Jason Jones on Garcia

Jason Jones checks in with a transcript of Jeff Garcia's interview on Sirius Radio. Asked about how he can be a mentor to JaMarcus, he said:

I'm up here in Oakland right now taking part in the quarterback school with Jamarcus and Bruce Gradkowski and we're working on just the fundamentals of playing the position, the leadership qualities that you have to have, the work ethic, getting in the weight room. I think JaMarcus, being able to see how myself and how Bruce work as far as what we do in the classroom, what we do in the weight room and what we do on the field, it's something positive for him to see. I don't think he's had those types of guys around him to help him push him or help him understand what it takes to be a true professional at this level. The guy is tremendously skilled, he's huge and we just want to get him into a position where he can be better on the field if he is physically better and mentally sharper. I think those are things he's starting to see right now with me being involved this week and hopefully it's just something where the relationship continues to build. And we're going to help him as much as possible by pushing him in a positive way. At the same time I'm going to do everything I can do to make sure that I'm prepared in case I do get that opportunity or in case something were to happen that I take advantage of that opportunity and make the most in trying to help this team win football games."

Jason notes that Andrew Walter is not mentioned. It's a conspicuous absence, I guess, but then I never really felt one way or the other about him, except for maybe sorry that he got put on his back so much during the Art Shell/Tom Walsh debacle.

No Tuna for Al

Well, that about shoots down that rumor.

Jason Jones has a funny thought at the end of this post, though.

Jason Jones: Timmy still wants a job

Jason Jones provides a partial transcript of Tim Brown's appearance on Sirius this morning. He still wants to come and work for Al and try to help get the Raiders back on track. Jones is not exactly hot on the idea:

The problem is the fans, not the players would be the ones who would respect the decision.

Imagine JaMarcus Russell welcoming a chat with Brown after he accused him of having the "propensity" to gain weight.

When Brown won the Heisman in 1987, Darren McFadden was an infant.

Brown underestimates (sic) the impact he'd have on the locker room.

I think Jones means "overestimates" the impact Brown would have on the locker room, but anyway, I see his point. But I think Jones maybe underestimates the how important it is right now for the fans to respect any decision Mr. Davis or the Raiders make. Because lately, none of them have been very good. So maybe Timmy's not the answer. But there's a glaring question, and that is, "What the hell can be done to fix this debacle?"

Fat Kicker Toss: WTF?!

Here's a round-up of reactions to what will now be known as "Fat Kicker Toss:"

We'll start with Kawakami, since he's the one who coined "Fat Kicker Toss." He calls Cable an "amateur" and compares the interim coach's soon-to-be-brief tenure to the Gong Show.

Lowell Cohn: Nice knowing you, Coach.

Jerry Mac: No excuse.

Ratto: "I mean, in what universe does a play that relies on an 17-yard scamper by Janikowski make sense?"

Jason Jones: It wasn't the drunkenness; you saw that.

Gutierrrez: Silly? Dumb? Nah. It's the Raiders.

Peterson: Cable's mad, not a genius.

I'm sure there are more out there, but I'm kind of sick to my stomach after reading the above-linked pieces.

Draft Timmy.

I saw this first at Jason Jones' blog this morning--should we make Chris Rock Hater of the Week?--and now Jerry has more of Tim Brown's interview on KTHK in Sacramento yesterday.

I'm glad Jerry brought up the Matt Millen debacle in Detroit. Timmy wisely says he doesn't need to be involved in contract negotiations or anything. He could be that Bridge we talked about a couple of weeks ago. Al needs a loyal Raider. Timmy is a loyal Raider. Couldn't he smooth things out between the coaching staff and Al, no matter if it's Cable next year of someone else? Who would make a better spokesperson for the Raiders?

I'm biased, because Tim Brown is my favorite Raider of all time. The first jersey I bought when they moved back to Oakland was a Tim Brown #81. It wore out, so bought another one in 2002. I still wear it sometimes. It's now a throwback. He always represented the Raiders with class and poise, including sticking up for Gene Upshaw when Irvin was running his crack-head mouth the week Gene passed. That, to me, is the real difference between someone like Warren Sapp, who collected a fat pay check that nobody else in the league was willing to pay him. Once a Raider, always a Raider. Even the way Timmy goes after Gannon a little bit shows his loyalty the Raiders.

I like this idea because it manages to honor Al Davis contribution and legacy and his ubiquitousness in the organizatioin, while at the same recognizing that a change needs to be made. I hope that this weekend, Timmy gets a chance to talk to Al, and they can work something out. Even it's to fill the role that will eventually be left by the indestructable Jim Otto, as a confidant to Al, and someone who can go out and represent the Raiders without embarrassing himself in front of the whole world.

Congratulations, Jason Jones

He's a new father. That's awesome. And he's also still the funniest writer covering the Raiders:

"The new head coach could be selected by pulling a name from a hat with members of the coaching and public relations staffs eligible to replace Kiffin as long as he publicly states his loyalty to Davis and the organization."

Heh.

Was Herrera Art Shell's "Fox in the Henhouse?"

There are a lot of good takes on what went on today. Kawakami, seen in the video almost getting punched by John Herrera. USF MFA in Writing professor Lowell Cohn (I know you'd never guess by reading this blog, but I'm a student in that program) has a good one, seeing as how he was being slandered by Herrera, too.

I first read about this, and saw the video, at Jason Jones' blog. But it was an earlier post by Jones that intrigued me more, where he wrote this:

There was some mention last week of a Raider employee handing out a copy of an article to writers that was critical of Kiffin.

You want to know why that's a big deal? Remember when Art Shell was mad a couple of years ago about a team employee undermining him? It's the same thing.

That was the Raider employee in question yelling "that's not true" when a question was asked referencing articles being passed out to writers.

So is he saying that Herrera was the infamous "Fox in the Henhouse?" I always thought he was talking about Lombardi. In fact, Bill Soliday wrote that Herrera was included on a list of people that Art was NOT talking about in November 2006. So maybe Art was bamboozled into thinking it was Lombardi (by the way, whoever it was doing the undermining, him and Tom Walsh deserved it; they were flat-out horrible) when really it was Herrera? Or does he just mean that it's the same type of deal: Instead of Lombardi leaking about Shell to the media, Herrera leaking dirt on Kiffin?

Either way, what's lost in all of this is Kiffin's answers in the press conference about whether or not he's quitting. I know Jerry wrote about it (while leaving out the fight; maybe he wasn't there, although Herrera seems to complain about him, too). Here's the quote:

“There’s no way I’m quitting, and that’s got nothing to do with money, at all,” Kiffin said. “That has to do with our players. I talked a lot of these players into coming here at some point - obviously, money has a lot to do with that - in free agency over the last two years. A lot of our coaches, I recruited them and their families to come here and build this thing together. So the last thing I’m ever gonna do is quit, the way that you guys are talking about quitting or even quit behind closed doors, as far as my energy or my passion towards getting this thing turned around.

“Because I believe we can turn this thing around. And there’s a lot of good things going the right direction, and I think we’re gonna turn it around.”

Watch the video. Tell me he's not sincere.

UPDATE: I swear, I was going to title a post "As the Raiders Turn" before Nancy did, only when I went to blog about the video, Dan was already all over it. Why would she say "a Raiders employee," when the video is everywhere, and everyone knows it's Herrera?

Keep Kiffin?

Jason Jones has a link on his page to keepkiffin.com, where you can sign a petition urging Al Davis to keep Lane Kiffin as the head coach.

I like the idea of the fans ensuring their voices are heard, and I'm not even necessarily opposed to boycotts to force Al to stop being an idiot. I'm just not sure that keeping Lance Kiffin is a cause worth fighting for.

I know he said the other day that he doesn't want to be here. But do you really think if Al called him into the office, put a 5-year, $15 Million contract extension in front of him with hiring/firing power and every thing he says he wants, that he'd sign it?

I don't. This well is poisoned. It's a tribute to Kiffin's personality that so many of these young players (I'm thinking specifically of Nmamdi and JaMarcus--as much as I love Kirk Morrison, he's the Baghdad Bob of the Raiders defense) have bought into his system, and played through the distractions last week. I know the Chiefs are garbage, but this team had every reason and excuse to show up and get blown out. The Norv Turner Raiders of 2005 might have. The Art Shell Raiders of 2006 definitely would have. These guys didn't. Still, after all of the ridiculousness of this past week, there's no way Lance can remain the coach of this team. At some point, the players will be forced to choose, and they will choose the side that signs their paychecks.

I Said Brad, Not Britney.

Jerry and David White both say that after the conference call with Dick Jauron and Trent Edwards, Raiders PR people provided the writers in attendance with a printout of Mark Kreidler's latest ESPN.com column ripping Kiffin. This is by far the weirdest, stupidest thing I've ever heard.

On the one hand, we've got a sassy-mouth, petulant coach who won't just shut up and coach. It's the Raiders you work for. We know you don't have any power over personnel or your coaching staff. We especially know it now, because you say it every time you get in front of a microphone. Maybe it's time to give it a rest.

On the other hand, when is the last time you saw an organization pass out a copy of a column that was critical of its head coach to the media that cover the organization? Has that ever happened in the history of any organization? Did the chairman of the board of Lehman Bros. pass out an article from Forbes saying that the CEO was doing a bad job?

For fuck's sake, just fire him.

Jason Jones has the quote of the day, though, courtesy of Kiffin:

On waking up Wednesday and not knowing if he's going to be the coach:

"How about when you go for a jog yesterday and you fell like it's paparazzi because the TV cameras are following you and they're asking you if you're still the coach of the Raiders. I felt like Brad Pitt. "

Ever think you'd be treated like Britney Spears:

"I said Brad, not Britney."

The problem is, this whole thing is starting to look just as ridiculous as Britney Spears.

Not Good

Jason Jones is saying Tommy Kelly was arrested for DUI. When it rains, it pours. Perhaps Kiffin can again point out that he doesn't have any control over personnel decisions or the defense.

Jason Jones: Kiffin and Davis to Meet Tonight.

But he thinks Lance will skip it if he's just going to get fired. Maybe he figures he could be fired over the phone. He also hears it will be Lofton promoted to Head Coach.

At this point I just want him to get it over with. The major question is, what the hell was Al's rush? He could have fired Kiffin at any point in the past 10 months.

Keep the Drama Coming.

We should be talking about Darren McFadden's coming out party and how badly we pummelled the Chiefs today.

Jerry McDonald has a must-read column about Kiffin's week and how he's unfazed by the questions of his job description, and how even after all the hullabaloo, the defense played some Kiffin ball, bringing blitzes and pressure all day.

Jason Jones writes in his wrap-up that he has a source telling him Kiffin would keep his job if they won today, but he still can't guess what will happen. He has a great quote from Nmamdi calling the talk "redundant," since he's had four head coaches in his six years. He's got to be the smartest player since Steve Young.

And then here comes Nancy Gay throwing a big bucket of gasoline on the fire. Apparently Rob Ryan will be the coach, maybe by the end of next week. The defensive staff has circled the wagons and wants Lance out of the building, pronto. And she predicts that Davis is going to give Lance a good assfucking, Shanahan-style, by citing insubordination and claiming breach of contract due to his sassy mouth. She also rounds out the Nmamdi quote; needless to say, he doesn't approve. Isn't that why he came to camp on time, because he liked the direction the club was headed?

"I think it would hurt us a lot. We're just starting to gel and starting to do things well, so I think that would kind of mess things up. I hope that's not the talk. Is it?"

Stay tuned...

Nothing beats being a Raiders fan, huh?

Good Bye, Coop, and Good Luck

According this blog post by Jason Jones, Jarrod Cooper wasn't so much cut as he retired.

Money quote:

Here's Kiffin on Jarrod Cooper's decision to retire this morning:

"Cooper came in this morning and just decided that it was time. He played (seven) years in the league, has had three knee surgeries, he's never regained his speed on this last surgery, that was obvious in the preseason games. Whether we would have released him or not, that is really irrelevant. He came in and was just done playing and wanted to retire. He said bye to everybody. We wish him the best. He's a really neat guy who has done a lot of things here, has a lot of relationships with a lot of the players here. It maybe even something that we keep him involved during the season, coming in on Wednesdays during the special teams meetings, being around the guys and working with the young guys as well."

I'm glad to hear that they'll keep Coop around in some fashion. The guy played balls out every time he was on the field. Off the field, he was as good a guy as you'll hear about in professional sports, as this Jason Jones story about his work rehabilitating dogs showed.

If you can read that story and not like the guy, then, as Tommy Lasorda might say, you don't like Christmas and Easter. The Raiders are a better organization for having a guy like him on the team, and the Bay Area is a better place having someone like Coop living here. (Yes, I know he was serving a suspension for violating the substance abuse policy. But I've never read a story about Koren Robinson or Leonard Little--who actually killed a person driving drunk--where they did something positive on their suspensions. Coop showed accountability and class and became a better person.)

Good luck, Coop. If you ever do become a veterinarian, you've got a customer.

DeAngelo Hall is a Wordsmith

"Man up or bitch up" is the phrase he used, in response to Coach Kiffin saying the Raiders aren't a very good team right now, and not ready to start to the season. "Any coach is going to say that but I think we're ready," Hall said. "A lot of guys aren't ready to do things in life until they're thrown in the fire. Then you've either got to man up or bitch up. I think we're ready to man up."

Props to Jason Jones for bringing us this quote. Both Jerry and David White led their posts with Hall's broken finger, and how he's practicing anyway. But only Jason Jones isn't worried about offending Raiders fans. I especially like that his editors didn't make him write it "man up or b---- up" or "man up or ---- up," leaving us to guess what exactly was being bleeped.

That said, between Hall's broken finger and Nmamdi leaving the field to get his foot X-rayed, I am getting a little concerned about depth in the secondary.

Essence Readers are Not Haters

Essence Magazine has an online poll called the Do Right Men. Week 4 features both Nmamdi Asomugha and Kirk Morrison.

They are Dominating. As of this posting, Captain Kirk leads all Candidates with 26.1% of the votes, followed closely by Asomugha who has 22.5%. This is out of 12 dudes. The next closest percentage is some dude named Angelo Mitchell. He has only 14.7% and is the only guy besides our defensive leaders in double figures.

(hat tip to Jason Jones)

For the record, I voted for Morrison. But it was a tough call. I figured that since Nmamdi was already my Man Crush of the week, I could give my vote to Morrison.

Pats Take our Sloppy Seconds. Again.

LaMont is a Patriot. Bully for him. I don't really have anything against Lamont; he played hard for the most part and was stuck on bad Norv and Art Shell/Tom Walsh squads.

But Jason Jones' LaMont Jordan "highlight" reel is brutal.

Various Items: Sapp's Retirement, Javon's Judge is a Chargers Fan, and the Awesome Present I Got for my Birthday.

Dude.

SF Chronicle, really?

The only local sports page to run this article, and they give this headline: "Sapp's Raider experience: 'Dark as a black hole.'"

It goes on to print, in its entirety, an interview Warren gave to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times on the occasion of his retirement party in Florida. Here's the money quote:

Q. How would you describe your experience with the Raiders?

A: As dark as a black hole. Stuff went on in that organization that shouldn't go on in sports. I don't think there's one person who knows who or what is making the call. Let's just say the Oakland experience is unique. The phone rings quite a bit on that sideline. Insubordination is grounds for termination in any company.

Now, this is not exactly new news to those of us who follow the Raiders with any degree of regularity, except that we're usually told that Al Davis is the who and the what that is making the calls in the organization. At least that's what we're told by the Chronicle's writers, especially when the Raiders fuck something up, that's it's Al Davis who is doing the copulating.

But Sapp's answer here is more cryptic than it is damning. What I would like to know is just exactly what "stuff" went on that shouldn't be going on in sports. Would someone care to do a follow-up? It's not like Warren Sapp is a shy guy, afraid to speak his mind. (In fact, I was a little disappointed when I read that he said he won't be going into television; I always thought he could be to the NFL what Charles Barkley is to the NBA.) And just what does he mean "Insubordination is grounds for termination in any company?" Is this a shot at Kiffin? Is he explaining why Norv and Art were fired? Again, a follow-up would be nice.

Jason Jones let's us know that Pete Brisco is a hater (and as a hater, deserves to have the "P" of his last name changed to a "B" so that it's alliterative with "BIOTCH"), and has some interesting news on the Javon Walker case:

In more Raider-hater news, the judge in the Walker case admitted to being a Chargers fan. It the trial is somehow pushed back to where Walker has to appear in court Thursday, Dec. 4 (When the Raiders play at San Diego) you know why.

That's why we love Jason Jones here at CLOAK OF IMMORTALITY. Keep up the good work.

Finally, Friday was my birthday. Saturday I had a little pool party at my mom's condo complex's pool. Best give, maybe ever: a JaMarcus Russell authentic Jersey. My brother and the Professor teamed up on this one.

Thanks.

Sllaacs Scoop Salacious Story

As Sllaacs pointed out yesterday, Nancy Gay had a good write-up in the Chronicle about Kiffin's press conference during the NFL Owners meetings in Florida.

Both Jerry McDonald (here and here) and Jason Jones (here) covered this, but it looks like the Chronicle is the only local paper to send an actual writer to the event, so props to them. (Jerry McDonald referred to getting the information from a stringer, Walter Villa. That article is good, too.)

Prior to Nancy's column, the best coverage of the press conference was done by ESPN.com's Bill Williamson, both in the Hashmarks blog and in a regular article.

All of these articles put together make me very happy. Espn.com even has a special "Lane Kiffin" section in rotation on it's front page with Williamson's article, which Kiffin "Sounds like a coach in control."

Speculation? Kiffin says, regarding the rumors, that "where there's smoke, there's fire." And maybe Kiffin really was close to becoming the latest ex-head coach of the Oakland Raiders at some point in the last three months. But what I think happened is that Al and Kiffin had a Frank Exchange of Views at some point. Kiffin said he wanted something (a new defensive coordinator maybe) and Al said "no, you can't have one, you went 4-12," and Kiffin said "it's in my contract, you crypt-keeper looking vampire motherfucker," and Al said, "Here's a letter of resignation, sign it and don't the let the door hit you on the way out, you shit-heel, ungrateful little prick." Lance didn't want to lose $4 Million, so he stayed, and they worked it out.

Along with some new additions, and JaMarcus looking good....I'm excited for the season.

Jason Jones is Awesome; John is a Jackass.

Jason Jones latest column is a Q & A.

The last question is from some asshole named John in San Francisco:

Question: Is the last sentence in your bio right? At the very least it's awkward...shouldn't it say something like "His favorite athlete of all time is Magic Johnson, and his favorite team is the Los Angeles Lakers."

I know you didn't write and may not have even seen it.

Anyway, keep up the good work. The Hall coverage was outstanding.

John, San Francisco

Answer: You’re right. I didn’t write it, just filled in the blanks for a format. I never gave it much thought.

If Hall’s coverage is better than mine, I’m sure you’ll be much happier with him.

So who's the asshole?

That's right, this guy. The thing, is I really meant it when I wrote "keep up the good work." The "Hall coverage" I was referring to was Jason Jones' coverage of the DeAngelo Hall trade. And it was outstanding. He waited at the airport. He talked to Falcons beat writers to find out what kind of guy Hall is to interview.

And he's a Lakers fan.

So if my question came across all lit-nerd douchey, correcting the grammar on his bio and whatever, I apologize. I'm flattered it was used.

So, keep up the good work, Jason.

If Hall covers receivers next year half as good as you cover the Raiders for the Sacramento Bee, I'll definitely be happy.

Is Lance Kiffin a Bernard Petrino?

Good Morning. Being a Raiders fan has always been a little stupid, especially to fans of other teams who just don't understand the passion that the Raiders generate among those of us who are faithful.

From Jason Jones' excellent blog at the Sacramento Bee, there's this:

And now players have begun calling Davis to express their displeasure with Kiffin.

As word has gotten out that Kiffin pursued jobs at Arkansas and Michigan, the players must feel like they've got a Bobby Petrino among them.

Stay tuned.

.
We will definitely stay tuned. On another note, I may have to apologize to Nancy Gay. I haven't decided for sure, yet, but she may very well be saying "I told you so" after this is all over.