Florida Sentinel Bulletin

OAKLAND, CA — Al Davis was a rebel with a cause — “Just win, baby” he exhorted his beloved Oakland Raiders. And as the NFL well knows, he was also a rebel with a subpoena.

Davis, who bucked league authority time and again and won three Super Bowl titles during his half-century in professional football, died Saturday. He was 82.

The Hall of Famer died at his home in Oakland, the team said. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Davis was one of the most important figures in pro football history from his role in the development of the AFL, the merger with the NFL and the success he built on the field with the Raiders.

Elected in 1992 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Davis was a trailblazer during his half-century in professional football. He hired the first black head coach of the modern era – Art Shell in 1988.

He hired the first Latino coach, Tom Flores; and the first woman CEO, Amy Trask. And he was infallibly loyal to his players and officials: to be a Raider was to be a Raider for life.

Texas authorities completed their extradition of a Fort Washington, Md. man accused of impersonating a professional football player.

Stephan Pittman, 33 was sent back to Texas for violating his probation stemming from a 2009 sexual assault case in Dallas. Pittman is accused of impersonating Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Vince Young and swindling a D.C. woman out of $2,500.

He’s been charged with first-degree felony fraud.

A woman says Pittman posed as Young, saying he wanted her to get involved with his foundation, but needed a donation of $5,000. She eventually agreed to donate half that amount.

A spokesman with the U.S. attorney’s office said the fraud charges in D.C. will stand.

HOUSTON — Prosecutors have dropped a marijuana possession charge against NBA veteran Marcus Camby after his arrest during a traffic stop in suburban Houston.

Camby was arrested last month after police in Pearland said they found less than two ounces of the drug inside a Porsche he was driving. Also arrested was Camby’s cousin, Kendal Johnson, who was in the vehicle.

Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said Thursday that Camby’s charge was dropped this week after Johnson said the marijuana was his. Johnson, who lives in Connecticut, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor possession charge and was fined $1,500.

Camby’s attorney, Randall Novak, said his client committed no crime. Camby, who has a home in Pearland, played last season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

After last season, the Tampa Bay Rays lost top closer, Soriano, top reliever, Benoit, slugger, Martinez, base stealing deluxe, Carl Crawford and their starting shortstop. All of these players left to go to teams with big checkbooks. The Rays replaced these players with names like: Fuld, Peralta, Gomes, Jennings and Kotchman.

Heck, who are these guys? Well, the Rays took these players and contended for the Division Championship and came back from nine games to make the American League playoffs.

The Rays ran out of steam and loss close games to the powerful Texas Rangers (3-1).

Congratulations go out to the Rays for an outstanding patchwork season.

Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris has a lot to savor after the Buccaneers’ third straight victory of the season Monday night.

In the 24-17 win over the struggling Indianapolis Colts, the team overcame more than 100 yards in penalties, and showed the kind of late-game resolve they’ll need to make a run to the playoffs.

The Buccaneers’ schedule gets tough – including two games with co-NFC South leader New Orleans in the next month – and fixing lingering issues are just as much on their minds.

Offensively that means running the ball as well as they did Monday and eliminating penalties that take points off the scoreboard and could end up being costly in close games.

“Survive and advance. That’s what we’re after,” Morris said. “The thing you want to do is come out and run the football, control the game, and we did a nice job of that.

MIAMI — For the past year, Angel Rosado cheered for what LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were doing with the Miami Heat. On Monday, the roles shifted.

When James and Wade tweeted their appreciation just past midnight Monday to fans who were camping out at Florida International with hopes of getting the best tickets to Saturday’s South Florida All-Star Classic, it was Rosado they were talking about. The 23-year-old man and his wife were the very first to arrive at FIU to get in line, just over 16 hours before tickets actually went on sale.

They’ll be on separate teams Saturday at FIU, which figures to be the site of quite an NBA spectacle.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Even after an 0-4 start in which Donovan McNabb has struggled to move the Minnesota Vikings offense, coach Leslie Frazier says it still isn’t time to turn things over to rookie Christian Ponder.

Frazier says the team is looking at making several changes, both to personnel and schemes, to try and get the Vikings their first win of the season. But he also says that switching quarterbacks is not currently under consideration.

The Vikings have the 31st ranked passing offense in the NFL. And McNabb is ranked 30th in yards passing and 22nd in completion percentage.

Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders’ charter school application was among eight approved by the Texas State Board of Education.

The decision came after a brief discussion during which members raised questions about the schools’ academic rigor and Sanders’ involvement

PHILADELPHIA – The frown on Michael Vick’s face emphasized how bitter the Philadelphia Eagles’ latest loss was.

Vick had one of the best days of his career with a personal high of 416 yards passing and 30 completions, added 75 yards rushing and two touchdown passes. It was all for naught as the Eagles lost their third straight, blowing a 20-point lead and falling to San Francisco 24-23 on Sunday.

“We’ve got to dig deep,’’ Vick said. “It’s right there for everybody to see what is taking place, how it’s been done, what hasn’t been done and what needs to be done.’’

Vick did about all he could, only to see the Eagles fall apart on defense in the second half. He was at his scrambling best and his one interception was tipped by DeSean Jackson directly to cornerback Carlos Rogers. His bruised right hand, protected by a padded pink glove, didn’t slow him a bit.