Raiders owner Al Davis ventured into the light of day, ostensibly to introduce interim coach Tom Cable (although really, is any Raiders coach NOT interim?), but in reality Davis used his time onstage to call Lane Kiffin a “liar,” a “disgrace,” and a “godless child molester.” That last one I’m just guessing.
At one point, Davis read a three-page letter (written in blood, no doubt) that he sent to Kiffin outlining the former coach’s supposed faults, even placing it on an overhead projector for all to see. It couldn’t have been easy to borrow that from the Museum of Shit Teachers Used Twenty Years Ago.
Naturally, this circus of the dark arts has made for some awesome columns and blog posts from the media outlets in northern California.
The Mercury News’ Ann Killion:
He dumped all the dirty, disgusting laundry out in front of the television cameras and microphones and notebooks. And the stench was awful.
Shocking news out of Oakland today, where Lane Kiffin has been fired as coach of the Raiders. Sure, owner Al Davis demanded Kiffin’s resignation during the offseason. And yes, it’s been widely reported for more than two weeks that his termination was impending. And, okay, it was reported last night that Al Davis was interviewing replacements. And granted, the Raiders have blown second-half leads each of the last two weeks. And perhaps calling for a 76-yard field goal was a sign that Kiffin wanted out.
But still, I can’t help but feel a little blindsided by this news. The constant reports that the Sword of Damocles was about to fall felt kinda like Chris Mortenson was just crying wolf, y’know? And it’s not like the next guy is gonna do any better. Al Davis could use the dark arts to bring Vince Lombardi back to life and this team still wouldn’t go anywhere. God could play quarterback for this Raiders team and they still wouldn’t make it to .500.
