It is absolutely torture. Excruciating torture. You see your team make some really great strides, and then what happens? The owner who is an old, senile, clueless, old, constipated, evil-incarnate, old (did i mention he's old and senile) goes and ruins everything all the players and coaches have worked for.
Last season Lane Kiffin is hired. It seems weird, he's really young and pretty much has no experience in the NFL. As the season moves forward and I hear what he says in press conferences I realize that Kiffin is a stand-up guy who is honest with the fans and the players. He seems like a great leader of men, which is, above all else, what a football coach needs to be in my opinion. The players like him, they play hard for him despite losing games. They are IN. They are drinking Kiffin's Kool-Aid. Season ends, and we still have a losing record, but the team is noticeably different. The mentality of the players seems different. Positivity is in the air for once.
Then, uh oh, Lane wants to fire the defensive coordinator and Rob Ryan is ok with that. He wants to go to the Jets. But wait, Al Davis likes Rob because Rob lets Davis control the defense behind the curtain, and now Lane not only does not get to fire Ryan but he's on Davis' bad side.
Skipping a TON of media speculation and turmoil and a Raider official threatening to beat up a reporter (and getting caught on video doing so), and here we are. Lane Kiffin, the one head coach since Gruden was traded who was taking the Raiders in a positive direction, and who would have been able to work faster if Davis has let him do what he wanted to do with personnel, is now fired. Not just fired, but Davis isn't going to pay out Kiffin's contract either. Al Davis, he's a classy guy. Whoever replaces Kiffin (the rumor is offensive line coach Tom Cable) I'm willing to bet they won't have the job more than two years...if they're lucky.
Al Davis is a pox on this team, and it's really sad, because everyone can agree that the NFL is just more fun when the Raiders are competitive. Davis won't let it happen. And it doesn't matter that we consistently get top draft picks, because Davis controls who we draft too! Granted, I'm glad we have Russell and McFadden and Michael Bush, i think they could be the future of the franchise, but we've had far more busts than successful draft picks.
Al...let the team go. For the fans, just let it go.
...it's like talking to a wall. An OLD wall.
