Raiders Having Better Year Than Ink-Stained Wretches

OAKLAND —  Sam Farmer, Ron Kroichick, Bill Soliday, Jim Jenkins, Sam Chi and Steve Corkran are local sportswriters around here, and three months ago in training camp these hacks were ridiculing one of the best teams in the NFL, writing snide asides at the Raiders’ expense and even going so far as to make light of Mr. Al Davis.

It goes without saying if they were good at their jobs, they would have the A beat and be covering the San Francisco 49ers. But there’s no excuse for misleading the public, and not one of these scribblers predicted any more than six victories for the Team of the Decades.

“It’s funny reading the local papers now when you read their interpretation of our team compared to their interpretation at the beginning of the year,” says Bruce Allen, senior assistant for the Raiders.

The Raiders are 6-2, and now the naysayers such as Farmer, Kroichick and the other guys who write for Bay Area shoppers are fawning over Oakland’s powerhouse and leaping on the bandwagon.

”. . . The Raiders have put themselves in great position to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993,” wrote Kroichick this week as if suddenly he’s a football expert and everyone is going to forget the gloomy preseason prognostications and include him in the next Raiderette party.

Wishy-washy reporting is probably the only reason the Raiders’ attendance is so poor--an average of 44,919 at home--ranking them 29th in the league. Maybe if the local reporters hadn’t spent their summer lowering expectations by underestimating the value of Mo Collins, there would be standing room only.

It’s darn disappointing, is what it is--this slanted reporting--a black eye for the Professional Football Writers of America, which happily has much more respect for the football people in the Raider organization such as Amy Trask, Mr. Davis’ right-hand man.

This is exactly why Mr. Davis wants to move back to Los Angeles, a place where local writers know their football.

It’s a journalistic truism, of course, not everyone can be objective, or particularly brilliant and insightful. And admittedly sometimes it’s tough being the lone voice in the wilderness, but, hello, it doesn’t take a football degree to see the greatness in quarterback Donald Hollas, who was good enough to make it in both the Arena League and the NFL.

The Oakland-area hacks are now all atwitter because quarterback Jeff George is coming back, demonstrating once again a lack of football know-how. Why would anyone advocate using a quarterback like George with a starting record of 37-68 in place of guy like Hollas, who is undefeated? If these Oakland writers were working in Buffalo, they’d be pushing Rob Johnson to replace Doug Flutie.

In big markets like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, reporters rely more on facts, and the simple fact is, nobody but Denver has a better record in the AFC than the Raiders and that’s because Mr. Davis trained Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan.

The grumps up here are never happy. They don’t appreciate the advancements in the Raider organization--just last week the team’s public relations director answered the phone. Team officials even insisted later it was no mistake.

Mr. Davis doesn’t have a chance with these guys. Misunderstood as he is, he believes in giving everyone a chance--just look at the opportunities he gave Art Shell, Joe Bugel and Mike White. When he hired Jon Gruden, he drew criticism for employing a head coach who looked like an 11-year-old who had climbed the fence to sneak a peak at practice.

Gruden had to get arrested for drunk driving simply to show everyone he was man enough to fit right in with the Raiders.

Defensive back Albert Lewis, while acknowledging Gruden’s inexperience--three years as an offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles--said, “You have to remember, no one expected Tiger Woods to win the Masters.”

And certainly not any of the reporters from Oakland.

Gruden has an aura about him. When he looks at you, he appears as if he wants to fight, and reading those Oakland-area newspapers it’s understandable. But Gruden is smart too, hiring Willie Shaw as his defensive coordinator, knowing that he would take the NFL’s worst-ranked defense a year ago and make it No. 2 in the league after eight games.

“This is no miracle,” said safety Anthony Newman, who played for Shaw in New Orleans and St. Louis. “It’s all new players; there are only three guys who started last year. It’s a new team.”

The writers could have seen that in training camp--if they weren’t sitting around the pool with their laptops, exchanging cliches.

“A new attitude,” said Shaw, quickly becoming a head coaching candidate. “Xs and O’s don’t play football, people do, and the attitudes here had to change.”

Chester McGlockton and his bad attitude left, Darrell Russell moved inside and became unstoppable, Charles Woodson might be one of the best cornerbacks in the league, limiting Seattle’s Joey Galloway to a long catch of eight yards last week, and Woodson is a rookie. In Eric Allen, the Raiders have one of the best veteran cornerbacks and leaders in the game, and young Lance Johnstone is emerging as a bona fide defensive end.

You read all that in the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper that believes in giving a team its due.

The Raiders have won four more games than they have lost and have scored one more point than they have given up. That’s domination by any definition.

The Los Angeles City Council recently voted to keep these guys out of town, but they were reading the Oakland area newspapers instead of listening to Councilman Nate Holden. L.A. could have this year’s feel-good story, the fuzzy, cuddly Raiders, who have lost their starting quarterback, left tackle, free safety and desire to remain in Oakland.

“A lot of guys here have had all the accolades they could have in a career, but what they haven’t had is wins,” linebacker Richard Harvey said. “We’re not trying to fool anybody. We’re not one of the upper-echelon teams; we’re not San Francisco, we’re not Green Bay, we’re not Minnesota. What we are is a team with good guys pulling together, a team with great chemistry.”

Feel the love, and take note, the Raiders are not even upset with the hacks.

“I actually prefer it when people underestimate us,” offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy said. “The naysayers can say what they want. I’m just relishing the fact that we’re putting together some wins.”

Two more victories and the Raiders will have the same record they had in 1995, but in checking the Los Angeles Times’ positive news archives, there’s no mention of what happened next.

“C’mon now,” wrote the dissident Kroichick this week. “You knew we had to mention the epic collapse of ’95. Coincidentally enough, that’s the last time the Raiders reached the halfway point at 6-2.

“They soon climbed to 8-2, stirring visions of a division title and home playoff games. Then, suddenly, they were merely home. . . .”

Too wordy, too many commas. Professionally speaking now, it doesn’t look as if these guys can make it to the Super Bowl.

The writers or the Raiders?

The answer is pretty obvious.