BAY AREA COUNTIES TRY TO GET HANDLE ON SLIPPERY PSL PLAN

     Oakland and Alameda County officials are "scrambling for
control" over the marketing of Raiders tickets in wake of a plan
to allow fans to purchase season tickets without a PSL.  In San
Jose, Renee Koury reports Raiders and county officials met this
week on a deal to limit the waiver of PSL fees, which are crucial
to financing $200M in bonds that otherwise would be covered by
taxpayer dollars.  Following the Oakland Football Marketing
Assoc.'s controversial vote, the Joint Powers Authority, which
funds the OFMA, "decided to assert more control" (SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS, 7/17).
     SILVER & BLACK EYE:  In Sacramento, columnist R.E. Graswich
reviews the Raiders' PSL troubles, calling the program a "tangled
web of contradictions, false starts and hairpin turns."
Graswich:  "Fresh from their campaign that can charitably be
described as disastrous, the Raiders have jammed their pickup
truck into reverse, crashed through the garage door, stepped into
the paint bucket and shot themselves in the foot" (SACRAMENTO
BEE, 7/17).