Oakland Alameda County Coliseum

As radio stations replayed historic moments in Raiders history and fans jockeyed for tickets, the Oakland Coliseum called a special meeting for today that could lead to a return of the silver and black. Raiders attorney Amy Trask flew to Oakland yesterday amid reports she was trying to complete legal details of a possible move that would leave Los Angeles, the nation's second largest television market, without an NFL team. Callers to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum yesterday were directed to a recording: "We have no information at this time on the status of the Raiders returning to the Coliseum, or on tickets to their games if they do so. " San Francisco Bay area radio stations were flooded with calls from euphoric Raiders fans and indignant San Francisco 49ers supporters.

Al Davis and his Oakland Raiders were awarded $34.2 million yesterday by a Sacramento jury that found Oakland coliseum officials failed to deliver on promises of sold-out stadiums in luring the team back from Los Angeles. The verdict in the lawsuit was far less than the $570 million to $833 million the Raiders sought to compensate for weak ticket sales and the declining value of the franchise. Jurors said they calculated the award based on the team's losses on ticket sales, interest on that money and local TV rights.

Buddy Ryan dipped into his bottomless supply of ever-ready cheap shots yesterday to explain why the Arizona Cardinals are a non-player in the Deion Sanders sweepstakes. "I've never been a Deion fan," Ryan said. "I like a guy who can tackle. " Ryan named four cornerbacks he would rather have - the Cardinals' Aeneas Williams, New Orleans' Eric Allen, Houston's Cris Dishman and Pittsburgh's Rod Woodson. Ryan has coached all but Woodson. "I'd take any two of them," Ryan said.

They are the Oakland Raiders again, but they still work out of a converted junior high school near the Los Angeles International Airport. They charter a jet to play a home game. It is a strain on the players, traveling for 20 consecutive weekends, counting preseason. But to a man, they say it is worth it to be back in Oakland, where the Raiders mystique was born. "It's a great feeling, pulling into the stadium and seeing all the fans run toward the bus, cheering," wide receiver Daryl Hobbs said.

Dallas Cowboys defensive back Keith Davis suffered gunshot wounds at a Dallas topless club, authorities said yesterday. Davis, 24, was shot early Sunday in the right hip and left hand about 2:20 a.m. outside the Dallas Gentlemen's Club. He was treated at a hospital and released yesterday. Davis' status for training camp, which opens in late July, is unknown. The second-year player spent most of the 2002 season on the Cowboys' practice squad. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis testified in Sacramento, Calif.

Whatever you can do, John Elway can do better. Oakland quarterback Jeff Hostetler threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to put his team ahead, 21-16, with 5 minutes, 1 second left in the game. So what? Denver's Elway threw a 49-yard touchdown pass with 4:14 left, just minutes after he had been limping and grimacing and tugging at his left hamstring, his uniform covered in blood stains and grass stains because he'd been smashed into the earth. The 49-yarder, to Rod Smith, finally was the winner.

After a 13-year road trip, Al Davis says the Raiders are coming home. The maverick owner said it all with his signature on a letter of intent committing the Raiders to leave Los Angeles and return this season to Oakland, the city he abandoned in 1982. In return, the board governing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has agreed to an $85 million stadium modernization and a $31.9 million loan to the team to help it complete the relocation in time to play in Oakland this season.

Al Davis might be taking his mangy pompadour, his white Elvis jumpsuit, and his pro football team back to Oakland. Then again, he might not. Word spread quickly yesterday that Davis was ready to announce he will move the Raiders out of Los Angeles - the very city that Davis had successfully sued the NFL to move to in 1982. The Associated Press and two San Francisco-area radio stations reported that Davis was set to announce that he had struck a sweetheart of a deal with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to play there in 1995, and possibly beyond.

The scheduled starting pitchers for Game 3 of the World Series, to be played tomorrow night at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, are Tom Browning for the Reds and Mike Moore for the Athletics. Browning led the Reds in victories with a 15-9 record, the third successive year he has won at least 15 games, despite being hampered by a severely sprained ankle late in the season and the fact that he was much more effective on the road than at Riverfront Stadium. In the National League Championship Series, however, that pattern was reversed.

Kevin Ward hears the names on the Oakland Athletics' lineup card - Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson and Jose Canseco - and realizes he's facing long odds. That's a tough outfield to crack. Especially considering that Ward, a former Chalfont resident, is playing right field in Tacoma, Wash., and not in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. "The A's always build from within instead of going outside for players, and I'm counting on that," said Ward, an outfielder for Oakland's triple-A Tacoma Tigers in the Pacific Coast League.

At Southern Cal, Winston Justice said it was easy to underestimate the forthcoming opponent and admitted it happened quite often even though Trojans coach Pete Carroll would warn against it. "In college it's different, though," Justice said. "At USC, we really did underestimate some teams because we were blowing people out. " Justice said there were a few times USC invited trouble with that attitude, then added it would be unwise to have that same approach at the highest level of the game.

Al Davis and his Oakland Raiders were awarded $34.2 million yesterday by a Sacramento jury that found Oakland coliseum officials failed to deliver on promises of sold-out stadiums in luring the team back from Los Angeles. The verdict in the lawsuit was far less than the $570 million to $833 million the Raiders sought to compensate for weak ticket sales and the declining value of the franchise. Jurors said they calculated the award based on the team's losses on ticket sales, interest on that money and local TV rights.

Dallas Cowboys defensive back Keith Davis suffered gunshot wounds at a Dallas topless club, authorities said yesterday. Davis, 24, was shot early Sunday in the right hip and left hand about 2:20 a.m. outside the Dallas Gentlemen's Club. He was treated at a hospital and released yesterday. Davis' status for training camp, which opens in late July, is unknown. The second-year player spent most of the 2002 season on the Cowboys' practice squad. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis testified in Sacramento, Calif.

Whatever you can do, John Elway can do better. Oakland quarterback Jeff Hostetler threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to put his team ahead, 21-16, with 5 minutes, 1 second left in the game. So what? Denver's Elway threw a 49-yard touchdown pass with 4:14 left, just minutes after he had been limping and grimacing and tugging at his left hamstring, his uniform covered in blood stains and grass stains because he'd been smashed into the earth. The 49-yarder, to Rod Smith, finally was the winner.

They are the Oakland Raiders again, but they still work out of a converted junior high school near the Los Angeles International Airport. They charter a jet to play a home game. It is a strain on the players, traveling for 20 consecutive weekends, counting preseason. But to a man, they say it is worth it to be back in Oakland, where the Raiders mystique was born. "It's a great feeling, pulling into the stadium and seeing all the fans run toward the bus, cheering," wide receiver Daryl Hobbs said.

Buddy Ryan dipped into his bottomless supply of ever-ready cheap shots yesterday to explain why the Arizona Cardinals are a non-player in the Deion Sanders sweepstakes. "I've never been a Deion fan," Ryan said. "I like a guy who can tackle. " Ryan named four cornerbacks he would rather have - the Cardinals' Aeneas Williams, New Orleans' Eric Allen, Houston's Cris Dishman and Pittsburgh's Rod Woodson. Ryan has coached all but Woodson. "I'd take any two of them," Ryan said.

After a 13-year road trip, Al Davis says the Raiders are coming home. The maverick owner said it all with his signature on a letter of intent committing the Raiders to leave Los Angeles and return this season to Oakland, the city he abandoned in 1982. In return, the board governing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has agreed to an $85 million stadium modernization and a $31.9 million loan to the team to help it complete the relocation in time to play in Oakland this season.

Al Davis' favorite pro football team faxed out a statement yesterday. On the letterhead, the words Los Angeles were nowhere to be found. "The Raider organization has chosen to relocate to Oakland," the statement said. Davis, a renegade even as he approaches his 66th birthday, had made it official earlier in the day by signing a letter of intent to move the team back to Oakland, Calif., the franchise's home for its first 22 years. Pending rubber-stamp approval by Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the Raiders will abandon the Los Angeles metropolitan area, where they played to indifference and half-empty stadiums since 1982.

As radio stations replayed historic moments in Raiders history and fans jockeyed for tickets, the Oakland Coliseum called a special meeting for today that could lead to a return of the silver and black. Raiders attorney Amy Trask flew to Oakland yesterday amid reports she was trying to complete legal details of a possible move that would leave Los Angeles, the nation's second largest television market, without an NFL team. Callers to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum yesterday were directed to a recording: "We have no information at this time on the status of the Raiders returning to the Coliseum, or on tickets to their games if they do so. " San Francisco Bay area radio stations were flooded with calls from euphoric Raiders fans and indignant San Francisco 49ers supporters.

Al Davis might be taking his mangy pompadour, his white Elvis jumpsuit, and his pro football team back to Oakland. Then again, he might not. Word spread quickly yesterday that Davis was ready to announce he will move the Raiders out of Los Angeles - the very city that Davis had successfully sued the NFL to move to in 1982. The Associated Press and two San Francisco-area radio stations reported that Davis was set to announce that he had struck a sweetheart of a deal with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to play there in 1995, and possibly beyond.