Attorneys for the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
argued Friday that "even if the Raiders prove they were
fooled into signing a disastrous lease" to play at the
facility, "their legal claim to break out of it can go
nowhere," according to Rick DelVecchio of the S.F.
CHRONICLE. The stadium's lawyers filed a court action "to
kill the team's case," and said in a motion in Sacramento
County Superior Court that the team has "not satisfied legal
standards needed to make their claim stand up in court, even
if it had substance." The Raiders claimed last month that
they were "wrongly told that all seats" in Oakland had been
sold before the '95 season, and that the "fraud or ...
mistake" could entitle them to opt-out of their current
lease agreement (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/22).
NFL AND DAVIS, OLD FRIENDS: In L.A., T.J. Simers
reported that Raiders Owner Al Davis is "still telling
friends he's coming" to L.A., still "expecting help" from
Clippers Owner Donald Sterling, and "recently went to NFL
officials asking the league to buy out the 12 remaining
years on his lease in Oakland to clear his move back." NFL
attorney Frank Rothman: "He did ask for it, yes, he did ask
for it. And he got quite a reception from the appropriate
people." More Rothman: "I'd say there's a chance the
Raiders could come back to L.A. About the same chance of me
getting pregnant. ... Ask yourself, why is Davis doing
poorly up there? I have a strong feeling they hate him as
much up there as we hate him down here. He's not a very
lovable guy." Rothman, when asked what would happen if
Davis wins his legal action against Oakland, which would
free him from his lease: "[H]e's got to file an application
just like anybody else and then the owners will vote on it.
But, God willing, by that time, I hope there's a team in
L.A." But Raiders attorney Joseph Alioto said, "There's no
way the NFL can do anything in Los Angeles without making
peace with Al. The NFL has never beaten the Raiders, and
never will." Simers wrote that the Raiders/NFL legal
dispute will go to trial around the first of the year in an
effort to determine who owns the L.A. market and "whether
the NFL forced Davis to leave town" (L.A. TIMES, 8/23).
