Rough-and-Ready Raider Fans Don’t Exactly Fit Stereotype

Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post came away from Sunday’s Raider game at the Coliseum with this candid look at our city:

“Whatever happened to the California sports fan as a laid-back, tofu burger and bean-sprout eating, Valley-speaking, surfer dude? They ain’t here at Raider games, I promise you. A Sunday afternoon at a Raiders’ game is unlike an afternoon anywhere else in the NFL, NBA, NHL, major league baseball or college anything. The people who think they’re tough in Yankee Stadium wouldn’t even get out of their cars here.”

*

More Wilbon: “That paragliding fool has no idea how lucky he is that he didn’t actually land in the Coliseum during Sunday’s game. The beating he’d have received here would have been 100 times the pounding he took ringside in Las Vegas.

“As Raider veteran Howie Long said afterward, ‘If there’s one stadium in America you don’t want to dive into, this is it.’ ”

*

Trivia time: How many holes in one has Jack Nicklaus recorded in a professional career that began in 1962?

*

Just another day in a parking lot: KCBS-TV reporter Rory Markas fought through traffic recently, trying to get to UC Irvine’s Bren Center, where the Clippers were holding a mini-camp. The camp was closed, but Markas was hoping to interview some players in the parking lot as they were leaving.

He got there in time, but couldn’t find his cameraman, so he called his office.

“Where’s the cameraman?” Markas asked.

“Where are you?” the guy on the desk asked.

“The Bren Center,” Markas said.

“Oh, I sent him to the Burn Center.”

*

Dust this: Brotherly love goes only so far, according to former Dodger Pedro Martinez, who said he will do whatever it takes to win baseball games. Martinez, who was traded to the Montreal Expos in November, said it will be a little odd facing his brother Ramon when the Dodgers play the Expos, but, well, it’s still a game.

“If I have to brush him back, I’ll do it,” Pedro said.

*

It’s all in the name: Martinez says nobody in Canada expects him to take the place of the popular Delino DeShields, who came to the Dodgers in the trade.

“I never hear about Delino,” Martinez said. “All I ever hear about is that people there expect me to be the second Dennis Martinez. That’s all people talk about.”

DeShields knows about those expectations.

“I’m 24 and feel my best baseball is ahead of me,” he said. “But people talk about me like I’ve been here for 10 years.”

*

An honest Joe: Joe Gergen of Newsday took a look back at his prediction that the New York Giants would flounder this season when he reprinted this passage from his column of Dec. 31, 1992:

“The Giants are not going to become contenders again with (Lawrence) Taylor or (Phil) Simms in the lineup. Tonight, New York’s Eve, is the time for ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ for reminiscing about past glories. Tomorrow is the time to begin formulating realistic plans.”

*

Looking back: On this day in 1972, the Lakers lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 108-107, after having won 34 of their previous 35 games.

*

Trivia answer: Sixteen.

*

Quotebook: New York Knick Coach Pat Riley on the Chicago Bulls without Michael Jordan: “Right now, the Bulls are the best team in the Eastern Conference. They’re playing the very best, they’ve got the most experience and they’re probably the most talented team in the Eastern Conference.”