FORTUNE features some of today's top execs and their
collegiate alma maters. Nike Chair PHIL KNIGHT began
outfitting the Univ. of OR athletic teams with Nike apparel
in '72. Knight: "Back then we kind of used the Oregon teams
as a testing lab." Stars/MLB Rangers Owner TOM HICKS, an
alumnus of the Univ. of TX, has been following a record-
breaking football season with Longhorns RB RICKY WILLIAMS.
Hicks: "EARL CAMPBELL could just knock people over, but
Ricky has his own style" (FORTUNE, 12/21 issue)....To gain
the NFL's "cooperation" in the making of his new football
film, director OLIVER STONE recently spoke to the NFL and
"addressed its concerns with the script." ESPN.com's Tom
Farrey reports that a "new version will be coming out soon"
(ESPN.com, 12/10)....Former Orioles manager PHIL REGAN sold
the lineup card from CAL RIPKEN's record-tying 2,130th
consecutive game for $6,500 and the card from the record-
breaking 2,131st game for "slightly more than" $35,000. But
the O's say that the items "belong to the team," and have
obtained a court order to block the sale. A Cook County
Circuit Court hearing will be held on December 21 (CHICAGO
SUN-TIMES, 12/10)....SAMMY SOSA joined PRESIDENT CLINTON in
lighting the White House Christmas tree last night (WASH.
POST, 12/10)...."Arli$$" producers BRIAN ROBBINS and MIKE
TOLLIN will direct and produce "Hardball," a film about "a
contentious baseball season in Chicago's gang-plagued,
Cabrini-Green housing project" (DAILY VARIETY, 12/9).
