Monday, September 22, 2008

Why are the Raiders so BAD?

Why are the Raiders so bad?

You know, it is hard for me to sit here and throw darts at one of my favorite teams. I used to live in California, and the Raiders was the first team I started to like of ALL team sports. I was always a fan of the Raiders and probably will continue, but I cannot separate the other end of this relationship.

Why are the Oakland Raiders so bad? I am blogging on this based on the imminent threat that owner Al Davis is probably going to fire Lane Kiffin probably today…as some sources say. Today I was watching some sports television and they were talking about the Raider situation. I was watching a show on ESPN and they had some guys debating whether this move to fire Kiffin was legit or needed.

I was kinda surprised that nobody was siding with the coach…they all went on Al Davis’ side.

What part of HISTORY were they watching?

They always tell us in school to learn your history or else you are doomed to repeat it…ever since the Raiders went to the Superbowl in 2002, they have consistently repeated history by failing…and doing it MISERABLY.

Yeah, I know I am a Raider fan, but my goodness, can’t people see where the real problem lies? It’s not the coach…it is the owner!

Sometimes owners get to caught up in their own power that they forget how to delegate…isn’t that what a coach is to an NFL team…delegated power from the owners of the teams. Otherwise, Al Davis should just come on down to the field and coach these teams himself.

Again, understand that I am a Raiders fan, but I want my team to win just as much as those guys who dress up in those Road Warrior costumes too. But we keep killing the messenger when he is only delivering the message….take up the problems with the person who wrote that message.

I personally think that those guys on ESPN on “First Take” have totally ignored the history of the Oakland Raiders. Why don’t somebody ask Warren Sapp why he decided to retire…probably had something to do with the fact that the last team he was on, the Raiders, were so poorly prepared that it was a joke.

(I don’t want to put words in Sapp’s mouth…he’s one of my favorite defensive players).

So why are the Raiders so bad? With the current coach apparently on the block (chopping block), you have to wonder if what Al Davis is doing is the right thing, and if it will help the team get better. To me, the answer to both are the same…NO.

Has anybody been looking at the HISTORY of the Raiders, and why they have consistently done so poorly? I cannot possibly tell an owner how to run his business, but even the richest of people need to understand that if you are not willing to allow your people to DO THEIR JOB, you are almost always guaranteed to fail.

Even back in the early 90’s when Art Shell was the coach, there was always rumors that Shell never ran the team like a real coach because Al Davis was always hanging over his shoulder like a vulture.

The Raiders have had a lot of problem not because of players, but because the owner has not allowed the game of FOOTBALL to evolve. The way he saw things back in the 60’s and 70’s and even the 80’s are gone, never, ever to return. He has to allow the people he hire to implement the things he hired them for…not to be his puppet. I think the Raider’s failure has been based primarily on that simple fact. Al Davis is not a genius in calling plays…let somebody else do that.

You hire a coach to be the leader of a TEAM…not a puppet of the owner. When owners cannot separate that, they become too involved and actually become a cancer to the very product they want to prosper. The history of the Raiders over the last 30 years has been an excellent example.

Those guys on ESPN kept talking about how great the Raiders were only 6 years ago… but what happened during that time? WHY where they “great”? Was it because of Al Davis? No. Sure he had a great hand in it, let’s not be totally ignorant. But no Superbowl was ever won by an owner…it was won by a coach who guided a team… not an owner who called all the shots.

Consider this timeline:

Raiders for many years prior was not very good. In about 1998 that Al Davis hired Jon Gruden. The Raiders were NOT that good, but what did Gruden do? He gave the Raiders two 8-8 records in his first 2 years…and what happened on his third year?

12-4 in 2000, losing to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Ravens. The next year they went 10-6 but lost to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Patriots on the now famous “tuck rule”…

(many Raider fans, including myself, have performed the Jedi-mind trick to forget that terrible incident…)

So what Jon Gruden did in 4 years was bring EXCELLENCE to the Raiders. So what happened?

Ask Al Davis…the owner who apparently didn’t think Gruden was worth paying more money for. How can a guy give you a 40-28 record, averaging 10 wins a year, and you don’t think he is “worthy” or more money?

One of other problems was that Al Davis started forcing himself on the team, wanting more of a downfield passing game than the “screen passing” that Gruden was using. Al Davis wanted to run it the way HE wanted it, and it created a difference of opinion with the coach.

This is where the problems lie folks…some people just can’t leave well enough alone.

The Raiders were a very good team in the AFC when Jon Gruden was there, and they kicked him out…rather Al Davis did. Now you can tell me all you want about how Al Davis is the owner and can do what he wants, I won’t argue…but everything that has happened to the Raiders is HIS fault.

Call it karma if you want, or retribution, but what happened the very next year, after the Raiders felt it was too good for Gruden?

Ever heard of an event called SUPERBOWL XXXVII?

The Raiders (on a team built by Gruden) lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (then coached by Gruden) by a score of 48-21. The coach Al Davis didn’t think was worth the money beat him into the ground.

And from then to now, the Raiders have done…NOTHING. This is where those guys on ESPN picked up, acting like it was the genius ONLY of Al Davis that got them to the Superbowl that year, when the fact was that it was with a lot of help from Jon Gruden. In fact, Jon also understood the importance of support when he publicly acknowledged Tony Dungy for building the Buccs that helped Gruden win that Superbowl.

See, that’s something Al Davis does not understand…respect and support.

Those guys on ESPN kept talking about “loyalty” with Al Davis…and where has that gotten them? Sitting in the dark cellars of the AFC. And let’s get this straight too, loyalty is not a one way street! I love the Raiders with all my heart, and if I had to buy two hats with NFL teams, one would be the Raiders (the other the Saints since I was born in New Orleans). But to me, the Raiders organization is a complete failure…and it starts at the top.

Since the Raiders lost that Superbowl, they have not SEEN six wins a year. Even before the 90’s it seemed apparent that the Raiders didn’t really allow coaches to do their thing. Most people know about the Art Shell days and the rumors about who was really in charge. But remember as well that when Gruden left, Bill Callahan was the coach and that year they went to the Superbowl they were 11-5. The very next year, they fell pitifully to 4-12...and Callahan was gone. Only two years…what happened? Then Norv Turner got the job and went 5-11 and then 4-12...and then HE was replaced. Where is the consistency folks? How much of this was based on the players, or the coach, or maybe, just maybe the owner whining like a baby because he can’t have his way right NOW.

Then of course we see that Al Davis hires Art Shell again, but that only lasts for one year and the record was terrible at 2-14. Tell me again who is supposed to be the leader of the team? The owner, or the coach who manages those players? Al Davis is proving time and time again that an owner who has both his hands in the cookie jar cannot possibly create a winning team or a winning mentality.

So then we come to Lane Kiffin, and the two years he has had the job…and likely to be his last. And the problem I see is that even after a close loss to the Bills, Al Davis isn’t happy at all. He wants to be in control of the Raiders, but he does not want to accept responsibility when they lose. That’s why he has coaches, to take the blame for HIS mistakes.

The sad thing is that it really looks like the Raiders have a decent offense. If Al Davis would just shut up and let his coach do what he paid them to do, they would win some games. It’s almost like Al Davis is racing against time, since we know his health isn’t so great, and he wants to win a Superbowl NOW before it gets too late.

I think maybe he ought to take a page out of Jerry Jones book, maybe he’d win a Superbowl or two by now. I think the Dallas Cowboys owner learned a lesson in humility twice. Once when the Cowboys was on the top of the world winning Superbowls with Jimmy Johnson, but started getting a little jealous that Johnson was getting too much attention rather than himself. It’s absolutely amazing how these people who have so much money can’t have a slice of humble pie and enjoy the fruits of it, but Jones had problems with Johnson and it caused him to leave. Even though they did win a Superbowl with Barry Switzer, it was purely based on what Jimmy Johnson built. After that last Superbowl, the Cowboys have not been there since. In fact up until this year they can’t even get out of the first round of the playoffs (although that should change this year).

Sometimes NFL owners need to learn to just leave success alone.

Jerry Jones also learned this when Emmitt Smith refused to play because Jones didn’t want to pay him his worth. Dallas lost their first two games of that year and there was a report that Charles Haley was so ticked off he took his helmet and smashed it into the wall, demanding (with an explicative word inserted) to get Emmit Smith on the team.

Jerry Jones may have realized that to WIN you must pay your players what they are worth. So shortly afterwards he signed Emmit Smith…if the records are correct, I believe the WON the Superbowl that year.

Al Davis has not learned humility, and he reminds me so much of the character “Monty Burns” from the “Simpsons”. The rich old man who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. And in the cartoon he is always flanked by his loyal “Mr.Smithers”…

(no jokes please)

It seems so much that Al Davis is looking for a “Mr. Smithers” or a “yes man”. Heck, even the catch phrase Monty Burns uses is similar to the Raiders. What is the saying for the Raiders: “Commitment to excellence”

What is Monty Burns’ catch phrase?

“Excellent”.

So why are the Raiders so bad? It isn’t because of coaches, they’ve only had one in the last 10 years or so…and he isn’t a good coach at all.

No comments: