This week I was frequenting a RAIDERS message board that I visit regularly, mainly for news, but to also see the opinion of a section of the NATION.
It must be said that I was already slightly pre-disposed to a negative view of said board, due to the fact that two prominent members were by far the most self-righteous arseholes I have ever met in my journeys to the bay, and that is a very rare thing amongst RAIDERS fans as we know.
The discussion had turned once again to Al Davis,and the most posted(because most posted means most intelligent , obviously), revealed that Al was the problem, now and for a long time, not the coaches or assistants or players, but Al, and he should step down and any former glories should also be brushed aside as that was yesterday and they want results now, plus he meddles and any good draft picks aren't his and any bad ones probably are etc etc.
In times of need, when any organisation is hurting, the preliminary target is the man at the top.In business, especially, the man at the top is probably put there by his cronies and has little else on his mind other than his own rewards.In the case of the RAIDERS the top man has nothing in his life other than THE RAIDERS and his family.
For me, Al Davis has , and does, nothing to actively hurt the RAIDERS purposely and I believe never will.I do not believe that he has ever done anything that in his mind has been negative for his organisation.
This to me is a position that I cannot waiver from.This said, I fully acknowledge that the big cheese has made mistakes and been stubborn along the way, of course he has.The Marcus Allen situation springs to mind, but for Christ's sake this is Al , he's a one off and so is his team.
Al gave Lane Kiffin a shot this year, just as he gave Gruden and Madden one too because Al is a football guy and must believe in his hunches from a lifetime in Pro Football.But that is nothing when compared to 16,000 posts in a RAIDER forum, now that's experience, thats how you know where to find a player or a coach, that's when you are savvy enough to know all there is to know about the game of football.THAT'S when you can regard yourself as an expert.
To you Mr. I Know Better Than Al Davis, why don't you just wind your neck in for a while, and consider whether without the man in Black you would be a RAIDERS fan, and whether the RAIDERS would be the entity that makes you get onto a forum at god knows what time of night to pass judgement on them.
One day, god forbid, the RAIDERS will be just another NFL franchise, which will suit the NFL just fine.There will never ever ever be another Al Davis or another Oakland Raiders as we have known it or remember it.Then the experts of the forum world will have the RAIDERS they want.We should be careful what we wish for.I don't like losing, I don't like our great history being tarnished by losses to gobshites like the Chargers, but I will not turn on the man that to me is the main reason that I find myself doing this stuff at something A.M.
As far as I am concerned me, you and Al are all RAIDERS fans, except he has more money and better leisure suits, jesus, we might have been convinced by Todd Marinovich, or Robert Gallery et al.
I have just watched the present team in Oakland for myself and blamed a QB here, or a LT there during a game, but never Mr. Davis, that never entered my head, maybe it should have you might say....
But my colours are nailed to the mast - firmly.
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Amen to that Martin..Raidertake made an excellent point a couple of days ago that it is heartening to see that the silver & black never leave the streets no matter how much the team are struggling on the field. Unlike,say,the red & gold of the 49ers which have become almost invisible recently,Raiderfans are not following a trend or jumping on a bandwagon of a successful period for our team(R.E. New England Patriots)we are committed for life,through good times or bad.
These ignorant fools who would brush all the glorious history of this team of ours(not Thomas Howards,OURS)under the carpet are idiots,IMO.The wonderful history of the Raiders is what makes this team so special and Al Davis led,financed and sometimes coached our team through all of it.Lets make it clear,I LOVE Al Davis,he is a living legend,one of a kind,a true football guy and if Al ever needs a carer to wipe his arse i would gladly volunteer to do it for free as a thankyou.Without Al there would probably be no Raiders for these bitches to moan about,he CREATED this great team from a tin pot AFL team playing in front of 5-10,000 fans on tiny Frank Yuell Field and we should ALL be forever gratefull.There ,i feel better now!
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