The Raiders Are Barking Up Wrong Tree, Haynes Warns

Lester Hayes, a former all-pro cornerback with the Raiders, told writer Mark Kram in Men’s Journal magazine that the Raiders are predictable now.

“They have a passing tree of 12 patterns--they use only six,” Hayes said. “You have to beat their defense. Not their offense. You can’t out-slug teams anymore.

“Unless (owner Al) Davis leaves the cave man and his club (the long pass) behind and enters the IBM age, the Raiders face hard times in the ‘90s.”

Add Raiders: Said quarterback Todd Marinovich: “Teams have stopped fearing the Raiders. They will again.’ ”

Trivia time: Who holds the Raider record for most touchdown passes?

Sorry about that: Oregon linebacker David Massey, who broke the cheekbone of Don James when he ran into the Washington coach on the sideline in Eugene, Ore., on Oct. 17, is remorseful about the incident.

“I didn’t do that intentionally,” Massey told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “When I heard about it, I really felt bad about the whole incident, him being an old man without a helmet on.”

James is 59.

Cab marathon: Steve Woodward of USA Today on today’s New York City marathon: “Why do we watch cholesterol-free, skinny people endeavor to run 26.2 miles through New York’s five boroughs? Wouldn’t the greater spectacle be a tourist white-knuckling his way through a 26.2-mile car ride around New York? Now that is sport.”

Moe’s dictionary: More from Philadelphia 76er Coach Doug Moe on his definition of a “stiff:”

“A stiff is a guy without much talent, but who helps you win games. A guy without much talent who doesn’t is a ‘dog.’

“A ‘no-hoper’ is a guy who’s not quite good enough to be a stiff yet.”

Glad that’s settled.

Give me a G . . . : Evergreen State College of Olympia, Wash., has a unique mascot: a geoduck, the largest know burrowing mollusk in the world.

The school’s motto is “Omina extares, “ which, loosely translated from the Latin, means, “Let it all hang out.”

Of course.

Wise up: Television commentator Bob Trumpy, a former tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals, recalls how he celebrated after scoring his first touchdown as a rookie.

When Trumpy came to the sidelines, he expected to be congratulated by Coach Paul Brown. But Brown stared out at the field before saying: “If you ever get in there again, act like you’ve been there before.”

Advice: From Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune: “The intelligence of any manager is magnified in proportion to the failure of the other team’s bullpen.”

Out in the cold: Hockey fans who smoke in Toronto are advised that their habit won’t be tolerated in Maple Leaf Gardens.

It will become a smoke-free building on Jan. 1. Smoking will not be permitted even in the corridors, and fans will not be able to get back in if they go outside to smoke during a game.

Trivia answer: Ken Stabler, with 150 from 1970-79.

Quotebook: Lincoln Kennedy, the University of Washington’s 6-foot-7, 335-pound offensive tackle: “Thank God for my athletic talent, because I don’t have that kill-squash-maim attitude.”