L.A. City Council member Mark Ridley-Thomas held a
press conference yesterday to declare that the Coliseum deal
was not dead and "it is now time to go forward," according
to Steve Dilbeck of the Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM. Ridley-
Thomas was joined by Coliseum proponent and Eli Broad
partner Ed Roski, who said that there "remained reason for
optimism at the Coliseum." Roski: "Because they're still
talking -- they really are talking. They're talking to me,
they're talking to (Michael) Ovitz, they're talking to Eli
(Broad), they're talking to everybody. ... We're working on
some concepts and ideas." But L.A. County Supervisor Zev
Yaroslavsky said the events of last week may be too much to
overcome for the city's expansion effort: "It's fourth-and-
long now, a long shot at this point. There are a lot of
components to this puzzle. Unfortunately people have backed
themselves into public positions that were unnecessary and
make it harder to resolve differences" (PRESS-TELEGRAM,
8/10). Roski: "Whether they [the NFL] change that
[September 15] date ... or move an existing franchise to
Houston and keep Los Angeles in the mix for the 32nd
franchise or go to Houston with the 32nd, they are going to
have a team playing in Los Angeles." FSN's Keith Olbermann:
"You can take Ed Roski's comments one of two ways: Either a
'we have not yet begun to fight' rallying cry or a definite
step back from L.A.'s previous stance that it, and not
Houston, would get the next expansion team" (FSN, 8/9).
HOUSTON IN THE WINGS: NFL VP/Communications Greg
Aiello, on expansion: "Houston is very attractive, but we
could stay at 31 teams. We could run into snags with
[Houston bid leader Bob] McNair and stay at 31. The clubs
still haven't voted on expanding to 32" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/10).
An editorial in today's HOUSTON CHRONICLE criticizes the
NFL's expansion process, stating that the league is bent on
having a team in L.A. Most "know what the predetermined
outcome is and ... everything else is just part of the show,
the art of the spin. Anyone seriously expecting a fair, up-
front process in the messy business of pro football is
likely just concocting a recipe for frustration. ... Enjoy
the show. NFL football might return here someday. So might
NFL credibility" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/10).
