OK, I have viewed hours of videos, read numerous articles and posts from both sides of the coin and have heard from all my loyal advisers. Now, I will give my opinion.
Before I do that, please take the time to view the following videos in order. You will then have an idea of where I am coming from.
1) Al Davis' press conference explaining the firing of Head Coach Lane Kiffin:
2) Lane Kiffin's interview on ESPN's Sports Center moments after the Al Davis press conference:
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Where do I begin? Yes, I am going to "keep it real" and talk about the game against the Chargers. I still say the Raiders have one of the best teams in the league, this year. The big problem is physical conditioning. The players are out of shape. You can blame it on the Head Coach, but that is the fault of the individual player who, for whatever reason, thinks he does not need camp or preseason and can do just fine without them. They shut down everyone they face for 3 quarters. The 4th quarter, which is when the game truly counts, they are out of gas. The Raiders proved the Chargers are nothing. The Chargers running game could not match the Raiders defense. The Chargers defense had nothing for the Raiders offense. The only thing the Raiders need to do is work on their physical conditioning. They have to be able to last 4 quarters.
Now for the business at hand. Al Davis has fired Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin. Davis is upset that Chris Mortensen of ESPN broke the story within 5 minutes of Davis informing Kiffin that he was fired. Al is mad at Lane for that, but Al states, in his own words, it could have been no one other than John Herrera and Mike Taylor, his two right hand men, to have given that story to Mortensen. He is angered by false statements in the report. My question to Al Davis would be "Why are you angry with Lane when John and Mike are the people you say gave Mort the scoop? Mort says sources close to Lane have reported, not Lane has reported. John and Mike are close to Lane in the Raider organization." No one will ask that question.
I think Al Davis was wrong to fire Lane Kiffin "For Cause" and I think he should pay him is money. Davis does not see that the division is coming from Herrera and Taylor. The orchestrated the entire "Fire Lane Kiffin" campaign. The reports of infighting came from John and Mike. In my opinion, the Raiders are going to continue to face hard times as long as John Herrera and Mike Taylor continue to work for Al Davis.
That said, Al Davis is now going to attempt to destroy the life of Lane Kiffin just to keep from paying him $4 million dollars. I think that is a terrible thing to do to someone. No NFL owner has ever held this type of press conference to tear down a former coach. I take it as an attempt to bring enough negative press toward someone that no other owner will ever want to hire the person. I only hope Lane survives this attack.
I think it cheap for an NFL owner think "I sent him a letter" is the same as "We talked." You take it however you like.
Also, I do not like how the reporter from San Jose tried to turn the press conference into a personal attack on Al Davis by asking him if he would overlook personality if the Raiders win, taking a stab at the "Just Win, Baby" moto. Al is as sound as any owner in the NFL. Keep the reporting to football. Stop the personal attacks.
The person who thought he was going to get the job, did not get the job. The person who has been named interim Head Coach has a tough road ahead. The players are upset, because they were behind Kiffin and ready to play for him and now he is gone. Time will tell if it will work out.
This entire situation is embarrassing to watch as it is played out. The Bay Area media got what they wanted. Bay Area fans got what they wanted. (Not my loyal readers, but they are wiser than the average Raider fan)
One last thing. Allot of the chaos could be cleared if Chris Mortensen were to reveal his "source close to Lane Kiffin." Al Davis takes that to mean "Lane Kiffin", I take it to me someone else. Someone else who purposely spread lies on an innocent person.
There are a number of radio broadcasters, who are Raider fans, that are not going to mention them in commentary for awhile. I will not post anymore entries this week as I try to see how things play out for Al, his staff, Lane and the new Head Coach. the Raiders have a week off, so let's hope they can right the ship.
Until then,
Raider-man, later!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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