It's not fun hating Davis anymore

Dave Christie, Special to the News

Published October 17, 2006 at midnight

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The Broncos yawned, and the Raiders crumbled. Attorneys from Celestial Seasonings filed a lawsuit claiming the Broncos violated their trademark Sunday Night by insisting on playing "Sleepytime" football. Perhaps the franchise will replace Miles the mascot with a drowsy teddy bear in a stocking cap.

The uninspired win, in which the Broncos were both outgained and outdumbed, made a case that the Raiders rivalry isn’t fun anymore.

Neither is hating Al Davis.

Davis begs to be disliked. He still sports the tinted glasses and the black Raiders sweatsuit. His tough-guy stance with disgruntled receiver Jerry Porter smells of an over-the-hill bully trying to prove that he still rules the school yard.

Yes, Al Davis still runs the Oakland Raiders’ school yard. Could that fact be any more incriminating?

Shambles does not come close to describing where the Raiders find themselves today, and it’s all on Davis. Coaching hires, drafting and personnel decisions, everything but choreographing the Raiderettes – it’s Al’s world and everybody else in the Raiders organization pays rent.

Hate him all you want, but Al Davis is not in the Hall of Fame because he’s a fool. His is not the story of a successful businessman who decided that owning a football team would make him the center of cocktail party attention. Davis became head coach and general manager of the Raiders when he was 33 years old. He was Coach of the Year in his first season. At 36, he was commissioner of the AFL. With Davis as managing partner, the Raiders have won three Super Bowls. The man knows football.

Well, he knew football.

Normally, it’s the athlete who doesn’t know when to call it quits. Injuries mount, physical skills diminish, reflexes lag, yet the compulsion to compete is too overwhelming to retire. Davis’s battles are fought administratively, but his desire to win is blinding him to the fact that he no longer has the instincts or acumen to do so.

His recent history in the draft is abysmal. Among Oakland’s free-agent signings this year were Aaron Brooks, Jeff George and "He Hate Me." In February, Davis hired a head coach who has been pushing pencils in the league office for the past five years and an offensive coordinator, Tom Walsh, plucked out of the hospitality industry. The Oakland press has dubbed Walsh’s outdated scheme the "Bed and Breakfast Offense," in honor of his previous vocation.

All of which leaves the Raiders winless, riding the longest losing streak in the decades that comprise the Al Davis era. Broncos fans are in Raider-hater heaven, but it’s becoming difficult to watch. The image of a frail-looking Davis watching his Raiders stumble face-first into the turf Sunday night made me a little uneasy – like watching a boxer who is well past his prime absorb yet another unnecessary beating. Davis created this mess, and he no longer has the ability to clean it up. What’s almost sad is the only person who doesn’t realize that is Al himself.

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