Three-day minicamp starts for Raiders

Five practices in store for Oakland this week at team’s facility in Alameda

By MARTY JAMES, Executive Sports Editor

The Oakland Raiders will hold a mandatory veteran minicamp this week in preparation for the 2008 National Football League season at the team’s permanent facility in Alameda with five practices.

The first two practices are today, running from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4:40 to 6:30 p.m.

Two more practices follow on Wednesday, going from 10:55 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:40 to 6:30 p.m.

The fifth and final practice of the three-day minicamp is Thursday. It runs from 12:10 to 2:15 p.m.

The Raiders return to Napa for training camp in July and August. Practices are at Redwood Middle School and the team is headquartered at the adjacent Napa Valley Marriott.

• Greenberg, Golic and Ditka

to call Broncos-Raiders

The familiar trio of Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka will call the west coast game for the second consecutive year in ESPN’s season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader — Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders on Sept. 8 at 7:15 p.m. The game will follow the Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers telecast at 4 p.m.

Greenberg and Golic, hosts of ESPN Radio’s popular Mike & Mike in the Morning, teamed with Ditka to call the Arizona Cardinals-San Francisco 49ers game on ESPN during the 2007 NFL kickoff weekend. This year’s Broncos-Raiders game marks the 15th meeting between the longtime AFC West rivals on MNF, the most-played match-up in the history of the NFL primetime series.

ESPN’s main commentator team of Mike Tirico and analysts Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser will make its regular-season debut with the Vikings-Packers game, the night the defending NFC North champions officially retire Brett Favre’s jersey at Lambeau Field.

Ditka, the Pro Football Hall of Fame player and Super Bowl-winning former coach of the Chicago Bears, has been with ESPN since 2004 as an NFL studio analyst. He has appeared on a variety of programs, including Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL PrimeTime, Monday Quarterback on ESPNEWS and The NFL Huddle on ESPN Radio.

• Raider rookies visit Hall of Fame

Fifteen rookies from the Oakland Raiders visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame for a private tour last week. The team’s visit is a new element of the NFL’s rookie orientation initiatives.

Each of the NFL’s 32 clubs will travel to Canton, Ohio to allow rookies the opportunity to learn about the league’s history and heritage, focusing on the achievements of NFL greats who paved the way for the players of today.

Joining the Raiders rookies on their private, behind-the-scenes look at the Hall of Fame were three of the team’s Pro Football Hall of Famers: Willie Brown, Mike Haynes and Ted Hendricks.

• Raiders offer youth

skills camp June 7-8

The eighth annual Oakland Raiders youth skills camp is set for June 7-8 and is open to boys and girls ages 8 to 14. Raider players and coaching staff, along with Bay Area high school and college coaches, instruct participants on fundamental football techniques. All camp instruction and activities will be held at the Raiders facility in Alameda. The two-day camp is designed to encourage boys and girls to participate in and enjoy the game of football.

Campers will have the opportunity to tour the facility, including a visit to the team locker room, and get autographs from many of their favorite Raiders.

Registration forms and additional camp information are available on the Raiders official web site, www.raiders.com, and on the site’s Kids Zone, www.raidersforkids.com.

• Wright one of five Vikings QBs

Kyle Wright, a former Napa resident, is one of five quarterbacks on the Minnesota Vikings roster. The rookie and undrafted free agent from the University of Miami, who at one time attended Vintage High School, finished his final season for the Hurricanes by passing for 1,747 yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 66 yards and three touchdowns.

The Vikings also have Brooks Bollinger, John David Booty, Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson.

Wright threw 38 touchdown passes with 31 interceptions in 33 games at Miami. He played for the Hurricanes from 2004 to 2007.

• 49ers hold organized

team activities

Three weeks of organized team activities began last week for the San Francisco 49ers. The players will practice four times a week, with scheduled sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The 49ers said guard David Baas is out of action until training camp after having surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle; safety Mark Roman is also expected to miss at least the first week after having surgery to clean up his shoulder; defensive tackle Joe Cohen and linebacker Manny Lawson will take part in individual drills only during the OTA’s; and second-round draft pick Chilo Rachal will work, but at a new position. The USC guard is expected to begin the transition to tackle.

• 40,000 tickets for NFL game

in London sold in 90 minutes

The first 40,000 tickets made available for the NFL’s second overseas regular-season game on Oct. 26 at Wembley Stadium in London, England between the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints sold last week in 90 minutes. The tickets were available to fans who were randomly selected from an overwhelming number of registered ticket requests.

Because of the demand for tickets, the NFL has released an additional 5,000 tickets to go on sale immediately. There also has been an increase in the number of tickets that will be offered in the second sale of tickets to fans who registered in February when the game was announced.

Last year’s Wembley game was such a success that the NFL has committed to playing at least one game in the UK for each of the next three seasons, beginning with this year’s matchup of teams who have each come within one game of reaching the Super Bowl in the past two seasons.

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