Angry Pope
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The sphinx of the Raiders
September 16th, 2006
By Jerry McDonald
Art Shell understands his sideline demeanor, devoid of expression and emotion, leaves some wondering if he has the ability to light a fire under the Raiders.
Shell is being critcized on talk radio and the Internet, skewered by ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons and questioned by is own fans. There have been comments posted on this blog similar to what’s being said everywhere else, begging Shell to do something . . . anything . . . to show that he’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Word is Shell’s sidelne serenity was an issue with Al Davis during his last go-round as Raiders coach
But if you’re expecting Shell to take the first down marker and break it over his knee, or to berate the next lineman who gives up a sack, forget it.
“People have said to me, `Well, you don’t show any emotions,’ ‘’ Shell said the other day. “I am who I am. I can’t be anybody else. I can’ t be yelling and screaming if I’m not that guy, because players will see through that, because I haven’t been that way before.
“You think Tom Landry showed emotions? You think Chuck Noll . . . showed a lot of emotions? Everybody’s different.'’
Shell has a point. The Raiders have had it both ways on the sideline. John Madden and Jon Gruden were all over the sidelines, ranting and raving. The encouraged, consoled and lit fires when necessary.
Tom Flores won two Super Bowls with a style similar to Shell.
Win, and Shell is the calm influence, the eye in the organizational hurricane that is the Raiders. Lose, and ESPN’s Simmons apparently will make fun of him for the next 15 weeks.
Simmons hammered Shell in his Page 2 column last week, and was at it again this week.
“Here was the best part: Shell standing motionless on the sidelines, rarely moving, rarely blinking, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing apocolypse on the field. One of my readers wondered if ESPN was looping the same Shell shot for four quarters, kinda likehow Keanu Reeves rigged the bus camera in `Speed.’
“And just like the old days, Art was wearing a headset, only it’s unclear if the headset was on or off since he never said anything into it; for all we know, the headset was playing show tunes . . . ‘’
He even posted a list of e-mail responses from fans who had read Simmons the previous week and were taking turns battering Shell like a pinata.
Whether Shell has any idea he’s become a comic foil for an ESPN columnist is not known, and of course you’d never know by looking at him.
September 16th, 2006
By Jerry McDonald
Art Shell understands his sideline demeanor, devoid of expression and emotion, leaves some wondering if he has the ability to light a fire under the Raiders.
Shell is being critcized on talk radio and the Internet, skewered by ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons and questioned by is own fans. There have been comments posted on this blog similar to what’s being said everywhere else, begging Shell to do something . . . anything . . . to show that he’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Word is Shell’s sidelne serenity was an issue with Al Davis during his last go-round as Raiders coach
But if you’re expecting Shell to take the first down marker and break it over his knee, or to berate the next lineman who gives up a sack, forget it.
“People have said to me, `Well, you don’t show any emotions,’ ‘’ Shell said the other day. “I am who I am. I can’t be anybody else. I can’ t be yelling and screaming if I’m not that guy, because players will see through that, because I haven’t been that way before.
“You think Tom Landry showed emotions? You think Chuck Noll . . . showed a lot of emotions? Everybody’s different.'’
Shell has a point. The Raiders have had it both ways on the sideline. John Madden and Jon Gruden were all over the sidelines, ranting and raving. The encouraged, consoled and lit fires when necessary.
Tom Flores won two Super Bowls with a style similar to Shell.
Win, and Shell is the calm influence, the eye in the organizational hurricane that is the Raiders. Lose, and ESPN’s Simmons apparently will make fun of him for the next 15 weeks.
Simmons hammered Shell in his Page 2 column last week, and was at it again this week.
“Here was the best part: Shell standing motionless on the sidelines, rarely moving, rarely blinking, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing apocolypse on the field. One of my readers wondered if ESPN was looping the same Shell shot for four quarters, kinda likehow Keanu Reeves rigged the bus camera in `Speed.’
“And just like the old days, Art was wearing a headset, only it’s unclear if the headset was on or off since he never said anything into it; for all we know, the headset was playing show tunes . . . ‘’
He even posted a list of e-mail responses from fans who had read Simmons the previous week and were taking turns battering Shell like a pinata.
Whether Shell has any idea he’s become a comic foil for an ESPN columnist is not known, and of course you’d never know by looking at him.