Angel
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2006
- Messages
- 2,264
- Reaction score
- 1
GARY PETERSON: TIMES COLUMNIST
Flip-off is far from hatefest
Discouraging news: Friday's flip-off between the Raiders and 49ers was conducted without incident.
Scot McCloughan, the 49ers vice president of player personnel, called "tails." Tails it was. The 49ers were awarded the No. 6 pick in April's NFL draft. The Raiders had to settle for No. 7.
There were no arrests. No tender sensibilities were harmed in the breaking of the tie between the Bay Area's two 4-12 football teams.
Reports that Al Davis and John York exchanged manly, Euro air kisses after the coin toss had not been confirmed at press time. But, well, you do the math.
Time was when the Raiders and 49ers reveled in glorious rivalry, whether they were meeting on the playing field, in the boardroom, or just blowing poison darts at one another from the comfort of their leather office chairs. Carmen Policy would drop a catty biker reference. Al Davis would demand that Policy be expelled from the NFL for wanton cap cooking.
Had Friday's coin toss been held 10 years ago, Davis would have sued for the right to make the call in the air. Policy would have requested a second coin flip, for the exclusive right to declare Cedrick Hardman as an alumnus. Davis would have demanded that the commemorative coin be counted against the 49ers' salary cap. It would have been a flip-off, all right.
But no. These days, the teams have settled into a comfortable co-existence. Too comfortable, it says here.
How did this happen? Well, Policy left the 49ers' front office for Cleveland in 1998. He's now living the life of the semi-retired in Napa, growing grapes and trying to blend the perfect Fume Blanc.
Big Al is busy trying to get his club back to the future. York is trying to do the same with the 49ers. You could say that both teams are so preoccupied trying to put one foot in front of the other there simply isn't the time for unpleasantries, contrived or otherwise.
Which is why some of us had high hopes for Friday's event. For starters, McCloughan's father, Kent, played five seasons for the Raiders in the 1960s and '70s. What he said Friday was true enough: "It puts us one slot ahead of where we might have been."
On the other hand, "If Al Davis was so smart, my dad wouldn't have had to beg for playing time behind Nemiah Wilson" would have sounded better. It didn't happen.
And yet, the coin flip could lead to some juicy drama come draft day. Mock drafts are already popping up online, and they hint at some interesting scenarios. It has been presumed Houston will take USC's Reggie Bush at No. 1 (though new head coach Gary Kubiak has been noncommittal). New Orleans is locking in on USC quarterback Matt Leinart at No. 2. Then comes Tennessee.
Highly regarded offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a distinct possibility. After all, the Titans have to find a way to keep quarterback Steve McNair healthy. But there's another school of thought that says: The heck with McNair. Draft Texas quarterback Vince Young.
Young, you'll recall from the Rose Bowl, is freakishly gifted. He put up huge numbers in college, but his passing skills are considered unrefined by NFL standards. In other words, he's precisely the kind of player who has historically appealed to Davis. And in fact, the Raiders already have had a personal interview with Young, who will hold a y'all-come personal workout in Texas next month.
Some mock drafts have Young falling as far as 10th, meaning the Raiders would have a shot at him without moving up. But Tennessee is enough of a wild card that Davis might want to trade up just to make sure.
Which is where the 49ers could come in. With the No. 6 pick (as opposed to the Raiders' No. 7) they could offer a marginally more attractive jump-up package to Tennessee. Then they could take Ferguson.
Or they could offer a jump-up package to the Jets (who draft fourth), or to Green Bay (which drafts fifth).
Should Young indeed fall as far as No. 6, the 49ers could trade down, allowing another team to move up and pick Young ahead of Oakland. Wouldn't that turn Davis about 15 shakes of silver and black.
Hey, they could even deal directly with the Raiders, forcing Davis to overpay for a player everybody knows he covets. Maybe they could even feign generosity by tossing in a bottle of Policy's finest Cabernet.
Then again, it may not be about Young. One report has the Raiders and 49ers looking at the same player -- Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. Hawk could have been flipped right into the 49ers' lap on Friday, at the Raiders' expense.
Maybe some draft day intrigue could stoke the fire that used to exist between our two unlovable locals. Maybe some of that bad blood will spill over into next fall's regular season game between the two at San Francisco.
Maybe we can one day relive that glorious hatefest of days gone by, when the Raiders and 49ers stood in athletic, economic, geographic and philosophical opposition to one another. And Al Davis has the surplus of poison darts to prove it.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/football/nfl/oakland_raiders/13966676.htm
Flip-off is far from hatefest
Discouraging news: Friday's flip-off between the Raiders and 49ers was conducted without incident.
Scot McCloughan, the 49ers vice president of player personnel, called "tails." Tails it was. The 49ers were awarded the No. 6 pick in April's NFL draft. The Raiders had to settle for No. 7.
There were no arrests. No tender sensibilities were harmed in the breaking of the tie between the Bay Area's two 4-12 football teams.
Reports that Al Davis and John York exchanged manly, Euro air kisses after the coin toss had not been confirmed at press time. But, well, you do the math.
Time was when the Raiders and 49ers reveled in glorious rivalry, whether they were meeting on the playing field, in the boardroom, or just blowing poison darts at one another from the comfort of their leather office chairs. Carmen Policy would drop a catty biker reference. Al Davis would demand that Policy be expelled from the NFL for wanton cap cooking.
Had Friday's coin toss been held 10 years ago, Davis would have sued for the right to make the call in the air. Policy would have requested a second coin flip, for the exclusive right to declare Cedrick Hardman as an alumnus. Davis would have demanded that the commemorative coin be counted against the 49ers' salary cap. It would have been a flip-off, all right.
But no. These days, the teams have settled into a comfortable co-existence. Too comfortable, it says here.
How did this happen? Well, Policy left the 49ers' front office for Cleveland in 1998. He's now living the life of the semi-retired in Napa, growing grapes and trying to blend the perfect Fume Blanc.
Big Al is busy trying to get his club back to the future. York is trying to do the same with the 49ers. You could say that both teams are so preoccupied trying to put one foot in front of the other there simply isn't the time for unpleasantries, contrived or otherwise.
Which is why some of us had high hopes for Friday's event. For starters, McCloughan's father, Kent, played five seasons for the Raiders in the 1960s and '70s. What he said Friday was true enough: "It puts us one slot ahead of where we might have been."
On the other hand, "If Al Davis was so smart, my dad wouldn't have had to beg for playing time behind Nemiah Wilson" would have sounded better. It didn't happen.
And yet, the coin flip could lead to some juicy drama come draft day. Mock drafts are already popping up online, and they hint at some interesting scenarios. It has been presumed Houston will take USC's Reggie Bush at No. 1 (though new head coach Gary Kubiak has been noncommittal). New Orleans is locking in on USC quarterback Matt Leinart at No. 2. Then comes Tennessee.
Highly regarded offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a distinct possibility. After all, the Titans have to find a way to keep quarterback Steve McNair healthy. But there's another school of thought that says: The heck with McNair. Draft Texas quarterback Vince Young.
Young, you'll recall from the Rose Bowl, is freakishly gifted. He put up huge numbers in college, but his passing skills are considered unrefined by NFL standards. In other words, he's precisely the kind of player who has historically appealed to Davis. And in fact, the Raiders already have had a personal interview with Young, who will hold a y'all-come personal workout in Texas next month.
Some mock drafts have Young falling as far as 10th, meaning the Raiders would have a shot at him without moving up. But Tennessee is enough of a wild card that Davis might want to trade up just to make sure.
Which is where the 49ers could come in. With the No. 6 pick (as opposed to the Raiders' No. 7) they could offer a marginally more attractive jump-up package to Tennessee. Then they could take Ferguson.
Or they could offer a jump-up package to the Jets (who draft fourth), or to Green Bay (which drafts fifth).
Should Young indeed fall as far as No. 6, the 49ers could trade down, allowing another team to move up and pick Young ahead of Oakland. Wouldn't that turn Davis about 15 shakes of silver and black.
Hey, they could even deal directly with the Raiders, forcing Davis to overpay for a player everybody knows he covets. Maybe they could even feign generosity by tossing in a bottle of Policy's finest Cabernet.
Then again, it may not be about Young. One report has the Raiders and 49ers looking at the same player -- Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. Hawk could have been flipped right into the 49ers' lap on Friday, at the Raiders' expense.
Maybe some draft day intrigue could stoke the fire that used to exist between our two unlovable locals. Maybe some of that bad blood will spill over into next fall's regular season game between the two at San Francisco.
Maybe we can one day relive that glorious hatefest of days gone by, when the Raiders and 49ers stood in athletic, economic, geographic and philosophical opposition to one another. And Al Davis has the surplus of poison darts to prove it.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/football/nfl/oakland_raiders/13966676.htm