MLB: In Toronto, Bob Elliott reported that if New
Yorker Alan Cohen, Chicagoan Harvey Walken and former Labatt
President Don McDougall "are successful" in buying Interbrew
S.A.'s sports properties, the Blue Jays "would be American
owned, for the most part." Elliott: "While McDougall has
instant credibility in baseball and financial circles, Cohen
carries the most weight in these talks" (TORONTO SUN, 8/15).
...In Cincinnati, Geoff Hobson reported that Reds Minority
Owner Louise Nippert "wants to remain a partner and could
consider buying her third share of the club" by matching Jon
Ledecky's $7M bid to buy Frisch's Restaurants' one share
(ENQUIRER, 8/14)....In L.A., Jason Reid wrote that the Fox
Group is "counting on" Dodgers President Bob Graziano, who
"has strong ties" to News Corp. co-COOs Chase Carey and
Peter Chernin, "to right the ship." Reid: "The Fox Group
has mandated that the Dodgers increase their revenue in
order to be self-supporting, and Graziano is the point man
in negotiations with Los Angeles city officials to renovate
Dodger Stadium for that purpose" (L.A. TIMES, 8/16).
NOTES: MN's WNBA expansion team has surpassed 4,000
season-ticket deposits. It needs to reach 5,000 deposits by
September 1 to secure the team for the '99 season (T-Wolves)
....In Pittsburgh, a POST-GAZETTE editorial on Penguins co-
Owner Roger Marino: "When trying to revive a flagging
business, you don't start off by infuriating your customers.
Now would the man who wants to buy out Howard Baldwin like
to walk out and come back in, so he can start this
relationship over?" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/16).
