ITEM ONE:

PRESEASON TV RATINGS UP

Some of the most impressive numbers from the recent preseason were the final TV ratings. NFL preseason television ratings on the three broadcast networks jumped 14 percent over last year and were the highest since 1995. All three of the NFL’s broadcast networks – ABC, FOX and CBS – showed impressive ratings increases over 1997. The biggest jump came in the CBS telecasts. CBS last broadcast NFL games in 1993. Its ratings this preseason increased 24 percent over the NBC ratings of a year ago – from a 4.9 to a 6.1. FOX enjoyed an 18 percent increase, from a 5.1 average to a 6.0 mark. ABC boosted its ratings by seven percent, from 6.7 to 7.2. A number of local preseason ratings topped the 20.0 mark, with one game – a rematch of Super Bowl XXXII between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers -- pulling Super Bowl-size ratings locally. WISN-TV in Milwaukee posted a 42.4 rating for the game and KMGH-TV in Denver received a 38.7.

ITEM TWO:

GOLFERS ACROSS AMERICA…AND BROADWAY…READY FOR NFL FOOTBALL

On the links, and in the footlights, the opening weeks of the 1998 NFL season will have an impact…Golfers, according to a survey conducted by the Peter Harris Research Group and published in Sports Illustrated, list "Watching Football on TV" as their favorite leisure activity. Sixty-three percent of American golfers chose football in the category, ahead of such pastimes as action-adventure films, listening to rock-and-roll, eating at steak houses – and even watching golf on TV…Meanwhile, on Broadway, the lights coming on for ABC’s Monday Night Football signal a dimming of the lights for what is billed as "The World’s Most Popular Musical" – "Les Miserables." With the advent of the NFL season, the producers of the show have cancelled their Monday night performances and replaced them with Sunday matinees. So now "Jean" can watch "John" – or in other words, JEAN VAL JEAN, the main character in "Les Mis," can watch the drama JOHN ELWAY brings to the NFL stage.

ITEM THREE:

UNNAMED CARDINAL HELPS PARALYZED TEEN

Fans will have to go down the Arizona Cardinals roster and guess who he is. But 17-year old B.J. CARLSON of Flagstaff, Arizona knows. Carlson became a paraplegic in August 1996 when the bus in which he was riding to the first day of school rolled over, injuring all 32 students and paralyzing him. From that day on, he has needed a wheelchair to get around. But now, thanks to a Cardinals player who wishes to remain anonymous, B.J. can roam the pine forests of Flagstaff in a three-wheel, hand-controlled mountain bike the player purchased for him. "I have an exercise machine in my house," he says, "but it’s inside, and I don’t get to see things. This gives me a chance to be outside and see the trees, the countryside, and enjoy it. It means a lot to me." Carlson is a senior this fall and plans to attend college and become an engineer. The mysterious Cardinal? "I do deeds like this from my heart and not for publicity," he says. "If I gain publicity from it, it takes away from the sincerity of the act."