Old Raiders Were Monsters, Not Vampires

Ben Davidson, a former defensive end with the Oakland Raiders, recalled that some East Bay restaurants would hold Raider nights every Wednesday.

As many as half the players on the team would show up to eat pasta, drink wine and chat with fans.

“The wives hated it, because guys came home stinking from garlic,” Davidson told Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle. “The huddle would stink in practice the next day.”

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Trivia time: Which Division 1-A school has won the most football games in the 1990s?

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Life of Riley: Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald on the hiring of Pat Riley as coach of the Miami Heat: “Riley doesn’t have Magic [Johnson] in Miami, just a lot of guys good at disappearing.

“It’s a tad more difficult to run that ‘Showtime’ offense when the man leading the break is someone named Bimbo [Coles].”

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Smart dummy: Andre Rison, a former wide receiver with Atlanta, now playing for the Cleveland Browns, answered critics who contend it took no particular skill to pile up impressive numbers while playing in the Falcons’ run-and-shoot offense.

“They say the run-and-shoot is for dummies, that anyone can catch a lot of balls with it,” Rison said. “But I played in the run-and-shoot, and I’m no dummy. I can count to 17, like in $17 million.”

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Incentive: Mel Rojas, portly Montreal Expo relief pitcher, shocked his teammates by deftly fielding a bunt.

“I guess someone in our dugout must have yelled, ‘Hamburger,’ ” pitcher Jeff Fassero said, “and Mel dove.”

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The undertaker: John McLaughlin, Notre Dame’s sophomore linebacker, is regarded as the team’s most voluble speaker and violent hitter, said Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star.

“I really enjoy the violence out on the field. I love, it,” said McLaughlin, a prep All-American at Newhall Hart. “It makes my day to hit somebody. My whole objective is to send somebody home in a box.”

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Come again? Kevin Kennedy, Boston Red Sox manager, on picking Seattle for the American League wild-card berth:

“They have a great lineup, Randy Johnson, a great bullpen now with Norm Charlton back and they have a manager [Lou Piniella] who wants to win.”

Does that mean other managers don’t want to win?

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Looking back: On this day in 1928 the Boston Braves started a grueling schedule, playing nine consecutive doubleheaders, a major league record.

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Trivia answer: Florida State, with a record of 55-7-1.

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Quotebook: Piniella on Cal Ripken’s breaking Lou Gehrig’s record: “I wish I could be [in Baltimore] Wednesday [for No. 2,131]. I’d buy one of those $5,000 seats [for charity].”