Crazy

Ok, I'm slightly relieved that this whole offseason of coach indecision could, in the end, just add an up-and-coming offensive coordinator and an apparently decent defensive line coach to the staff. But after shaking my head at this article a few times, two quotes bear repeating.

1. Hue Jackson: "It's a chance to go out and assist the head coach..." Not Tom Cable, the head coach.
2. Tom Cable: "I think it's a good decision by the organization." By the organization. Not the head coach. He's basically just observing as his (as of today) offensive coordinator is hired.

So here we sit undecided on Cable as head coach while the owner makes quite possibly the most important hiring on the coaching staff. Who does that?

And for another rhetorical question, did we really expect anything to change?

Our new offensive coordinator had this to say about his new job:

"The challenge with going to the Oakland Raiders and helping them become what they want to become is exciting. That's what you look for. I want to run to the challenge."

I wish you luck, Hue. The bottom line is that 2010 - like 2009 - will be highly dependent upon the development of JaMarcus Russell. As such, I haven't renewed contact with the Raiders ticket office just yet.

Off Season

Has been a while since I've posted, but during my travels over the holidays and January I haven't been able to figure out what the heck is going on. Thankfully, the team proved again today why they consistently rank last in the NFL in PR savvy. As Raider fans, we would absolutely love to see some glimmer of hope that Al Davis recognizes his mismanagement in recent years and is going to make some effort to fix it. Instead, after suffering through weeks of uncertainty over whether we'll have a coach in 2010, we get this (from the AP story):

"The Oakland Raiders denied a report by ESPN on Saturday that they have made a decision to bring Tom Cable back as coach next season."

Gotta love it. Little to no reaction to thousands of head coach rumors that undermine and humiliate Cable (not to mention Raider fans), but the second Adam Schefter taps Al Davis's knee with that little rubber mallet, Herrera comes out kicking with the denials. Meanwhile, Al continues to hire and interview assistant coaches whose employment, if Cable is not retained, will undermine and/or scare away the next guy.

Since Schefter has a much better track record of accuracy than Herrera, the news looks good for Tom Cable and for Raider fans.

The Perfect Example

I could really use some sleep, but this has to be said. That Randy Hanson is back at work in Alameda is the perfect illustration of why our hope for long term success for the Raiders is akin to our hope that we'll win the lottery. It is reason #1.

Bringing back Hanson is possibly the most extreme thing Al Davis could have thought of to do in order to undermine Cable as coach. Just think about it. Hanson tried to put Cable in jail. In JAIL.

Oh, I'm sure Al has some "logical" reason. Maybe it keeps Hanson from dragging Cable and the Raiders to civil trial. Certainly there are better ways than this to avoid such a fate.

No, Raiders fans can't even enjoy one week of post-improbable-victory bliss during which we could have lied to ourselves that maybe, just maybe there is something to that locker room message. Al has bludgeoned us with another debacle. Now he could really get us all back for that billboard by going ahead and naming Hanson GM.