COURTSHIP COOLS DOWN NFL TREADS WATER ON L.A., WHERE COLISEUM COULD BECOME ONLY OPTION.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

As the Lakers took a break from putting the finishing touches on the San Antonio Spurs last week, all eyes at Staples Center were riveted on the big screens above mid-court for the ``Kiss Me'' routine, where cameras, backed by a pop ditty, hone in on unsuspecting couples who are then obliged to pucker up for the masses.

This led to hoots and hollers when one lout dove over the armrest to perform what appeared to be a hands-free tonsillectomy on his date. Next there were boos when a soccer dad refused to plant one on the babe next to him, mouthing ``She's my daughter.'' (This is what happens in L.A., where your wife is supposed to pass for your daughter - and vice versa.)

The rapt crowd saved its loudest cheers for Tom Hanks, who enthusiastically kissed his wife, Rita Wilson.

Then, a few couples later, the cameras caught Norv Turner ... the new coach of the Raiders ... the most popular NFL team in Los Angeles - a fact CBS continues to remind us of every Sunday each fall.

And the crowd went ... to sleep.

There was no cheering, no booing, no guttural growls of ``Ray-dahs'' and no discernible distinction between a two-time NFL coach and former USC assistant and, say, a middle-aged bond trader from Encino. Those who remember the Rams and Raiders playing here insist it wasn't always this way.

``I get the sense that the NFL has turned off a generation of NFL fans in L.A.,'' said Pat Haden, the former Rams and USC quarterback who most probably recognize now as an Arena Football League broadcaster. ``People aren't that revved up about having a team and that's really unfortunate. There were some great NFL fans here. I know - hundreds of thousands of them used to boo me each week.''

The NFL is about to embark on its 10th season without a pro football team in Los Angeles and if it means sports fans here have lost touch with the league that bills itself as America's favorite sport, that hasn't stopped the NFL and respective municipal governments from doing their dance.

When NFL owners meet Tuesday and Wednesday on Amelia Island, Fla., near Jacksonville, they will receive their first substantive update in a year on Los Angeles' three current candidates for a state-of-the-art stadium - the Coliseum, Rose Bowl and a site in Carson.

The sense of urgency that existed a year ago on the part of owners to put a team in the nation's second-largest media market, brought on by impending TV contract negotiations, has dissipated. And so has Los Angeles' role as a chip - for now - in negotiations for new stadiums in San Diego and Minneapolis, which have broken impasses in recent months.

Indeed, the NFL and L.A. have done fine without each other. Nothing striking is expected to come from the report, which was tabled at the previous meeting in March so the owners didn't have to keep their limousines idling any longer.

An NFL official familiar with the stadium proposals said earlier this month that the league was unlikely to reach a decision on a site until next year. If that's the case, the NFL might be left with one choice - the Coliseum.

Officials in Carson and Pasadena acknowledge that by the end of the summer they might no longer be in contention. Carson could pursue a retail complex, while the Rose Bowl might not be able to settle on a design that would suit the NFL and preservationists.

The Coliseum, on the other hand, has gathered considerable momentum of late. It completed its environmental impact report late last year, has been steadily gathering supporters and earlier this month received a term-sheet proposal from the NFL.

``Over the years there's been things like this that have been sent to the NFL,'' Coliseum general manager Pat Lynch said. ``But I'm not aware of anything that's come the other way.''

The Coliseum might still have some work to do in convincing owners that it won't lose a third team. But it has generated enough buzz that Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz set up a meeting recently with Coliseum officials to see if they might be interested in his help brokering a deal with the league. A year ago, Ovitz helped draw Carson into consideration for the second time and, last month, he ducked into the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., for a quick visit with league brass.

While the owners meet in Florida this week, top Carson officials will join developer Steve Hopkins - whose real estate group is in escrow on the 157-acre site the NFL is considering - at the International Conference on Shopping Centers in Las Vegas.

Hopkins will be looking to line up tenants and investors for a mixed-use retail development on the former toxic dump site. Though he has pledged to work with the NFL if the city wants a stadium, Hopkins prefers a mall.

``Everything we're hearing is they're pretty far down the road with the Coliseum, which is fine,'' Hopkins said.

The league's architect, RTKL, has developed two prototypes in Carson - one strictly for a stadium, parking and practice facility; another that would also include entertainment, retail and restaurant development for year-round use. The NFL notified Hopkins in April that it wanted to establish parameters for a possible development deal in Carson. If, as expected, Hopkins and Lennar are ready to submit an application for an environmental impact report for a retail project in the coming weeks, then Carson officials might want a commitment from the league.

``I could see something shaking out within the next 30 days,'' Carson economic development director Ron Winkler said. ``If (the NFL) came forward and said we want to deal exclusively with Carson, we'd move accordingly, but if they don't even want to make the decision for another year and there's strong alternate users that say, `Yeah, we want to be at that location,' that's a fundamental question on our part. The city may not want to wait and lose both opportunities.''

Meanwhile in Pasadena, the Rose Bowl is in the same holding pattern in which it's been for more than three months - waiting on redesigned plans that would satisfy the NFL, which wants larger suites and more usable space, and preservationists, who don't want any drastic changes. The plans are not expected to be complete until the end of the summer.

Privately, some Rose Bowl officials acknowledge the possibility that they won't be able to please both parties, which could force them to abandon their pursuit. One sign of frustration surfaced at last week's city council meeting when Councilman Chris Holden chastised Ken Bernstein of the Los Angeles Conservancy - there to advocate the preservation of Pasadena's Raymond Theater - for his support of the Coliseum's dramatic renovation proposal.

``They signed off on the Coliseum project that didn't quite meet their standards and they're not going to make a big deal out of that, but they're going to make a big deal out of a theater that hasn't been occupied in 25 years?'' Holden said. ``I found some irony in that.''

Yet, Rose Bowl proponents say their enthusiasm - and political will - hasn't waned.

Consultant John Moag, the point man whose all-or-nothing $5 million contract expires in August, is close to agreeing to an extension that will give him some compensation regardless of whether the Rose Bowl lands a team. Also, the city is softening its stance on refusing to cover costs of landing a deal, such as paying Moag or laying out for other expenses.

``We can probably relax on that because at the end of the day it's the cost of doing business,'' Holden said.

If the Rose Bowl's design plans are acceptable, work could begin on an environmental impact report - a minimum nine-month endeavor that it had hoped to begin last November. One Rose Bowl official said getting an EIR approved will be like running a political campaign, requiring fund raising to help finance it.

Moag maintains that the Rose Bowl, while still with plenty of design and environmental issues ahead, has settled many of the big-picture terms of a possible agreement with the NFL.

The Coliseum, with the term-sheet proposal in hand, is in the midst of procuring outside help. Last week it hired outside counsel, Henry Finkelstein, and is expected this week to bring in a financial consultant who will assist Lynch and the ad-hoc committee of commissioners Don Knabe, Mike Roos and Robert McNeil in preparing a response to the NFL's term proposal by mid-June.

What's in the proposal has been a well-kept secret. Lynch has been so guarded with the 17-page proposal that he hasn't allowed commissioners to leave his office with a copy of it for fear it wil be leaked. While Pasadena made its lease terms public when they were sent to the NFL last May, the Coliseum has little intention of doing the same.

Coliseum officials say they are not far enough along in the process to bring in a developer and that such a call could belong to the NFL.

After a busy winter, there has been less interaction with the NFL the past few months, say those at the three sites in Los Angeles. And with Dallas, Buffalo, Minnesota, San Diego, Indianapolis and the New York Jets all actively seeking new stadium deals - and the 49ers hoping to join them - the league's resources and attention span won't likely be focused here.

``It's the equivalent of two sumo wrestlers circling each other and throwing (powder) in the air,'' said Winkler of the situation in Carson, though he might as well be speaking for the other sites as well. ``Then suddenly they rush each other and come to grips.''

When, or if, they embrace won't be known for a while. In the meantime, those trying to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles find themselves much like those fans at Staples Center: watching, waiting, to see if a deal is sealed with a kiss.

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

A photograph of a renderin of a proposed football stadium in Carson.

Box:

TEN AND NOW