A Will to Wine? Their Release Is Vintage Raiders

Here’s part of a flowery press release from the Oakland Raiders announcing that they’ll train in Napa:

“The Raiders look forward to many more years of glory that begin in the summer sunshine of Napa, California, as Raider Will to Win remains the fire that burns brightest in this team for all decades.”

Comment from Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Imagine how bold (and contorted) their press releases will be after they start tasting that Napa wine.”

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Trivia time: Which school holds the men’s NCAA basketball championship game record for most points?

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Compatible: New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre, a new father, has no problem with nighttime feedings. “I’m 55 years old,” he said. “I get up three times a night to go to the bathroom. The baby is on my schedule.”

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Still going: Age is no handicap in picking the ponies for 105-year-old Gamblin’ Rose Hamburger.

The white-haired ex-railbird, who placed her first win bet in 1909, is a daily fixture touting horses in the New York Post.

At her age, Hamburger doesn’t waste a lot of time on her picks. “Five minutes,” she revealed. “I look at the owner, the jockey, the speed and the number of wins. That’s it.”

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Still motivating: Anthony LaPaglia, the actor who plays the late Jim Valvano in the made-for-TV movie “Never Give Up: the Jimmy V Story” on CBS Tuesday at 9 p.m., said when he was first offered the role he turned it down because he didn’t believe he had enough preparation time.

So what changed his mind?

“The producer did a very smart thing,” LaPaglia said. “He sent me a tape of a Jim Valvano motivational speech, and that motivated me right into accepting the role.”

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Lucky bounce: Veronica Fleury, wife of Calgary Flame forward Theo Fleury, after an errant shot from Flame defenseman Zarley Zalapski hit her in the head at a game:

“Good thing he didn’t get me in the teeth, or I’d look just like Theo.”

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Stupid NCAA tracks: From David Letterman’s “Top 10 signs your basketball team is not going to win the NCAA championship”:

8. Players always show up at away games exhausted from all the hitchhiking.

5. The only thing Dick Vitale can say about them is, “These guys got a good grade-point average, baby!”

1. Starting center, Roger Ebert.

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Go see Sachio: Cal Ripken Jr. begins his 15th major league season Monday with a major league record of 2,153 consecutive games. Ah, but there’s one record left: Sachio Kinugasa, a Japanese player from 1970 to 1987, holds the world record for consecutive pro baseball games at 2,215.

Ripken, in a USA Today interview, doesn’t belittle Kinugasa’s record, saying: “Who am I to say his streak is any less than any already done in the big leagues? I would recognize that as a world record and a huge accomplishment.”

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Trivia answer: Nevada Las Vegas, with 103 against Duke (73) in 1990.