Raiders’ Appeal Still Rolling Along

Six years after Al Davis’ rowdy team left L.A., its ghostly presence remains--in the form of electronic digital messages that say “GO RAIDERS” on some MTA buses.

My suspicion was that Davis was paying for the service, inasmuch as he still claims territorial rights to L.A. But an MTA spokesman said the greetings, which also salute teams that are actually in L.A., are not sold. In the Raiders’ case, he said, it appears that some of the bus operators knew the old code for punching out the team’s name.

I can think of few scarier things than finding out that I was in a bus driven by a Raider fan.

AS FOR THE OTHER DEFECTOR: Doesn’t sound as though Larry Albach of La Palma celebrated the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl win. No, his feelings about the former L.A. and Anaheim team are summed up in his license plate, DAMRAMS, currently displayed on the knx1070.com Web site’s collection of provocative plates.

Curious as to how other California drivers feel about the Rams, I checked the DMV’s Web site (www.plates.ca.gov) and found H8RAMS and XRAMSFN as well as SCRAMS, which may refer to the nickname given the team by many fans after it announced it was moving.

There were also some supporters (or people too lazy to change their plates)--RAMSFAN, IRAMSFN in addition to this plate, on the car of one of the most forgiving fans in Southern California: SLRAMS.

EVIDENCE THERE’S NO GLOBAL WARNING? It looks as though summer really has come to an end, judging from a thermometer snapped by Paul Cockerill in Studio City (see photo).

Or is that chill coming from the loan department inside?

COLD PROPERTY: On a trip through Arizona, Alison Caley of Ontario found a wannabe real estate development that had, if nothing else, a chipper name (see photo).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Gail Cochlin spotted a strange menu item at a pizzeria (see accompanying). “Family” special, indeed.

NO PICNIC: A digitally enhanced version of Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” (1982) is going to be released, which will bring back no fond memories for former executives of the now-defunct Boys Market chain.

One of the most humorous moments in the movie is when the hungry little extraterrestrial waddles into the kitchen of his earthling hosts, opens the refrigerator and tastes the contents of a bottle labeled Boys Market Potato Salad. He then groans and throws the container against the wall. Boys discontinued that label before the chain was taken over by Ralphs.

HOLLYWOOD BIG SHOTS ARE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER: One of the newest daily Internet journals reported this bombshell:

“In what is believed to be the biggest deal ever made in utero, Hollywood’s youngest screenwriter just sold the rights to his pre-life story. In a pitch meeting that took place at Cedars-Sinai via ultrasound, the scribe, who has yet to be identified as male or female, made quite an impression on the studio.”

The journal: Daily Anxiety, a clever parody of Daily Variety created by Stephanie Phillips and Mark Amato (www.dailyanxiety.com).

miscelLAny:

Jerry Bradley of Santa Barbara notes a recent study showed that the phrase “to go postal” is a bad rap against the post office. He adds: “I’d like to propose a replacement: ‘To firestone.’ Example: ‘When I told him how much his bill was, he totally firestoned and I had to call security.’ ”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.