LEAGUE NOTES

          SELIG CLOSE TO PINNACLE? USA TODAY's Hal Bodley reports
     that a "move to draft Bud Selig as permanent commissioner is
     gaining so much momentum among baseball's owners that the
     word interim could be removed from his title as early" as
     the March quarterly meetings in FL.  Bodley reports that the
     votes for the necessary three-quarters support in the NL
     "are there now."  Bodley adds that the Yankees and adidas
     "are attempting to settle their suit" against MLB.  One
     possible settlement is to have adidas outfit "at least" six
     teams as an official MLB sponsor (USA TODAY, 1/9).
          NHLPA: In Toronto, David Shoalts examines the NHLPA
     after the plea bargain of NHLPA Founder Alan Eagleson to
     charges of fraud and theft.  Taking over for Eagleson in
     '91, NHLPA Exec Dir Bob Goodenow put in place "an accounting
     system to ensure that the union never again fell victim to a
     leader who had free reign to loot its treasury."  NHLPA
     President Mike Gartner: "Literally every dollar in and out
     of the association is accounted for" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/9).