LEAGUE NOTES

          FOOTBALL: USA TODAY's Gordon Forbes examines the NFL's
     establishment of the Browns expansion franchise and writes
     that the "stocking of departments, unprecedented in NHL
     history, has irked some ownership groups" (USA TODAY, 5/8).
     ...USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes that if NBC and Turner
     Broadcasting move forward on a new football league, it would
     "likely" include 10, 12 or "even more franchises, mostly in
     major markets," and begin in mid-August (USA TODAY, 5/8).
          OTHER NOTES: The CA Speedway announced that attendance
     at last weekend's CA 500 drew a record sellout crowd of
     115,000, topping the record of 95,000 set last year (Penske
     Motorsports)....Nine members of the former Colorado Silver
     Bullets baseball team have signed contracts to play with the
     Ladies Professional Baseball League (USA TODAY, 5/8)