DENVER FAN LAUNCHES EFFORT TO RAISE MONEY TO PURCHASE ASCENT

          Denver sales exec Richard Bourgeois "has stepped up to
     the bidding plate with a grass-roots campaign" to buy the
     Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi Center, according to John
     Accola of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS.  But Ascent Entertainment
     General Counsel Art Aaron "shot down" his request Monday for
     a postponement of the company's public auction until
     September.  Aaron, who noted that the two-round auction
     process will be completed by July 31: "We are not about to
     go back and change that schedule."  Still, Bourgeois, a 64-
     year-old photocopier salesperson, "refuses to concede
     defeat," and he now must try to raise more than $400M in
     less than two weeks.  Bourgeois said that he will "continue
     to solicit" investors for a $100-a-share stock-raising
     proposal that will ensure "complete Colorado ownership" of
     both the Nuggets and Avalanche.  All the money collected
     will be placed into a dedicated bank account and returned to
     investors by January 2, 2001, "if the plan fails."  N.Y.-
     based investment bank Wasserstein Perella Group, which is
     handling the auction, "has yet to respond to Bourgeois
     directly."  Bourgeois, on his plan: "It's far-fetched. It's
     weird.  But it's real" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/9).