Ascent Entertainment Group, which owns the Avalanche, has
bought new dasher boards and glass it hopes to install before the
playoffs (Colorado Springs GAZETTE TELEGRAPH, 2/28)....The White
Sox "might step up" a proposed move to Tucson from Sarasota and
share a facility with the Rockies next year. The "deal is
pending" on whether the White Sox will become the third team in
Tucson in '98 with the Rockies and D'backs (ARIZONA DAILY STAR,
2/29)...Two efforts were rejected in the MD legislature to charge
Art Modell interest on a 10-year, $24M state loan he's been given
to help fund a new stadium (WASHINGTON TIMES, 2/29)....IL Gov.
Jim Edgar's plan to finance a $465M McDome in Chicago calls for
an airport tax recently outlawed by the Federal Government. A
Cook County judge will hear a suit challenging the tax, which
would provide 11% of McDome funding (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES,
2/29)....Commenting on the Giants' drive for a new stadium, Glenn
Dickey writes that "no teams have tried to privately finance
stadiums because it's risky. Financiers question whether the
Giants can do it, and baseball people question whether the team
will have enough money left to go after quality players" (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 2/29).