Thursday, November 6, 2008

Hall's out. Harbaugh's in? Kiffin was right.

Twenty four hours later and nothing too serious, as of 6:39 EDT. Who the heck knows what may happen in the next couple hours.

We do know this though.....DeAngelo Hall's out. Regardless of whether players agreed with it or not, I can tell you this. I agree with the move. Here's why:

Hall was beaten 40 times for 552 yards on 66 passes thrown his way, according to data compiled by STATS LLC. He gave up more yards than any defender this season and was tied for third worst in catches allowed.

Now, is that worthy of a 7 year, $70 million dollar contract? I wouldn't think so (and there's no way anyone with any common sense would either). No matter whether you're a fan of Hall or not, you can't argue with the abysmal nature of those numbers. Sometimes you just need to cut your losses when you're not getting any value out of your investments. It was clear that what the Raiders were paying him and what they were getting out of him on the field were not equal. At all. I was never a Hall fan (still think he's overrated) and didn't think that was a prudent pick up when it happened.

What kills the team is that we lost a second round draft pick in the 2008 draft and will lose a fifth round pick in the 2009 pick. That's what hurts the worst. That hurts the team's future and right now, that's about all we have left to look forward to, as fans. It's getting harder and harder to do that.

Wh0's next on the chopping block? Who knows. It could be Javon Walker. It should be Kwame Harris. And, all those high priced players probably should step it up on the field and start giving the team, Al Davis and the fans a little bit of return on their investment or they may be out.

Al's heart was in the right place when he sold a 20 percent share of the team, gave away money like it was going out of style and signed all those free agents. It's a shame that his head was not. He wanted to win and he threw money at the problem to try to improve the team and, frankly, that was probably one of the only ways to get guys to come there. He just didn't do it smartly, got himself into some salary cap trouble and now he's trying to get out from under some bad investments.

The worst part is that it looks like Kiffin was right in his evaluations of the team and what he wanted to do. He didn't want Hall and wanted to cut him after preseason. He didn't want Russell and now he may be right there too. So, one has to wonder, why did Al fire him and then just turn around and do what Kiffin wanted to do anyway? Was Al's ego and personal pride more valuable than an up and coming, young, intelligent head coach that looked to have the team headed in the right direction? I guess we all know the answer to that.

On a bit more positive note, it sounds like there are some rumors floating around that Al likes Jim Harbaugh as a possible fit for the head coaching position. That may not be a bad hire. A hard nose guy with great character that may be able to change the team and organizational culture without getting on Al's bad side. Coaching rumors are great to talk about, but we have bigger issues to deal with right now.

Don't let the above positivity go to your head though. The game this Sunday appears to be headed for a blackout in the Bay Area. That's one way fans can voice their disapproval of what's going on....don't go to the game. Maybe that's the kind of statement that's need to get the organization to listen and make real, smart, well thought out and valuable changes.

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