Raidertopia

Wow, I finally agree with something Gwen Knapp writes.

The Raiders should just cut their losses along with Jamarcus Russell. But it really is hard to believe that’ll happen after what Davis said (and displayed on the infamous overhead projector).  After all, it would basically be admitting “Lance” was right about Russell.

Here’s what I see happening – Russell gets talked into renegotiating his contract with a deep pay cut or incentives.  He has to have an agent that’ll tell him it’s better than not and risk being cut.  After all, what team would want him at anything more than the league minimum?

They may call the Raiders’ bluff though, and decline to renegotiate.  In that case, it will be interesting to see if the Raiders have the cojones to cut him as they should.

And all this will have to happen fast as the risk of him getting injured in training camp is too high.

It’s just a really sad situation for Raider fans.  I wanted WR Calvin Johnson when Russell was selected, but I was optimistic after hearing many, including Mel “The Hair” Kiper, rave about his skills.  We all hoped he would be the team’s saviour.

Al Davis has officially lost it.

If the draft picks of the last several years and the mad money thrown at mediocre players the last several years weren’t proof enough, the way the Raider management is reacting to Rich Gannon’s offer of help for their mega-bust of a QB is the clincher.

This post on the Silver and Black Report outlines the situation very well.

The Raiders are acting like children, led by that buffoonish John Herrerra.

The Raiders responded to Gannon’s offer through team executive and John Herrera.  From the Oakland Tribune:

“It’s Rich that needs the help,” Raiders senior executive John Herrera said. “When he goes on a radio show offering Mr. Davis help, Tom Cable help, the Raiders help, maybe it’s Rich that needs the help.”

What the hell does that even mean?  That doesn’t even fit as a response.  It’s like in Dodgeball when Ben Stiller’s character responds with “touche” at a completely inappropriate time.  Sounds like John Herrera basically just said, “I know you are, but what am I?” or “I’m not a towel, you’re a towel.”  Are they trying to say he’s desperate for work? (read more at Bleacher Report….)

I have totally lost faith in this organization.  Things will not change unless Davis relinquishes power, hires a General Manager and that GM hires a competent coach with power to hire his own staff and select his own players.  Sadly, that might not happen until the old man passes away.  John Madden has even stated that it must be done.  I wonder if he’s been banished from Raider headquarters as well?

Remember when the Raiders were successful?  They were led by GMs or senior executives named Al LoCasale, Ron Wolf, and Bruce Allen.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Al’s Wingman has a good review of those eras and how the Raiders should have handled the Gannon offer (Hint: with professionalism).  Wolf turned Green Bay around and you just watch how Allen turns the Redskin franchise around.

The news that Russell skipped the final team meeting for “personal reasons” which was later discovered to be a trip to Las Vegas is yet another sign that this guy is a loser and a bust.  Now, the team (Herrerra) says he went with the permission of the team and with a team official.  So, that makes it right?  That’s a further indictment on the Raider management.

I can’t wait to see what gem they choose at #8 in the 2010 draft.

Meanwhile, “Lance” Kiffin is having a hearty laugh at all this.

As each losing season passes, as each inept performance on display, as each embarrassment is televised nationally, as the great history of the Raiders is being tarnished week by week, Mike Lombardi’s words appear more true than ever…

I have heard the laughing, I have seen the dumb mistakes and I have been in that airport waiting for the plane ride home after getting my butt kicked in. And no one can imagine how bad that feels — not because of the losing but the fact there is no hope. Not one SINGLE ounce of hope — for tomorrow or next week, or next year. And two years from now, the same thing will happen unless “someone in the building” stops trying to coach and control the team. When I first started in football, I would study this man and learn as much as possible about football and the workings of a personnel department. I had great respect for him and always ignored the bad comments I might hear. When I worked for the 49ers, Bill Walsh told me “the most football I ever learned was (while) working for the Raiders,” and that prompted me to want to join them many years later. Much of what we tried to install in Cleveland in terms of the player personnel department came from ideas I stole from reading and talking to “someone in the building.” But that was then and this is now — and now he is more interested in preserving his legacy and having articles written about his greatness and what player he is making into the next great Raider than he is in winning….(read more)

Raider fans don’t particularly like the guy since he has seemingly been holding a grudge against the Raiders since he left the organization. He takes verbal pot shots at them every chance he gets, but I think he’s spot on here. And it’s very unfortunate.

I agree with a lot of other bloggers that are calling for a kind of boycott. Stop buying tickets to home games and stop buying merchandise. A message has to be sent to Al Davis. As if the continual losing hasn’t made enough of a mockery of the team’s famous slogans and made a light bulb go off in his head.

We should have all seen this coming with the whole Marcus Allen situation years ago. He took a classy guy, a hall of famer, a “great Raider” as he himself would say and benched him for completely egotistical purposes. The saddest thing was that Allen was needed on the field to win football games. Remember “Just Win, Baby”? He, of course, ended up burning the Raiders when he changed teams and joined their hated, divisional rivals.  I used to give Davis the benefit of the doubt there, thinking something happened behind closed doors that I wasn’t privy to. I truly believe now that it was a total power play and Allen was getting bigger than Davis, in Davis’ eyes.  His ego couldn’t take it.  The whole soap opera this year with the team and Lane Kiffin is similar in many respects.

So much for getting wiser with age.

Al – Please hire a General Manager, and (more importantly) go away and retire.

I guess Raider fans can take solace in that, even though losing, they have been losing in varied and interesting ways.  Like performance art.  Yes, interesting if not maddening.  Depressing, isn’t it?