The Axe Has Fallen

According to this AP Story that appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle website, Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin has been fired for cause. Cause he won't suck up to Al Davis is my guess. By firing Kiffen for cause, the Raiders can refuse to pay him the balance owed under his employment contract.

This will likely play out further as I'm sure Kiffin will sue to get the remaining money he feels is owed him under the contract. Or maybe he will be so happy to get on with his life he will just move on.

We'll see.

R.I.P. Gene Upshaw

Gene Upshaw, the head of the NLFPA and former Oakland Raiders guard, died last night. His 15 year playing career included palying in 3 Super Bowls, 2 of which were won by the Raiders, 7 AFL/AFC Championship Games and numerous playoff games. His on field career culminated in election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Off the field he headed the NFLPA until his death.

He was a great player and leader and will be remembered as such.

Maybe It'll Stop

The Super Bowl is over. The Pats proved they weren't invincable. Brady turned out to be human, after all. Maybe now, for a year anyways, we can quit reading about "Is Brady better than Montana?". I dont think you can take two different quaterback from different times and definatively say one is better than the other. What I will say is that all of the Super Bowls that Tom Brady quaterbacked were close games. Three times his team won, once they lost. If he is supposedly "The Greatest Quarterback Of All Time", why didn't he lead his team to blowout victories? Just my 2 cents.

And They're Off

The Oakland Raiders, sometimes known as the Chokeland Faders, jumped out to the lead in the race for the #1 draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. After tonight, they will be tied for first with 15 other teams reaching for that prize. The only problem is, they still haven't signed the #1 pick from the 2007 NFL Draft.

I'm not sure this is all the Raiders fault. Jamarcus Russell, the QB from LSU whom Oakland selected #1 overall is seeking around $31,000,000.00 (per published news reports) in GUARANTEED money in his first pro contract. That's right, THIRTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The Raiders want guarantees he's worth it.

You can't fault either one under the current system. Jamarcus wants all he can get, Oakland wants to get what they pay for. The end result is the longest holdout since Bo Jackson, back in the day when he didn't want to play football for Tampa Bay and so refused to sign and played baseball instead. Until the following year when the Raiders drafted him in the 4th round and he became the first modern 2 sport player.

So what is there to do? I think the time has come for the NFL to adopt a rookie salary scale. Let's face it, draft picks are paid for the promise they show, not for any performance on the NFL paying fields. So my plan would incorporate both paying for promise in the form of a bonus based upon draft pick number, and performance based upon how much they play. First off all, the draft pick bonus would be paid by the NFL, and would not count against a tam's salary cap number. These bonuses would be guaranteed. After that, the salary for the first 4 years would be set and equal for all players. These would not be guaranteed and would count against a team's salary cap. Lastly, a bonus structure based upon playing time would be implemented. Since this would not be paid until after the season is complete, a tream with room under the cap could elect to take it in the current year, or defer it to the following year. A system such as this would end holdouts, end wasting millions on players who do not live up to their potential (Hello Ryan Leaf) and free up teams to spend their salary cap money on players who have proven themselves.

That's just my 2 cents.

Are you ready?

It's hard to believe, but Football Season has arrived! The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints kick off the 2007 NFL Season in about an hour. I know where I'll be, how about you?

Cheating in Sports

I wish I could take credit for this, but it is from my Representative at Merril Lynch.

"In most sports today you have to ask who’s running the asylum. Baseball and football players keep saying they want to rid their game of drugs, but it’s hard to believe them when they keep fighting every effort to find the cheaters. Why are the players even in the mix when it comes to drugs in sports? The folks who run the game should be the onlty ones making the decisions or rules concerning banning the taking of illegal drugs in sports.
The latest battle is over human growth hormone. The World Anti-Doping Agency expects to have a blood test ready later this year for the previously undetectable drug. Athletes in Olympic sports will be subject to it. But the players in America’s two biggest sports don’t want any part of it. Again why are we even asking the ones who will be tested for cheating?
We’ve heard this before. Baseball has undergone a steroids scandal whose effects will continue to be felt as long as Barry Bonds is still swinging a bat and guys like Mark McGwire are on the Hall of Fame ballot because the players wouldn’t agree to be tested. They finally gave in on steroids, then fought like the devil against testing for amphetamines, finally agreeing to be tested for the drug that fueled the game for generations – as long as the penalties weren’t too severe.
This is very simple: If the players don’t like the rules against taking illegal drugs, don’t let them play the game. The reality is that players want to protect what they see as their right to cheat. There’s no other way to explain their unflinching resistance to every effort to root out the cheaters among them. They might say they don’t want cheaters, but if they meant that, they’d be the ones demanding the strictest testing possible. It’s just my thoughts!"

Thought provoking, isn't it?