There’s No Place Safe for Raiders (Except Last)

Tim Brown, the Oakland Raider standout wide receiver, was in San Diego Tuesday for a news conference to announce an NFL players party during Super Bowl week.

He got blindsided by Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Famer and former Raider guard, who asked, “Are the Raiders doing a little bottom fishing this year?” in reference to Oakland’s 3-7 record.

A San Diego city councilman piled on, saying he hoped the Raiders would bottom-fish at least one more week, referring to Oakland’s Sunday night game against the Chargers in San Diego.

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Trivia time: What Pacific Coast Conference school was the first to play in a major bowl game other than the Rose Bowl?

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Position vacated: Pedro Gomez in the Arizona Republic: “How would you like to be Dave Nilsson? He’s the primary designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers, who joined the National League last week.”

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Touch of glory: Mickey Herskowitz of the Houston Chronicle recalls that Davey Johnson, who recently resigned as Baltimore Oriole manager, had a unique distinction as a player:

“He was the only man in history to hit behind two home run kings, Henry Aaron and Sadaharu Oh, the Japanese Babe Ruth.”

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Die-hard fans: Bill Maher of “Politically Incorrect,” on the company in Germany making coffins in the colors of soccer teams for fans:

“Which just goes to show you that even in death, some people need to get a life.”

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Uncle Steve: San Francisco 49er linebacker Gary Plummer comparing former coach George Seifert to the present coach, Steve Mariucci:

“George was kind of like your father. You respected and feared him. Steve is like your uncle. You respect him, but you can have fun with him.”

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Reprieve: Phil Mushnick in the New York Post: “Thank goodness the latest charges against Steve Howe were dropped. If he had been sentenced to any more community service, the community would have asked to be imprisoned.”

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Sign language? Peter Gammons in the Boston Globe: “Best line of the World Series came, naturally, from Marlin coach/humorist Rich Donnelly: ‘How do you explain to Livan Hernandez about turning his clock back?’ ”

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Looking back: On this day in 1964, St. Louis Hawk forward Bob Pettit became the first NBA player to score 20,000 points with 29 in a 123-106 loss to the Cincinnati Royals.

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Trivia answer: Oregon, led by quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, lost to Southern Methodist, 21-13, in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1949.

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And finally: Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Frank Bialowas and Aris Brimanis of the Flyers will make an appearance during the ballroom scene of the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata” Friday night.

“We’re a bit out of place,” Bialowas said. “You usually don’t see hockey players, let alone tough guys like me, in this type of setting, but it’s pretty cool.”