Chaos in the Raider Nation

I've never been shy about expressing my delight when things go wrong for the Raiders or my disappointment when things go well. So week one was great. Not only did the Raiders lose, they lost to the Broncos whose head coach, Mike Shanahan was unceremoniously dumped by Al Davis. Shanahan only went on to lead the divisional rival Broncos to TWO Super Bowl championships. Something Davis' subsequent coaches have not done with the near exception of Gruden, who came close but was fired the season before Oakland's last SB appearance against Gruden's 'Bucs. There's instant Karma for you.

So despite the fact that the Raiders won this week, there are still things to be cheery about. Davis is unhappy with his current head coach (what a surprise there!!!) and it seems just a matter of time before the fit hits the shan and the axe falls for Kiffen. It looks like the defense will have to rely heavily on the blitz to pressure the quarterback. So as soon as they face a quick-release QB, they are toast. The running game is the strength of the team, but if Kiffen is dismissed the Raiders will revert to form and go for bombs and forget about the running game. In other words chaos reigns in the Raider Nation.

My antipathy toward the Raiders runs so deep because of Al Davis. I think if Davis were out of the picture, I could actually like the team. But Davis has made that impossible. He insists on running the team his way which is his right, but he's often more wrong than right. He let go two very successful head coaches (Shanahan and Gruden) in favor of yes men who bowed to his every whim. He demanded and got a lot of money out of Oakland for moving back and then had the nerve to sue the city for not selling out the stadium as "promised". Nevermind that the Raiders were so bad that you could hardly pay people to go watch them.

Now Davis and company want Oakland to not only build them a new stadium, they want an entire shopping center! How dare they. Before the community gives them another handout, they have to give back to the community. That will never happen as long as Davis is in charge. His main concern is for number one. Everyone else can go to hell for all he cares. Oakland has better things to spend its limited resources on.

So Al, if you want to take your team to LA or wherever else, go right ahead. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.