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ProspectWhen renting movies at the local video store, which in our electronic based society is surprisingly not yet torn down, the clerk Erik and I engaged in a brief exchange about the owners of the Oakland Athletics having expressed an interest in having an MLS team. This was covered on the AP sports ticker in a brief blurb. During the holidays likely it was read by about seventeen people nationwide. The interest level is probably on par with who won a ping pong match at the local Senior Center.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Perhaps I am a little more keen on the ramifications of this interest by Wolff, Crowley and Beane to purchase a team for a city that could not even support a recent champion fresh off leading the MLS in points. In case you are wondering, Wolff does in fact have a second "f", Crowley is probably not named after an Ozzy Osbourne song and Billy Beane is the only person of the three anyone outside the Bay Area has even heard of. That being said, I will get to my point before I lose anyone gracious enough to be reading this.
The move of the Oakland Athletics has long been rumored. At one time D.C. was a possibility until a certain team from Canada filled that spot. During modifications to the stadium currently referred to as the McAfee Coliseum (I still hear the media call it Network Associates) there were thoughts of taking their act to Las Vegas where I am certain the mascot would have been an Elvis impersonator. That would have been a big stretch at the time although now that the NBA is flirting with the possibility perhaps it is not so far fetched. All signs point to moving because in spite of their talented, winning teams the stadium simply does not draw fans. How does this relate to the ownership group wanting an MLS team?
DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?
Quite simply, the biggest push has been for San Jose. The stumbling block is the rights of the San Francisco Giants not to have another professional baseball team in their area. With the mayor of San Jose being censured and MLS team (Quakes) flying off to Houston things are not going very smoothly there. It would seem to be a good time for a group of savvy businessmen to make a seemingly philanthropic maneuver to bring another professional franchise into San Jose, but with a big string attached.
That string is that after perhaps starting a fresh MLS franchise, running it well and doing a lot of nice things for the community they will have built up some trust. At that time, when the idea of moving the A's to San Jose is brought up there will be considerably more momentum on their side. I do not think I need to draw a picture to those who know a good long term business move when they see one.
RAIDER NATION
It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out and if the city does in fact lose the Athletics could the Raiders be far behind? Well, they might be leading the way out of town if you buy into the rumors This is the final season of the dreaded Personal Seat License (PSL) which has been a sore subject of hard working fans since it was implemented upon the team's return from Los Angeles 11 seasons ago.
The good news for fans is that the Oakland Football Marketing Association (OFMA) has been abolished. They were rude to fans, disorganized and generally disliked. Making matters worse, the villain that is Al Davis bore the blame for many things that OFMA was actually responsible for. If a new long term ticket solution is reached in the very near future the Raiders might have a long future in Oakland. Should things go sour, the Los Angeles area itch might form again on the back of Al Davis.
EMPTY COLISEUM?
In the event that we have the San Jose Athletics and Los Angeles Raiders where does that leave the city of Oakland? At least the Golden State Warriors are playing better of late, but such defections would cast serious doubt on the ability of Oakland to support professional teams. The East Bay may never regain a foothold and fade into oblivion. Heck, the Warriors might even return to San Francisco.
I suppose one potential solution to saving Oakland's franchises would have to be building a new baseball only facility to draw fans for the winning Athletics, but I sincerely doubt a fancy stadium is the answer. The Coliseum is not a complete dump and we are not talking about a small deficit of fans or a terrible product on the field. This team regularly draws low numbers even in the midst of playoff runs.
Where the Raiders are concerned, sell-outs are few and far between. The recent contest against the Cleveland Browns was posted at over 40,000 in paid attendance but those who did attend found about half of that actually showing up.
CHIME IN ANY TIME
Your solution is as good as mine. As a resident of the East Bay I would hate to see either the Raiders or Athletics leave.
Michael Vick of Atlanta is fast, there is no disputing that. The criticism of him has been that he cannot throw a deep forward pass. Evidence is pretty strong that passing the football is not his strength. In this his fifth year in the NFL he has yet to pass for even 3,000 yards although in fairness he has also missed plenty of playing time due to injury. At press time (through 14 games of 2005) his career spanning 56 games played and 49 started has produced only 8,755 yards passing. Some consider 300 yards to be a successful game throwing the football. I think 250 is at least a solid effort. How many times do you suppose he has reached even 250? That would be five times, including three in the 2002 season. He had a career high 337 during the same campaign and earlier this year had only his second visit into three bill territory at 306. It is worth noting that this year's big effort marked the first time Atlanta lost when he threw for more than 250 yards, leaving them 3-1-1 in such games. Sort of ruins the argument that they are better off if he does not throw the ball a lot huh?
Donovan McNabb is another black quarterback who entered the NFL in 1999, but whose perception is the opposite. He used to run a lot more and now recently has been reeled in. His career has spanned 94 games and 88 starts across seven seasons. Already four times he has surpassed 3,200 yards in a season and struck for 134 passing touchdowns. Over the last 24 games he started in 2004 and 2005 he has only run with the football for a gain 2.75 times per start. Contrast that to the previous 4 seasons in which he started 58 games with an average of 5.21 rushes and I think you see my point. We are talking about roughly slicing his carries in half. Clearly the presence of Terrell Owens impacted this decision and helped him to throw for at least 330 yards in an astounding 33% of his starts during that period of time. The interesting fact is comparing the yards per attempt for his career. McNabb stands at 6.60 while Michael Vick's is 6.78. Remind me again who is better at getting the football down the field?
The most overlooked and underappreciated black quarterback in the game today is Byron Leftwich. Entering the NFL in 2003 he has had his share of issues staying healthy, but in his rookie year went 5-8 as a starter. If you need a reminder what Peyton Manning did as a rookie, his record was 3-13. He followed it up with an 8-6 season and the team was 8-3 when he went down. If you are running out of fingers to count on that would be a 21-17 record. Since winning is the bottom line for a quarterback and 55% translates to just about 9-7 I consider him a very successful player. His rushing statistics certainly paint him as a pocket passer. Only 95 times has he run with the ball in 40 appearances and 38 total starts. The 323 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns are just about what a scrambling quarterback would accumulate in a single mediocre season. In roughly 25% fewer starts than Vick, Leftwich has double the number of games throwing for at least 250 yards (10) although his team is a mere 5-5 in those contests. 
... who makes a great point about Warren Moon. I personally was a great fan and admirer of Moon as a passer. He was not mentioned here simply because of the era in which he played and the obvious slant towards passing the ball in the offenses he participated in with the Oilers and Vikings. Speaking of the Vikings ...
... I have been called out for not bringing up Daunte Culpepper. In this response portion obviously I am being more liberal about dosing out my own opinion. I currently find it difficult to measure Culpepper because in limited 2005 action (only 6 full games) he was clearly a different quarterback without one of the game's elite weapons in the form of Randy Moss. To his credit he passed for at least 233 yards every time out, but his QB rating was 49.2, 36.4 and 50.4 in three of those games while 12 of his passes were intercepted. That being said, running this season did appear to help him because the games he had more than 3 rushes produced his two wins while the other four games were convincing losses. The vibe of your post is that Culpepper is an elite quarterback and assuredly the evidence this season points in the opposite direction. At 37 years old Brad Johnson stepped into the starting role and has gone 6-1.