RealClearSports: Cable's Troubles Becoming Unacceptable

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- No one's ever judged this region by what might be called normal standards. The Bay Area, Northern California, was settled by Spanish missionaries, who were pushed out by pioneers looking for gold, with a lot of frontier justice on the side.

The edge of the continent may have put a limitation on movement -- this is as far west as you can go without a ship or a surfboard -- but there never has been any limitation on ideas, no matter how irrational or unpopular.

Almost anything is acceptable. Almost.

This situation with the man who coaches the Oakland Raiders has all but reached a point of unacceptability, with people who don't know exactly what happened screaming "Off with his head'' and those in a position to find out the details saying very little.

Oakland is one city south of the Protest Capital of the World, Berkeley, or as the late columnist Herb Caen called it, "Berserkeley.'' It was an Oakland native, Gertrude Stein, who said of the city, upon returning to find her old home had been razed, "There is no there, there.''

These days, with Tom Cable being accused of everything except that recent mechanical failure of the Bay Bridge, the one that closed the structure for eight days, there is plenty there.

Too much for Cable and the Raiders organization.

The Raiders have a bye this weekend, which, when you're 2-6 for 2009 and haven't had a winning season since 2002, might be viewed as beneficial. Instead, it's proving just the opposite, since media that might be focused on the team's troubles instead are concentrating on Cable's.

And they are many.

During camp in August, up at Napa in the middle of the wine country -- where else would a Nor Cal team train, anyway? -- Raiders assistant Randy Hanson incurred a broken jaw during a meeting of the coaching staff.

He accused Cable of causing the injury, either, as the story goes, by shoving him out of a chair in which he had leaned back, or punching him in the jaw.

After an investigation, and surely deliberation, the district attorney of Napa County declined to press charges, maybe because he didn't believe the case was strong enough, maybe because Napa didn't want to aggravate the Raiders and chance losing them to another city.

For a few days after the announcement, the Raiders' subject matter dealt with the ineffectiveness of third-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell and other paranormal items. Then on its "Outside the Lines'' program last Sunday, ESPN provided the revelation that some 20 years ago Cable had hit his ex-wife and early this year smacked a girlfriend.

The Raiders contended they were blindsided by ESPN, a network the team contends harbors a grudge against it. But to the credit of the Raiders -- meaning owner Al Davis, considerably more sensitive than his critics want to believe -- and chief executive Amy Trask, the allegations were not taken lightly.

"We will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter,'' read a release from the Raiders. "We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged.''

This was not good enough for the National Organization for Women, which demanded Cable be suspended while the allegations are checked out. It wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has spoken about fairness, to make a statement about Cable.

Earlier in the week, asked about his future, Cable insisted, "I'm coach of the Raiders, and I think my future is to be coach of the Raiders.''

Al Davis does not like firing coaches, despite all the coaches he has fired, and he likes even less dismissing them during the season, having done that only twice, Mike Shanahan and Lane Kiffin, over the past 40 years.

But this uproar over Cable is an embarrassment. It may even become a distraction, although the players, worried about their own futures and paychecks, invariably ignore everything except trying to keep the opposition from making a touchdown while making some touchdowns of their own.

Cable conceded he did slap his first wife, with an open hand, not a fist, and has regretted it. He said he did not strike any other female.

A team as bad as the Raiders, groping for any reason to be optimistic, hardly needs the current scenario, a coach under fire for reasons other than his record, and even the folk of Northern California wondering what is going on.

Any moment, we may all go over the edge.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/06/cables_troubles_becoming_unacceptable_96527.html
© RealClearSports 2009

 

SF Examiner: Allegations against Cable have caught Davis’ attention

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — Al Davis is watching. That should be understood. He may be 80 and hurting physically, but nothing gets past him. Including this embarrassing business with his coach, Tom Cable.

We know Al’s philosophy of sport, the idea of just winning. Not that he’s any different from the rest of us. As Red Smith wrote decades ago, you’re not going to field a team of choirboys. Not if you want to be successful.

You use who you can, when you can. Get them out of bed sick, get them out of jail, get them on the field.

Al Davis, however, has a social conscience, supporting the less fortunate, especially former players. He often talks tough. He doesn’t talk nonsense.

The statement from the Raiders, meaning from the desk of Al Davis, that they are aware of the allegations against Cable, accused of striking an ex-wife and a former girlfriend, “and will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter,” is proof Davis is not taking the issue lightly.

Not dismissing it with the commentary, “We’re just thinking about the season,” which is what we usually get. Along with suggestions any criticism of the Raiders is a conspiracy hatched by the NFL.

In one of the more unusual interview sessions, Cable on Monday stood behind a podium to be confronted by a house divided by gender.

The male reporters were more interested in the progress of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, or rather the lack of. The females asked Cable about the allegations against him and how he felt about anger management.

His repetitive answers referred to a statement released in the wake of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program on Sunday — a short while before the Raiders lost to the San Diego Chargers 24-16 — that Cable physically abused the women.

This after the Napa County district attorney said he would not pursue charges against Cable over the incident in August in which a Raiders assistant coach claimed the coach broke his jaw.

Cable’s response to “Outside the Lines” said that more than 20 years ago, during the marriage to his first wife, Sandy Cable, he learned she had committed adultery and he “slapped her with an open hand,” and has regretted it. He denies striking ex-girlfriend Marie Lutz earlier this year.

When Cable was asked by a woman reporter Monday, “Can you tell us what Al Davis has said?” he answered, “We have not had a discussion.”

They have now. You can be certain. And whether Cable’s position as coach is in jeopardy because of the allegations, as opposed to being in jeopardy because of a 2-6 record, one need only read the release from the Raiders.

“We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged,” the Raiders’ statement said. “There have been occasions on which we have dismissed Raider employees for having engaged in inappropriate conduct.”

Not surprisingly, the Raiders sent out another release insisting “during the past year ESPN engaged in a calculated effort to distort the truth about the Raiders.”

That can be ignored. No one, the Raiders, the NFL, the public, can ignore what the team calls “the allegations” against Cable.

If those allegations are at the point of “he said, she said,” remember the only thing that counts is what Al Davis says.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Allegations-against-Cable-have-caught-Davis-attention-69034562.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Show us a commitment to excellence, Mr. Davis

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Send us a sign, Al. Give us a word, Al. Tell us “pride and poise” still has meaning, there truly is a commitment to excellence. That the Raiders — your franchise, Al Davis — is more than a punch line from Keith Olbermann.

Tell us you’re still in control, Al, that you’re distressed with the way the Raiders have played, embarrassed by what’s happened with your head coach, frustrated by the performance of your quarterback.

You’re a Hall of Famer, Al. You were responsible for the Raiders becoming champions, and responsible for the merger of the AFL and NFL — at least in part.

You saved the career of Jim Plunkett, extended the career of George Blanda. Your team won a Super Bowl years before the 49ers did.

Now the Raiders are a joke. Literally. Now, alluding to the contretemps up in Napa and the rout by Houston, Keith Olbermann goes on NBC and cracks, “Coach Tom Cable wouldn’t be blamed for thinking prison might be a good option.”

The Raiders have fallen into a black hole. Will they ever be extricated? If they couldn’t beat the Texans, how can they beat the New York Giants or Philadelphia Eagles? Or anyone?

What do you think of people taking shots at your team? Of your ex-QB Rich Gannon saying current QB JaMarcus Russell doesn’t have a clue? Of your almost backup QB, Jeff Garcia, trashing Russell and others with whom Jeff spent training camp?

Do you have the wrong personnel? The wrong philosophy? Is the style that worked so well in the 1970s and ’80s outdated? Or have the seasons of losing had such a negative effect that it doesn’t matter who the players are or what the system is?

JaMarcus keeps throwing balls over people’s heads and says, “I guess I must play better.” Darren McFadden gets injured. And then Tom Cable is investigated because of an alleged attack on one of his assistant coaches. Can it get any worse?

What’s going on in the executive suite? Are you irate? Are you resigned? Do you wonder what happened to the Mad Stork and John Vella? Do you wonder what happened to the good old days?

Wasn’t this the season everything would get better? The season JaMarcus matured? The defensive line would shut down the run? That you had answers to most of the questions?

You used to kid that the pro football draft was a kind of sporting socialism, that it helped the poor while penalizing the strong, and since the Raiders were among the strong it never was to their benefit. Now you’re among the downtrodden, always selecting high, as high as the very first pick when you took JaMarcus, yet it still hasn’t helped.

Will anything help? You’ve had five coaches in seven seasons. You’ve had 25 wins in seven seasons. The Raiders used to win 25 games in two seasons. The Raiders used to win division titles. The Raiders used to win respect.

Remember when people feared the Raiders, Al? Now they dismiss them with a sneer, with an off-handed remark by Keith Olbermann. Did it burn? Tell us, Al.

And then tell us when the agony is going to end. If it ever is going to end.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Show-us-a-commitment-to-excellence-Mr-Davis-63648622.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: With Raiders, Nothing Ever Changes

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- The coach said he is to blame. "To me, this is on Tom Cable,'' explained Tom Cable. No less is it on Al Davis, the man who hired Cable. Al Davis, who repeatedly has proclaimed, "I am the Oakland Raiders.'' So maybe Al Davis is to blame.

The Raiders are a team with convoluted priorities. They can't stop the run, but management put much of its effort in stopping a former player turned critic from attending practice.

They can't get the ball into the end zone, but in the post-game locker room they can get into the face of a journalist asking a legit question.

The Raiders are 1-2 after three games. It's going to get worse. They play at Houston, but then they play the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers. It's going to get worse, but after the last week, in a way, it couldn't get much worse.

The 23-3 loss on Sunday to Denver, in Oakland, almost was incidental. A game, a defeat. It happens.

What also happened was a Raiders assistant reportedly told the police in Napa, where the team holds camp, that Cable punched him and broke his jaw on Aug. 5.

What also happened was CBS analyst Rich Gannon, the last person to play quarterback for a Raider team with a winning record, was banned from the team facility for knocking the current quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

What also happened was Lowell Cohn, a columnist from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, asked Richard Seymour, the guy the Raiders obtained in a trade from New England, whether he was assessed a personal foul for pulling the hair of the Broncos' Ryan Clady. Seymour grew belligerent, and a Raider official then started arguing with Cohn.

What also happened was the Raiders were some 18,000 seats short of a sellout, so there was no local television of the game in which the Broncos gained 372 yards to Oakland's 127.

Paranoia runs deep. Stole that line from Buffalo Springfield, a rock group that was together briefly in the late 1960s. That was a time when the Raiders used to be successful, a time when Davis didn't worry about what was written or said, just about his team performing.

Al is the creator of the phrase "Just win, baby,'' which in effect proclaims, who cares what the rest of the world thinks, just get more points than the other team. These days, however, the Raiders management, if not the athletes, care about the wrong things.

Russell, the quarterback, is in his third season. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. He's big, strong and throws interceptions. But he was Davis' selection, so he'll remain as a starter, maybe improving, maybe not.

Presumably Cable will remain as head coach. He's also Davis' selection, installed last season when Lane Kiffin was uninstalled.

Cable is either a cockeyed optimist or delusional. "We're just around the corner from where we want to be,'' was his comment. "It's right there in front of us.''

Right there behind him is the training camp incident. According to NFL.com, defensive assistant Randy Hanson told police he was struck by Cable, and the result was the broken jaw. Hanson's attorney, John McGuinn, called it "a classic case of felony assault.''

The Raiders are a classic case of incompetence. They haven't had a winning year since 2002, when they went to the Super Bowl and Gannon was their leader. But now he's persona non grata because Rich said the team "should just blow up the building and start over.''

Gannon finally was allowed on the property, after CBS whined to the NFL, and he definitely was at the Oakland Coliseum to watch the Raiders get pummeled by the Broncos. Probably had to choke back a few giggles.

But the Raiders are no laughing matter. Since '02, six plus seasons, they've had five coaches and 25 wins, no more than five in any of the six full seasons. When Russell threw his two interceptions in the first quarter against Denver, the fans, the faithful, started booing and never stopped.

"I have to have faith in the guy,'' said Cable of Russell. "His growth has been extreme regarding his work effort. He's just not consistent. He's part of the 10 percent of the team that has to bring his level up to the 90 percent which is performing.''

Then the coach pointed out, "Everything can be fixed, and if not it has to be changed.''

With the Raiders, little's been fixed, if anything, and nothing ever changes.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/29/with_raiders_nothing_ever_changes_96491.html

© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Raiders Controversy: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NAPA, Calif. -- So nothing happened. If you don't include a coach with a smashed-up jaw. And a story changing by the day.

But this is wine country, where the Oakland Raiders practice, and why sound like sour grapes? This stuff happens all the time, doesn't it?

It's always something with the Raiders, other than winning. They've had six straight losing seasons, hardly a reflection of that mantra, "Commitment to Excellence.''

Last year the man in charge, Al Davis, fired his coach, Lane Kiffin early on, in effect for insubordination, usually something to be dealt with in the military, not pro football. Then again, these are the Raiders.

Kiffin was replaced by a tough-guy offensive line coach named Tom Cable, who was said to have sent one of his assistants to the hospital two weeks ago with what on Monday night was reported to be a punch but now is described as a shove into a cabinet.

"I wonder,'' mused cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, as curious as anyone, "if we'll be able to get the full story or not.''

Nnamdi wasn't serious. You never get to the bottom of anything with the Raiders, other than the standings. They're the North Korea of sports.

Information is obtained from mysterious sources that hide in the mountains of Pakistan, or maybe Canton, Ohio, and must be interpreted by the State Department to determine the validity.

Secrecy always has been as important to the Raiders as throwing deep. As Cable pointed out about this he-hit-him-no-it-was-an-enraged-sparrow-flying-amok incident, "It's an internal matter.''

Except that a report filed with the Napa police describes an unnamed 41-year-old Raiders assistant being treated for a jaw injury August 5 at Queen of the Valley Hospital, maybe two miles from the team's summer headquarters. The assistant is Randy Hanson, and no, he hasn't been around for a few days.

Seemingly everybody else has. The Raiders on Tuesday and Wednesday scrimmaged their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, the Niners coming some 100 miles north from their training site in Santa Clara. Dozens of Northern California journalists were in attendance, drawn by the regional confrontation as well as the quest for truth.

When Cable stood up at a podium that had been placed along one sideline, he faced nine television cameras, as many microphones and notepads and tape recorders reaching practically halfway to the Golden Gate Bridge. Presidential press conferences should be as well covered.

The time-consuming introduction involved Cable's announcements of players out with injuries and comments on whether facing the Niners, who the Raiders play Saturday night in a preseason game, was more beneficial than working against teammates. Finally, the issue was raised.

And as quickly dismissed.

"Nothing happened,'' advised Cable. Something certainly was happening at the moment, a couple of dozen journalists looking at each other skeptically.

"Listen,'' said Cable, "If you want to talk about this football team and the players on this football team, I'll talk to you all day. Otherwise I'm not getting into it.''

The NFL is getting to it. League spokesman Greg Aiello said there will be an investigation to determine the facts.

Someone in the organization did concede, "Something happened, but it's being blown out of proportion. It didn't go down the way it's being reported.''

Former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah told Chris Mortensen of ESPN that a "reliable source'' said Hanson broke a facial bone when his cheek hit a cabinet after Cable flipped him out of his chair after Hanson spoke profanely of another Raider assistant, defensive coordinator John Marshall.

Cable hasn't informed the players of anything, and in that don't ask, don't tell ideology of the Raiders, they are not about to pester him for details.

"That's for you guys to talk about,'' said guard Robert Gallery. "I have no idea what happened, if anything happened. I could (sic) care less. I worry about winning games.''

Which, when you lose them season after season, is understandable.

Six years ago, during camp, linebacker Bill Romanowski punched teammate Marcus Williams and shattered Williams' jawbone. After filing a civil suit, Williams was awarded $340,000 in damages. That same season, 2003, a year after the Raiders went to the Super Bowl, head coach Bill Callahan referred to his squad after a losing game as "the dumbest team in America.''

Dumb, smart or in between, the Raiders certainly are the most contentious team in America.

"It's just another day around here,'' said running back Justin Fargas when asked how he is dealing with the latest episode. "Things wouldn't be normal if there wasn't some controversy.''

These days for the Raiders, they are very normal.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/08/19/raiders_controversy_dont_ask_dont_tell_96455.html
© RealClearSports 2009