Kiffin: The Press Conference

Reports are beginning to circulate of the goings on from yesterday's official announcement of

Lane Kiffin as the Raiders' new coach. Some highlights:
My media brethren who covered Kiffin at USC called him a "boy genius," a whiz with his X's and O's, someone's who's matured from his hot-headed early years at USC.

Yet, in one story relayed to me, a Kiffin colleague once described him as: "One of the most brilliant young minds in all of football ... and one of the biggest (jerks) you'll ever meet."

At USC, Kiffin often was criticized for conservative play-calling; USC followers have made him a whipping boy on various blogs and fan sites. He vows to implement an attacking offense to Oakland.

"I will bring an explosive, powerful offense to this franchise,'' Kiffin said. "We will utilize our skill players, our big-time players, in the best way. We will get them the football. They will play happy, and they will play hard."

And the winner for most bizarre utterance by Al Davis so far this year is...

There was a bizarre exchange with the Merc's Tim Kawakami when Davis asked him if he knew who Deng Xioping was.

"You don't even know your own culture,'' Davis said.

Davis was referring to the former leader of Communist China. Kawakami is Japanese-American. Anyone else would be subject to riducule for one of those "guess you all look alike'' moments.
Davis will slide, because you dismiss it like he's your strange uncle.

From what I've seen today, Kiffin is stiff at press conferences. That's pretty much all you can get out of these things. Writers on deadline will try to make comments seems like more than they are, but in the end all these events are is a meet-and-greet full of fluff and happy predictions about a glorious future.

I'm still planning on holding off judgement, though that jerk comment is somewhat unsettling. Though if there is a profession one might need to be a little bit of a jerk, NFL head coach seems like it would be on the list.

Late to the Party

So yeah, a day has already passed since the Raiders hired Lane Kiffin as their next head coach. Gary Peterson, Gwen Knapp and Jerry McDonald have already chimed in, among others.

Right now I'm not sure what to think. Anyone Davis targets as a young head coach has potential, but anyone who would accept the Raiders job worries me. I also know very little about his philosophy as an offensive coach, though I'm sure the next few days will offer some insights.

The big question, as it always is, is how much control with Davis cede? I'm hoping this last season will have shocked him into submission, though he could also be sitting in his bunker softly repeating "If only I'd fought harder!" while holding a toy riffle, rocking back and forth on the floor.

With no track record on Kiffin it's impossible to say what he'll do as a head coach. With no trail he has no victories to look at, but also no failures to hide. So maybe I'll just assume that since he has never failed as a head coach he never will, and I'll project unhealthy expectations on him.

It actually fells pretty good. Much better than reality.

The Ballad of the Sark

Steve Sarkisian, Jan 9, 2007:

"I'm going for this job 100 percent," Sarkisian said. "I'm solely focused on this job with the Oakland Raiders."

Steve Sarkisian, Jan 19, 2007:

"I thank them for their interest in me," Sarkisian said in a statement released by the university. "While the job was never offered to me, at this time in my career, I've told them I want to stay at USC.

So what happened in the roughly two weeks in between? Who knows. Maybe the league is trying to keep good, young coaches away from the Raiders and threatened to do something terrible to him if he took the job (Though what would be worse than getting the Raiders' job? Snakes?). Maybe Sarkisian found the coffin Al Davis sleeps in and decided to stick to his policy of not working for the undead.

Maybe he was tired of being a front runner with no job offer and actually enjoys USC.

Whatever it was, Sark is now off the list, apparently along with James Lofton. The rumor dujour is that the Raiders will wait and talk with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels once the Pats lose, meaning Oakland would have to wait until at least after the Super Bowl because the Colts are not beating the Patriots. The Raiders tried the same thing last year with Ken Whisenhunt, and you can see how that turned out.

So, what seemed like it would be a quick and tidy hiring process has turned into the makings of a fiasco. I can already hear the gasps from the audience at such a thrilling plot turn. You see, Al Davis was a ghost the WHOLE time.

But I had figured it out anyway.

The Oakland Raiders are pleased to announce...

So last night I checked in on Deadspin before going to bed and found this, in big bold, italic typeface:
Meet Your New Oakland Raiders Head Coach
Quoting a story from the San Diego Union Tribune, the royal "we" over at Deadspin said that James Lofton was in the final stages of finishing a deal with the Raiders. OK, interesting.

This morning I woke up to find that Steve Sarkisian had interviewed again Wednesday and reportedly was going to be offered the job before he left the Bay Area.

What does all this mean? I'll take the Times and Chron over a San Diego paper (Go NOrCal, wOOt!), but I'll take Al Davis at a press conference over anything. Until I see that frail man at a rickety table in front of 50 reporters and photographers talking about the Team of the Decades like it was still a fact, I'm done trying to guess who the coach will be. I'm going to keep up on the names, but just let me know when you're done. OK Al?

Mike DiGiovanna wants to trade for Pedro Feliz

Who is Mike DiGiovanna you ask? Unfortunately not a high ranking baseball executive, but an LA Times staff writer. From a mailbag in the LA Times, where a reader suggests an Angels-Giants swap of Chone Figgins and Pedro Feliz:

A: First off, because he just signed as a free agent, the Giants can't trade Feliz until midseason. But if the Giants were to agree to a straight-up swap of Figgins for Feliz later this season, the Angels probably would do it — Feliz has averaged 21 homers and 87 RBIs over the past three seasons playing half his games in pitcher-friendly AT&T Park, and with Matthews in center and leading off for the Angels, there isn't as big a need for Figgins at the top of the order. Plus, Maicer Izturis could fill Figgins' infield utility role. Feliz has had a sub-.300 on-base percentage in all but one of his six big league seasons, but his power would be a nice addition to the Angels lineup. Problem is, it would take more than Figgins to land Feliz.

After my initial excitement of seeing someone say that it would be possible to get something of value for Feliz, I remembered that it is Chone Figgins. Though he's a good player, he isn't great.

Even if you look at his career year of 2005, he put up a .290/.352/.397. He did steal 62 bases, but it seems that skill set is already available in abundance at Mays Field. What's scary is that last year he went .267/.336/.376. The last two years he's had nearly 80 more strikeouts than walks, which doesn't bode well for a speed player with no power. Though if we can work out a three-way deal where we can exchange Chone for almost anything else, maybe Sabean can find something interesting at the break.

And If you happen to be in Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 25, (really, who isn't this time of year?) Will Clark will be speaking in town with Bo Jackson. Though the tickets are $150 bucks. I've never seen Clark speak in public, but I would imagine it would be pretty entertaining.

Raiders Coach update

The Raiders have moved into the Rooney phase of the coach search, reportedly scheduling interviews with James Lofton and Denny Green. I'm hoping the Green thing is just a pleasantry, but I'm happy to see Davis is bringing in Lofton again this year. He was interviewed last season and was a runner up for the Stanford job. It seems he has something Davis likes and this could be another step to him eventually joining the franchise, but most likely not this year.


As the process drags on, David White at the Chron as a nice cheat sheet on the three main Candidates, Sarkisian, Fassel and Ryan. Basically Sarkisian is the inexperienced one, Fassel the old pro and Ryan the nearest option. Mostly repurposing what we already now, but good to get caught up quickly if you haven't been paying attention.

Raiders coaching update

To recap:

• Steve Sarkisian has interviewed and is being mentioned as the front runner.
• Jim Fassell is interviewing today.
• The team also interviewed former offensive coordinator Marc Trestman, but for his old job. He was fired at NC State as the offensive coordinator.
• Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has been promised an interview, though it may be more as a courtesy, as Al Davis has been said to want to keep the strong defense together.

Mike Martz's name has also been floating around and Davis seems to respect what the guy did in St. Louis. Considering the Raiders problems on offense it seems obvious his name would come up, but as of now I haven't seen anything that says he's been contacted or will be interviewed.

At this point all I'm hoping for is that they have a coach before the draft starts.

Geek Stink Breath

The NY Daily News is reporting that Barry Bonds tested positive for amphetamines last year. Under the MLB's drug policy, a positive first test results in nothing, not even the player being outed publicly, with a second positive test resulting in a suspension.

If this is true (all parties are playing the "No comment" game), then it doesn't mean that much for the Giants on the field if Bonds can stay off the ... well, everything. As long as he stays clean from no on the league shouldn't have a cause to suspend him.

Which would be true, if he hadn't lied about it first and tried to blame it on Mark Sweeney and possibly lied in front of the grand jury about steroids. This brings up many fond memories and puts the perjury charges back on the front stage.

There isn't much I ask of players for the Giants. 1) Make the club better (looking at you Pedro), and 2) If you are making the club better stay on the field.

I could really care less whether or not Bonds is a good person, whether he leads a virtuous life and tucks in his kids at night. I will never wish anything ill upon him and I would rather he doesn't break any laws, but in the same way I hope the guy in front of me in line at Quiznos yesterday doesn't mug someone or get hit by a bus.

My only stock in the man is that he and I share an interest in his chosen line of work. There I hope he does well.

It's days like today when the rest of the country looks to Giants fans in disbelief, asking 'How can you root for this guy?' As has been stated many times before, I'm not rooting for the back of the jersey, I'm rooting for the front. As much as I hope everyone the Giants hire is a great guy, I know that's not ever going to be the case so I'm not going to worry about it.

But please guys, keep it off the field. I don't want to see Jason Ellison getting any more at bats than he needs to.

JaMaican Me Crazy

The rumors appear to be that LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell will announce Wednesday that he is foregoing his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. Just as quickly there’s talk that the Raiders already have their sights on him.

While in most cases it would premature to say a team without a coach could possibly already have a draft board put together, Al Davis is not most cases.

But as the Raiders make progress with any number of USC coaches, it seems as if this year may be different than in the past. You see, this is 2007. Last time this happened it was 2006. Big difference, as the seven is straight and six has that little curly thing.

But I’m excited to see the media debate every minute from now until April whether the Raiders should take Russell or Quinn, and then until preseason who was actually a better pick and …

Really, there is a finite amount of knowledge about both players, which will be added to only slightly between now and the draft. Yes, we’ll get “official” times in the 40 and any number of obstacle courses, brain teasers, standardized tests, endurance tests, driving tests and sudoku puzzles, but what will that really tell us, besides where that last damned three was supposed to go?

How long has it been since Vince Young’s wonderlic test? And what did that show anyway? The only thing I’m looking at right now is that Russell is bigger and faster, meaning he has a better chance of A) Running away from the defensive lineman breathing down his neck, and B) Being able to take a pounding day in and day out. Both A and B will be realities if he goes to the Raiders so it would be smart to take that into account when choosing a quarterback.

But every off-season with the Raiders is an adventure. I can feel myself becoming numb to it all. I’m sitting here trying to think of a situation so absurd that it couldn’t possibly be believed in the sarcasm-less internets, and I can’t.

No matter what happens, as long as it looks good in practice it will be fine with me.

Duck Futter

Now, this may be mainly a Giants blog, but I’ve slipped some Raiders posts in occasionally as well. And now I’m going to add an adopted team of mine, the Oregon Ducks.

I graduated from the UO in June. It’s the reason I find myself in Oregon right now. Still, I didn’t really start getting into the teams until recently. I’ve never been good at the whole school spirit thing and it seemed that nostalgia started early for me.

Regardless, my new commitments brought me to Mac Court in Eugene on Saturday for the game against UCLA. No. 1 UCLA. The best-in-the-country Bruins.

The place sold out for the game what must have been years ago and it sounded as if all of those people snuck in a friend with a bullhorn. The only thing it reminded me off was the playoff crowds from the Raiders’ Super Bowl run, if you shoved them all into a box.

There is no suspense to this post. The Ducks pulled out a last second victory, one of the biggest in the history of the program.

It was a great thing to be a part of. I’ve never seen a crowd storm the court in-person, and the general feeling of hysteria the whole time could have rivaled anything those bastards in North Carolina are capable of. The building literally shook all game long.

If this is something the students can keep up I think it will help make Oregon a consistent upper level Pac-10 team. College basketball is all about recruiting, and taking someone on a trip to Mac Court has to be a plus.

A couple of quick notes from the game:

Tajuan Porter will shoot from anywhere, anytime, no matter who is in front of him. And it’s a good thing. He is so effortless and fearless and many other lesses, he adds such a dimension on the court. Ernie Kent and Aaron Brooks both pointed to him as the reason for the turn in the team’s and Brooks’ play this season. It going to be fun to watch him grow.

Adam Zahn is a freakin gamer. He got elbowed in the eye in the first half. He came out because there was so much blood he couldn’t see anymore. He went into the locker room, got four stitches and came out for the last 10 minutes of the game. Unfortunately his uniformed was stained so he had to come out in a name-less number 54.

Now for something completely different

So, quick personal update. I missed a lot of crazy stuff because I spent the holidays in California with my family. So even though I was actually closer to the teams I write about here, I was further away from the means to write about them. Once I got back I’ve been playing catch-up at work, so less time to write here. But hopefully one of the things I’m busy on will soon be online so I can show the world just how cool I am.

While I was in the Bay Area I was able to go to the Raiders/Chiefs game. In high school I went to every single game (Yes, that is indeed me on the far left there, and we got back into the spirit this year) and I flew down for all the playoff games during the Super Bowl run, but the last few years I haven’t been able to make to many games so that was great.

The big thing I noticed was that Andrew Walter has a big problem with where to hold the ball when he’s setting up to throw. Multiple times I saw him hold the ball below his waist, one of which he fumbled. I have less and less confidence every day that he will ever turn into a real NFL quarterback, though I hope better coaching will help out with that.

Speaking of which, as everyone I’m sure is aware, Art Shell is out once again. When the season ended I wasn’t sure Al Davis would be able to suck it up and admit a mistake so I’m glad he was able to let Shell go. But the Raiders have a horrible track record in picking new coaches, so I have no confidence they will get anyone qualified or do it in a timely matter. Remembering the Bill Callahan and Art Shell hiring processes leads me to assume the coach will be hired in April, the week before the draft and with no credentials beyond a community college. At this point I don’t think Bob Ladouceur would even consider the job.

As for the draft itself, I can only pray they don’t pick Brady Quinn after his performance against LSU. Trying to peg the draft in April, let alone January, is a waste of time unless someone like Reggie Bush is on the board (wait a minute …), so I’m not even going to hazard a guess at this point. Talking to some guys I work with, they all said the Raiders should grab a quarterback with the first pick, either Quinn or LaMarcus Russell. I’m not so sure. As much as a quarterback would help, the team needs so much work that trading down would be better, especially if they can get Russell and a third-round pick for someone hot after Quinn.

I also believe the offensive line is the key to any team. Concentrating on that this off-season should be the Raiders No.1 priority, either through the draft or free agency. Decent lineman can be found in the later rounds, so stocking up on second and third round picks could be a better bet then pegging next season on a rookie quarterback. That being said, how much would the Raiders have been this year with Vince Young?

We’ll see how this all works out, but I’m not optimistic. As one of my co-workers said, the Raiders may need to just take Pete Carroll with the first pick. Though I’m not sure that would help either, but it couldn’t be worse. Sigh …