Judge Says Raiders’ Suit Is Too Late

The Raiders’ countersuit against the City of Oakland and Alameda County has been dealt a blow by state Superior Court Judge Joe Gray in Sacramento.

The city and county sued the Raiders in 1997, alleging the team tried to block a sponsorship deal to rename Oakland-Alameda County Stadium and also seeking to stop the Raiders’ alleged threats to move back to Los Angeles.

The Raiders counter-sued earlier this year, seeking to break their long-term lease because games weren’t selling out as promised.

Judge Gray said in a tentative ruling that the Raiders should have made their claim in 1995, after it was clear the seats weren’t sold and before the city and county went forward with $80 million in improvements to the stadium.

The judge invited the Raiders to amend their complaint, but Jeff Kessler, a lawyer for the city and county, said he doubts the team will be able to change their complaint to the judge’s satisfaction.

“We think it’s the beginning of the end on this issue,” Kessler said.

Kenneth Hausman, a Raider attorney, said, “We’ll eventually get to trial on merit.”

Basketball

On the day NBA training camps were supposed to open, dozens of players around the country took their case to the public with a simple message: We are not to blame.

“We’re here to show the public that we, as players, want to play,” union president Patrick Ewing said. “We just want everybody to know that the players want the season to start on time.”

Ewing spoke in a parking lot outside the New York Knicks’ practice facility in Purchase, N.Y.--which was indeed locked--as part of a media blitz that was unprecedented for a union that historically has been considered disorganized and weak.

“I haven’t heard much about it, so I don’t know exactly what was said around the country,” Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said of the union’s appeal to the public. “But I agree that they’re not on strike and that cooler heads should prevail--or at least wiser heads. Maybe everybody’s a little too cool.”

The pace of negotiations may pick up after arbitrator John Feerick rules on the union’s contention that some 220 players with guaranteed contracts for this season should be paid during the lockout. The ruling could come during the next two weeks.

Tennis

Fourth-seed Andre Agassi gave 17-year-old Swiss star Roger Federer a lesson, brushing aside the Wimbledon junior champion in the first round of the $1-million Swiss Indoors, 6-3, 6-2, at Basel.

Australian Open champion Petr Korda was the only seeded casualty of the opening day, losing, 6-2, 6-4, to Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.

Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic, complaining he had been unable to sleep and was weary from jet lag, defeated New Zealand’s Brett Steven, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), to advance to the second round of the Shanghai Open in China.

No. 2-seeded Michael Chang also was pushed to a tiebreaker in the second set by unseeded Canadian Sebastien Lareau before winning, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Venus Williams, newly crowned women’s Grand Slam Cup champion, and her sister Serena both advanced to the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Venus beat Silvia Farina of Italy, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and Serena defeated Czech qualifier Kveta Hrdlickova, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-0.

College Sports

Louisville said it will appeal the NCAA finding that the school’s men’s basketball program is a repeat rules violator.

The notice of appeal also said the facts in an NCAA report returned last month did not support a finding of a “major” violation in the basketball program. The notice was not more specific.

Brandon Pardon, a sophomore point guard for Wright State, has quit the basketball team because, he said, he felt pressured to take part in prayer sessions with teammates.

Coach Ed Schilling, however, believes Pardon was upset about team rules in general and was looking for an excuse to leave the team.

Women’s Soccer

A first-round doubleheader in the Women’s World Cup next June 20 will be moved from Portland, Ore., to the Rose Bowl.

The move, subject to final approval from FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, was necessitated by problems with converting the field in Portland’s Civic Stadium from artificial turf to grass.

The Rose Bowl had been scheduled to hold only the third-place match and the final.