Al Davis has terminated the contract of Lane Kiffin. Al says this is done with cause, and he will not pay Lane the balance due for this season.
Al Davis has officially lost it.
A Hall of Famer for his work in the 1960s through the 2000s: coach, head coach, commissioner, and owner with multiple championships. Those days are long behind Davis and the Raiders.
For those who do not understand the Tose comment, it goes back to radio host Jim Healy, who would play the sound bite when referring to someone with questionable mental faculties, like the former Eagles owner, who suffered a breakdown stemming from a gambling addiction. Truly a sad story.
When did Al start to lose it? Could it have been when he drove a future Hall of Famer and the team's most talented offensive weapon away—Marcus Allen? Could it have been when he became more interested in winning in the courtroom instead of the gridiron? When he traded Jim Lachey for Jay Schroeder?
- B/R Ticket Guide
How 'bout moving back to Oakland and putting the ticket sales in the hands of the government? Bringing back Art Shell a second time?
So many signposts, plenty more left unsaid. It doesn't really matter though; the fact remains: Al cannot run the Raiders like he used to run them. Successfully, that is.
Al has done the worst thing that can happen in professional sports. He has given his team an excuse to lose. It's a lock that any team that has an excuse to lose will lose. They are so busy looking over their shoulder for a knife in the back, they can't properly prepare and play to win.
Al isn't going anywhere on his own. His ego, an asset for so many decades, is now his albatross. Will the commissioner take action? Unlikely, given the passes he keeps handing out people like Bob Kraft. Roger Goodell would rather let the ship sink than point out the faulty operation and keep it afloat.
So Raider fans are stuck with some choices, none of which are palatable. Keep supporting the team with the full knowledge their owner/operator is incompetent, find safe harbor to wait out the raging storm and hope for a change at the top, or jump ship like a rat and leave the distressed hulk behind.
As for me, I'm pulling into a safe harbor. While still wanting the Raiders to win, I will cut of any form of financial support until such time as there is a replacement at the top. The power of the pocketbook is the only vote available, and it shall be exercised.
comments (27) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Don't let the door hit you on the way out looser. Raider Nation doesn't want your girlie type anyway. You've already proven that you are not a true Oakland Raider by the way you cried like little Mike Shanarat when you cut your widdle finger - ouchie!
Now go get your old Charger cap out of the closet and snap off a new pic of that mug of yours for your avatar. You've proven yourself unworthy of wearing any silver and black.
from 2 months ago
Gig's up Bird, I've traced your molting feathers.
Quit being a tool, sign up right and put in some real stories - unless that is too much for a high school teacher to be able to handle.
HA!
from 2 months ago
Sorry to find myself outed before getting the rise out of you I had hoped for. Even if you hadn't been so adept at bird spotting, it would have been tough to get much of a reaction with the Dodgers playing so well against the heavily favored Cubs. And Lowe definitely doesn't Blow - he had nasty stuff in game 1.
Doubt I'll be doing any writing, but I'll try to leave a few comments - it's a great site.
I'm leaving for Tahiti for a week with my 11 month old daughter and baby mama.
My user pic is her at 3 months with the Mad Stork in the park before pro bowl in Feburary
Maybe I can try to scout a couple prospects playing HWB when I get back and do a little write-up. I think almost half of the top 10 MLB draft picks are gonna play there. Les Murikami Stadium is about the nicest place you can think of watching a ball game this side of seeing your 'gers winning a WS at home. You should try to make it out, they play till the end of November - you're welcome to stay with us.
Thanks for digging up Healy. Me and my dad used to listen to him religiously at 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 on his little AM radio dialed into 570. If I recall, the Tose clip was actually former NFL Players Union head Ed Garvey exclaiming "Leonard Tose has lost it" - not sure about the context of the quote/clip. Here's a link to a nice Jim Healy tribute site.
http://www.johnspeedie.com/healy/healymemories.html
Thanks for at least having enough respect to take off the hat after blasting AL. What's gonna happen when the Dodgers lose 3 straight. Please don't tell me we're going to have to see you in a CR7 UTD kit complete with short-shorts, eye makeup and fauxhawk? If the Cubbies do win 3 straight and you see a new user "Doctor Tina" show up - DUCK!!!
Nothing personal my friend, just trying to let off a little steam and get my mind off that tough SC loss.
Hope this doesn't mean I'm not welcome to come over to your crib to take more of your money in poker next time I'm back in LaLa land?
2 months ago
J.C. You never write a bad article. I am trying to get caught up on what all has happened as I have been out of the NFL loop for a little while now. Thanks for posting me! Exceptional job!
from 2 months ago
Thanks for the props GG. Coming from a writer like you it means a great deal.
Don't know if this article is really NFL or soap opera - As The Stomach Turns maybe?
2 months ago
Great perspective on the article. It seems Al Davis has reattached his umbilical cord and crawled back into his mother's womb. Some of the things he's been doing are truly childish. It's a shame that Kiffin didn't even have a chance to prove himself. How's he supposed to do his job when everything around him is falling apart?
Diggin the new profile pic by the way
from 2 months ago
That is far from a pretty mental picture you paint there Michael.
If you gonna give a guy a job, you've got to step back a bit and let him do it. I know I've always hated having somebody breathing on my shoulder when I'm trying to get something done.
Glad you like the new look - part of the safe harbor experience.
2 months ago
It's a complicated world fellas. Al is a genius. Phil Specter is a genius. You can be a genius and still lose your ability to make good decisions, to come from the creative standpoint too much, to not take advantage of what has been given to you.
I'll go out on a limb and say the organization needs a turnaround coaching staff. I mean, you pluck John Rauch out of the crowd and he goes 13-1 in '67. Pluck Madden out of the crowd when Rauch leaves and he becomes an icon, and goes 13-1 in '76. Promote old quarterback Tom Flores and he wins it all twice in four years. That was genius, now is the time for another act of genius.
Who is the coach that can turn it around for Oakland? That I can't say. I can only hope we can find someone. If I could throw a dart and hit someone who can organize, instill intensity, lead to a title, and is available, it would be the old N.C. State linebacker for Lou Holtz, Bill Cowher.
Good work J.C., thanks for the heads-up.
from 2 months ago
Thanks for your support BT.
You can't be serious mentioning Lou Holtz as a Raider coaching possibility. No one could be further from the Raider mindset, and Lou has proven with his rants on ESPN he no longer has a mind.
Cowher is an intriguing possibility, you know he would clean up the bull. The thing is getting Al to cede enough power to Cowher for him to take on the job.
I can already see Steeler fans foaming at the mouth at this thought 8^D
2 months ago
My suggestion for handling Al Davis: 5150
Section 5150 is a section of California's Welfare and Institutions Code which allows a qualified officer or clinician to involuntarily confine a person deemed or feared to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to him or her self, and/or others and/or gravely disabled.
from 2 months ago
IS ANYBODY HERE A DOCTOR!!!
2 months ago
Agreed, I think he started to lose it with Marcus. Great catch there. That's when he started going after the sexy picks, and over-the-hill former superstars.
I'm in mourning here...this is going to be a long season.
Very good job here! :)
from 2 months ago
Thanks for the kind works Lisa.
I keep making Trader Joe runs to stock up on the killing misery libations, so at least someone is making out with this situation.
2 months ago
Excellent Article, J.C.
I agree with your takes. What fan can forget the horrible treatment Marcus Allen received. As stated there have been several signposts. Some people don't get it, the presser was like watching a train wreck. I'm in mourning here as well.
There is nothing good that can come out of taking such action. Either one of two things should've happened 1) Al never should of hired Kiffin 2) if the desire was there to fire him before the end of last season it should've been done in the off-season and not in 5th week of the season.
I've always liked Tom Cable, I think he is a good coach, I think the team is competitive, getting better and can win if the team learns how to finish games, but he has been placed in a really tough situation.
I go way back being a Raider fan, and I became a Raider fan long before the team won their first superbowl. This latest act isn't good for the team presently or in the future. Everyone knows that its Al's team there's no mystery there but the Raider Nation has been loyal to a fault and that loyalty has not been reciprocated by Al Davis. Pulling into a safe harbor isn't a bad idea.
from 2 months ago
Appreciate all your comments Jeff.
"the Raider Nation has been loyal to a fault and that loyalty has not been reciprocated by Al Davis."
What a salient point, the true crux of the matter. Nicely played sir.
2 months ago
i was just stunned ... seeing the press conference ... stunned!
from 2 months ago
I was asking myself, "Is there anybody buying this Bull$#@t?" Al is showing his rust in dealing with the media after the Howard Hughes hide-and-seek impersonation.
In fact, there is more than a few comparable ties between Hughes and Davis. Scary stuff.
2 months ago
Leonard Tose was always a little nuts. Al doesn't seem the loopy type. I think he made the right decision to toss Kiffin to the wind.
from 2 months ago
Thanks for your comment AW, but what are you waiting for? Al to be foaming at the mouth and chasing cars on all fours?
Wacking Kiffin was purely ego, not for the betterment of the Raider team. They are a hell of a lot better team now from what Kif inherited from Shell 2.0 - offensively especially.
I'm just glad Al didn't try to go back to Shell a third time, though that would have been grounds for an incompetency hearing.
2 months ago
This is a really great article, and I don't believe no one will ever really start to pin-point when he started to loose... other than those that are close around him..How can a guy like John Herrera stand by for over close to 40 years and allow this to happen?..for the sake of a paycheck ? How can someone who express their undying love and loyalty to both Al Davis and the Raiders sit back and watch all this insanity to unfold and keep their mouth shut?..If some of you remember recent Presidential history, I am reminded of all the stories that came out after President Reagan passed away and all those close to him told stories of how they knew he was "loosing" it and how he would fall asleep in the middle of meetings..and how those around him kept their mouth shut and observed the slow deterioration and not take a stand. This situation with Al Davis seems real similar..No one close to him is taking a stand and try and do the right thing..from Mark Davis his son, Amy Trask, John Herrera and that other guy Mike (something or other). Those that claim love and loyalty to him are the ones who are turning a blind eye to a man who is going to be remembered more for his deterioration and running the Raiders to the ground than all the breakthroughs he made early in his career..Those who are close to him and quietly sit and watch this SHAME ON YOU JOHN, AMY, MARK, AND MIKE.. If you ask me there is no greater act of betrayal then what these "chosen" few are doing..
from 2 months ago
Thanks for all your comments and support Maloso - it's appreciated.
President Reagan suffered from Alzheimer's and ever since Davis traded Lachey for Schroeder, I've referred to him as "Alzheimer Al" so that tracks.
Seriously, with all his health problems, a competent doctor should have ordered the proper exams to make sure his mental processes haven't broken down.
2 months ago
Ha! Jay Schroeder! I was just a kid but I remember when he was with the Raiders.
Great article J.C. I don't understand why owners and G.M's aren't doing everything possible to win games. It's happening all over the NFL. The best teams have smart people up front who are willing to do what it takes to win ball games. That's the way every team should be run.
But I'm an idiot. And Al Davis is a genius.
from 2 months ago
Michael - thanks for you comments and props.
Being a USC fan, I don't need much encouragement to root against a Bruin. I'll never forget an exhibition game I went to with Schroeder at QB for the Raiders against Washington. He dropped back and threw a quick out to the left that was picked off and run back for a TD. Then next play from scrimmage, that rat bastard threw the same pattern to the right, and you guessed it, six more points for the defense. I wanted him strung up on the spot!
When he was with the Raiders, I was calling for Marcus Allen to be the starting QB, figuring he had the superior arm and was far more intelligent than Schroeder too.
I do need to thank both Al Davis and Georgia the Bytch for teaching masters level courses while in Los Angeles showing in the NFL, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but how much money did you make.
2 months ago
Good read jc, i always buy raiders gear, but now i will stop putting my hard earned money to al davis. I always considered Al Davis a grandfather but now he's nothing to me. But of course i will always be a Raider fan, no way am i jumping ships to any team.
from 2 months ago
Thanks for stopping in with your comments Terry.
I'm really ticked since I bought a couple of new shirts and a nice hat but I can't sport them without embarrassment over how idiotic our godfather has become.
Truly a sad state of affairs.
2 months ago
Morning from a cloudy and rain sodden UK JC.
Good article though gets my POD, calls it how we perceive it I reckon. Difficult times ahead possibly?
Safe harbour time for me, as I've said before I'm a fan of the Oakland Raiders (24 years now) but I'm not a fan of the current Al Davis model I'm afraid...
from 2 months ago
Hey Pete - good to hear from you. Thanks for the props, I appreciate it greatly.
The current edition of Al Davis is rattling and shaking. Symptoms have developed over time, and having gone untreated have become very unstable.
A refit is necessary, mandatory in fact.
write a new comment