De La Hoya Might Seize Chance for a Parting Shot

Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to give me exclusive behind-the-scenes access to his every move beginning Monday with his appearance on the “Tonight Show” to his dressing room Saturday at MGM in Las Vegas before he gets his butt kicked by Ricardo Mayorga.

No one thought he’d agree to such unprecedented freedom, especially since I’ve made it clear I think he’s finished as a boxer, I like having lunch with Bob Arum, cringe at the thought of De La Hoya singing and can’t stand the sport of boxing.

De La Hoya, though, welcomed the opportunity, although later I overheard him telling a number of boxing writers, “I want to teach this guy a lesson really bad. My blood’s boiling inside. I’m human, and a few things that he said, yes, they got under my skin.”

I began to understand why he wanted me to accompany him to Las Vegas. I will be on De La Hoya’s private plane and without a parachute.

De La Hoya will tell you I was mistaken, he was talking about Mayorga, and has the conference call transcript to prove it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to get on that plane and find Kevin Brown serving drinks.

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WE’RE GOING to meet at NBC Studios, the trip beginning on a sour note. Instead of hanging out in the green room with Salma Hayek while Jay Leno and De La Hoya exchange jabs, I get Dr. Phil.

The wife loves Baldy, even went to his show, and now I’m supposed to ask for Baldy’s autograph. He’ll want to know why I’m so hostile, I’ll mention Salma, and I swear if Baldy tells me to “get real,” I’ll have De La Hoya deck him.

Frankly, I always thought the wife had something for Leno the way she eats Doritos, and although you might not recall his “crunch all you want” commercials, I go way back with Leno -- paying to see the movie “Collision Course,” and he’s got some nerve making fun of the Clippers, because they were never that bad.

Then it’s off to Vegas, and although some folks in the De La Hoya camp think he’s going to get fed up and tell me to get lost, I’d like to see him make me.

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SO WHERE is Dwayne Jarrett supposed to come up with $10,000? I have no idea what Mike Ornstein was paying Reggie Bush to work for him as an intern, but there’s a start. I’m sure Pete Carroll has Ornstein’s phone number.

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IN A nice twist, Reggie Bush’s play in New Orleans might play a huge role in determining where the Saints & his parents eventually call home. If the Saints move to L.A., the way things are going, Carroll might be ready to coach them, which of course means Bush would remain on the bench if the Saints go for it on fourth down.

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SELECTED NFL owners will hear from reps for the Coliseum, Anaheim and the Rose Bowl on Tuesday in Dallas, and slap me, but this might be it -- leading to a May 23-24 announcement that the NFL is really returning to the area.

The Rose Bowl has no shot, while the Coliseum is the favorite, and if the NFL agrees to sign a lease in May and begin funding construction, building would begin after the 2007 USC football season with an NFL team opening play in the Coliseum in 2010.

Anaheim, which has imposed a May 31 deadline on a deal that would give the NFL land for a new playpen in the Angel Stadium parking lot, could begin construction in time to open play in 2009, although the city would still have to do some negotiating with Angel owner Arte Moreno. And wouldn’t that be fun to watch.

Anaheim’s best chances of winning NFL favor rest with the Chargers, and the Spanos Goofs who own the team and already have a campaign-funding relationship with Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle.

The Chargers will be free to make a deal to move beginning in January, and the NFL might put off the Coliseum in the short term to lock up the land in Anaheim for the team.

Whichever site is selected, the NFL will not make public any time soon the identity of the team that will occupy the new stadium -- following an earlier script used in Cleveland. Cleveland built a stadium on the promise a team would be provided upon its completion, eventually getting an expansion franchise.

The Saints and Vikings are the two most likely teams to be available to the Coliseum. The way the draft went, too bad Denver isn’t going to be on the move.

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MY KNEE continues to hurt, and although I’m sure the cards and flowers just haven’t gotten past security, one specialist suggested snapping my leg in half, thereby shifting the weight on my knee.

That prompted L.A. Daily News columnist Steve Dilbeck to suggest I call on all athletes in town who might be interested in breaking my leg, and putting together some kind of fundraiser for the benefit of Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA. If you have ever read Dilbeck’s column, you already know he has strange ideas.

I was surprised to learn how creative the competition can be, never noticing it in print before. But Daily News columnist Kevin Modesti also chimed in, suggesting I tell the doctor to go easy on me because I have no intention of doing “anything more strenuous in my life than stealing a base off Dioner Navarro.”

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from John McCarthy:

“I told you, Phil Jackson is worth $10 million a season. Haven’t you figured out yet why they pay him the big potatoes?”

I assumed Jerry Buss did that to provide Jeanie the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.