As the 49ers get ready to play host to a Super Bowl in their newly constructed stadium, with the Raiders' future still very much in limbo, I find myself wishing that Davis could play at least a small part in the festivities. I picture him holding court in a hotel lobby, perhaps to the small group of veteran reporters who weren't on his bad side. I have no illusions that I'd be part of such a group, or that Davis and I would even be on speaking terms. Yet, I take solace in the knowledge that, if he were still alive, a whole lot of folks would be cursing the two of us in successive sentences, based on the way the Earth has spun in the ensuing years.