Piling On.
I've learned, over the years, that whenever you have a vast multitude of media voices all saying the same thing it is either because (1) it is recognized that the large majority of the population are buying what the media is selling, (2) multiple reporters are being fed "inside" information that they believe will catapult them into prognosticator stardom, or (3) a combination of the two, one feeding off the other. With the issue of Tom Walsh, it now appears that we started with 2 which morphed into 3.
The sniping at both Art Shell and Tom Walsh began virtually before Shell ever began orchestrating his interviews with his players. We were quickly warned of the Raider disaster from 1994, which wasn't so much of a disaster, merely a disappointment with 9 wins and 7 losses. The Raiders missed the playoffs by their failure to turn one defeat into one more victory. They had made the playoffs the year before, losing to the eventual AFC champion Buffalo Bills. We were told that the reason for that disaster was that Walsh, who inherited a talented, playoff caliber team, ran an archaic offense that provided no opportunity for adjustments, nor took advantage of the skills the players on the roster presented. We were told that Tim Brown and Jeff Hostetler had no faith in Walsh, and would repeatedly change Walsh's plays in the huddle. Walsh was made the butt of jokes for having run a bed & breakfast in Idaho, with no mention of the fact that part of the function of that bed & breakfast was to serve as a recovery center for children suffering from Cancer. We were also told that Shell was Al Davis' puppet, and he was the only one who would any longer accept a Head Coaching position from Al Davis because of Al's insistence on controlling absolutely everything within the organization.
I have even seen it suggested that Al Davis, Art Shell, and Tom Walsh don't care whether the Raiders are losing because they are only in it for the money and/or recognition. Such shear stupidity is not only an insult from the truly ignorant as it relates to these three men, but an insult to everyone who knows their history.
So this is where we began the season. The Jerry Porter situation added to the distractions. Every coach who Porter worked for had experienced attitude problems from the WR. Shell drew a line and Porter immediately crossed it. Initially Shell received support for that line, but sniping in the media soon began to tell us that Shell needed Porter more than Porter needed Shell. Reporters began to compare Porter's transgression against the half effort provided by Moss, and wondered aloud why Moss wasn't being benched like Porter. In the alternative, we were asked why Shell simply couldn't overcome his disagreements with Porter and put him back on the field. The difference between Porter and Moss is rather obvious for anyone willing to examine the issue. What Porter told Shell was that Porter resented that Mike Martz wasn't hired instead, that Porter didn't like Art Shell, that he would not work out with the team in the off season, nor even be in Oakland. Porter showed up at training camp wearing a t-shirt sporting a raised middle finger (keeping it on throughout camp), then developed a mysterious injury, keeping him out of practice and the preseason for the majority of camp. When Porter finally returned to practices he vocally complained about them in the locker room and on the practice field. After returning from a suspension for insubordination and being inserted in several plays, Porter again developed a mysterious injury and has been out of practices again.
Moss, on the other hand, has reported himself to be "unhappy," and that is why he is only giving us half an effort. But unlike Porter, Moss shows for every practice, runs his routs and will still make catches if he doesn't have to work for them too hard. His unhappiness with the team is expressed in the national media, every Monday, but not in the locker room nor on the practice field. Further, Moss has been a force in the game long enough that he still draws coverage. On any given pass play, Moss is drawing three defenders covering his half effort. This, at least, leaves Shell's other receivers in single coverage. Shell isn't "happy" with Moss, and Moss will manage to get himself traded in the off season. But Moss still represents some value for the money. Porter has made himself just so much expensive garbage.
For my part I remember I had complaints about the Raiders in the 1994 season, but I didn't expect that Shell would be fired. My complaints were that the Raiders simply had no running game to speak of, due largely to a very mediocre offensive line. There were a few big names, but the line was inflicted with injuries during the season, and a couple of OL members had careers which lasted less than four years, highly touted coming out of college, but a bust in the NFL. The other part of the Raiders running game was that they had no runner. Harvey Williams, their primary ball carrier, never had a 1000 yard season in his career. The 1994 Raiders had a relatively weak WR corps, and a QB with almost no accuracy on the deep ball. Defenses were free to limit their coverages to protecting against middle range passes, involving their LBs and their safeties. It was vital that the Raiders be able to run in order to be able to pass. Walsh sent Williams into the line again and again with little or no effect.
What was little reported at the time was the dissention in the coaching ranks. I've never been clear about where that dissention came from, but Mike White and others were reportedly going to Al Davis and arguing that the Raiders would never reach another Super Bowl as long as Art Shell was the head coach. White claimed that Shell's offense was archaic, and Shell, himself, a dinosaur. The dissenters managed to get Art and Walsh fired, and White drew the plumb HC job which had been Shell's. Instituting the vaunted West Coast offense, White took Shell's same team to an 8-8 record his first year, and to a 7-9 record his second. After two seasons White was gone, and so was the West Coast offense. The Raiders attempted to return to the vertical offense under Bugel as the players had convinced Davis that they responded well to Joe. The Raiders brought in Jeff George who was a great physical talent but a poor leader. They drafted Napoleon Kauffman who was a lightning quick runner, but so physically light that he could be tackled by a stiff breeze. The Raiders Defensive Coordinator, Fox, quit in the middle of training camp. The Raiders started falling apart before the season even started, and after the first loss to Kansas City, Bugel refused to show up for the post game press conference. The season was ended before it began, and the Raiders went 4-12. Davis went back to the man he had first selected the year before, when the players intervened in favor of Joe Bugel.
Jon Gruden came in and restored order in the locker room. He recognized immediately that the Raiders lacked success because of the personnel. He spent two years rebuilding the team, going 8-8 in each of those years. In his second year he convinced Al Davis to hire his friend from Philly, Mike Lombardi, to help with personnel. Gruden had complained that he had to sell Al Davis on whoever Gruden wanted to bring in or draft. Gruden never said, as many in the press reported, that Al made all of the draft decisions. He merely complained that he didn't want to have to explain himself every time he said he required a player. He felt that Al should just trust him because he was the head coach. I've never had a problem with Al's position on this. Nobody is going to get their mitts on my money unless they can explain to me what I'm buying. There is little doubt in my mind that Gruden had Lombardi join the Raiders so that Lombardi could do the explaining.
After two years of winning football, Jon Gruden left for Tampa Bay. While the press expressed that the reason for the departure was Jon's inability to work with Davis, this was never even alluded to by either Gruden or Davis. Gruden told Davis that his entire family was from and lived in Tampa Bay, and that one almost never gets the opportunity to be an NFL Head Coach in their own home town, and able to even hire members of their own family on the staff. Davis agreed to let him go. For a price. Enter Bill Callahan.
There were rumors after Gruden's first season in Tampa that Gruden was about to bring his friend, Mike Lombardi, to Tampa to take over GM duties. Many in the press already had Lombardi's bags packed. Suddenly, it wasn't Lombardi that was joining Gruden in Tampa, it was the Raiders' defacto GM, Bruce Allen.
Callahan kept Gruden's offensive schemes, never changing them right through the Super Bowl they played against Jon Gruden's Bucs. Jon Gruden proved in that Super Bowl that he knew how to dismantle an offense that he created. It was also apparent, as that first year under Callahan progressed, that Callahan was one of those all too common managers who believe that you keep those under you off balance and uncomfortable by playing head games with them. This is not a good idea where your employees are paid to play a game. Games are supposed to be fun. Otherwise you don't want to play them. By the end of his second season, a 4-12 debacle, Callahan's players virtually mutinied.
And it is this point in Raider history where I believe many of our current struggles began, the season before Turner came on board as Head Coach. The players learned that they could change a Head Coach they didn't like by refusing to play hard for him. It's not that the players sat down to plan such a thing. It's just that there was no joy in practice, it was just very unpleasant. Players showed up to go through the motions of their jobs just to get through it, so they could leave at the end of the day. This is a mindset that can take hold very quickly, and can be extraordinarily difficult to remove. This is the atmosphere that Jerry Porter came of age in. I believe that Jerry Porter simply thinks that this is the way things work in the NFL, and he has no clue that he has done anything wrong. But the long and the short of it is that I don't think that Turner was a bad coach. I just don't think that he recognized the atmosphere in the Raider locker room, and never changed it. As Art Shell noted, "the inmates were running the asylum," and they had been for three years.
Al Davis has stated over the last several years that the biggest mistake he ever made was listening to the backstabbers who managed the ouster of Shell in the first place. In the off season he called on his old friend to return. At the age of 77 it is known that Davis isn't as vital as he once was. His health appears to be failing, and he won't be in this business too much longer. As a man who has devoted his entire reputation to the Raiders over the last forty plus years, the Raiders that he leaves behind will be his one and only legacy. He would like that legacy to resemble what he actually built. Art Shell has been through all of it, the good and the bad. There is no man more capable of restoring Raider traditions both on and off the field. While Davis' financial interest will be inherited by his son, there is little doubt that Shell is slated to play a big part in the Raider organization once Al departs either through retirement or "feet first."
However, Shell has been absent from the organization for the last 11 years. Over that span of time others have moved in close proximity to Al Davis, and those folks hope for their share of the team (either in money or power) after the old man calls it quits. To at least one of them, Art Shell must seem like the bastard child who showed up at the reading of the will to steal a share of the riches. Shell now reveals that such a person has been fomenting the media "pile on" from inside the organization, backstabbing Davis, Walsh, and Shell.
Many have criticized Shell for taking this matter public. If it were simply Shell's idea to get rid of the person causing the problem, I think that Shell would have kept it "in house." That is, and has always been Shell's policy. When Mike Shannahan tried to get Shell fired behind his back, Shell never took that to the public. When Mike White stabbed Shell in the back, Shell remained mum to the press. These things eventually became public because they were revealed by Al Davis. Shell says he knows who the person is, and he will confront that person directly if it continues. By bringing this matter public, Shell is telling the press and the fans that just because you're getting information from "inside" the organization, it doesn't mean that the information is factually based or lacking in "agenda." Some reporters have attempted to identify the source by the process of elimination. Some reporters refuse to speculate and are intent on digging further. Some reporters are attacking Shell for going public in this with continued diatribes on the incompetence of Shell, Walsh, and the rest of the organization. Hmmmm.
Many years ago I stopped listening to various sports reporters I no longer trusted. Some are negative just to be negative. Others imagine they are on some great vendeta like Glenn Dickey who writes the same anti-Al Davis article at the beginning of every season. I've taken my information from making sense of what the players, coaches, and staff say. We all remember how much time the press spent in the off season telling us that no coach wanted to work for Al Davis because of his blasted interference. How awful that an owner should have a say in what he owns. But I found an interesting tidbit regarding some things said by Tim Brown. Brown is often offered up as a big critic of the Raiders, but Brown is a critic of a lot of things. Of particular note is this:
"'Al is going to have his input here and there. That's part of it. But when Jon Gruden came in he was able to change things, and you knew when he spoke, he was speaking from himself and not from Al Davis. I don't think any other Raiders coach has done that except Art.'"
And this:
"Likely still stinging from his exit from the Raiders during 2005 training camp, he's [Brown] not a big fan of personnel executive Mike Lombardi. At one point, Brown detoured into a scathing, unsolicited critique about how Lombardi, and not Davis, is the reason people don't want to play or coach for the Raiders."
That last is particularly interesting in view of the events on Wednesday afternoon. To read the rest of the article, click here.
If you are a relatively recent Raider fan, you likely have no interest in much of this and would simply like to see the team winning again with any offensive system. But for many of us who have been around since the 60s, it is the Raider personality that drew us in, and a take no prisoners swagger that keeps us here. When it becomes apparent that I'm rooting for a uniform and not for a team with which I feel a strong connection, I may well start to lose interest after nearly forty years. There is no one in the NFL who I would like to see succeed more than Art Shell. There is no team I want back in the Super Bowl more than the Oakland Raiders.
The sniping at both Art Shell and Tom Walsh began virtually before Shell ever began orchestrating his interviews with his players. We were quickly warned of the Raider disaster from 1994, which wasn't so much of a disaster, merely a disappointment with 9 wins and 7 losses. The Raiders missed the playoffs by their failure to turn one defeat into one more victory. They had made the playoffs the year before, losing to the eventual AFC champion Buffalo Bills. We were told that the reason for that disaster was that Walsh, who inherited a talented, playoff caliber team, ran an archaic offense that provided no opportunity for adjustments, nor took advantage of the skills the players on the roster presented. We were told that Tim Brown and Jeff Hostetler had no faith in Walsh, and would repeatedly change Walsh's plays in the huddle. Walsh was made the butt of jokes for having run a bed & breakfast in Idaho, with no mention of the fact that part of the function of that bed & breakfast was to serve as a recovery center for children suffering from Cancer. We were also told that Shell was Al Davis' puppet, and he was the only one who would any longer accept a Head Coaching position from Al Davis because of Al's insistence on controlling absolutely everything within the organization.
I have even seen it suggested that Al Davis, Art Shell, and Tom Walsh don't care whether the Raiders are losing because they are only in it for the money and/or recognition. Such shear stupidity is not only an insult from the truly ignorant as it relates to these three men, but an insult to everyone who knows their history.
So this is where we began the season. The Jerry Porter situation added to the distractions. Every coach who Porter worked for had experienced attitude problems from the WR. Shell drew a line and Porter immediately crossed it. Initially Shell received support for that line, but sniping in the media soon began to tell us that Shell needed Porter more than Porter needed Shell. Reporters began to compare Porter's transgression against the half effort provided by Moss, and wondered aloud why Moss wasn't being benched like Porter. In the alternative, we were asked why Shell simply couldn't overcome his disagreements with Porter and put him back on the field. The difference between Porter and Moss is rather obvious for anyone willing to examine the issue. What Porter told Shell was that Porter resented that Mike Martz wasn't hired instead, that Porter didn't like Art Shell, that he would not work out with the team in the off season, nor even be in Oakland. Porter showed up at training camp wearing a t-shirt sporting a raised middle finger (keeping it on throughout camp), then developed a mysterious injury, keeping him out of practice and the preseason for the majority of camp. When Porter finally returned to practices he vocally complained about them in the locker room and on the practice field. After returning from a suspension for insubordination and being inserted in several plays, Porter again developed a mysterious injury and has been out of practices again.
Moss, on the other hand, has reported himself to be "unhappy," and that is why he is only giving us half an effort. But unlike Porter, Moss shows for every practice, runs his routs and will still make catches if he doesn't have to work for them too hard. His unhappiness with the team is expressed in the national media, every Monday, but not in the locker room nor on the practice field. Further, Moss has been a force in the game long enough that he still draws coverage. On any given pass play, Moss is drawing three defenders covering his half effort. This, at least, leaves Shell's other receivers in single coverage. Shell isn't "happy" with Moss, and Moss will manage to get himself traded in the off season. But Moss still represents some value for the money. Porter has made himself just so much expensive garbage.
For my part I remember I had complaints about the Raiders in the 1994 season, but I didn't expect that Shell would be fired. My complaints were that the Raiders simply had no running game to speak of, due largely to a very mediocre offensive line. There were a few big names, but the line was inflicted with injuries during the season, and a couple of OL members had careers which lasted less than four years, highly touted coming out of college, but a bust in the NFL. The other part of the Raiders running game was that they had no runner. Harvey Williams, their primary ball carrier, never had a 1000 yard season in his career. The 1994 Raiders had a relatively weak WR corps, and a QB with almost no accuracy on the deep ball. Defenses were free to limit their coverages to protecting against middle range passes, involving their LBs and their safeties. It was vital that the Raiders be able to run in order to be able to pass. Walsh sent Williams into the line again and again with little or no effect.
What was little reported at the time was the dissention in the coaching ranks. I've never been clear about where that dissention came from, but Mike White and others were reportedly going to Al Davis and arguing that the Raiders would never reach another Super Bowl as long as Art Shell was the head coach. White claimed that Shell's offense was archaic, and Shell, himself, a dinosaur. The dissenters managed to get Art and Walsh fired, and White drew the plumb HC job which had been Shell's. Instituting the vaunted West Coast offense, White took Shell's same team to an 8-8 record his first year, and to a 7-9 record his second. After two seasons White was gone, and so was the West Coast offense. The Raiders attempted to return to the vertical offense under Bugel as the players had convinced Davis that they responded well to Joe. The Raiders brought in Jeff George who was a great physical talent but a poor leader. They drafted Napoleon Kauffman who was a lightning quick runner, but so physically light that he could be tackled by a stiff breeze. The Raiders Defensive Coordinator, Fox, quit in the middle of training camp. The Raiders started falling apart before the season even started, and after the first loss to Kansas City, Bugel refused to show up for the post game press conference. The season was ended before it began, and the Raiders went 4-12. Davis went back to the man he had first selected the year before, when the players intervened in favor of Joe Bugel.
Jon Gruden came in and restored order in the locker room. He recognized immediately that the Raiders lacked success because of the personnel. He spent two years rebuilding the team, going 8-8 in each of those years. In his second year he convinced Al Davis to hire his friend from Philly, Mike Lombardi, to help with personnel. Gruden had complained that he had to sell Al Davis on whoever Gruden wanted to bring in or draft. Gruden never said, as many in the press reported, that Al made all of the draft decisions. He merely complained that he didn't want to have to explain himself every time he said he required a player. He felt that Al should just trust him because he was the head coach. I've never had a problem with Al's position on this. Nobody is going to get their mitts on my money unless they can explain to me what I'm buying. There is little doubt in my mind that Gruden had Lombardi join the Raiders so that Lombardi could do the explaining.
After two years of winning football, Jon Gruden left for Tampa Bay. While the press expressed that the reason for the departure was Jon's inability to work with Davis, this was never even alluded to by either Gruden or Davis. Gruden told Davis that his entire family was from and lived in Tampa Bay, and that one almost never gets the opportunity to be an NFL Head Coach in their own home town, and able to even hire members of their own family on the staff. Davis agreed to let him go. For a price. Enter Bill Callahan.
There were rumors after Gruden's first season in Tampa that Gruden was about to bring his friend, Mike Lombardi, to Tampa to take over GM duties. Many in the press already had Lombardi's bags packed. Suddenly, it wasn't Lombardi that was joining Gruden in Tampa, it was the Raiders' defacto GM, Bruce Allen.
Callahan kept Gruden's offensive schemes, never changing them right through the Super Bowl they played against Jon Gruden's Bucs. Jon Gruden proved in that Super Bowl that he knew how to dismantle an offense that he created. It was also apparent, as that first year under Callahan progressed, that Callahan was one of those all too common managers who believe that you keep those under you off balance and uncomfortable by playing head games with them. This is not a good idea where your employees are paid to play a game. Games are supposed to be fun. Otherwise you don't want to play them. By the end of his second season, a 4-12 debacle, Callahan's players virtually mutinied.
And it is this point in Raider history where I believe many of our current struggles began, the season before Turner came on board as Head Coach. The players learned that they could change a Head Coach they didn't like by refusing to play hard for him. It's not that the players sat down to plan such a thing. It's just that there was no joy in practice, it was just very unpleasant. Players showed up to go through the motions of their jobs just to get through it, so they could leave at the end of the day. This is a mindset that can take hold very quickly, and can be extraordinarily difficult to remove. This is the atmosphere that Jerry Porter came of age in. I believe that Jerry Porter simply thinks that this is the way things work in the NFL, and he has no clue that he has done anything wrong. But the long and the short of it is that I don't think that Turner was a bad coach. I just don't think that he recognized the atmosphere in the Raider locker room, and never changed it. As Art Shell noted, "the inmates were running the asylum," and they had been for three years.
Al Davis has stated over the last several years that the biggest mistake he ever made was listening to the backstabbers who managed the ouster of Shell in the first place. In the off season he called on his old friend to return. At the age of 77 it is known that Davis isn't as vital as he once was. His health appears to be failing, and he won't be in this business too much longer. As a man who has devoted his entire reputation to the Raiders over the last forty plus years, the Raiders that he leaves behind will be his one and only legacy. He would like that legacy to resemble what he actually built. Art Shell has been through all of it, the good and the bad. There is no man more capable of restoring Raider traditions both on and off the field. While Davis' financial interest will be inherited by his son, there is little doubt that Shell is slated to play a big part in the Raider organization once Al departs either through retirement or "feet first."
However, Shell has been absent from the organization for the last 11 years. Over that span of time others have moved in close proximity to Al Davis, and those folks hope for their share of the team (either in money or power) after the old man calls it quits. To at least one of them, Art Shell must seem like the bastard child who showed up at the reading of the will to steal a share of the riches. Shell now reveals that such a person has been fomenting the media "pile on" from inside the organization, backstabbing Davis, Walsh, and Shell.
Many have criticized Shell for taking this matter public. If it were simply Shell's idea to get rid of the person causing the problem, I think that Shell would have kept it "in house." That is, and has always been Shell's policy. When Mike Shannahan tried to get Shell fired behind his back, Shell never took that to the public. When Mike White stabbed Shell in the back, Shell remained mum to the press. These things eventually became public because they were revealed by Al Davis. Shell says he knows who the person is, and he will confront that person directly if it continues. By bringing this matter public, Shell is telling the press and the fans that just because you're getting information from "inside" the organization, it doesn't mean that the information is factually based or lacking in "agenda." Some reporters have attempted to identify the source by the process of elimination. Some reporters refuse to speculate and are intent on digging further. Some reporters are attacking Shell for going public in this with continued diatribes on the incompetence of Shell, Walsh, and the rest of the organization. Hmmmm.
Many years ago I stopped listening to various sports reporters I no longer trusted. Some are negative just to be negative. Others imagine they are on some great vendeta like Glenn Dickey who writes the same anti-Al Davis article at the beginning of every season. I've taken my information from making sense of what the players, coaches, and staff say. We all remember how much time the press spent in the off season telling us that no coach wanted to work for Al Davis because of his blasted interference. How awful that an owner should have a say in what he owns. But I found an interesting tidbit regarding some things said by Tim Brown. Brown is often offered up as a big critic of the Raiders, but Brown is a critic of a lot of things. Of particular note is this:
"'Al is going to have his input here and there. That's part of it. But when Jon Gruden came in he was able to change things, and you knew when he spoke, he was speaking from himself and not from Al Davis. I don't think any other Raiders coach has done that except Art.'"
And this:
"Likely still stinging from his exit from the Raiders during 2005 training camp, he's [Brown] not a big fan of personnel executive Mike Lombardi. At one point, Brown detoured into a scathing, unsolicited critique about how Lombardi, and not Davis, is the reason people don't want to play or coach for the Raiders."
That last is particularly interesting in view of the events on Wednesday afternoon. To read the rest of the article, click here.
If you are a relatively recent Raider fan, you likely have no interest in much of this and would simply like to see the team winning again with any offensive system. But for many of us who have been around since the 60s, it is the Raider personality that drew us in, and a take no prisoners swagger that keeps us here. When it becomes apparent that I'm rooting for a uniform and not for a team with which I feel a strong connection, I may well start to lose interest after nearly forty years. There is no one in the NFL who I would like to see succeed more than Art Shell. There is no team I want back in the Super Bowl more than the Oakland Raiders.
posted by BlandaRocked at 4:22 PM
13 Comments:
BR - Were you the ghost writer for "War & Peace"!
Assuming that Lombardi is the Rat who leaked unfavorable comments to the press, the "multitude of voices" calling for Walsh to be fired were warranted.
The NFL is a cut-throat, bottom line business. In spite of the bad apples (Moss, Porter) and the media sniping, there is no way to get around the fact that the Raiders offense is the worst in the NFL. I don't appreciate the reporters who pile on, are bias, or have an agenda BUT when it comes to Mr. Walsh, the offensive numbers don't lie. In my view, it would have been negligent to keep Walsh as the OC. 10 TDs in 11 games is frankly abominable.
I like & respect Shell. I want him to succeed. One of the complaints that I have regarding Shell is that he seems to let problems fester instead of handling the various issues swiftly and decisively. As Head Coach, Shell's primary responsibility is to lead and manage his personnel. The message needs to be clear (not mixed), delivered directly, decisively, fairly, and firmly. I realize that there are probably times that his hands have been tied and we are not privy to the behind closed door discussions. However, there have been numerous instances where Shell admitted that he didn't discuss things with a player because he felt it wasn't necessary. Here are just a few example concerns:
Porter - Beyond the initial meeting with Porter, Shell, and Biltenekoff, Shell has communicated directly with Porter. How hard would it have been for Shell to sit down with Porter and lay his cards (expectations) on the table to come up with a practical, sensible solution? If it was determined that Porter was a lost cause then move forward by trading him instead of allowing for the problem to linger. What is gained by keeping him on the roster as either inactive or chained to the sideline?
Moss - Numerous detrimental comments on his radio show. After the 1st of at least 3 separate public comments on his radio show, Shell should have sat Moss down for a heart to heart chat. "Listen Randy, I know you are frustrated but your comments are hurting the team, morale, and the goals of this team. Knock this shit off or I will need to take punitive action." After the 3rd radio address, when Shell was questioned about Moss' comments he was asked if he had spoken directly to Moss. Shell's answer in effect was "I'm sure Randy reads the papers".
Walter - After Walter's comments about the playbook not having any depth, Shell didn't speak with Walter after blasting Walter in the press. Here is the possible future QB of your franchise and you don't have 5 minutes to discuss the ramifications of Walter's comments directly to him?
Lombardi - If Lombadi is in fact the rat, wasn't this a roundabout way of dealing with it? If you were Shell wouldn't you forced a sit-down meeting with Lombardi,Al, and yourself behind closed doors to resolve this quickly instead of the entire press digging around Alameda like Watergate?
I am hopeful that our house will be put in order with all the bad apples discarded. As a lifelong Raider fan, I would love to get to the point where we are discussing our playoff possibilities instead of the disfunctional aspects of the organization.
Calico:
What I'm trying to address here is the media induced conventional wisdom tsunami. In my mind, conventional wisdom is almost always wrong. While Tom Walsh could well be part of the problem, and Shell firing him seems to indicate that he was, he's not the only problem, and the problems don't stop at the owner's or the head coach's door.
The large majority of the media doesn't talk about the problems with the personnel on any level. They spout catch phrases, without meaning, without analysis.
In regard to Shell taking things public, you put him at an unfair disadvantage if "insiders" and players are able to start "the media tsunami" while Shell has to handle everthing behind closed doors.
Shell handled Porter behind closed doors, but Porter took it public thinking the media and the fans would side with him. It backfired. Now Porter just wants out. He's not playing because he doesn't want to play. Nobody is offering anything in trade for him because it's apparent to everybody else that he doesn't want to play for the team that's paying him. So the Raiders are stuck with him. Shell started to get him involved, but then he developed another mysterious injury.
In the article I linked to my own, Tim Brown says the problem with Raider coaches is that they seem to be universally intimidated by Al Davis. The only ones who have been able to rise above it, during Brown's time with the team, have been Art Shell and Jon Gruden. Coaches have been afraid to take on the players, because it is understood that Davis favors players over coaches. It took Gruden two years to straighten things out before he was able to put together a winning season.
This has been the atmosphere the players have been living in. Look at Porter, actually complaining to Shell that he's not the Jerry Porter approved coach. This is the atmosphere that needs to change. Shell's aproach is different from Gruden's, but I think that Shell, ultimately, will get it done faster.
BR - The conventional wisdom (players, fans, coaches, media) about Walsh are/were 100% correct. Also, don't act like the players performances haven't been scrutinized, picked apart, and exposed. The media, fans, and coaches have rightly pointed out the offensive unit's shortcomings. There have been countless articles about the poor play of the O-line, Moss, and the QB play. As we all know, from a practical standpoint, it is much easier to make a change at OC than make wholesale changes of players in-season.
From SF Gate:
"Shell said he knows who has been bad-mouthing him...but said he hasn't spoken to this person"
Huh? Does this make any sense on any level?
Confronting this issue (and the Porter, Moss, Walter issues) head on, directly, swiftly behind closed doors is the way for the man in charge to handle business.
Fellas I think Shell had to go public with this rather than just try to handle it in house. Here's why.
If Shell has a sit-down with Lombardi(or whoever he suspects the mole to be) and accuses him of being the mole, Lombardi can just plead his innocence and claim he's with the program. Meanwhile he can keep putting the knife in Shell's back. What I hope Shell did(or does) is feed Lombardi and only Lombardi some false info. Something that would titillate the media and be put out for public consumption immediately. Then Shell can ID the mole and Lombardi will have cut his own throat, because NOBODY in the NFL likes a rat. He'd never get another front office job in this league.
That, gentlemen, is why I think Shell had no choice but to go to the press. Otherwise, the leaks would continue until the end of the season and then some. Politics are a fact of life wherever you go, no matter what you do.
Gentleman, two wrongs don't make a right. Incident after incident, Shell admits to having NOT talked to the perpetrator of propaganda and bad attitudes. His philosophy appears to be communication through the media, which goes against what all of us believed to represent one of Art's best attributes... keep things in-house. After all, isn't that the Raider Way?
Bottom line: Shell needs to address problems face-to-face as they present themselves, which, as CJ eludes, he has repeatedly avoided all year. How can you possibly motivate players and earn their trust and respect if you don’t communicate with them. That’s people skills 101.
BR: you and I will never totally agree on the Porter thing. Shell needed to elevate himself above Porter's childish behavior and coach (manage) him to be a productive member of this team for which they pay him a lot of money. Then, at the end of the season, trade him, release him, whatever.
Those who agree with the status quo haven’t really considered what will happen next year when Porter’s inflated salary and bonus package preclude a trade. Perhaps, we'll just be right back here arguing who is more childish, Porter or Shell.
That said: Let’s go kick some Texan A$%# ____ GO RAIDERS!
Best commentary I have read, Blog or "professional" media-wise... congratulations on articulating so well... i only have one element to add, in that Turner I believe could have been successful if he had not lost Gannon to injury... Turner was no disciplinarian but that was OK as long as he had guys like Gannon, R. Woodson, Romo, Rice and Brown...
One thing I and I know you truly believe... Art Shell will get this turned around, but it will take time...
The Tooz
Silver and Black Canada
Al Davis Forever
BR,
All I can say is, keep up the great work.
Keep hope alive.
good book BR!!!
i feel this comment is in dire need for some of us to think about. it would have been wonderfull if shell could have come in and the raiders are right back on top. unfortunatley that is not the case. i think we can all agree that the issues that we are confronting this season are a big problem here in raiderland. no team can get to the big dance while dealing with all of these things. coach Shell knows this as well (i imagine better) than any of us do. it takes time to correct these things. you have to keeps this show going. what i mean is when one of these issues comes up you try to straighten it out and go on whith the season, together. if the issue persists you get tougher, fire em, trade em or cut em. but you don't just jump to step 3 right from the jump. the show must go on folks!!! it also takes time and adversity to bring out the neagative things about players and employees. being a quality player, coach, employee or fans isn't about how you act when everything is clickin'. it's about how you handle adversity. do you quit? check out? give half efforts? start the finger pointing and blame game? it takes rough times to expose these cancers. but once you know who they are the list is set and there aint alot of ways to get off that list. the list keeps getting longer for Art this year and he's gonna have his work cut out for him this offseason. i do not envy him. but i do respect him and i do trust him. it took gruden two years to weed out the losers. Art Shell will turn this thing around. he inherited a team and organization that is in total turmoil and spiraling out of control. the first thing he said to us was this may take some time, Al Davis said it too. that was before he went thru all this adversity with these guys and had the cancers exposed. now he knows who needs to stay and who needs to go. thereis alot of dirty work to be done here and i for one am on the side of "THE GREAT ART SHELL"
NYRaider-
As per my above stated scenario, how would you handle the situation with a member of the organization who is intentionally undermining the organization?
Regarding the "fink." If there is an "undisclosed NFL source" who conitniually supplies anti-Shell/Al Davis propaganda to selected reporters, I don't know how anyone can expect Shell to fight that "in house." That's letting the coward speak freely while putting a piece of gaffer's tape over Shell's mouth. Shell said he felt he could identify the source by the use of the same phrasing as some of the other things said by this person. Seems to me that if Shell discussed the problem behind closed doors, the party could simply deny it. Rather than "shadow box" Shell has chosen to let the media know what is taking place, and that he is aware of it. He hasn't brought it up since, and I doubt that he will. From here on it will be handled in house.
As for the game on Sunday, I didn't see it. I had to listen to Papa. But I've been saying from the beginning that it doesn't matter who the OC is. Should we now change coaches for a third time to see if the problem is the players? Shell spent this off season rebuilding the defense, because any rebuild begins with the D. Ryan's D showed no strength until this year when Shell got him the tools. Next off season is the Offense's turn. But it's going to take some doing, it's worse than I thought.
I don't think either Walter or Brooks is the ultimate answer. For Walter to come back in again, he's going to have to show he has something to bring to the table that Brooks doesn't have. He hasn't yet, and I'm not sure he will.
I'm thinking maybe Jake Plummer. I know, I know. But Shanahan has never seen a QB he couldn't destroy other than John Elway. I'm thinking he might flourish somewhere without Shanahan's head games. And take a look at his winning percentage. Plus he has the arm and he has the mobility. And... he knows the donkey defense. It was a big plus for us when we had Gannon playing against the Chiefs.
BR -
Yes, Huff & Howard were added under Shell's watch. Did Shell pick these players or Al? Frankly it doesn't really matter.
I think you are being way too generous with doling out credit to Shell for the defense's performance this year.
Ryan has been responsible for the coaching, meetings, schemes, adjustments, player development, and the lion's share of motivation. He is one who has been responsible for the development of the younger defensive players like (Asomugha, Washington, Schweigert, Morrison, Kelly etc). For all practical purposes, Shell has a "hands-off" role in regards to the D.
Let's face it. We need to make some wholesale changes to the offensive unit. Will Shoop be the OC in 07? Who knows? Will we trade Moss & Porter and keep Brooks? Across the board, each and every position/player on the offensive unit needs to be scrutinized and evaluated going into the draft and free agency. Of all the offensive unit players, the only 2 players that I can say with any certainty that I want coming back as starters are OG Boothe and WR Curry. Upgrades, reassignments, trades, drafts, free agents are all up for consideration for most of the unit.
PantyRaider: I've switched to Patrick Ramsey. I'm off of Plummer. Check out Ramsey's history on Wikipedia. I think he might be the prototype Raider QB pick up.
Calico, to your list of two, I'd keep Madsen as well. I think he will be their starting TE next year. He can stand some improvement as a blocker but, hell, Christiansen wasn't much of blocker either.
BR - I would love to see the following things happen in the remaining 4 games;
1. Increase Madsen's role (there should be 4-5+ plays specifically designed to take advantage of the match up advantage Madsen creates)
2. Start Curry over Whitted (let's start preparing for Curry to be a starter. What are we waiting for especially in lieu of Moss/Porter possibly be shipped out)
3. Rotate McQuistan in for a few series at LG or RT (We need to find out now whether McQuistan could be a starter in 07 plus he needs to gain some valuable playing experience)
4. Rotate Walter in for a few series per game or if he has a productive drive, leave the hot hand in. (We need to see if Walter could flourish under Shoop's playcalling)
5. Get R. Lee more carries (excluding the fumble on Sunday, I have liked what I have seen in his limitied playing time)
6. Start rotating Morant on to the field. This guy could very well end up our #2 WR in 07. Isn't it time to get him on the field?
7. Deactivate Porter and call up Will Buchanon from the practice squad.
Finally, I will check out Patrick Ramsey. I think it might be worth considering trading Porter for Ramsey straight-up. Ramsey is the type of QB who has flown under the radar due to never being "the man". His career seems to have some parallels to Gannon where due to circumstances, coaching changes, and a veteran QB locked into the #1 role, that he hasn't been given a true opportunity to shine.
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