Just Winning Not Enough Now, Baby

The Oakland Raiders returned to their roots last Saturday with a 27-22 victory over the St. Louis Rams, but did it satisfy the Bay Area writers? Apparently not. Victor Chi, in the San Jose Mercury News, started his game story:

“Strip away all the emotional hoo-ha and the nostalgic hype, and the most notable football development to emerge from the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday was that the Raiders’ special teams stunk.”

Welcome home, Al Davis.

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Add Oakland: Seen at the Oakland Coliseum, T-shirts bearing the message, “Level the buildings, burn the crops, strip the corpses and poison the water. Just Win Baby.”

And, “L. A. was a riot, but there’s no place like Oakland.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only pitcher to have been rookie of the year, a Cy Young winner and most valuable player?

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Bucking the odds: Allan Lans, Darryl Strawberry’s drug and alcohol therapist when he was with the Mets, told Newsday that he considers Bill Goodstein, an old associate of Strawberry, a poor choice for an agent, now that Strawberry’s back in New York with the Yankees.

“Darryl has the uncanny talent to bet on the wrong horse every time,” Lans said.

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Banker’s move: Raymond Floyd was a late scratch in the PGA Championship last week at Riviera, claiming he didn’t feel his game was up to it. However, he didn’t rest. Instead, he won a Senior PGA event at Coon Rapids, Minn., where he earned $165,000. To make that much at Riviera, he would have had to finish third.

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Bad scenario: When the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Miami Dolphins in an exhibition game, it didn’t sit well with Dolphin quarterback Bernie Kosar.

“Even if it’s a preseason game, when you lose to an expansion team, there’s a big part of you that feels horrible,” he said.

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Who’s surprised? Shannon Sharpe, Denver Bronco tight end, takes issue with those who say the Broncos may surprise some teams this year.

“As long as you’ve got John Elway, you’re not going to do a lot of surprising,” he said.

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Wrong sport? The Milwaukee Brewers recently held their 12th annual wives’ auction of sports memorabilia and what do you think brought the most money?

A jersey autographed by Green Bay Packer defensive end Reggie White. It went for $850, $350 more than a jersey signed by former Brewer Robin Yount.

Wonder what Bud Selig and Donald Fehr think about that.

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Aw, shucks: Herbie Husker, the big-faced Cornhusker with the oversized, red cowboy hat, has been dropped from the University of Nebraska’s football program after 21 years as the team’s official mascot.

“We’ve found that Cornhuskers and Herbie just don’t sell outside of Nebraska,” Athletic Director Bill Byrne said.

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Gridiron goof: USC alum Ed Gilbert was appalled when he attended the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame ceremony last week and read the program. Among the past recipients named was “Howard Jones, Stanford.”

Jones, of course, was coach of USC’s Thundering Herd in five Rose Bowl victories.

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Good ol’ boys: Jerry Glanville, the old NFL coach, is racing SuperTrucks these days and he has an idea for spicing up NASCAR’s hottest new series.

“I’ve always thought we should race with a German shepherd [dog] in the back, and see how long he stays in there,” Glanville said. “You have to finish with the dog to win.”

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Trivia answer: Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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Quotebook: Hard-throwing Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners, on his greatest fear: “Hitting Cal Ripken Jr. with a pitch and ending the streak.”