Billboard begs Al Davis to hire a GM
Photo: Mike Kepka/The Chronicle
As if all the empty seats at the coliseum on Sundays weren’t enough of a sign that Raider Nation is displeased. Now there actually is a sign begging Al Davis to do something drastic – hire a general manager.
MessageToAl.com has been planning for sometime to erect a billboard near the Coliseum voicing the anger many Raider fans feel towards the team’s much maligned owner. In addition to the billboard, there are petitions on the site that have collected over 20,000 signatures. Included in the petitions are the requests of the fans for the Raiders to hire a GM with previous NFL experience, a new head coach, the right for the new coach to hire his own personnel and for Mr. Davis to kindly step aside and remove himself from the organization.
Al Davis has made a career out of ignoring what the consensus says and going his own way. This is one instance in which he should listen up.
While the billboard does not represent the opinion of every Raider fan, it does speak to the state of this franchise. With attendance hitting new lows and a team headed for a 7th straight losing season, it is more than apparent that management is failing to rectify the current state of affairs.
The billboard went up on Tuesday night and is located just a mile away from the Coliseum. The team has yet to respond.
Mr. Davis might be able to ignore the billboard but he cannot ignore the last seven years of misery and the current drop in attendance. Asking Al Davis to step away form his beloved Raiders is like asking John Daly to leave a wedding when there’s an open bar. Not impossible but certainly improbable.
If Mr. Davis simply views this as the lone voice of one pocket of disgruntled fans then his next warning sign will not be as public but it will hit him where it counts most – his wallet.
Subscribe to JBB
Follow JBB on Twitter
[...] Blog Baby, a Raiders blog, says that Raider Nation has had enough Al Davis and is now begging for Davis to hire a [...]
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm[...] Raiders fans are now begging Al Davis to relinquish control of the team and hire a GM by putting their plea on a billboard. Wait, the Raiders don’t have a GM? There’s no barrier of sanity between Al Davis and day-to-day team operations? Frankly, I’m surprised they still show up to games on time with their uniforms. <justblogbaby> [...]
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:51 pmplease God…make Al Davis go away.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am25,000 + fans signed this petition. Coincidentally, the exact same number of fans MISSING from every home game. I can’t believe how these fans let the useless players off the hook so easily. They blame Davis for drafting these mooks, yet the players weasel out of all culpability because the fans are too busy trashing the guy who drafted them.
December 5th, 2009 at 2:28 amI wonder if JaMomma Russell realizes how much contempt that other NFL players have for lazy beotches like him? He has the Raiders hamstrung with the possibility that he just might live up to his potential with another team if they dump him. Thus, making it prohibitive to dump him. So, he gets $32M guaranteed, & just keeps cashing his gamechecks like a pimp with no desire to actually WORK at saving what little integrity he has. If he refuses to restructure, then you’ll KNOW for sure that he is a true pimp who wants to take his money with the tease that he may actually live up to expectation…even though he has no intention of doing so. He just lets the possibilty work for him. When you think about it, it’s the PERFECT plan. That is the problem with these new ‘thug-generation’ football players in the 21st century. You call them a “pimp”, & they take it as a compliment! Start renting billboards which “out” these hijacking 25 yr old thugs. Give the owner a break.
[...] that billboard wasn’t enough of a warning sign for Davis. Maybe he didn’t understand exactly why 7 out of 8 [...]
January 4th, 2010 at 12:01 pm