Trial and Error Won’t Work for Raiders Either

Now first of all I don’t see any problem with a juror detesting team owner Al Davis and deciding from Day 1 of a trial that the Raiders are evil and no longer own any claim to the Los Angeles market. The guy obviously knew his football.

And besides, what kind of country is this if you can’t hate the Raiders?

In fact I find it ludicrous the Raiders would insist on a fair trial in Los Angeles, given their history of shenanigans and missteps here.

But now we’re being told rooting for the Jets is juror misconduct, and although I agree rooting for the Jets is a big mistake, apparently it’s just as bad to take notes on butcher paper, because Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard C. Hubbell ruled Monday it’s enough to win a new trial for the Raiders.

Now I’ve bumped into Judge Hubbell a couple of times at the Bel-Air Country Club, and although we’ve never played golf together, I worry now that if I took him in a $2 Nassau, six months down the road he’d hit me with a technicality and demand a do-over. I’m sure he’s just interested in justice, and I’m going to remember that when it comes to getting strokes from him if we ever play together.

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SOME PEOPLE are going to jump to the conclusion this thrusts the Raiders back into the Los Angeles market, giving them a say on the future of professional football here once again. It probably means politician Nate Holden will return to making noise, but nothing else has changed: The Raiders will play no role in the return of football to the Los Angeles market.

First of all, there are no plans to bring an NFL team to L.A., so no plans for the Raiders to disrupt or to put on hold. Second, the NFL ignored the Raiders and their ridiculous claims the last time around, and although the judge apparently has his own idea of instant replay, the NFL is aware it still won the first trial.

Now for those who forgot, the NFL awarded an expansion franchise to Los Angeles in 1999, ignoring Davis’ claim he owned the market, and had Michael Ovitz & Co. produced a check in the neighborhood of $700 million, the Los Angeles Stars would have already played three games.

Had Davis won his $1.2-billion conspiracy claim against the NFL in the spring of 2001, he would have been a rich man after all the appeals, but a rich man still sentenced to hard time in Oakland.

A victory in L.A. will not free his team from its lease obligations in Oakland, so any talk about the Raiders returning to L.A. is wishful thinking on the part of hoodlums looking for something to do on Sunday.

The Raiders will tell you no team will move here as long as Davis claims he owns the L.A. market, which won’t be the last blast of hot air we get from Oakland. If a new stadium is made available to the Colts or Chargers, they’ll be here before nightfall.

My only concern now that we’re headed to a new trial is finding 12 jurors in the Los Angeles area who are not Jet fans or fond of posting notes on butcher paper. I don’t think there’s any way to keep Raider haters off the jury, however, if the judge is going to insist on having 12 people sitting in judgment.

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I PLAYED golf Monday with the best referee to officiate an NFL game, in the NFL alumni tournament to benefit the Boy Scouts at Los Coyotes Country Club, and I commended Jim Tunney on the outstanding job he did in his final game.

“I’m sure you played a big part in helping the Buffalo Bills defeat the Raiders, 51-3, in that playoff game” in 1991, I said. “Any chance you might be available for jury duty in the coming months?”

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HOW DO you think Vince Lombardi would have reacted if Terrell Owens or Keyshawn Johnson yelled at him along the sidelines?

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NO ONE really cares about the Angels most of the time, but now that they’re going to be in the playoffs, everyone around here is going to act as if they are really interested.

I look at it as good practice, of course, because when the Grocery Store Bagger marries the daughter, we’re probably going to find ourselves spending time with the Bagger’s parents and faking as if we really like them too.

Two years ago Laker flags appeared on almost every car, and I’m wondering how this sudden fascination with the Angels will manifest itself. The color red will be in, of course, and I’d imagine local schools will declare the first playoff game here “Red Day,” which is a far cry from those days when we were youngsters crawling under our desks in fear of the Reds nuking us.

The bigger the Angels get, the more we’re going to see and hear from Rex Hudler, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, imagine wearing headphones 24 hours a day with Richard Simmons in one ear and Regis & Kelly in the other.

Mike Scioscia, of course, is going to get the hero’s treatment, and it will be nice to see the Dodgers represented in the playoffs.

I also have the feeling the Rally Monkey is about to become a TV star with his own series if the Angels go anywhere in the playoffs. In fact, the Choking Dogs, who will probably be home watching the Angels in the playoffs like the rest of us, might want to take note of the Angels’ success and think about introducing the Rally Mutt at next year’s games.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in an e-mail from James:

“There’s a picture of Salma Hayek on the cover of Parade magazine this week, and a story about her entitled: ‘What Salma wants, Salma gets.’ Is that true?”

Obviously she didn’t want my name linked to her in the story.

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com