Oakland Ca Athletics

Oakland authorities Wednesday extended a written invitation to the Los Angeles Raiders to play next fall in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum if the earthquake-damaged Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum cannot be repaired in time for the season. Alameda County Supervisor Don Perata said the invitation was not part of an attempt to bring the Raiders back to Oakland on a permanent basis, but was an offer of assistance during a time of crisis.

Oakland Mayor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. and Oakland Raider owner Al Davis met recently in secret and Davis "seems to be interested in moving the team," Stacey Wells, the mayor's spokeswoman said Friday. "The city would very much like to keep the team in Oakland," she said. But "it's tough because of the number and complexity" of various lawsuits, and Davis indicated to the mayor he may simply move on--which the Raiders maintain they have the legal right to do. Joseph M.

It is a normal training camp for the Raiders, if you are willing to overlook that they aren't sure where they will be playing and, if it happens to be Los Angeles, how it will feel entertaining in a stadium devoid of viewers. They also aren't sure who will be performing at quarterback, but in the context of other crises, this is a manageable problem. It happened for eight years during training camp that the Raiders found themselves in litigation, engaged all at once in as many as five cases.

Amid the explosions in entertainment jobs, high-tech business and Silicon Valley real estate prices, California is in the throes of another boom: Pro sports stadiums and arenas. Private and public entities in California will be spending more on professional sports venues than on any other single category of local public infrastructure between now and the new millennium. In the Bay Area alone, roughly $1.1 billion in construction and renovation is on the drawing boards.

If the road to the Super Bowl were based on actual miles traveled, the Raiders would be a lock to represent the AFC next January in Tempe, Ariz. Starting today with their official kickoff of training camp in Oxnard, the Raiders will begin a five-month "season on the road." They will be in Austin, Tex.; Dallas, Oxnard, Oakland, Minneapolis and El Segundo in the next six weeks, all before the regular season.

Oakland officials are expecting Raider owner Al Davis to officially agree today to return his football team to the city it deserted 13 years ago. The board of directors of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum plans to authorize stadium president George Vukasin to prepare the documents at a morning meeting. Davis is expected to add his signature from Los Angeles. "We expect a letter of intent will be faxed up to us," said Oakland City Councilman Dick Spees, "but it's not done until it's done.

This is a tale of two Coliseums, one heading toward a bright future with a new pro football team, face lift and outlook. The other seems headed in the opposite direction, its hopes as bright as the extinguished torch atop its columns, its chances of attracting a team as good as those of its ancient namesake in Rome. What happened?

Upon hearing that the Raiders were returning to Oakland, their fans promptly asked: "How do I get tickets?" Within 18 hours of the announcement that the Raiders had signed a letter of intent to move back, more than 27,000 people had flooded phone lines providing information on how to purchase season tickets. Fans can call a toll-free number to get on the mailing list for season ticket applications or pick up an application at the Coliseum on Thursday.

Assuming Oakland doesn't waver in its bid to recapture the Raiders, and the team returns to its ancestral cradle there, you picture the response in Los Angeles, bereft of pro football. Instantly, the mayor will assure villagers that the blue ribbon panel he appointed to perpetuate the sport in this city will whirl into action. The Coliseum Commission will announce it is naming a search committee. Those composing it will be named Larry, Curly and Moe.

The team that Al built in the town that Al once owned now has an expanded stadium to make Al rich, and if the Raiders ever win again, something might finally go right for Al Davis. Until then, there are TV blackouts, personal seat license sob stories and further damaging evidence of genius on the wane. Billy Joe Hobert? Pat Harlow? Rickey Dudley? The most talented team in the league? The Carolina Panthers, an expansion franchise last year, have won five games since the Raiders last won.

If the road to the Super Bowl were based on actual miles traveled, the Raiders would be a lock to represent the AFC next January in Tempe, Ariz. Starting today with their official kickoff of training camp in Oxnard, the Raiders will begin a five-month "season on the road." They will be in Austin, Tex.; Dallas, Oxnard, Oakland, Minneapolis and El Segundo in the next six weeks, all before the regular season.

Not only is the NFL going to allow the Raiders to leave Los Angeles without a fight, they are probably going to allow them to leave without a fee. In preparation for today's emergency league meeting here, a club source said Commissioner Paul Tagliabue sent a memo to each of the 30 clubs recommending that they approve the Raiders move to Oakland effective immediately. In a late-night meeting Thursday, the league's finance committee decided it would not even recommend a relocation fee.

Oakland and Alameda County on Monday formalized an agreement to issue up to $225 million in bonds as part of the agreement to return the Raiders here. The money will be used for improvements to Oakland Coliseum called for in the tentative deal with Raider owner Al Davis. The joint powers agreement was finalized at a brief meeting between Oakland City Manager Craig Kocian and interim Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi.

After 13 years in Los Angeles, the Raiders are being heartily welcomed back to Oakland. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted, 5-0, Tuesday to approve the deal that would make the Raiders the first U.S. sports team to return to its roots. The Oakland City Council gave its seal of approval Tuesday night, 9-0.

Looking like a middle-aged Elvis Presley and sounding like a capitalist Fidel Castro, Al Davis on Thursday recalled the Raiders' storied history to explain his team's proposed return to Oakland. Combative at times and effusive at others, Davis used a crowded news conference to attack his perceived enemies, cajole his fans and justify his status as the NFL's resident maverick.

Seated before the picture box, you watch dumbfounded. It is the All-Star baseball game. The American League has a runner on second base, two outs. Wade Boggs is at bat. The National League manager, Roger Craig, gives the sign to walk Boggs, picturing the next batsman as easier. That batsman is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball. Name: Jose Canseco. Craig guesses right.

George Vukasin, president of the Oakland Coliseum, told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors at a Tuesday meeting that the deal to move the Raiders back from Los Angeles is a sound one because it returns pro football to the East Bay, creates jobs and does not cost taxpayers. "The cost of the deal is reasonable; the risk is minimal," Vukasin told the supervisors, who are expected to approve it after a July 11 public hearing. "This deal is sound, it is responsible, it will work."

It is tempting to blame the Coliseum Commission, which has seen so many teams leave the Coliseum and the Sports Arena, for the departure of Al Davis and the Raiders. And it would be nice to believe that Davis is dedicated to the exclusion of everything else to the pristine vision of a winning football team, and that that is what has sent him back to Oakland. But in this instance, the commission may not be wholly to blame for what has happened, and it is quite possible that it was the $31.