FRANCHISE NOTES

          In Nashville, Larry Woody wrote that the Predators'
     final 16 home games will have been played in front of
     sellout crowds.  Woody: "The late-season sellouts are
     significant: Neither the waning novelty of the new team nor
     its vanishing playoff hopes dampened fans' enthusiasm"
     (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/13)....In L.A., Mark Heisler wrote
     on Lakers Owner Jerry Buss: "Buss, once a flamboyant-playboy
     kind of open book who relished publicity, has become media
     shy ... [and] less interested in the day-to-day."  Heisler
     also noted "strains" between Buss and VP Jerry West and part
     Owner Magic Johnson (L.A. TIMES, 4/13)....In Minneapolis,
     Dan Barreiro writes of a "power struggle" between Vikings GM
     Tim Connolly and head coach Dennis Green over player
     selection for the upcoming draft.  But Connolly denied that
     there is a "rift," and described his working relationship
     with Green as "pleasant" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/14).