Coach Lane Kiffin Fired

I have 3 words to describe today's events:

Al Was Wrong!

Al Davis held a press conference today not only to tell the sporting world that he'd fired Lane Kiffin, but to convince all that the reason was "cause." Cause being actions detrimental to the team. I say Al was wrong because his press conference comments sounded contrived, calculated and too much like someone who was using the media for his own gains. It wasn't a press conference to inform as much as it was a smear campaign. I wanted to believe that Al was bigger than that, it seemed so petty. Al Was Wrong.

I really couldn't bare to listen to it all, the press conference. Big Al, leader/Majority Partner of the Oakland Raiders, announcing the firing of coach Lane Kiffin. Media speculation has for weeks been reporting to everyone in sports that it was coming. But nobody expected to hear what came out of Al's puss this afternoon.

Al Davis, The Man, The Myth, The Legend, took center stage in sports news this afternoon and made a complete fool of himself. He didn't do it in a Sarah Palin (Republican VP Nominee) way by stumbling over and avoiding simple questions in front of the media. Nor did he use the semantic wizardry of President Bill Clinton ( I did not have sexual relations with that woman). What Al did was more like a mafioso/organized crime way of explaining his own actions or in-actions. He blamed it on the dead guy, or at least he blamed the absent fired guy and discredited him so, that any rebuttal would appear untrustworthy.

Funny thing is it almost worked. It probably would've worked if not for one thing. The dead guy ain't dead. He's alive, angry and loading up with attorneys. The corpse has scheduled his own press conference for tomorrow, same time, same stations.

Meanwhile the new coach, former Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable, spoke today and appears to be capable enough to keep the team on its improving course. I like it that Tom said we have a good team and his job is to teach it how to finish games. That will be the measuring stick by which Tom is judged; will they learn to finish games? Tom cable believes they can and big Al has bought into it.

So for one more day the Oakland Raiders coaching saga will continue. Thanks in part to Al Davis, a man who calculates his every move. Actually, because we all know just how calculating Al can be, is what makes his statements today so unbelievable. Nothing goes down in Raider-land without big Al's stamp of approval. So to hear him espouse how coach Lane Kiffin acted on his own in making so many team decisions is hard to swallow. Or as a radio host said today, "I ain't drinking Al's kool-aid."

Today Al lost a few points with me. He tried dirty dancing in public today and his slip was showing. It was embarrassing to watch and seemed petty, childish and motivated by a foreseeable contract dispute. To the sports world I say "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." To true Raider fans you know the drill. We don't always agree with Al Davis, but we know he's as loyal to the Oakland Raiders as any one of us. And he don't like losing. He may run the organization like a mad scientist, but dammit he's one of us. And we still believe that we're one of the best organizations in professional sports. Keep Believing!

Win, Lose or Tie!