Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995                   TAG: 9507170120
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

FORMER RAIDERS GREAT SAYS TEAM BELONGS IN OAKLAND

He played for the club in both cities, spending his entire 13-year career with Al Davis' franchise, and he was on the last AFC team to win the Super Bowl, 11 years ago. The eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end said the Raiders' move ``was very positive. Some people might laugh at this, but I think it's the kind of move that could push the Raiders back into contention. There will be a certain spirit there, a new enthusiasm.''

When Long retired in 1993, he moved his family to Ivy, a Charlottesville suburb, citing the quality of life away from the big city. The Massachusetts native spends part of his summers at another home, in Montana. It was from there that he read and watched about his old team's homecoming.

``In Oakland, Al is taking a little less money than he might have gotten had he stayed in LA in a new stadium. The upside is the Raiders will have more wins at home, and they will sell out. Oakland is a football town. LA isn't. That's why it lost both franchises [the Rams moved to St. Louis].

``Although the team has been competitive, there were only about 30,000-40,000 fans the Raiders could count on in the LA Coliseum. And in a place that size, that many people look like 10,000. It also was in a bad neighborhood. I never took my sons to a game there. We're talking an area that's 11/2 blocks from where Reginald Denny was beaten [during the LA riots].''

Long said the Raiders' first preseason game in Oakland probably will seem like an AFC Championship game, because so many Oakland fans hadn't given up on the Raiders' someday moving back.

``I can promise you this season that a trip to Oakland will be a trip opposing teams will dread,'' Long said. ``In Los Angeles, players loved to play the Raiders. You could hit Beverly Hills, go to the beach and so forth. Oakland will be different. I kind of like the comment [former Pittsburgh receiver] Lynn Swann made once. He said, `We made five trips to Oakland, and I only remember two of them.'

``The Raiders will be tougher there.''

FIRST PITCH: ``Baseball Night in America,'' which is what passes for the Game of the Week on network TV these days, makes its 12-week debut tonight on ABC. The regional game in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market will be Atlanta-San Diego (8 p.m., WSET).

The lame-duck Baseball Network has been dumped by ABC and NBC, which takes its TBN turn starting Aug.25 with six consecutive Friday night games. The concept of regionalizing telecasts in the first two rounds of the playoffs was upsetting enough. Real baseball fans also are screaming about the regular-season regional concept, which baseball and the networks hope will produce higher ratings.

Viewers in this region can see the Braves regularly on TBS or watch Baltimore - which has a Monday night regional against Texas (WSET, 8 p.m.) - on Home Team Sports. It would be nice to be able to see some other clubs, but the TBN concept doesn't allow for that.

One positive for The Baseball Network is the unusual announcer pairings. For instance, tonight's Braves-Padres game will be called by Atlanta's Pete Van Wieren and former NBC Game of the Week voice, Joe Garagiola.

SINKER: The Nielsen rating for ABC's presentation of baseball's All-Star Game was even lower outside the major markets. The national rating was a 13.9, off from a 14.7 in the top 30 markets. The two lowest big-market ratings were in Tampa Bay and Phoenix, which happen to be the homes of the next two expansion franchises.

The 13.9 rating was an 11 percent drop from the 15.7 All-Star rating in 1994. Since 1988, the All-Star Game rating has plummeted 32 percent.

COACHSPEAK: The latest ex-coach to head to the broadcast booth is Dick MacPherson. The former college and NFL head coach is expected to be named the primary analyst on the Big East Football Conference telecast schedule this season.

The former Syracuse and New England Patriots' coach replaces Rick ``Doc'' Walker, who is moving to the ACC's noontime package. MacPherson will work with play-by-play man Mike Breen, one of the New York Knicks' voices and a regular on the nationally syndicated ``Imus in the Morning'' show. The Big East, with Creative Sports of Charlotte taking over production this season, also will have a studio show.

STAGGERING: The potential TV audience for the third Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem will be about one-third of what it has been the first two years. The live Dec.9 telecast of the NCAA Division III championship game is moving from ESPN to ESPN2. That's a result of the new network contract signed by the NCAA last winter, a deal that primarily brought the Division I women's basketball tournament rights to the cable network.

CABLEGRAMS: There will be no live telecast of Wednesday's Carolina League All-Star Game from Lynchburg, but Home Team Sports will air the game on tape delay the following night at 7:30. ... ESPN airs ``Voices of the Game II,'' a sequel to its popular April special on baseball broadcasters, in a 90-minute special at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. ESPN and Orioles baseball voice Jon Miller hosts the show. ... Turner Sports has signed a deal with college football's Senior Bowl for TBS. ... ESPN is expanding its NFL studio work this season. ``NFL GameDay'' on Sundays will begin at 11:45 a.m., up from noon in previous years. ``NFL Prime Monday'' won't wait for the season to begin. The show debuts July24 at 7:30 with half-hour editions, then switching to 90-minute shows in September.