ROCKETS DREAM OF SELL OUT FOR OLAJUWON'S RETURN TONIGHT

The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that the Rockets "are using a picture of [Raptors C and former Rocket] Hakeem Olajuwon in a local newspaper advertisement to help promote tonight's game at the Compaq Center." The advertisement in Sunday's Houston Chronicle read, "Come See The Future, Come See The Legend!" Tonight's game will be Olajuwon's first against his old team, and the club "reported last night that tonight's encounter is close to being sold out." The Compaq Center seats 16,285, while the Rockets have been averaging 11,620, with only three sellouts this season (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 3/5).

PATRIOTS SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP VIDEO RELEASED

The BOSTON GLOBE reports USA Home Entertainment, the marketing arm of NFL Films' Super Bowl video, will release its Super Bowl XXXVI video today, and has received orders for 400,000 copies of the tribute to the Patriots Super Bowl squad. This figure represents "a 33 percent increase over the 300,000 sold for the biggest-seller to date," the '98 Broncos-Packers game (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/5).

Meanwhile, Patriots QB Tom Brady, WR Troy Brown, DB Lawyer Milloy and coach Bill Belichick will be among those at the Loews Boston Common cinema today when NFL Films premieres the Patriots Super Bowl video (BOSTON HERALD, 3/4).

FALCONS WANT FOCUS ON FANS' GAME DAY EXPERIENCE

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that Falcons Owner Arthur Blank and a number of team officials are meeting today with Georgia Dome officials to "improve the experience of attending Falcons home games." Blank: "Essentially, I want to review basically everything from a fan perspective. They have the same interests we have. How do we do a better job of supporting the fans that are coming down there?" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/5).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr continues his swing through FL today, and will meet with the Indians at 9:00am ET to discuss negotiations between the owners and players on a new CBA (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, 3/5).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that the AFL "is coming to NBC to fill the gap in its winter-spring schedule left by the departure of the N.B.A. The deal, which is to start next year, is to be announced today" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/5).

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that the AZ Tourism and Sports Authority "meets early today to cut the list of finalists" of host sites for a proposed NFL Cardinals football stadium "to just two or three sites" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/5).

At a press conference held yesterday, Canada's Gold Medal-winning figure skaters David Pelletier and Jamie Sale said that they "already had about 150 endorsement offers and scores of invitations to support charities and speak to schoolchildren." Sale: "It's not about (capitalizing on the) notoriety. It's about what we want to do. David and I aren't sure that we're finished (competing)" (Montreal GAZETTE, 3/5). However, Pelletier discussed the probability of skaters being "judged fairly" in the future: "I expect my sport to have integrity. I expect that. You can't expect me to bend over and ask them to kick me in the butt harder" (EDMONTON SUN, 3/5).

The Greensboro NEWS & RECORD reports that the 25^th ACC Women's Basketball Tournament "ended Monday night with a nail-biter" between Duke Univ. and the Univ. of NC, and 9,204 people turned out to watch, "setting an all-time record for a single tournament game." Duke topped UNC 87-80 (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 3/5).

TODAY'S EVENTS

Mascots from the schools in the Atlantic 10 gave away "Atlantic 10-Thousand" munchkins at the Dunkin Donuts in Center City in PA from 7:00-9:00am ET. The event was in anticipation of this week's Verizon Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship at the First Union Spectrum, which begins March 6 (THE DAILY).

Nike Dir of Investor Relations Pamela Catlett will speak on measuring Investor Relations Program Success from noon-1:30pm PT at Bankers Club 52^nd Floor in S.F. (THE DAILY).

NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick will be at the Atlanta Sports Council's annual motorsports luncheon at the Sheraton-Gateway Hotel, beginning at 11:30am ET (THE DAILY).

CBS golf analyst Ken Venturi will be honored for his years of service and support to the Ken Venturi Guiding Eyes for the Blind Golf Classic. A reception will take place at the Rainbow Room in N.Y. from 5:30-7:30pm ET (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

ABC News' Ted Koppel, in an Op-Ed piece in the N.Y. Times that responds to rumors that ABC will cancel his long-running news program, writes: "'Nightline' (or some program with a striking similarity to 'Nightline') ought to have a place in television's expanding universe, and I am confident that it will. I continue to hope that it will be at ABC, but that decision is beyond our control" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/5).

USA TODAY reports that "more than 30% of commercial TV stations told federal regulators Monday that they will miss the deadline of May 1 to begin digital broadcasts" (USA TODAY, 3/5).

Verizon Communications co-CEO Ivan Seidenberg announced yesterday at the CSFB's Global Telecom CEO Conference in Orlando that the company would "eliminate the equivalent of 10,000 jobs this year." Verizon spokesperson Bob Varettoni, on the cuts: "It might include layoffs, but we don't know at this point. The majority of these savings will be through not hiring for positions left vacant, and the others through cutting consultants" (N.Y. POST, 3/5).

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports Coca-Cola Chair & CEO Doug Daft's "annual compensation totaled $5.1 million in 2001, up about 16 percent from $4.4 million the year before" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/5).

FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "U.S. Presidents."

"His last will and testament named the Warm Springs Foundation as the beneficiary of insurance policies totaling $560,000."

LAUGH TRACK

NBC's Jay Leno, on the Amy Fisher-Tonya Harding boxing match on Fox: "Amy Fisher is out, Paula Jones is in. … Fisher couldn't make it. Apparently, she has a mud wrestling conflict that night. In fact, they say this is the only fight officially sanctioned by 'Hee-Haw.' ... Originally, they were going to have Monica Lewinsky fight Tonya, but Tonya didn't want to move up three weight classes" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 3/4).

MONDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Kings-Trail Blazers.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"Who was FDR?"

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