FAREWELL TO THREE RIVERS: Saturday's Redskins-Steelers
game marked the final regular-season game played at Three
Rivers Stadium, and in Pittsburgh, Bill Modoono wrote that
during Saturday's game, "unruly hooliganism, which at one
point seemed inevitable, took a back seat to respect. They
closed down Three Rivers Stadium in near-perfect fashion
yesterday" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 12/17). Also in
Pittsburgh, Robert Dvorchak wrote that "fans did themselves
proud, letting the house that had treated them to so many
thrills go with dignity" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/17).
NOTES: In Chicago, Fran Spielman reported that a
referendum on the $587M Soldier Field renovation plan will
not appear on the February ballot after Chicago City Clerk
James Laski ruled that a state law requiring stadium
referendums does not apply to the project (CHICAGO SUN-
TIMES, 12/17)....Jaguars players were "fuming about the
field conditions" for Sunday's game at Paul Brown Stadium
after the Bengals did not use a tarp and the failure of the
stadium heating system turned the turf "into a bigger mess
than usual." Jags RB Fred Taylor said, "That's probably the
best cow pasture I've played on" (AP, 12/18).
