City's Broadway Ford from Owner JERRY GREEN.  The dealership
     will be renamed "Marcus Allen's Broadway Ford" (K.C. STAR,
     1/3)....Akron Beacon Journal columnist TERRY PLUTO has
     written "When All The World Was Browns Town," published by
     Simon & Schuster (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 12/22)....HOWIE LONG
     was a guest on CBS' "Late Show" with DAVID LETTERMAN last
     night.  Long, after Letterman suggested that all players
     should play both ways: "You obviously have never rushed Dan
     Marino down in Miami when it's 98 degrees."  Letterman:
     "Don't be so quick to assume that! I may have!"  Long:
     "Dave, you're a very talented man, obviously, but I just
     don't see you bringing the heat on third down" ("Late Show,"
     1/5)....The Sporting News' Senior VP/Editor JOHN RAWLINGS
     and ROBERT WUHL of "Arli$$" were guests on "Bloomberg
     Morning News" to discuss TSN's "100 Most Powerful" list. 
     Rawlings, on how TSN compiles the list: "We're looking for
     people who get things done in the sports world.  We do a lot
     of reporting, we talk to people who were on the list before,
     who want to be on the list.  And the question is, 'Tell me
     who gets things done'" ("Bloomberg Morning News," PBS, 1/5).