UNFLATTERING PORTRAIT OF SCHOTT SLOWLY EMERGES.(Sports)

Byline: IRA BERKOW New York Times

She was in a hurry as she strode to the elevator behind the press box, trailed by her small party and the smoke from the cigarette clenched between her teeth. This was in Riverfront Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Reds.

The woman, with her salt-and- pepper hair cut short, was sturdily built and wore a white-and-red sweater and fire-engine red slacks - the colors of her team - and brown loafers.

At the elevator, she turned her back to the steel door and kicked it with repeated thuds. Very shortly, the elevator door slid open.

"Hello, Mrs. Schott," said the elevator operator, looking concerned.

"What took you so long?" she said to him in a kind of raspy voice.

There were times when Marge Schott, owner of the Reds, kicked so hard for the elevator - it was her signal - that the heel of her shoe fell off. Sometimes her kicks destroyed the …