Contrarian Award: Rich "Big Vinny" Lieberman

We need to come up with a better name for this. "Anti-hater?" Lover? Anyway, I chose "Contrarian" because Big Vinnie Lieberman goes to bat for the Raiders, taking on the conventional wisdom that the Raiders had the worst draft in the history of the draft in two posts at SFGate blog, Bright Lights, Big City. The first one absolutely eviscerates ESPN for their Anti-Raider bias, taking on Mort, Berman, TJ, and everyone else. Money quote from that post:

I'm speaking more about the premise of credibility. Berman's love affair with the SF 49ers and Giants is notorious. He's even mentioned it several times in interviews on the network itself. The "Raiduhs" shtick was cute about ten years ago, but Berman continues to think it's funny, a la, "back-back-back". He's never been a particularly objective guy when it comes to Oakland, and his partner on "Countdown", ex-NFL player, Tom Jackson, was a former Denver Bronco. Jackson didn't work the draft, but his anti-Raiders bias is well-known and documented. In his playing days, he once refered to John Madden as a "fatman".

Mortensen is in a league by himself. His distaste for Al Davis and the Raiders organization has been legendary, but when it gets to the point where it affects his reportings, then there's a credibility issue. After all, "Mort" supposedly is deemed by ESPN as an "NFL reporter/'insider". His "commentary" is, for the most part, first-rate and fairly accurate, but he needs to strengthen up the "objectivity" box in his Raiders file because no one takes him seriously when he opines about the Raiders.

We all know about Mort's well-documented history covering the Raiders.

In the second post, he goes out and runs the opinion of a former scout who makes the case for Darrius Heyward-Bey.

I was in the process, this morning, of collecting post-draft reactions from national figures; I still may do that. But I wanted to acknowledge that not everyone in the Media hates the Raiders; there's at least one guy out there who's not hater.

Great Googily Moogily - Updated

We interrupt this scintillating Raider Coach Watch to note that Herm Edwards has been fired by the Chefs. And who does the Professional Liar say is ready to replace him?

The beady-eyed devil himself, Mike Shanahan.

If it comes to pass, the hallowed "Raider Week" tradition in Kansas City is likely not to disappear. And perhaps my Bronco-loving in-laws will come to appreciate what a slimy dirtbag Shanahan really is.

Update: Interesting to see how much softer the tone has become at the ESPN.com link above during the afternoon. The original comment from Mort was that the Chiefs were "near" a deal to hire Shanahan, and it read like they were merely waiting for the ink to dry on the contract. Now it attributes the "near" comment to "one source," while Mort is reporting that the Chiefs are merely "targeting" Shanahan. In that very ESPN.com article it now states that Adam Schefter "is reporting that there is no chance he will be the next Chiefs coach." And he states that pretty clearly on his blog. The ESPN.com article goes on to cite a league source who says there is "no way" that the Chiefs could have been near a deal given their obligations under the Rooney Rule.

That's quite a change in tone. Perhaps the ESPN Ombudsman checked in on Mort's "privilege" policy.

ESPN Ombudsman scolds Chris Mortensen

Before Johnny and Jerry pointed her out, I had never given a thought to an ESPN Ombudsman. But Le Anne Schreiber exists, and today she called out Mort for his "privilege" comments regarding the Raiders. It's an interesting read, with her initial reaction being, "It couldn't be true. Chris Mortensen wouldn't say that," and wondering whether Mort and ESPN were "scuttling the basic journalistic principle of allowing subjects the opportunity to respond."

She wraps up by concluding that it was a "one-time lapse," but asks, "Why didn't someone at either ESPN's television or online news desk remind Mortensen of that basic journalistic principle when he needed reminding? And just as importantly, after failing to do that, why didn't someone at ESPN elicit that straightforward 'I was wrong' statement that Mortensen handed me on a platter?

If I may...

It is most likely because Chris Mortensen has achieved that level of celebrity as a sports journalist where pride becomes more important than "basic journalistic principles." And he works for a network that has carefully crafted a personality that is as arrogant and bombastic as the worst among the athletes they cover.

The Professional Liar

Right on schedule. We are approximately one year from my last rant about "NFL Insiders" and their increasing role as rumor mongers. Perhaps they should be called NFL Gossip Columnists. "Lost the privilege" is the arrogant way to say it, but that pretty well sums up the National Enquirer's approach to journalism.

Note that the ESPN link above keeps growing. The original contained no rebuttal from Amy Trask and no email to the AP stating that the Raiders were no longer worthy of Mort's fact checking. Those items were added in the late afternoon. Now I see that further "elaboration" from Mort has been added. I'll copy it here in case the article continues to change:

"Upon further review, I should not have qualified any potential communication with the Raiders as a 'privilege.' I'd say they have repeatedly diminished and discouraged efforts to reach out for an official comment based on the repeated denials of prior stories," Mortensen said. "It also would be an assumption on their part that I have not had any contact with the Raiders while reporting on this story."

Here's what Jerry McDonald had to say about Mort on the subject of coaching candidate rumors in a live chat on December 23:

"Chris Mortensen does a good job getting names out there, and often he's right. But very often, agents for coaches are floating names through him to get interest drummed up in the client."

That sounds similar to what David White alludes to when he says, "When the investors started talking takeover and relocation, the Raiders probably told them where they could stick it ... and next thing you know, Sunday happens and the Raiders are forced into shaking angry fists and making blanket denials while league lifers snicker."

I'm sure Mort floats a lot of unfounded rumors for specific reasons, I'm sure there are grains of truth to many, and I'm most sure that the Raiders have such an impossibly tasked and apparently woefully underqualified PR department that it makes January just that much more dramatic for us as Raider fans.

The Drama Never Stops

First, Chris Mortensen says the Raiders are negotiating to sell off part of the team to some Greek dude who wants to move them to LA. Then Al sent Herrera out to call the report a fabrication, because, you know, Mort is a "serial liar."

Now, Jerry Mac has gotten in touch with Amy Trask, who says that they're not negotiating with anyone, that the Raiders aren't for sale, they're aware of the offer, etc, but no thanks. The money quote from Jerry's post:

Mortensen had a jaw-dropping response when contacted by Associated Press when asked about going with the story with no comment from the Raiders.

“The Raiders have lost the privilege with me of running stories past them for comment,” Mortensen, citing examples of past stories which “have proven to be true,” including his recent report of an interview with the Giants Kevin Gilbride.

(The Raiders claim it was Gilbride who contacted the Raiders, and not the other way around).

Wow.

Lost the privilege?

Guessing Mort won’t be covering the White House any time soon.

I sent an e-mail to the ESPN ombudsman just to see if this “privilege” policy actually exists.

It'll be interesting to see what the ombudsman says. You can email her here. And all this after the Raiders removed Lowell Cohn, Tim Kawakami, and Monte Poole from their reporter email list because they "write the truth." Lowell says anyone not on the Raiders enemy list, i.e., still on their email list should be ashamed. I wonder if that includes Jerry Mac, Steve Corkran, and Jason Jones, or if he just means the opinion columnists.

Bye

I finally had a chance to click Johnny's infamous "here" link and watch a portion of Al's press conference for the decades. Wow. With even more drama than usual and no on-field action to spell us, it's good timing that I drive with Kristy to the remote Mammoth Lakes area to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Hopefully the closure to the Fossett mystery will not overwhelm us.

So I check in from Kingsburg on our way to Tioga pass. Unk's "show me" approach to the season continues, with some skepticism over the commitment that Cable's interim tag can inspire. But he's right, we know we won't get a loss this week.

Maybe it's the heat of the Central Valley, but I'm picking the Forty Niners over the Patriots. Let's say 24-16. Randy Moss will do something to remind us why Al shouldn't be so disappointed that Kiffin (allegedly) moved him. Perhaps he'll be seen walking an out route to the Gatorade table during a play designed to go to the other side of the field.

The Packers will beat Atlanta, but I can't even keep track of who is healthy for Green Bay anymore. And the state has gone all Brewers crazy. It must be the first time in any Packer player's lifetime that the Pack has been overshadowed by the Crew...though the situation may have passed by Sunday. Let's say 27-14.

And for this week's wild card, I'm going with another crazy west-coast upset, Arizona over Buffalo, 31-24. No real good reason for this, except that Buffalo at 5-0 would look weird. Maybe Whisenhunt is a good enough coach to bounce back after a bad loss. And they have to be fired up for Anquan. Unk tells me Buffalo should win. He doesn't think they are a 5-0 team, but Arizona isn't good. He probably has a point.

Hey, look at this. Dobolina and Warren Sapp see eye-to-eye after all. And the "professional liar" has even stepped in to stir the pot.

Enjoy the weekend. Best of luck to Dobolina who should be a father for the third time over within a matter of hours.

Glazer, Mort: Kiffin is Fired.

Jay Glazer got the scoop. Mort also heard that, but says the details aren't forthcoming. Glazer doesn't have many details, either, and notes that we heard the same thing last week.

Also, in the tradition of Bill Simmons, can we officially say that Al is rocking the Terri Schiavo face, and induct it into the Pantheon?

Al Davis.

Terri Schiavo.

I was probably going to hell anyway.