NFL: PASADENA SHUNS NFL POLITICAL DEFEAT CLOSES THE DOOR.

Byline: BILLY WITZ Staff Writer

In a fight to keep the city of Pasadena from resuming its dormant discussions with the NFL, activists found an unlikely and unwitting ally -- the league itself.

The overwhelming defeat Tuesday of Measure A, which would have forced Pasadena back to a bargaining table it walked away from 17 months ago, was aided, opponents of the measure said, by the league's on-again, off-again dalliances in Los Angeles.

``There's a strong feeling in Pasadena that the NFL's discussions here were always in the nature of a stalking horse for their discussions in the other communities where it seemed more logical for a NFL team to locate,'' said Pasadena mayor Bill Bogaard, who opposed the initiative, which lost by a nearly 3-to-1 count.

``The events of recent months, where the speculation has grown that the NFL isn't seriously interested in Southern California at this time, had an impact on the thinking of voters in the election.''

Carolyn Naber, president of Pasadena First, which led the opposition, said recent comments from owners that a return to Los Angeles was on the backburner and criticism of the NFL from newspaper columnists ``definitely played in'' to the results.

``I think most people, from the outside looking in, asked: do we want the NFL to control us with their whims?'' Naber said.

Naber and Bogaard said the one-sidedness of the defeat, 72 percent to 28, was proof that it was not just residents near the Rose Bowl who disapproved.

With the NFL now officially out of the picture, city leaders plan to focus their efforts on the Rose Bowl's future.

Pasadena is currently in the midst of making improvements to the locker room and press rooms under its agreement with UCLA, and is developing a master plan for the stadium's future in conjunction with UCLA and the Tournament of Roses, stadium general manager Darryl Dunn said.

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