COLUMNIST SAYS BETTMAN SHOULD CAPITALIZE ON NBA LOCKOUT

          NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman should take advantage of
     the NBA lockout and "be whacking the NBA in the knee with
     some harsh words," according to Michael Happy on CBS
     SportsLine.  Happy: "The current climate calls for an ad
     campaign directed squarely at the NBA lockout.  Tell
     basketball fans the NHL feels -- and cares about -- their
     pain.  How about a commercial in which Wayne Gretzky stands
     in front of a ticket window at Madison Square Garden trying
     to get a pair of seats for an upcoming [Knicks] game?  The
     ticket agent tells Gretzky, the Knicks won't be playing
     until, at the very earliest, December.  Gretzky replies,
     'Are you telling me I've finally got the place to myself?'" 
     Happy wrote that Bettman is "reluctant to toss mud" at his
     former employer, NBA Commissioner David Stern.  Happy:
     "Sorry, Mr. Bettman, but it's your duty as a hockey guy to
     wage an epic battle against Stern" (CBS SportsLine, 10/29).