RealClearSports: Should Raiders Be Taken Seriously?

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND, Calif. — Echoes of the past are reverberating. Like a 4.5 Richter Scale reading on the Hayward Fault, which runs along the hills not far from the O.co Coliseum, there is a rumbling large enough to create interest but not quite large enough to create concern.



What to think of the Raiders, where Al Davis seemingly has done what was needed after years of hiring coaches and firing coaches and trying virtually every living soul at quarterback?

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

RealClearSports: Will Jackson's Enthusiasm Win for Raiders?

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NAPA, Calif. — He is behind a temporary podium facing the setting sun. Not a comfortable position for Hue Jackson, but neither is his new job, head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the franchise that used to be.

America knows this city and valley, some 40 miles north of San Francisco. The country's wine capital. Grapes not of wrath but of potency and fame.

America knew the Raiders as the demons of the NFL. "The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun ..."

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

SF Examiner: Quarterback questions loom for Bay Area football teams

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Yes, as Jim Harbaugh pointed out, we love talking about the quarterback position. Why wouldn’t we? Arguably, it’s the most important in any team sport. It’s the position that wins games. Or loses them.

We know quarterbacks. We’ve watched Joe Montana and Steve Young and Jim Plunkett. What we don’t know, after six seasons, is whether Alex Smith...

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: New 49ers, Raiders leaders have their work cut out

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

New coaches and old stadiums. The Black Hole and holes to fill. Pro football is back by the Bay — dare we say welcome? — and now that the talk has shifted from lockouts to wideouts, the major questions are whether there will be a last hurrah for Al Davis and the Raiders and a first hurrah for Jed York and the 49ers.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Big One hits Bay Area football

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was a 7.1. Not on the Richter scale, on the Goodell scale. The San Andreas and Hayward faults were silent. The football fault lines opened.

At Instability Central, it isn't only the land that moves, it's the people.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011