Some Sort of Saga : Stumbling block removed, but Raiders’ future home still in ‘escrow’

When a football team loses, frustrated fans usually blame the quarterback--and they’re usually wrong. In a team sport like football, there is always plenty of blame to go around for a defeat.

When a city loses a football team, frustrated fans usually blame “the politicians,” who did not try hard enough to keep the team happy with a new stadium or whatever. But, just as on the playing field, there is actually lots of blame to spread around. Remember that if Raiders owner Al Davis finally decides to take his team back to Oakland. Anyone who says the politicians chased him out of town is dead wrong.

Just how hard local politicians tried to keep the Raiders happy was never more evident than Wednesday, when the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission voted 5-2 to drop a legitimate lawsuit against the team, which has not been a model tenant in the eight years since it moved here. That should be the final stumbling block on the way to a new rental agreement for the Raiders. If Davis wants a better deal, he’ll have to go to Oakland for it.

But if he does, blame him and not the commission. Because, in the end, the decision on where the Raiders play is a private, not a public, matter. Davis is a businessman running a private company. And his key negotiations are with Spectacor, another private company that manages the Coliseum. Both Spectacor and the commission have patiently negotiated with Davis for months now. They played their key card when the $58-million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Raiders was dropped.

So if Davis takes his ball and plays elsewhere--and it would not be end of the world if he did--frustrated local fans should blame him and no one else. For now, we’re relieved that this long saga (call it “Raiders of the Lost Stadium”) will soon end. The calender and pure economics dictate that Davis must finally decide where his team will play for the foreseeable future. The 1990 season begins Sunday with a game against archrival Denver Broncos, but ticket sales are dismal. Local fans are unwilling to invest emotions, not to mention hard-earned dollars, in a team that may be gone next year--maybe even next week.