Art, you are who we thought you were. So Long!

What is this I hear, Art Shell fired and possibly staying on in some other capacity? I wonder just what capacity that might be? At this stage I wouldn't want Art to take over Run Run Jones's duties, God rest his soul.

Art Shell did nothing this season to show that he can lead the Raiders back to greatness. In fact, he may have been the reason the team didn't produce wins. We all saw Art on the sideline during games, poker faced and looking as if he wanted to cut bait and bail out. I can only imagine the different sides of Art the players may or may not have witnessed. How can you inspire a team, a NFL 2007 football team, by ole skool pride and poise without showing some passion or emotional spunk or what you're trying to accomplish? Good coaches don't take losing lightly. Why even Dennis Green after trying to hold in his emotions after losing to the prematurely "Crowned" NFC Champion Chicago Bears, lost his cool and showed his frustration. I remember seeing Denny's infamous, "You can crown'em if you wanna, but they are who we thought they were" speech, and thinking maybe coach Art Shell would break out and pull a "Denny" of his own. But Art continued to plod along week in and week out with the same old theme "I have no answers as to why we can't win."

Well Art, I believe the Raiders are who we think they are (Contenders) and not the players but the coaching was the problem in 2006. In all the years I've been watching the Raiders I've never seen them look as if they didn't believe in the coaches gameplan. This team, at least the offense, couldn't do what the coaches designed them for, pass protect to throw the ball deep. And the result was disastrous. To make matters worse the coaches realized they couldn't protect their quarterback but couldn't make the proper adjustments to make a difference.

I only hope that whoever replaces Art brings with him a Silver and Black Attitude. What might that attitude be you may ask? Well, ask Denny Green. When the team or coaches are not performing to peak level get angry. Curse, spit in their faces, challenge their manhood, throw something across the room, whatever it takes to get their attention. But don't stand like a statue stonefaced saying I have no answer for their performance. Act! Act like someone who really cares about winning and hates the hell out of losing. Act like a damn American for christ sakes.