SF Examiner: Things are looking up in NorCal

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

John Cook, who won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday at Harding Park, was saying as a kid who grew up in Southern California — or “SoCal,” as he phrased it — how much he reveled in beating people and teams from Northern California.

Read the full story here.

C0pyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Tom Cable Unleashes Emerging Raiders

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

ALAMEDA, Calif. - As of the moment, Tom Cable is the coach of the Oakland Raiders and Wade Phillips is no longer the coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Or exactly the opposite of what we believed a few weeks ago might be the situation.

Read the full story here.
RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: New year, new message for Raiders

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

NAPA — Slogans they got. You’re familiar with “Commitment to Excellence,” the words if not the results. Now the Raiders are presenting players T-shirts that in effect sneer at the derision the team unfortunately has earned in recent years.

“The Affirmation, Champions,” one motto begins, on the front and then switches to the back. “We are going to win the AFC West and then after the Super Bowl.” My, my.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Raiders Need to Become Relevant Again

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NAPA, Calif. -- You want to know what's worse than being a loser? It's being irrelevant.

It's reaching a point when nobody cares what you do, when there's no griping or moaning, when people talk of you, if they talk of you, in the past tense, as if you didn't exist any longer.

As if you had become the Oakland Raiders.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: JaMarcus' Trip from No. 1 to Nowhere

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- It must have been agony for Al Davis, making the ultimate concession, admitting to himself as well as the world that using the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft on quarterback JaMarcus Russell was a mistake of considerable magnitude.

Al does mea culpas very poorly, if he does them at all. Davis does not like to admit failure, especially when the failure can be attributed to him.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010