Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

This was always going to be a difficult phase for the Oakland Raiders. The franchise is undergoing the most drastic change perhaps any organization has ever gone through. That said this is till the Raiders and this is supposed to be professional football. It’s hard to act as if the way the Raiders have been playing lately resembles anything what you’d expect of a professional franchise. Let alone one that asks ever member to commit to excellence.

This isn’t Kansas City after all. We’ve seen bad ball before. Nothing new there in the last 10 years. That’s why it’s so difficult for Raider Nation to wrap its collective mind around how horrible the product has been lately.

Mark Davis knows all too well the transition his franchise is going through. Davis is in the eye of the storm and even he’s having a hard time selling the best fans in football a product he knows isn’t on the level.

Davis opened up about the state of the Raiders after today’s 38-17 no-show against the Saints.  Vic Tafur of the Chronicle quotes Davis who has some sincere words for Raider Nation.

“I apologize to the fans. I’m embarrassed for ‘em. Because they live and die as Raiders fans, and I feel for ‘em, I really do. And we’re gonna get it right. If it’s for anybody, it’s for them. I feel the same way. I’m a fan. And I take responsibility for it, gonna get it right.”

Just when this team is going to get it right seems like a lost cause. Not all is lost this season as there is still time to be respectable…whatever that might mean. Seeing a major improvement is looking a good year or two away though.

This brings us to the inevitable part of any discussions on the future of Raiders football. Davis did say he was quote “disappointed” in how the team has “regressed”. However you’ve got to wonder if he’s at all questioning the Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen hires. Davis said he’s willing to be patient so he’s not going to pull the plug less than one year in. But he’s not handing out passes either.

“I wouldn’t call it a pass. They’ve got contracts, they’re gonna be here.”

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Mark Davis was born into the Oakland Raiders…literally. So he’s no different than Raider Nation in his feelings of disappointment with the team’s lackluster 1-3 start to the 2012 season.

But don’t think for a second that means Davis is second guessing the hiring of Reggie McKenzie. According to McKenzie the new Davis in town is not happy with the way the new era has begun but he’s willing to be patient.

Vick Tafur quotes McKenzie on the topic of how Davis has reacted to the slow start.

“He’s like all of us. He’ll be the first to tell you that he wants us to play better. He also understands that we’re trying to retool and improve every day and every game. He totally understands that we’re in this thing not just for weeks 1 through 4. We want to continue and finish strong in week 5 on out. We’re going in the right direction. That’s the key with him.”

Whether or not the Raiders are headed in the right direction is debatable.

Check that.

There is nothing to debate. Getting your ass handed to you by a longtime rival to the tune of 37-6 is improvement only if you lost 84-0 the previous week. Even then it’s a shortest midget contest. Maybe McKenzie has seen something in practice to lead him down the path of denial blazed by Greg Knapp (yep, any way to work in a shot at Knapp is what we do here at JBB).

All that said we knew Mark Davis was never going to be the impatient owner that his father was. That Davis even hired a GM said it all. It was a clear indication that he’s letting football minds make football decisions.

Problem is some of those football decisions have already blown up in McKenzie’s face like blowing a bubble with two pieces of Bazooka Joe. Is it at all shocking that two veteran cornerbacks with a recent history of injury issues were out before the first month of the season ended?

I know…I know…patience is the key.

Problem for Raider Nation is there is a general disconnect between the fans and McKenzie. For McKenzie this is all new and just a part of the process. For us this is more pain on top of an already dismal decade of football. We’re willing to be like Mark Davis for now. We’ll ride this out and will still be around if and when things improve. Of course nothing guarantees McKenzie will be here at that time.  Not even Davis could be patient enough to watch as his franchise folds like a table cloth in Bed, Bad and Beyond.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

If you frequent JBB often enough then you know that I’m an L.A. Raiders fan. I’m a SoCal native that was fortunate enough to fall in love with football around the same time Al Davis brought the Raiders to Los Angeles. As heartbroken as I was to see the Silver and Black leave I knew they were going back to their rightful home so my support never waned.

In recent months it has become a popular topic to discuss the prospects of the Raiders returning to L.A. now that there are two bids in place to build stadiums. Of course that talk has recently increased now that AEG has its hands in the O.co Coliseum. With AEG fronting its own cash to construct a football stadium in the heart of Downtown L.A. it’s only natural to suspect that the Raiders making the move again is a very real possibility.

Even Mark Davis himself has fanned the flames by saying “Los Angeles is a possibility” given the Raiders’ desire to move into a new stadium.

As much as I’d love to see my Silver and Black back in L.A. even I know the odds of that are long.

First and foremost Mark Davis has said he’s not selling which means the Raiders will remain in the Davis family for decades barring sad set of circumstances. AEG is demanding a stake in any franchise that plays in their Downtown football complex. So you do the math on that.

Beyond the ownership issues, Roger Goodell himself has said he’d prefer not to relocate any NFL franchises instead hoping to expand the league. That would likely tie into the greedy desire of the owners to move to an 18-game season. In case last season’s lockout has been wiped from your memory the players shot that idea down so fast that it never even made it into one of the proposed CBAs drafted by the owners. As of now the 18-game schedule has been “tabled” to be discussed at a later date.

That leaves the Raiders in Oakland, where they belong, and my beloved City of Angels with potentially two empty football stadiums.

No matter the politics involved, getting football back to L.A. requires more than a great sports complex. It’s a start but it’s not going create enough momentum on its own to drag teams to the L.A. market. In case you haven’t noticed even teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and all their tarp-covered seats are turning a nice profit thanks to the NFL’s amazing revenue sharing program.

There really isn’t a lot of incentive for an owner to up root and move. Not to mention it’s not like L.A. is starved for another pro team. Quiet as kept L.A. is one of the great sports cities you’ll find in and California is perhaps the best state for sports in the entire country. Just look at how many pro teams are profitable in L.A. and statewide. With or without pro football Los Angeles and California as a whole has gotten along just fine. So too has the NFL. So if it ain’t broke…