PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Irked by Fines, Long Still a No-Show

Defensive lineman Howie Long failed to show at training camp in Oxnard on Friday.

“I’m surprised he’s not here,” Coach Art Shell said. “I expected him in.”

Long’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, indicated Thursday that an agreement in principle had been reached on Long’s desire to renegotiate his contract.

The last-minute hangup, according to Shell, hinges on fine money.

Long is being assessed $4,000 a day for staying out of camp. To date, he has been fined $88,000.

*

The Raiders dropped their ban of Daily News reporter Eric Noland.

Noland, in his 12th season covering the team, had been prohibited for three days from entering the Raider practice facility because of what the organization perceived as negative coverage.

The NFL was reportedly ready to levy fines against the Raiders. Also, there was talk of a boycott of the team by other news organizations.

“Originally, we regrettably took this action,” said Steve Ortmayer, the Raiders’ director of football operations, “because we believed Eric Noland was acting irresponsibly toward the organization, its players and its coaches, and has been a source of divisiveness for several years.

“We believe it to be in the best interests of everyone that he comes back, although we do not believe he is deserving of covering this organization.”

Responded Rick Vacek, sports editor of the Daily News: “There are no winners in something like this. We are happy it’s over and we can get Eric back in camp. My role has been to work to get Eric back doing what he does best.

“Eric Noland covers the Raiders for the Daily News. That is not going to change.”

Noland arrived in camp Friday afternoon, anxious to return to covering the news instead of making it.

“It felt really good to go back to work again with everybody,” he said. “It’s important that the NFL reaffirmed, and the Raiders recognized, that you can’t pick someone out and exclude them because of a perceived slant.”