Teams thomsen playoffs in al davis sucks

The current NBA playoff format is antiquated and unfair. Casey Michel
gives five reasons why it’s time for a change.

Contrary to what some may say out there, good sports writing still
exists. Ian Thomsen, the balding Sports Illustrated sage—he and
TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott should form a club—can usually be
counted on to donate his time toward sound NBA observations. His
writing in the magazine is some of the finest out there, but, as I am
a poor college student, si.com has become my bastion of Thomsen
musings.

So during an offseason whose highlight has—for me—been
Rudy Fernandez in-your-eyeing Dwight Howard, I decided to check out
Thomsen’s archives, scouring the links for any tidbits that may help
me in future discussion.

But as the capstone of last week’s commentary, Thomsen threw his
weight behind something which, as a Gen-Y’er and thus a purveyor
of equal opportunity, I simply cannot agree with—keeping the NBA
playoff format.

As a matter of full disclosure, I guess it’s necessary to point
out that, yes, there is a Blazers sign posted next to my door, but my
stance toward restructuring the playoffs was in no way affected by my
Portland partiality. Promise.

Therefore, since Thomsen so graciously gave us “,” I will
attempt to counter these arguments with a five-some of my own.

The MLB doesn’t do it. The NFL doesn’t do it. The NHL (if
anyone still cares) doesn’t do it. So why, my friends, should
the final participant in the Big Four deign to cobble all playoff
teams into one bracket?

Only a fool or a liar would claim that the March Madness, with the
possible exception of that lone play-in game, is a failure. From
Selection Sunday to the Final Four, the excitement of this lone
bracket is akin to the feeling Waterloo’s outcome brought
Britain.

The teams are dispersed evenly, without regard to conference
or—with the possible exception of the top seeds—locale.
Only the 65 best teams are welcomed into the pearly gates of the
Madness, and only the top will eventually find themselves lauded by
Digger Phelps and Bob Knight.

No, I am not saying that the NBA should mimic all the attributes of
the Greatest Spectacle on Earth—the less Dick Vitale, the better
for my eardrums. I’m just saying that The Administration should cull
March Madness’ best aspects and apply them to NBA playoffs.

As Thomsen says, a slight tweaking of the schedule would need to
happen in order for the “equality” aspect of this to work.
Stern has obviously shown that he is willing to shake things
up—relocating into six divisions just went down a couple years
ago, murmurs of European/Russian expansion continue to bubble and
fester, and the guy approved a team moving from a top-15 market
to—and I still can’t believe this is true—Oklahoma.

Granted, pooling all the teams would be a reversal of current trends,
but I never understood where this fixation with division winners came
from. Ok, well, maybe I do—more playoff games equate more money,
especially ticket prices that have gone up by more than double-digit
percentages in the last 10 years.

Baseball started the craze in 1995, and the other three soon followed
suit. Before you know it, Atlantic Division Champions banners joined
the rafters alongside the plethora of World Champion flags in Boston
Garden.

But if I could use the 2008 playoffs as Example A, the divisional
structure has created some strange, Twilight Zone-esque situations.
What kind of world is it where a higher seed—the
Jazz—cedes home-court advantage to a lower seed?

As the first-round series wound toward Game Six, the Utah-Houston
matchup had easily become the most intriguing competition out
West—if only because Houston would have hosted the deciding Game
Seven. Ian, this makes about as much sense as John McCain claiming he
invented the BlackBerry, doesn’t it?

The schedule of equality would no longer be weighted, as every team
would face the other, say, three times, for a grand total of 87 games.
Thomsen declares this method would never work because, among other
reasons, it would “ruin any hope of creating divisional or
regional rivalries.”

Really? If San Antonio and Dallas didn’t meet as often, that
rivalry would go the way of the telegraph? And are you saying that the
whims of carpetbaggers are suffice to ruining the I-5 and potential
Oden-Durant rivalries, but a sense of fairness isn’t?

Call me an idealist, but I don’t buy it. Regional rivalries will
always exist—look no further than the NL’s Brooklyn Dodgers’ and
the AL’s New York Yankees’ fights of yesteryear for proof that a glut
of regular season meetings don’t mean squat.

And don’t give me this “travel sucks” baloney. This
isn’t the post-Depression 1930s, and you are not the Boston Red
Sox catching the 9:30 train to St. Louis for a night game with the
Browns.

It is now the 21st century, a time in which a phone can turn into a TV
and anything is just a click away. As Tony Stark said in Iron Man, the
charter flights will wait on those flying, not vice versa, so quit
your whining.

Thomsen penned this article while the playoffs were in their infancy,
so he didn’t have the fortune of hindsight now available. Beyond
the claim that, based solely on record, Golden State and Portland
would have put up better fights than Atlanta and Philadelphia,
Thomsen’s claims of series being “better” or
“worse” is both trivial and irrational.

For example, he says that New Orleans vs. Cleveland would have been
“worse” than Cleveland-Washington or New Orleans-Dallas.
I’m not a betting man, but I can guarantee no one would take a
bathroom break in New Orleans Arena while LeBron James went toe-to-toe
with CP3.

And how did that Phoenix-San Antonio “whoever-wins-this-series-will-
win-the-West” struggle turn out? With the exception of the ESPN
Classic-worthy Game One, the Suns turned out to be terribly over-
hyped, and Steve Nash’s inability to properly dish the ball
meant that the series was sealed long before it was over.

Thomsen’s arbitrary opinions are null and void, and fail to
count on upstarts—like Philadelphia and Atlanta—putting up
a legitimate fight.

No one likes predictability in sports. Fans, sports writers, and Pete
Rose et al. would desert the realm of sports if Goliath always stomped
on David. Fortunately, the games’ intangible and capricious
nature means that no one—besides the 1919 Black Sox—knows
what the coda of the show will entail.

Thomsen is right in saying that “the NBA puts on the purest
tournament of the four major leagues”—but only in the
sense that 12 of the last 13 NBA champions have been one of the top
two of their conference. However, as we saw in 2007 with Baron’s
beard-led Warriors, anything can happen come postseason.

The “quirky” factor of the NBA will remain if the most
deserving teams are let into the playoffs, but when a team has put
forward the will, fortitude, and desire through 82 grueling games,
only to see its championship hopes go up in flames due to a line-in-
the-sand setup, something does not sit well.

Since “the most qualified teams usually advance through the
playoffs because that’s how the best-of-seven series format
works in the NBA,” why would it be so terrible to actually give
everyone a fair shot?

Ok, Thomsen may be correct on this one. At the end of the rainbow lies
a nice little lottery pick for those unfortunate teams whose bubbles
burst after 82 games. But, beyond the benefits for those one or two
teams, how does this make the league better in its current format?

When I was but a middle-schooler, a mid-NBA-season Sports
Illustratedarticle ran chronicling the rise of the West (for some
reason they decided to include a piece on Bonzi Wells, but
that’s beside the point). It’s not that hard to imagine a
lazy SIeditor recycling the story, replacing a couple names here and
there, and not worrying that the fans would even bat an eye.

Why? Because, despite the Danny Ainge’s pickpocketing of former
teammate Kevin McHale, the West is more dominant than its ever been,
with nearly nine 50-plus win teams. And who knows how many the Blazers
would have gotten with Greg Oden holding down the post?

The NFL and MLB have it right in this department, rewarding the worst
teams with the best picks. But karma had its way with both Memphis and
Boston in 2007—teams that obviously tanked as the season would
down—and gave Portland and Seattle/Oklahoma City the top picks
(although it’s debatable Miami would have picked Derrick Rose during
the 2008 draft).

But as the 2007-08 regular season entered its final throes, who could
have said the teams that came within a whisper of the playoffs
wouldn’t have landed the No. 1 pick once again? With Baron Davis,
Monta Ellis, and Michael Beasley on the team, the Warriors would
undoubtedly rocket into the playoffs, leaving yet another worthy West
squad at home during May.

Chicago, with a 1.7 percent chance of earning the pole position, took
on the role of spoiler—but those minuscule odds could have just
as easily gone toward the West.

Finally, after all is said and done, Thomsen’s No. 1 reason for
keeping the current format, the point that will surely sway any and
all readers to his side, is—the strength of the fans’
complaints?

Ok. I know we’ve been called a nation of whiners (thanks,
McCain’s economic adviser!), but Thomsen wants us to be louderabout
it?

This final “argument” is actually just rehashed points
from earlier bullets, with Thomsen claiming, “It’s better to
hear from passionate and occasionally enraged fans about the current
system than to imagine the ‘improved’ system that would
take its place.” Nothing concrete here—no suggestions,
postulations, or ideas for why the playoff format should not represent
equality.

The regular season wouldn’t become “non-
descript”—at least not anymore than it already
is—and to call the potential first-round matchups less
compelling is both arbitrary and, as evidenced by the lackluster
contests out West, simply not true.

As the 2008-09 season comes to fruition, it’s time for David
Stern to get his head out of Clay Bennett’s, um, grip (no need
for bad words here) and finally step up for the good of the game.

But you are wrong about PHI, they but up a great fight and was one of
the best match-ups in the entire playoffs.

I think the NBA needs to keep the playoff format as it is because it
places more emphasis on the conferences. You want teams to play other
teams in the playoffs who they are more familiar with, and who their
fans know better.

As a Celtics fan, I wanted to see them play Cleveland and Detroit
because I knew them better and the Celtics knew them better. I
wouldn’t want the C’s to play Portland; I barely know the players on
the Blazers. I know Atlanta, Cleveland, and Detroit, down to the
players on their bench, because the Celtics played them each three or
four times during the season.

Although I disagree with Philidelphia and your Nash bashing (see
Steven Resnick’s “Top 10 Point Guards), this was a great article. It
wasn’t fair that Boston didn’t have to play some of the dominant teams
in the West, and it’s not fair to the Warriors or Blazers when they
don’t make the playoffs but are clearly better than some teams in the
East. This system needs to be changed.

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The al davis oakland raiders kelly kiffin team

: Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly accepted responsibility
for his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, saying he
made a bad mistake.

“I just take it as lessons learned what not to do,” Kelly said
Wednesday. “I doubt if it will ever happen again, you know what I’m
saying. I just probably didn’t make the right decision. I just
probably should have left my car where it was.”

Kelly went out drinking Sunday night after the Raiders returned from a
road trip to Kansas City. He was booked at Oakland’s Glenn E. Dyer
Detention Facility on Monday and later released.

“We usually have a driver but that night late when I got over there,
that’s when I found out we didn’t have a driver,” he said. ” If I knew
that beforehand, I probably would have got somebody to come pick me up
at the house and we wouldn’t even be talking about this right now.”

Kelly acknowledged that he is under more scrutiny this season after
signing a seven-year contract in the offseason that was worth up to
$50.5 million and included $18.125 million in guaranteed money.

“He just was like, ‘you can’t take that risk,'” Kelly said. “Don’t
even do it. He understood. … It was a dumb decision on my own. If I
could go back I would have probably just left my car at the hotel and
came back and got it the next day.”

Depending on the outcome of the case, Kelly could face punishment from
the NFL. Kiffin said the team would allow the NFL to handle the
discipline.

“He feels bad for the organization and all the fans and the rest of
his team,” Kiffin said. “It’s a mistake for him to learn from and it’s
just a reminder of what we talk about all the time to our team about
making the right decisions. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the right
decision. He’ll learn from it and, hopefully, other guys won’t make
the same mistake.”

Kelly’s arrest was only the latest distraction for the Raiders, who
are also dealing with the speculation about Kiffin’s job security.
Reports surfaced over the weekend that owner Al Davis was on the verge
of firing his second-year coach and no one from the organization has
told Kiffin that those are untrue.

Davis has not made a move yet and Kiffin is preparing the team for its
game Sunday in Buffalo. Kiffin said he has not talked to Davis in two
weeks and does not know what his status is.

“It shows a lot about our group because if you had some different
guys, they could take advantage of the situation, all the stuff in the
media and the paper, all the reports from our front office that
there’s going to be a firing yesterday and today, all that stuff,” he
said. “They could take advantage of that situation. ‘We’re not
listening to you. We’ve been told, according to the paper, from our
front office, that you’re being fired. It’s just a matter of when.’
So, it shows a lot about our guys.”

As the team returned to practice following two days off, Kiffin did
address the topic with his players, telling them to focus only on what
they can control.

“I really don’t pay attention,” Kelly said. “That really is not my
business so I worry about whoever I’m lined up in front of. Because
the business between them, that’s their business. I can’t worry about
that.”

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The al davis raiders walker offseason kiffin

(09-06) 16:13 PDT — Call Javon Walker overweight during the
offseason, and the Raiders’ wide receiver won’t mutter a word. Say he
tried to quit in the middle of training camp, and he won’t dispute the
point. Wonder out loud what really happened when he got robbed and
beaten in Las Vegas, and he turns a deaf ear.

Tell Walker he has something to prove this season, and those are
fighting words. The way he sees it, criticism coming from fans, media
and coaches – former and current alike – is unwarranted and unfounded
on every level.

“They don’t look at stuff realistically,” Walker said. “I say it so
ya’ll can write about it and they can read it.

“If Lane (Kiffin) wants to be hard on me, that’s fine because I’ve
always had coaches be hard on me. I know what I can do. Shoot, he seen
me on tape. He seen me in full effect last year.”

Walker is referring to when he ripped the Raiders with eight catches
for 101 yards in a Week 2 game at Denver. That gave Walker 220
receiving yards in two weeks.

The performance caught the attention of Raiders owner Al Davis. It
served as a genesis to Davis personally negotiating the deal – six
years, $55 million, $16 million guaranteed – that brought Walker to
Oakland.

That’s also the last time Walker played a game with healthy knees. He
underwent surgery two weeks later and rushed back to catch seven
passes in the final five games.

Ever since then, Walker believes people have wrongfully questioned his
knees, his talent and his mind. Never mind that he admits to trying to
retire last month, only for Davis to talk him into staying. Forget two
knee surgeries in three years, and how Broncos coach Mike Shanahan
suggested microfracture surgery was in his future.

Walker said he is misunderstood. When the lights are on, everyone will
see that the old No. 84 is back, even if he doesn’t think he has to
show anyone anything after seven NFL seasons with two 1,000-yard
seasons and one Pro Bowl appearance.

“It’s funny when you’re listening and you’re reading … last year
wasn’t a down year,” Walker said. “I was third in the league in
receptions and yards but I got hurt. I think people forget that. It’s
not like a decreased talent or your plays have dropped.

“Maybe it wasn’t productive in other people’s eyes as far as catching
the ball, but it was productive in getting other people open, being
there as a decoy.”

Kiffin demands more than a decoy, especially at these prices. Walker
was signed to be the No. 1 receiver for quarterback JaMarcus Russell,
who needs a downfield threat to match his strong right arm.

Kiffin has been brutally honest about Walker, and sometimes just plain
brutal, going back to the start of organized team activities.

“Javon has had a tough offseason,” Kiffin said. “He was heavy during
the offseason. His altercation in Las Vegas and then coming back. And
then he has missed some practices due to injury. So it has not been a
very good offseason.”

Walker said he wasn’t overweight, that he has been 220 pounds in
offseason training his entire career. He wonders why that’s such a
problem now, and why no one talked to him about if before going public
with any concerns.

He remains just as put-off at how the Broncos treated him. He doesn’t
think the team diagnosed his knee injury correctly and that the
Broncos didn’t appreciate the way he returned from surgery last year
and played hurt – all to help the team win games.

Shanahan refused to talk about Walker in a phone interview, saying,
“Well, I’m not going to go getting into those types of details. I just
wish Javon the best and, uh, leave it at that.”

“I think he felt like he was kind of pushed out,” Broncos quarterback
Jay Cutler said. “He feels like he has something to show this team, so
I’m sure we’ll get his best shot.”

Walker hopes so. He has been limited in practice all week with a
slight hamstring pull but practiced at full speed Saturday and is
expected to start Monday night.

Briefly:Darren McFadden practiced as a kick returner last week.
Johnnie Lee Higgins is the starting kick returner but Kiffin said
McFadden remains an option. … Defensive end Kalimba Edwards, who
plays on passing downs, practiced Saturday for the first time all week
after injuring his groin. He is expected to play Monday night.

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Al davis raiders’s season rams kiffin

WITH FAR MORE days remaining in this season than have passed, it’s a
little odd there already is so much angst in so many places.

Yes, we are only a month into this NFL season, and there are two teams
poised to fire their coaches, two teams with fingers poised over the
switch, two teams tangled in a web of disarray, bad public relations
and with little public comment from the people who make the decisions
about any of it.

Keep your eyes peeled, though, because the Oakland Raiders and St.
Louis Rams share the same bye week — a week from Sunday — and there
are many around the league who believe both team’s coaches could be
fired within hours of completing their on-field business this Sunday.

Coach Lane Kiffin, who some in the league say is scheduled to earn $2
million this year and $2 million next year, doesn’t want to quit a
team that so obviously wants to fire him. If he quits, he surrenders
his salary.

If he’s fired, the Raiders pay. Or at least Kiffin and the Raiders
hire attorneys and fight it out for the cash, with both sides waving
Kiffin’s signed contract around.

But owner Al Davis hasn’t talked to Kiffin directly during the regular
season, and some around the team say the silence stretches back to
training camp.

Kiffin tried to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan in the offseason
and was overruled by Davis. So, Ryan stayed, and now those two aren’t
exactly texting “BFF” back and forth to each other these days.

All this from a team that has lost at least 11 games in each of the
previous five seasons.

This from a team that has used the word “excellence” as part of its
calling card for years, when in reality it has been quite some time
since it even reached the level of not too bad.

For his part, though, Kiffin is almost in a no-lose position. The team
has played hard enough this season that, should Davis finally go
public with his displeasure with Kiffin, no other general manager or
team owner who might be interested in hiring Kiffin later would ever
hold what happened in Oakland against him.

In St. Louis, things are bad enough for coach Scott Linehan that his
wife was seen crying after the 37-13 loss Sunday at Seattle.

It’s unlikely Kristen Linehan knew exactly what her husband was
getting into when he took the job, but the Rams have been known all
over the league for their organizational infighting since Mike Martz
was the team’s coach.

When Martz was fired, there were people with the Rams who portrayed
the mercurial Martz as the problem, but the problems certainly run
deeper than that.

The Rams are last, or headed that way, in virtually every statistical
category the league has to offer. They also are facing more than a
little public questioning after the Broncos’ 3-0 start over why the
Rams were the ones who let the Broncos move up in the 2006 draft so
they could take Jay Cutler with the 11th pick.

The Rams then took cornerback Tye Hill in their slot. And he just
happens to be one of the players Linehan has benched in recent days as
he tries to save his job.

But Linehan also made the official panic-setting-in move when he
benched quarterback Marc Bulger on Tuesday. Bulger hasn’t accomplished
much behind center this season, other than trying to survive behind an
offensive line that so far has been far more screen door than line.

Bulger is 31 years old and battered, having been sacked 97 times in
his past 31 starts. He’s also the guy the Rams signed to a $65 million
contract extension that now includes a guaranteed $7 million salary
for this season, an atmospheric number for a backup.

His replacement? The one Linehan has selected to help turn the
epically big tide in all of this? Trent Green, who turned 38 in July
and has missed significant time recently with concussions.

Linehan also now looks like he’s throwing the mess in Bulger’s lap
since he has benched a quarterback who has indeed had some wobbles
this year but also currently has a higher passer rating than Peyton
Manning, David Garrard, Derek Anderson, Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Schaub
or Carson Palmer.

The Raiders (1-2) face the San Diego Chargers on Sunday before heading
into their bye week. The Chargers have won nine consecutive games
against the Raiders, dating to the 2003 season, when Bill Callahan was
still the Oakland coach.

The Rams face 3-0 Buffalo on Sunday before they, too, head into their
bye. They haven’t won a game since Dec. 2 of last season, haven’t won
two games in a row since November.

They are just two teams who appear poised to be first in at least one
thing this year — firing their coaches before handing the broom to
somebody else to clean it all up.

Add your voice to those of many Hawks fans from all over the globe!
and bone up for the season with other knowledgeable fanatics!

The al davis raiders kiffin offensive coach

OAKLAND, California (AFP) — The Oakland Raiders fired Lane
Kiffin on Tuesday, ending his 20-month stint as head coach of the
National Football League club.

Kiffin, who signed a 3.5 million dollar five-year contract early last
year, could be replaced by Raiders offensive co-ordinator Greg Knapp
or offensive line coach Tom Cable.

Paul Hackett, an advance scout with the team and a former offensive
co-ordinator in the league, is also reportedly among the potential
successors.

The firing ended a tumultuous tenure for the 33-year-old Kiffin, who
became the youngest head coach in NFL history when he was hired.

The former offensive co-ordinator for US college’s USC Trojans, Kiffin
guided the Raiders to a 4-12 record in his first season after the team
won two of its first four games. Oakland had gone 2-14 in the previous
season under Art Shell.

Kiffin reportedly was on the verge of being fired three times in the
past three weeks by enigmatic owner Al Davis, who wrote up a
resignation letter in the offseason for Kiffin to sign – only to have
the coach refuse.

Kiffin davis coach in al davis raiders

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis finally pulled the trigger Tuesday and
fired embattled second-year head coach Lane Kiffin while naming
offensive line coach Tom Cable as interim head coach.

Davis fired Kiffin without pay via the telephone and explained the
reasons behind the firing and addressed several issues he had with his
former coach in a Tuesday press conference.

“I called Lane and told him that he no longer is the head coach of the
Oakland Raiders, and I was dismissing him with cause. I just couldn’t
go on much longer with what I would call the propaganda and lying that
had been going on for weeks, months, a year,” said Davis, who did not
allow Kiffin to meet with the team prior to his dismissal.

The saga may very well continue well past Tuesday, with Kiffin’s
remaining salary an issue that could lead to him filing a grievance
with the league.

Davis went out of his way to say that Kiffin’s firing was not
performance- based, because he knew he had hired an inexperienced
coach in Kiffin. In the press conference, Davis portrayed Kiffin as a
liar and malcontent, accusing the former head coach of attacking
players publicly — which, combined with multiple other instances led
to Davis’ action.

“I wanted to make it work,” Davis said. “I’m not firing him for
anything other than cause.

“It’s not a personality conflict. It’s flat-out lying and bringing
disgrace to the organization,” Davis continued. “(Kiffin) took a young
coach that criticized him, suspended him, and didn’t tell me about it.
I didn’t think I could win anymore based on what he’s done to the
staff. It didn’t have anything to do with winning, (Kiffin) is a flat-
out liar.”

Davis had been contemplating moving on from Kiffin since the offseason
when he reportedly prepared a resignation letter for Kiffin to sign —
something Davis took issue with Tuesday, putting the alleged letter on
an overhead projector and reading selected passages. Davis said he
drew up a letter in the event Kiffin decided to resign.

“I never sent a resignation letter,” Davis explained. “After the
season (Kiffin) said he didn’t want (defensive coordinator) Rob Ryan.
I said ‘We’re going to keep him.’ I didn’t want to change the entire
defensive staff, and (Kiffin) said ‘I can’t win with this guy. I can’t
win with this team.’

“I said ‘If you don’t think you can win, resign.’ He was after a job
in college that he didn’t get (Arkansas). Lane was upset about it and
went after some other job. I said ‘Lane, if you’re going to resign, I
will certainly let you go after this season.'”

Reports then surfaced that Kiffin was gone after the Raiders suffered
an embarrassing season-opening 41-14 drubbing at the hands of
division-rival Denver.

“For weeks we’ve heard on TV that there has been no communication
between Al Davis and Lane Kiffin except before the Denver game.
Totally untrue. We talked several times,” Davis said.

But, Oakland rebounded with an impressive 23-8 win at Kansas City in
Week 2, giving Kiffin a reprieve. Consecutive losses to the Buffalo
Bills and San Diego Chargers dropped the Raiders to 1-3 and put Kiffin
back on the hot seat.

Davis’ decision to elevate Cable to interim head coach represents the
fifth head coach in the past six seasons for the Silver and Black.

“I wanted to make it work. I didn’t want to admit I made a mistake. It
hurts because I picked the guy, I picked the wrong guy,” Davis said of
Kiffin.

Cable, 43, joined the Raiders as offensive line coach prior to the
2007 season after a one-year stint in the same position for the
Atlanta Falcons. From 2004-05, Cable was both the offensive
coordinator and offensive line coach at UCLA. His only prior head
coaching experience was from 2001-03 at the University of Idaho, where
he also played four years as an offensive lineman.

“We have a good football team, make no mistake about it,” Cable said.
“We are moving forward and will take this football team where it needs
to go. We have a good staff, good players; it’s up to us to win
football games.”

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will take over the play-
calling, now that Kiffin is gone, and will work side-by-side with
Cable.

Kiffin guided the Raiders to a 4-12 mark in his first season with the
club in 2007.

Prior to leading the Raiders, Kiffin, the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers
defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, was an offensive coach under head
coach Pete Carroll at USC from 2001 to 2006, with the last two seasons
spent as the offensive coordinator for the Trojans.

The al davis picture kiffin season davis

Take this offseason for example. The defensive coordinator was fired
until the owner said he wasn’t. The head coach wanted to be fired and
the owner wanted him to resign, so Lane Kiffin ended up back for a
second season. Former players criticized the franchise as soon as they
landed with other teams. And the $55 million wide receiver got beat up
and robbed in Las Vegas, then wanted to retire in training camp before
being talked out of it by the owner.

This type of dizzying string of events has become so familiar around
owner Al Davis’ once-proud franchise that players have learned to tune
it all out.

“I tried to stay off the Internet and just in my experience here, with
all the things that have gone on, I really don’t listen to the talk or
what people expect or anything like that,” said running back Justin
Fargas, entering his sixth year in Oakland. “I just try to concentrate
on what I can do to improve as a player. That’s not going to change,
this is my approach.”

That approach might not be easy this season as the feud between Kiffin
and Davis that became public in January has simmered all offseason and
into training camp.

It began almost as soon as last season ended, with reports that
defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had been fired over a philosophical
difference with Kiffin. That was followed by a statement from the team
that Ryan in fact would be staying, as Davis made it clear that he did
not want to let his defensive coordinator go.

A few weeks later, came the reports that Kiffin asked to be fired if
he couldn’t pick his coaching staff and Davis responded by sending his
coach a letter of resignation to sign.

The game of chicken ended with both sides blinking and Kiffin coming
back for a second season despite a strained relationship with his
owner.

“We have a working relationship, and I think we have the same goal,
and that’s to get this team to win,” Kiffin said.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, left, is back for a second season despite a
strained relationship with owner Al Davis.

But if the team’s poor record the past five seasons and the comments
from former Raiders this offseason are any indication, nothing is
working in Oakland.

Warren Sapp told the St. Petersburg Times his time with the Raiders
was as “dark as a black hole.” Chris Carr said it was difficult to win
in Oakland because there was “so much other stuff going on there.”
Stuart Schweigert talked about “a thousand-pound bear” being lifted
off him when he was released by the team, and Jerry Porter said being
a Raider had become a “burden.”

“What they’re discussing, I can’t change, so that subject is what it
is,” Kiffin said. “I control what I can control and get us as good as
we can get with what I can control. I don’t have control of that.”

That’s been Kiffin’s mantra all summer as he has questioned the team’s
personnel decisions, which have always been under Davis’ purview.

Kiffin has been especially critical of receiver Javon Walker, calling
him out of shape during offseason workouts and singling him out for
much of camp. The $55 million contract given to Walker this offseason
was part of a big spending spree by Davis as he hopes to win his first
Super Bowl in a quarter century.

But Walker’s tenure has been marred by the robbery in Las Vegas in
June and then his desire to retire early in training camp. Davis
talked him out of it, but Kiffin has remained critical of his
receiver’s performance.

Davis has not spoken to reporters this summer, leaving Kiffin as the
public voice of the franchise. But it’s clear Kiffin has been trying
to distance himself from some of the moves the team made. It remains
to be seen if all this talk will cost Kiffin his job before the season
even ends.

Davis has only fired a coach during the season once before, getting
rid of Mike Shanahan in 1989, four games into his second season. With
a bye after Week 4 this season, Kiffin could be in danger of following
Shanahan if Oakland doesn’t get off to a quick start.

“When you take this job you realize who the owner is and you realize
most guys don’t last really long so that is what it is,” Kiffin said.
“If you sit there and worry about that and you think about that you’re
not doing the best that you can for your team.”

Coaching longevity has been rare around the Raiders. Since the team
returned from Los Angeles in 1995, Jon Gruden is the only coach to
last more than two seasons.

Joe Bugel and Art Shell each were fired after only one season, while
Mike White, Bill Callahan and Norv Turner each got two years on the
job.

That revolving door has helped keep the Raiders in a downward spiral
since they lost the Super Bowl to Gruden and Tampa Bay 48-21 in
January 2003.

Oakland has a 19-61 record since that game, the fewest wins in the NFL
in that span. It’s even a worse record than the first five seasons of
any of the past four expansion teams, which is remarkable considering
the slide started with a Super Bowl roster.

It took until midway through Davis’ 17th season with the Raiders for
the team to lose as many games as it has lost in the past five.

There was Callahan calling his players “the dumbest team in America”
in 2003, linebacker Bill Romanowski smashing teammate Marcus Williams’
face with a punch in practice earlier that season, Randy Moss quitting
on his team during his two-year stint in Oakland, and Shell benching
and then suspending Porter for insubordination.

“A lot of my friends and family are Oakland fans, so I don’t want to
have to listen to the negative talk,” said safety Gibril Wilson, who
left the Super Bowl champion Giants to sign with Oakland in the
offseason. “It’s just very important to just get back to winning, to
get back to the Oakland mystique, the silver and black. … That’s
what we need to get back to.”

Jim thome stats’s sox white why

What is the long-term future of Clayton Richard? –, Sycamore, Ill.
The future is very promising for Clayton. He throws hard, has a
deceptive motion and gets a lot of outs early in counts when he’s not
striking out batters. The important factors for him are fielding his
position much better and learning to pace himself. But I think he’s
got a bright future with the , who did a great job of scouting and
drafting a former Michigan quarterback whose baseball skills are
starting to shine. Next year who plays center, second, first, third
and who’s shoring up the rotation in that ever important fifth spot?
–Dave K., Brooklyn A.J. is signed through 2010; Konerko has a no-
trade clause. That takes care of catcher and first. I wouldn’t rule
out moving to shortstop. I think Clayton Richard has the early lead
for the fifth spot.

Mark, I know you have been asked this many times since the trade but
what in the world where the Sox thinking when they got Griffey? Other
than an occasional hit he is an easy out most of the time. He can’t
run and he makes the Sox already bad outfield look absolutely pitiful.
It was obvious from his play with the Reds this year that his career
was over. What is this love affair that Williams has with this guy? He
tried to get him in 2005 when he was having agood year and the day
after the deal fell through Griffey got injured and was out for the
year, AGAIN! What a disaster that would have been. Did the Sox even
watch this guy play this year or do they only watch video of Griffey
in his Seattle days? –Fred, Denver Well, the Griffey deal looks more
important now with Quentin’s injury. What’s the story behind being in
the audience at the Oprah show? –James, San Diego His wife asked him
to attend, and like a good husband, he obliged. What are the chances
of the White Sox trading Thome in the offseason and maybe signing a
guy like Milton Bradley to rotate with Dye in the outfield and DH? I
like his fire and he’s not a disruption like he used to be. Also he
could bring to the White Sox something they haven’t had since .
Lastly, who will be the White Sox starting third basemen next year?
I’ve heard that it won’t be Crede or Fields. Would the White Sox be
able to pull off a Garrett Atkins trade with Colorado? –Matthew
Takach, St. Charles, Ill. Thome is close to having his 2009 contract
vest, and that would mean his no-trade clause would remain in effect.
Assuming the Ozzie Ball talk in 2005 wasn’t just lip-service, why has
Kenny built a slow moving long ball team? –Kevin Gertsen, Marion,
Iowa The idea was actually to have more players who work high counts
(Swisher, Cabrera) and get on base more frequently (Swisher, Thome) so
the guys hitting behind them could drive them in. That’s why the
runners in scoring position stat is so important to this team, as well
as home runs with runners on base. Mark, I don’t think you can but try
to convince me that the Sox didn’t drop the ball when they didn’t put
a claim on . For Boston to get him, the Sox had to pass. Sure, being
in the division would of cost more but why not at least try? Worst
case scenario is the Indians keep him.–Mike, Orland Park, Ill. Bottom
line is that Cleveland wasn’t going to make a deal with the White Sox
unless it swayed heavily in their favor. The Sox were going to take
the same stance last year in any deal involving to the Cubs. Why help
a division contender or city rival unless it’s going to help you
overwhelmingly?

The tim brown nfl holt going season

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Rams wide receiver Torry Holt embraces the
challenge of going against one of the NFL’s best secondaries in the
opening game of the season.

Holt and the rest of the Rams’ receivers will be put to the test on
Sunday by a Philadelphia Eagles secondary that includes a trio of big-
time cornerbacks and perennial Pro Bowl free safety Brian Dawkins.

“Big challenge,” Holt said. “You know I was talking to (Rams
cornerback) Ron Bartell throughout the course of practice, and we got
on the subject of Philly’s defensive backs. They are a good secondary.
A group that has been together for a while, so they are going to
challenge you. They are going to get in your face and they are going
to hit you.

“At the same time, they are going to pressure you and see how you are
going to handle the pressure out there in Philly with that loud crowd.
We definitely have to have our head up, ears pointed and eyes focused
in on what is going on.”

The Eagles also brought in cornerback Asante Samuel, signing the
former New England Patriot and one of the prize free agents of 2008 to
a six-year, $57 million deal, during the offseason. They also have
cornerback Sheldon Brown and cornerback Lito Sheppard, a Pro Bowl
selection in 2005 and 2007 who is unhappy after losing his starting
job to Brown and failing to receive a new contract.

“Samuel was a Pro Bowl guy,” Holt said. “Brown is a press guy who
likes to get in your face and can run and will challenge you at the
line of scrimmage.

“Sheppard has his little contract dispute, so he’s going to be a
little angry. We have to be leery of that. He’s going to come out and
probably take a shot at a couple of guys. That’s cool, but it will be
a challenge all the way around.”

Holt said Dawkins, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, anchors the
secondary from his spot at free safety.

“Dawkins, I think, is the spearhead of that defense, point blank,”
Holt said. “We have our hands full.”

After enduring the disappointing 2007 season and a long offseason,
Holt is ready to get the 2008 season started.

“I hate to go back to last year, but it was a long year,” Holt said.
“The offseason was pretty long, a new coaching staff, getting things
changed, like Al (Saunders) was saying, changing the culture of how we
do things.

“It is a process, but guys worked hard through OTAs and they worked
hard through training camp and here we are. Hopefully, things will pay
off for us.”

Asked what he was expecting from the Rams this season, Holt said he
was going to reserve comment until after the team’s season opener.

“We’ll see on Sunday,” Holt said. “I’m not saying I don’t have a feel
for the team, that’s not it. This is a new team, new guys, new
coaching system, new feel, new confidence. We still don’t know.

“Preseason kind of gives you a little bit of a gauge of who you are,
but it’s still not the real thing. When the bullets start flying, you
start to see everybody’s true colors.”

Holt, who was nagged by a balky knee last season, said he felt healthy
going into the season opener.

“I feel cool, I feel good,” Holt said. “I feel a lot better than what
I did last year at this time. Last year, Week 1, I got myself ready,
but there was still a little bit of uncertainty. I didn’t know quite
how I was going to hold up.

“This year I feel a little more confident … way more confident than
I felt last year.”

Holt has eight consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. If he gets
1,000 yards this season, he’ll tie Tim Brown for the second most in
NFL history, and he’ll be only two 1,000-yard seasons behind record
holder Jerry Rice.

Asked if he had thought about changing his name like Cincinnati’s Chad
Johnson, who will be officially called ” Chad Ocho Cinco,” which
stands for his uniform No. 85 in Spanish,

“My name is Torry Jabar Holt,” Holt said. “I’ll let Chad handle that
department, and I’ll play and try to help my football team win some
games.”

The tim brown football bumpus brown sunday

The former Seattle rock star kicker was loudly and passionately booed
by his former fans Sunday as the Seahawks drubbed his new team, St.
Louis, 37-13.

From pre-game warmups to getting pelted with peanut shells as he
jogged into the locker room at the end of the game, Brown was booed
with every move he made.

“A lot of the Seahawks guys were like, ‘I’ve never heard somebody get
booed so bad,'” he said.

Brown became enemy No. 1 among Seattle fans when he deserted to the
Seahawks’ division rival in the offseason for a $14.2 million, five-
year contract that included a $4 million signing bonus, the league’s
largest for a kicker.

Once wildly cheered for game-winning kicks and open-field tackles,
Brown drew nothing but cascades of booing on Sunday.

“I don’t know what to tell you to explain it,” Brown said. “I wasn’t
surprised by any level of booing. I was hoping for 50-50. We were
expecting full out, but we were hoping for 50-50.”

Despite the constant harassment, Brown was perfect on both of his
field goal attempts, hitting from 43 and 29 yards. He also made sure
to talk with all of his former teammates at some point.

“They’re football guys. They understand the business of this game,”
Brown said. “None of them have got any hard feeling. We miss each
other, but that was the extent of it.”

BUMPS TD: Michael Bumpus broke rule No. 1 when scoring your first NFL
touchdown: he forgot to grab the ball.

Bumpus’ 10-yard scoring catch came as part of Seattle’s 17-point first
quarter in the 37-13 win on Sunday. He finished with two catches for
29 yards eight days after being signed off the practice squad.

Bumpus initially appeared open about the 5-yard line, but Hasselbeck
did not have a clear path to throw the ball. Bumpus stayed with his
route, and Hasselbeck threaded the pass between two defenders.

“He put the ball low where only I could get it and I got in the zone,”
he said.

Bumpus did have one bad play, muffing a punt early in the second
quarter that led to the Rams’ first field goal. Bumpus continued to
return punts afterward.

QUICK HITS: Seattle stayed relatively healthy Sunday, the only injury
being a tweaked hamstring by offensive guard Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack.
Coach Mike Holmgren said Womack was OK. St. Louis’ only injuries were
a sprained lower leg by Antonio Pittman and a sprained knee by
offensive lineman Richie Incognito. Coach Scott Linehan didn’t believe
either injury was serious. … The win was Holmgren’s 171st in his
career, tying him with former Washington coach Joe Gibbs for 10th all-
time. … Seattle has now won seven straight over St. Louis, tying the
franchise record for most consecutive wins over one team.