WILL IT BE A GOOD FIT FOR MARINOVICH?

Byline: Kevin Modesti

The Los Angeles Avengers' practice pants didn't arrive in time for the first morning of training-camp drills Monday - such is life for an Arena Football League expansion franchise - so the team arranged to borrow gear from USC.

Which explains why one Avenger spotted a familiar name inscribed in faded ink on the waistband of the pre-owned white britches he received from equipment manager Richard Rubio.

``They still had MARINOVICH written on them, with about five other names, crossed out,'' Todd Marinovich said. ``And they still fit.''

Marinovich told that story Tuesday for the benefit of anybody wondering if the decade since college has damaged his physique as much as his reputation.

A lanky 205 pounds, he can squeeze into the same pants in which he practiced to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1990 and win a classic shootout against UCLA later that year.

Whether he'll slip back into big-time professional football as easily, using the Arena League as an audition stage the way Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner did, is a bigger question.

Seven years have passed since Marinovich's NFL career ended with the Los Angeles Raiders releasing him after two seasons best remembered for the day he skipped practice to go surfing (naked).

In the meantime, he served three months in jail on felony marijuana misdemeanor drug convictions; he tried without success to pass tryouts with NFL teams from Seattle to New Orleans; and he tried the Canadian Football League twice, backing up Marcus Allen's brother Damon with the British Columbia Lions last year.

When the 1999 season ended, the California native decided to call it a CFL career and come home. After Arena League owners settled a contract dispute with players earlier this month, permitting roster moves to resume, Marinovich's agent contacted the new L.A. team.

How convenient, since the new L.A. team had been thinking about Marinovich for months. A contract was signed last week.

``He's a great name in L.A.,'' Avengers owner Casey Wasserman said at the team's West Los Angeles College training camp. ``Todd's clearly a talented football player and we think he can help this team. Does he have some history? Yeah. But he's 30 years old now and he probably has some perspective he didn't have before.''

Also, Wasserman noted, the 14-year-old Arena League has ``the strictest drug policy in all of sports,'' featuring random surprise tests, one-year suspensions for first-time offenders and lifetime bans for repeaters.

``If you're looking for a place to screw around, this is not the league to do it in,'' Wasserman said. ``This is a chance for him to go one of two ways. This could be a great place to rebuilt his name and relaunch his career. Or, who knows, this could kind of be the end.''

Wasserman himself is only 25, the grandson of former MCA/Universal boss Lew Wasserman.

Being five years older than the owner might be the least of Marinovich's obstacles as he prepares for the 14-game Avengers schedule that begins April 15 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

There's the fact arena football, played with eight-man sides on a 50-yard artificial turf field and emphasizing quick-release passing, bears only a little more resemblance to the football Marinovich is used to than miniature golf to the Masters.

There's the arena game's image as a novelty sport, perhaps insufficient to hold the interest of a man like Marinovich, whose passions run to painting, wood sculpture and rock 'n' roll.

And there's the sobering news that, at least at first, Marinovich will be the Avengers' backup quarterback, watching and learning from Arena League veteran Scott Semptimphelter.

``The biggest thing is going to be, will he get bored?'' said head coach Stan Brock, the former NFL lineman. ``He already knows he's very good at the other (outdoor) game. Will he able to challenge himself to learn a new game which is perceived as semipro football? If Todd can handle it mentally, and not being the guy at the beginning, then he has the skills to play this game, no question about it.

``He's basically saying, `I was wrong, I did a lot of wrong things, and I'm going to try to do something correct now.' If he can accomplish this, there will be a lot of NFL people saying, `He can handle our system again.' ''

Marinovich, who is living in Marina del Rey, insisted he isn't thinking about his troubled past or a future in the NFL.

``I think it (arena ball) is a good game for a quarterback to work on his skills,'' he said, sunglasses tilted back on a freckled forehead. ``But I'm not looking that far down the line. Hopefully, I'm going to compete, be a starter on this team and help them win. I look at it as a great opportunity to get back and play some great football.''

Tuesday, working out on a West L.A. College field marked in arena dimensions, the old left-hander showed the familiar zip on his fastball and appeared quite fit in those old Trojans pants. What we know so far is that the Arena Football League has expanded, but Todd Marinovich hasn't.

AVENGERS: THEY NEED NO INTRODUCTION

Todd Marinovich is not the only member of the Arena Football League's Avengers who might be familiar to Los Angeles fans. The expansion team's 38-man training-camp roster includes seven players from USC and UCLA.

Player.............College Pos.

Mike Bastianelli...USC.....WR-DB

Travis Hannah......USC.....WR

Ken Haslip.........USC.....WR-DB

Cedric Jefferson...USC.....OL-DL

Danjuan Magee......UCLA....FB-LB

Todd Marinovich....USC.....QB

Bruce Walker.......UCLA....OL-DL

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Ex-Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich was the center of attention at Avengers practice

(2) Avengers quarterbacks Harry Leons, left, Todd Marinovich and Scott Semptimphelter.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box: AVENGERS: THEY NEED NO INTRODUCTION (see text)