Los Angeles Athletics

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, on the stand for a full day in the case of the Oakland Raiders vs. the NFL, said Wednesday that the league sought to move a second team into a proposed stadium at Hollywood Park at the same time the Raiders would have been playing there. Asked by Raider attorney Joseph Alioto if any other team has had such a condition imposed on it, Tagliabue said, "No."

In a court case that could prove pivotal in determining the future of the NFL in Los Angeles, the Raider franchise alleged Tuesday it still "owns" the market here for NFL football even though the team returned to Oakland six years ago. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, however, said that simply isn't so.

Perhaps $1 billion, maybe more, and possibly the future of the NFL in Los Angeles are at stake as the Oakland Raiders and the league square off beginning today in what seems sure to be a contentious case in Los Angeles Superior Court. Jury selection begins today for a trial that, according to legal documents, will trace the Raiders' arrival in Los Angeles in 1982 and their abrupt departure in 1995, when they returned to their ancestral homeland in Oakland.

This tournament was originally named the Los Angeles Open. It was the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open from 1971-83. Nissan came on board as a sponsor in 1987, and the tournament became the Nissan Open in 1995.

The talk about Ocean Trails Golf Club was supposed to be about its combination of breathtaking oceanfront scenery and challenging Pete Dye-designed course. Instead, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Course has become known for its 18th hole and the 1999 landslide that destroyed it. But after 18 months of talking about the 18th hole, the focus is shifting back to the rest of the course, which opened for public play Nov. 12 as a 15-hole layout.

I see the day when City Councilman Joel Wachs is dressed in black and gold from head to toe, standing before his brethren in City Hall, proclaiming it "Los Angeles Saints Day." He's telling reporters, "There's nothing like pro sports to bring a city together," the people in New Orleans be damned. And one more thing, Wachs will say, "Anyone got any extra Super Bowl tickets?"

The moment the last triple salchow was landed and the last quadruple loop was looped at this week's U.S. figure skating championships, preparations intensified for next year's competition, to be held at Staples Center and the Sports Arena Jan. 6-13. Although a year seems ample time to get ready, preliminary planning has long been underway for the first U.S. championships in Los Angeles since 1954 and first in Southern California since San Diego hosted the event in 1981.