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Rousing Raiders Victory Will Be Memorable

The last game of the season is always flavorful. For playoff teams that don't win the Super Bowl, they are left with a sour taste in their mouths and are eager to return. For the Super Bowl Champions a sweet flavor of victory. For non-playoff teams that lose their last game a rotten taste and something to chew on the rest of the offseason. For a non-playoff team that is victorious, perhaps a cleansing gulp of water that washes down the bitter taste of another lost season.

Cleansing renewal may have been enough for Cable to retain his job. Cable certainly made his case for the Head Coaching job over the past few weeks. Al Davis may observe simple things such as Asomugha and Lechler clearing out their lockers early. A few things are slowly emerging from the season long Raiders saga. At least one player said Kiffin quit on the team. That is news to me and certainly puts some validity to Al Davis' claim during the freak show that was the Kiffin overhead projector firing.

Rumor has it Bill Parcells could be a free agent and could end up here.

Bill Parcells has a good relationship with Al Davis. I've never thought the Tuna would ever want to ruin his friendship and work for Davis, but it could be the splash Mr. Davis is looking to make this offseason. Parcells is proving he has a knack for turning around struggling franchises and also has an eye for football talent. I'd assume he would get a GM tag for the first time in history of the Raiders, but that doesn't mean Al Davis would still have heavy influence over the football side.

There is certainly a lot of building blocks to work with here. Don't ever let anyone tell you this team lacks talent. Ask any team in the league and they will tell you that isn't the case. It is discipline and sometimes coaching. When the coaching and discipline are good we win as evidence of this check out gap assignments, penalties and playcalling the past two games.

Only James Lofton, to my knowledge, will be under contract next season. So there is a good chance there will be a large staff turnover even if Cable stays, but the system would be similar and that should be good for this young team. You have to wonder what changing systems would do to the development of Russell and hte other young players. Staff turnover while keeping a system in place is about the best you could hope for. Fresh ideas without a regression.

I also want to reiterate some things I have said in the past:

--->Bruce Allen was our quasi GM from 98 -03. He was the buffer and Al Davis trusted him with plenty of responsibility. So it isn't as if it couldn't happen.

Al Davis just pushes you, makes you fight for your views and sometimes you don't win sometimes you do.

Stop listening to so much ESPN babble. Listen to people who know, Tim Brown, John Madden, etc.

Al Davis does need someone to help him out, the guy is stretched pretty thin. Anybody might do poorly with so little help in the front office, but the guy is also old, and he is attached to the old ways. It may be his fault that the front office is so thin, but with some help which he knows he needs, the tide can turn.

A solid front office guy plus a consultant like Tim Brown would turn the tide and Davis will still be able to be Al Davis. Davis is the problem, but that is only because he owns the organization, not because of anything else.<---


POSTGAME PRESSER IS HERE.

CHUCKY PRESSER IS HERE.

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