Al Davis. Like If Your Senile Uncle Owned an NFL Team.
By now, I am sure, you are well aware that Al Davis has startled himself out of his latest light coma to fuck up his franchise once again. This time around, he is taking away the keys from Lane Kiffin, for reasons that are not entirely clear, given that Kiffin actually turned in a damn good season in his coaching debut, all things considered. Ray Ratto in the SF Chronicle has a must read on the situation this morning. A taste:
"And in any event, this stopped being about Kiffin's abilities long ago. This is about his clash with Davis over things Al holds near and dear, and Davis' pathological need to crush Kiffin in response, to emasculate him to the point that he will either shame himself irrevocably, or resign and leave the $4 million on the table. In other words, he has just asked Kiffin the essential question of 21st Century America - how much filth will you cover yourself in just to keep a job you hate?
If you think this isn't about money, you have bricks loose. This clearly isn't just about getting rid of Kiffin. Al still hasn't paid Mike Shanahan from almost 20 years ago, and is still fighting Mike Lombardi over chump change, simply because he doesn't like to pay people he thinks failed him, contract or no. The cold, brutal fact is, if Davis wanted Kiffin out so damned desperately, he could simply pay him and fire him right now this minute, and begin the task of remaking the team (again) in whatever image he fancies at the moment - maybe the Frankford Yellow Jackets of 1926. But no, the boy prince has torqued off The Master for wanting Rob Ryan out, for trading Randy Moss (apparently on a day Al was getting a manicure/pedicure/rubdown at the Oakland Hilton), and maybe just for staying on salary too long. Thus, The Master is not amused in that very special way of his."
There's more. Much more. And it is a not-to-be missed primer on what the deal is with this situation.
And another reminder that Al Davis may actually be insane.
