Ismail

The countdown to the launch of Rocket Ismail was put on hold last weekend, but Coach Art Shell hopes his new receiver/return man will finally make his long-awaited debut Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle. Ismail reported to the Raiders last week after the completion of contract negotiations that had dragged over five months. "He got here last Tuesday," Shell said, "and to just throw him out there, I didn't want to do that. We'll get him prepared for this week and go from there."

Ismail Merchant, the Indian-born producer of some of the most acclaimed film adaptations of literary works, from "Howards End" to "The Remains of the Day," died Wednesday in a London hospital, a day after he underwent surgery for stomach ulcers. He was 68. With longtime collaborators James Ivory as director and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala as screenwriter, Merchant not only adapted great books by Henry James, E.M. Forster and V.S.

The Atlanta Falcons will get the right to pick Notre Dame star Raghib (Rocket) Ismail before the pro football draft begins Sunday, sources close to two NFL clubs said Friday. The teams are the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, who, earlier Friday, worked the trade that took Ismail out of New England. Officials with all three clubs were unavailable for comment.

Raghib (Rocket) Ismail's introduction to the Canadian Football League was met by a chorus of boos. A crowd of 23,254 at Ottawa booed heartily when the public address announcer informed them that the Toronto Argonauts' rookie from Notre Dame was not dressed for the CFL opener because of a leg injury. However, Ismail got a vote of confidence from Argonaut owner Bruce McNall. "His attitude is great," McNall said at halftime.

Get the football into the hands of Raghib Ismail and good things usually follow. From his early playing days in Newark, N.J., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to Notre Dame and then to the Canadian Football League, that was the rule to live by for the team that had the player nicknamed "Rocket." So when Ismail joined the Raiders before the start of last season, after two seasons in the Canadian Football League, it was understandable that fans expected instant results.

The jetliner, trimmed in silver and black, taxied from the runway Wednesday and came to a halt. A formation of 10 limousines drove out to meet it. As the doors of the aircraft opened, the photographers started clicking away. With comedian John Candy serving as a one-man welcoming committee, they emerged: actress Mariel Hemingway, actor Jim Belushi, Wayne Gretzky, Bruce McNall and 25 others, heavyweights from the sports, entertainment and business fields.

The fastest pass receivers in football today aren't all on NFL teams. Two of the fastest--and most gifted--are elsewhere on the continent. In alphabetical order: --Curtis Conway, known to his associates as the Comet, is a USC junior who will face Notre Dame at the Coliseum Saturday as the season winds down for two of the nation's most prominent intersectional rivals. --Raghib Ismail, known as the Rocket, has spent the last two seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts.

Whenever it seems that receiver/return man Rocket Ismail is about to launch his NFL career, the countdown is put on hold. His first flight has been scrubbed more times than the floor of an operating room. When Ismail was streaking down the field for Notre Dame as one of college's football's premier players, there was speculation that he would hit the NFL with a bang worthy of his nickname as the No. 1 pick in the draft.