Archive for January, 2008

I’m thinking Phil Simms’ been hit one to many times in the head, because his short-term memory is shhh*ty. I think this video speaks for itself.

I’ve gotta honestly say that the Carolina Panthers are probably the last team that I thought would join the Fan-Sided Network.  No offense to the new addition to the family, but I don’t think I’ve actually met a Panthers fan before, so I wasn’t to sure there were too many out there.  I credit the Panthers for putting together talented teams year after year since their inception into the league.  Cat Crave is the name of our newest addition, and Carolina native John White is the guy leading the way.    

The clip below comes from the NFL Networks’ Americas Game.  I found this clip on YouTube and decided to post it because it’s so perfectly spliced.  The guy who put this video together did a great job eliminating unnecessary footage to keep it nice and short, but without missing anything important.  The Raiders last championship in Oakland was won on January 25th 1981, against the Philadelphia Eagles.   After yet another season of failure, it’s beginning to get difficult to remember how it feels to root for a great team, and with this Sunday’s impending Super Bowl only a couple days away, I thought a clip like this was of need. 

Oakland Raiders senior executive John Herrera made a few comments that Jerry McDonald helped to shed light on. McDonald posted the report last night, following James Lofton’s interview. His interview (Lofton) this time was with coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, according to Herrera Having Kiffin and Knapp involved in the hiring of an offensive assistant means any differences the head coach has with owner Al Davis regarding makeup of the defensive staff appear well short of Kiffin either resigning or being fired in the near future. While stories run rampant of what has gone on behind closed [...]

An update on the Lane Kiffin situation was reported moments ago by Jerry McDonald.  McDonald refers to an Ira Miller article from The Sports Xchange: Lane Kiffin fired Rob Ryan before first consulting with Al Davis. Ryan, Miller reported, went to Davis to thank him for the opportunity, with Davis telling Ryan Kiffin had no authority to fire him. If true, it was a huge tactical error on Kiffin’s part _ the same error Mike Shanahan made when he attempted to fire Art Shell in 1989. Davis rehired Shell, and when Shanahan was fired during the season, Shell became the head [...]

During the last couple days I’ve noticed that the Kiffin-Davis fiasco is more than just another Al Davis blunder, and another fired head coach. I can read and watch everything I can get my hands on about the history of the Oakland Raiders a hundred times, but I can’t paint the picture that a guy twice my age can. I’ve always had a feeling of betrayal when I’ve thought of my Raiders. Maybe it was the fact that my dad started filling me in with Oakland/Los Angeles Raider history since the day I was born (1982). I was too young [...]

Here’s the link to a really good article from one of my favorite Raider writers, Jerry McDonald.  The Inside Bay Area article goes into far more depth than I could possibly attempt.  Here are a couple things I found the most interesting: Update: Talking to reporters on the field following the Senior Bowl, Lane Kiffin sidestepped questions regarding his status with the Oakland Raiders. “I’m not going to comment on that. That’s got nothing to do with this game, these guys’ last game here, and I’m real proud of the way they played and competed,” Kiffin said. “It was a [...]

Updated  Disclaimer: In no way does the JustBlogBaby website or Fan-Sided community support Mr. Davis’ right to run the Oakland Raiders.  Certain rights must be taken away from people who illustrate the inability to behave in an intelligent manner.  ESPN is reporting that Al Davis is trying to force Lane Kiffin out of Oakland.  Here are the details from ESPN.com: Al Davis has been pushing for coach Lane Kiffin to resign and is considering Dennis Green as a potential replacement Davis has gone so far as to draft a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign, a source said. Kiffin has [...]

A couple of hours ago a rumor broke that the Detroit Lions will be trading or releasing defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.  This might be the Oakland Raiders best chance to fill a major need, because there doesn’t look like there’s going to be any other starters at that position available during this off-season.  Picking up a struggling, but young, Pro Bowl DT would be a huge acquisition.  Rogers is the perfect fit for the Raiders 4-3 defensive scheme, and though he’s had some character issues, I don’t think it’s anything a change in scenery and a payday can’t fix. Rogers would [...]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Rob Ryan and Lane Kiffin will remain at their respective positions.  As greedy and controlling Al Davis is, he knows how lucky the Oakland Raiders are to be coaching the North team in next Saturday’s Senior Bowl.  Davis can’t be stupid enough to not make a decision on the future of his coaching staff before “Football’s premier pre-draft event.”  But I can see Mr. Davis forcing these two guys to coexist.  There have been numerous reports that Davis still has faith in Ryan, and that if there is anyone [...]