Confidential to Al Davis: Just whine, baby
Al Davis, who was the trademark reptile of the Oakland Raiders long before GEICO got any ideas, confirmed just about everything I've ever thought of him during his 90-minute news conference yesterday.
I'd call him a nasty, bitter old man, except that he was a nasty, bitter middle-aged man when I covered the occasional Raiders story back in the day. He was probably a nasty, bitter young man, too, but that was back in the stone age, so we'll have to wait for the archaeologists to weigh in.
To be fair, I don't know much about Lane Kiffin, who probably wasn't ready to be a head coach when Davis plucked him off the USC coaching staff last year, but I'm pretty sure that's why Davis picked him. He wanted somebody he could control and found out too late that Kiffin actually might have a mind of his own. Davis has every right to fire him and hire a new coach, but the way he went about it the past few weeks was -- like most everything he does -- reprehensible.
Don't worry about Kiffin. He'll get his money, though Davis said he was firing him for cause. Everybody in the NFL knows who and what Davis is, and I'm pretty sure Roger Goodell will force him to honor that contract. Anything else would undermine the whole system, though Davis has never cared about the damage he leaves in his wake.
There's a certain protocol to all this. You hold a press conference. You fire the guy. You say things didn't work out and you wish him well. Unless you're Al Davis, of course, and then you come out of your cave and scorch the earth.
Comments
Unfortunately, the real victims in all of this are the Raider fans.
In theory, the Raiders are an imposing menace in their silver & black, with the crazed RaiderNation behind them. Their stadium is the Black Hole for crying out loud.
But the senility of their owner, unfortunately, has led this franchise into a forced free-fall towards laughingstock. A fall broken only by the Lions. And they just fired Millen. So in a short while, they just might be at the bottom of their own black hole.
Posted by: Alex | October 1, 2008 10:56 AM
Don't be to sure that Kiffin is going to get his money, Mike Shannahan is still owed money by Al Davis from when he was fired. In both cases, they only got to work for that ogre for a year and a half.
Posted by: Deke | October 1, 2008 11:03 AM
Pete, don't count on Kiffin getting his money. Mike Shanahan still hasn't gotten the 5 figures that Davis owes him, despite getting rulings from the league and the courts in his favor. At least for Shanahan, he has the opportunity to beat up on the mess that Davis has made of the raiders, twice a year, and he usually does that as he is 21-6 against them as Broncos coach.
Posted by: Troy | October 1, 2008 11:04 AM
good one! Nice post.
Posted by: drewdy | October 1, 2008 11:38 AM
The man is a bully. As with all bullies, he is also a liar and an individual whose problems are always the fault of another. His behavior should not be tolerated. The NFL should suspend him for the good of the game.
Posted by: Rusty | October 1, 2008 11:59 AM
Here's a thought unrelated to this post:
If the Angels win the World Series, is Teixeira more likely to come to Baltimore for less than that $200 figure that's been thrown around recently?
I don't think the Orioles should spend all that money, but if he wins a World Series, maybe coming home and rebuilding doesn't look so bad--perhaps at a "bargain" price for the organization.
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Pete's reply: Interesting thought, though he also could just get addicted to winning.
Posted by: Burgess | October 1, 2008 12:39 PM
I thought Al Davis had lost his cohones when he got rid of Randy Moss last year instead of putting him the Marcus Allen doghouse. And then he does this. He has gone whacko.
Posted by: Dean | October 1, 2008 1:19 PM
Pete,
Is it just me or does Al kinda look like The Emperor from Star Wars? The only thing missing is the hood to cover is disfigured face.
He is mad he couldn't turn Lane to the Dark Side.
Posted by: Dean | October 1, 2008 1:35 PM
...and THIS is an owner they put in the NFL Hall of Fame --but not Art Modell. Travesty.
Posted by: Paul B Towson | October 1, 2008 2:58 PM
Peter,
Before introducing him, did you hear Al say to an underling towards the end of yesterday's news conference that he "really didn't know anything about Cable" ?
Jason Smith played the audio on his ESPN radio show. It was priceless.
I really think Al is suffering from diminished capacities.
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Pete's reply: Didn't notice that, but that doesn't surprise me. He's no longer motivated by his supposed "Commitment to Excellence." He's just become the Mr. Potter character from "It's a Wonderful Life."
Posted by: Dave | October 1, 2008 5:08 PM