ITEM ONE:

ROZELLE NAMED A BUSINESS GENIUS OF 20TH CENTURY

PETE ROZELLE, the late NFL Commissioner, has been named one of the most influential business geniuses of the 20th Century by Time magazine in its December 7 "Builders & Titans" issue. "Rozelle hooked us on football as show biz," Time stated, "and gave Sunday (and Monday) a new kind of religious significance. It is now commonplace for a regular-season football game to attract ratings that surpass the playoff games in other sports. And the reason for that is Pete Rozelle." Others on the "Builders & Titans" list include HENRY FORD, THOMAS V. WATSON and BILL GATES. "If the measure of business success is the creation of new enterprise, then Rozelle was one of the greats," Time concluded.

ITEM TWO:

NFL OVERTIME: BOTH TEAMS GET BALL

Thanksgiving Day aside…statistics show that both teams have at least one possession in nearly three of four NFL overtime games. Since overtime was instituted in 1974, both teams have had at least one possession 74 percent of the time. Teams that win the coin toss only win the game 49 percent of the time. The team that loses the toss actually wins 45 percent of the time. Games have ended tied after a full 15-minute overtime period in the remaining six percent.

ITEM THREE:

SUPERSTAR CHER AT SUPER BOWL

Superstar CHER will sing the national anthem before the kickoff of Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. "I’ve thought about doing this all my life," she says. "Football is my favorite game"……Miami-native GLORIA ESTEFAN and Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Famer STEVIE WONDER previously had been announced as performers in the Progressive Insurance halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIII.

ITEM FOUR:

CARDINALS CONTRIBUTE JERSEYS TO NAVAJO H.S. TEAM

Former federal prosecutor MICHAEL BIDWILL, now the Arizona Cardinals’ VP and general counsel, recently received a call from GERALDINE BENALLY, an old colleague and tribal attorney for the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. Benally’s son was one of 14 Navajo boys on the St. Michael’s High School eight-man football team – playing in five-year-old tattered jerseys. "What do the Cardinals do with their old jerseys?" Benally asked. Forget them, Bidwill answered, we’ll get your son’s team new ones. So on November 17, Bidwill flew to Window Rock, Arizona…and soon 14 St. Michael’s players were showing off their new black jerseys – and a football autographed for the team by JAKE PLUMMER, Cardinals quarterback and former Arizona State star.