In Charlotte, Liz Chandler reports that jurors in the
civil trial involving Hornets Owner GEORGE SHINN "are
expected to begin deliberations today." The seven-man, five-
woman jury "will hear closing arguments this morning"
(CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/17)....PRESIDENT CLINTON attended
last night's Nets-Wizards game at MCI Center as a guest of
Nets co-Owner LEWIS KATZ (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/17). FSN's
KEITH OLBERMANN wondered if the Secret Service "would block
off a concession stand for him" (FSN, 12/16)....Suns
President and D'Backs Managing General Partner JERRY
COLANGELO will be the commencement speaker at Northern AZ
Univ.'s graduation ceremonies today (USA TODAY, 12/17).
....FORTUNE magazine profiles the UNIV. OF TX's football
program and calls it a "multimillion-dollar enterprise that
operates more like a solid business than a renegade campus
outfit" (FORTUNE, 12/20 issue)....The ESPN.com question
during the 6:30pm ET edition of "SportsCenter" yesterday was,
"With which ESPN personality would you most like to party?"
The results at the end of the show, out of 62,364 votes, were
as follows: 1) CHRIS BERMAN (26.7%), 2) KIANA TOM (22.2%), 3)
DAN PATRICK (18.4%), 4) STUART SCOTT (18.1%), 5) DICK VITALE
(11.5%), 6) BEANO COOK (2.7%) ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 12/16).