RAMS TOUGH: In St. Paul, Banks & Powers report that the
Trans World Dome staff "had some fun at Minnesotans'
expense" during yesterday's Vikings-Rams game. The Rams
showed clips from the movie "Fargo" on the JumboTron and a
"still" of Vikings Qngs QB Jeff George's infamous shouting match
with coach June Jones while they with the Falcons. The
Vikings' front-office is "believed to have complained about
the clips to league personnel," as it is against the rules
to show movie clips during games (PIONEER PRESS, 1/17).
FILLING THE STANDS: In Dallas, Richard Alm profiled the
efforts used by the city's pro teams "to explain the number
of no-shows and reduce them." The Mavs spent $25,000 last
season to equip ticket takers at Reunion Arena's entrances
with fingertip scanners, capable of reading bar codes
printed on tickets and allowing the team to see who uses
tickets and "who doesn't" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/15).
ROSE BUDS: Pacers G Jalen Rose has talked with CBA
Owner Isiah Thomas about becoming majority owner in a CBA
team in Detroit. Rose: "The CBA is no substitute for the
NBA, but it's another avenue to create money for the city
and to bring more excitement to Detroit" (INDY STAR, 1/15).
MR. JONES, YOU'LL BE ALL RIGHT: Cowboys Owner Jerry
Jones: "I do own the team. If I wanted to, I could try to
coach it" ("Sports Weekly," ESPN, 1/16).
NOTES: One NHL exec, on Peter Karmanos moving his
franchise from Hartford to NC: "I just don't think there was
a whole lot of thought put into that move. You go there
[Raleigh] and it's like walking onto a graveyard. The mood
is so stale and normally there's nobody in the building"
(OTTAWA SUN, 1/16)....Former Angels President Richard Brown
wrote a letter to the L.A. TIMES this week "criticizing"
Angels GM Bill Stoneman's "claim that the team would contend
this year." Brown said that without any player addition,
the team is "not going to contend." Brown: "To say
otherwise is just an insult. They owe respect to the
consumer, and the consumer here is the fan. To say
something that so patently insults the intelligence of the
fan is a tremendous mistake" (L.A. TIMES, 1/15).