Breath of fresh air......

Well it will take quite a bit of fresh air to cleanse the average Raider fan's nasal membrane of the stench of this last season. I know it's been difficult for me to get the energy to post to my blog lately. With all of the bad speculation, poorly researched, misinformation laden mess that the Bay Area media has spewed at us lately, I've honestly spent most of my time wanting to escape all of the rumors and lies. Every single time I see the phrase "unnamed source", I get the feeling I'm being conned. I was excited when it was thought that Sarkisian was going to be the coach, but after reading that his goal in life was to be a college head coach, I was surprised. To me that is tantamount to saying your goal in life is to be the Vice President, or training really hard for a sporting event hoping that you'll achieve second place. I know coaching at the college level is fun, and has its merits, but it would seem to me that a great future coach would have a higher goal than that. Anyway, I don't want to belabor this point, other than to say that if coaching in college is his goal, he wasn't right for the job to begin with.

At first I wondered how so many rumors get started about the Raiders which have no merit. It irritated me when the media took the Sarkisian story and turned it into another coach turning down an offer to work for Al Davis. Especially when both sides said there was no job offer. They apparently don't understand the difference between a job interview and a job offer. I questioned a couple of the reporters who presented this misinformation in their articles and got the same response from each. That response was always something along the lines of: "I have contacts with the Raiders and they say......". It's the easiest way to lie about, or exaggerate a situation and never have to be held accountable. I basically discredit these articles immediately now, because after seeing the Lane Kiffin interview...http://cbs5.com/sports/local_story_022230720.html I can see the reality of the situation and can honestly say that the majority of sports writers are totally full of it. The video really does explain a lot as far as Al Davis' method of going through the hiring process. He even goes so far as to say that he interviews people he knows sometimes just to get their name out, and help them get jobs coaching. Doesn't really sound like the evil Al that the mediots portray.

As far as Lane Kiffin is concerned. He wasn't an amazing speaker in front of the media in this interview, but he was a breath of fresh air when compared to the monotone of Art Shell. He has passion for the game and is excited both to be an NFL head coach and to be the Raider's head coach. He looks at this job as a great opportunity, and NOT a coaching black hole a la Ann Killion. (By the way, it amused me greatly when Al busted her for that comment.) In some ways he very much reminded me of Chucky. He has fire and a lot of energy from the looks of things. I can't wait to see what he does with the offense, and with personnel. This is a guy who might be able to re-energize Porter and Moss. If not, I'm sure they won't be around to drag down the clubhouse next year. Anyway, from my perspective this looks like a very good hire, and I'm excited to see what happens. Probably the most excited I've been since Gruden was hired.

The last thing I wanted to bring up was the ugly (read repulsive) rumor that has surfaced regarding a trade for Michael Vick. It was reported that there is a deal being worked on that included a trade of Porter AND Moss AND our #1 pick for Vick and Atlanta's #1 pick. If this happens I will be quite upset. If we have to get rid of Moss and Porter fine, but there is no way Michael Vick will get us to a Superbowl. He is terrible and the Atlanta fans are very excited about the possibility of getting rid of him. He's never been good at the NFL level and I hope with all my heart that we don't do something stupid like this. Just the economics of this are silly. With #1 pick you can grab Jamarcus Russell and have someone that will be at least as good as Vick (probably better) without Vick's attitude. Plus you can either keep our two best receivers or trade them for draft picks or other players. Michael Vick is a never was in my opinion, and I desperately don't want to see him in Silver and Black.

At any rate, I'm excited that we have a coach that I can get behind. I am really looking forward to the draft, and I wish this season would end so next season can start.

For now, and ever, I'm in THE RAIDER'S CORNER!!