I’m not a Raiders’ fan by any stretch. But for some reason I’ve been paying more attention to them this season than I usually would.  I went from mocking them early in the season to actually feeling bad for them and their fans as the season went on.  After seeing them in person when they played the Jets, I really hoped they could find a quality coach and turn the franchise around.

Well, the Raiders have hired a new coach, Lane Kiffin.  I openly admit that I don’t know much about Lane Kiffin.  I know he’s young (31) is the son of long time Tampa Bay Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin, and that he was the Offensive Coordinator at the University of Southern California for the past six seasons. That’s pretty much it. However, after catching a part of Kiffin’s first press conference as Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders, I know he needs work in the “inspiration” department.

During the press conference Kiffin said he will bring an “explosive powerful offense” to the Raiders.  Something I’m sure Raider Nation was happy to hear after finishing last in the NFL in total offense in the 2006.  Kiffin, also looked sternly (well he tried to anyway) out to the press and said the team will play “happy and hard”.  Umm, really Lane? Happy and hard?  That’s your mantra? I think that’s what my alcoholic little league baseball coach used to say. Those are the words you will use to inspire the guys like Randy Moss and Warren Sapp?  Good luck with that endeavor Lane. Good luck and Godspeed.

Believe me Raider’s fans I hope I’m wrong about this, but I don’t think Lane is going to turn this team around.  I want the Raiders to be at least decent.  The Raiders have some of the best fans in the NFL; they are at every stadium supporting their team.  A friend of mine who works for an NFL team told me that the Raiders have the only fans that actually scare you a little because they are so passionate it borders on insanity.  They deserve a better product than they’ve had lately. 

I wonder how Raider fans feel about him.  I already know one who’s not all that optimistic about the Lane Kiffin era. One of my best friends, Riss who is a die hard Raider fan, asked me what I thought about the Raiders’ new hire.  I didn’t want to sound negative.

 I simply said, “I don’t know much about him.”

 “I don’t know” Riss responded.  I mean he said the team is going to play “happy and hard. He couldn’t come up with a better line than that? He could have at least borrowed ‘clear eyes and full hearts can’t lose’.  Can’t we get Coach Taylor?”

So right now the fictional coach of the Dillon Panthers rates higher for a long time Raider fan than their newly hired coach.  I don’t think that is the response Al Davis was looking for.

While others debate whether Mark McGwire should be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is another issue regarding Hall of Fame voting that bothers me more than the “possible steroid users in the Hall” debate.  

The fact that there are members of the Hall of Fame committee that did not vote for Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken Jr. to be enshrined at Cooperstown is a problem.  I know, I know, Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected anyway, and both received over 97% of the vote.

However, the fact that Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected is not the point.  Ripken and Gwynn are in that rare group of professional athletes where there is absolutely no debate about their Hall of Fame credentials. They, along with other elite players like Tom Seaver, Barry Sanders, and Joe Montana should have received 100% of the vote. Some players are just that dominant; they’ve had that much of an impact on their sport that deciding on voting yes for them should take about .03 seconds.  Seriously, how can anyone check off the “no” box when Jerry Rice comes up for enshrinement?  The same goes for Greg Maddux.  There is no logical reason why they shouldn’t be unanimous selections to enter their respective Halls of Fame.

But no player ever gets 100% of the vote and I don’t think it will ever happen.  Hank Aaron is the all time leader in homeruns. How could anyone not vote for him?  But someone didn’t.  The fact is that there are members of these committees (many of whom are current or former sports writers) in all sports, using their vote as a weapon to hold a grudge against a player or as a tool to express their personal beliefs.  Some members just believe that no player should ever be elected the first time they are on the ballot. Whatever the reason, there are members of Hall of Fame committees abusing their power, and it’s just not right.

It’s a new year and with a new year comes the promise of change; a chance break bad habits; to do things better.  Well, while we love to blame players, coaches and owners, we sports fans need to look in the mirror and admit that we need to make some changes as well.  I propose the following resolutions to help us all become better sports fans in 2007.

1. Less Sport Radio.  I’ll admit that this one is a personal pet peeve.  I hate sports talk radio shows.  There is not another segment of sports media that I find more annoying.  Pompous hosts, who typically aren’t all that knowledgeable (yes, I’m talking to you Steven A. Smith and Michael Kay) use the airwaves to spout incoherent rants, recycle clichés and support their own agendas.  It’s suppose to be a forum for fans to express ideas and opinions but usually if a caller’s opinion’s differ from the host’s they call him crazy and hang up.  So please in the best interests of everyone, let’s stop calling and stop listening. 

2. Think Before You Vote.  The All-Star vote is one of the last pieces of power the sports fan has left, but frankly we as a group are doing a terrible job lately.  All you have to do is look at this year’s Pro Bowl balloting where John #### and his whopping zero interceptions, zero sacks and 5 passes defended made it to Hawaii over Kerry Rhodes who has 5 interceptions, 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.  This happens all the time in every major sport, then fans turn around and complain that the same players make it to the All-Star game every year. Well then we as a whole need to do a better job.

3. Try Something New.  We all consider ourselves sports fans but are we really?  How many of us have been to a minor league baseball game? Or checked out a basketball game at our local community college?  Maybe you’ve never been to an Arena League game (which is actually pretty fun in person).  We could all diversify our sports portfolios a bit. 

4. Cut Down the Clichés.  Not all teams that lose “just didn’t want to win” sometimes they just get out played.  And not all athletes are “overpaid”; actually basic economics tells us that for the most part they all are compensated properly.  Can we get rid of clichés completely? Of course not. But as a group lets make an effort to actually think before we speak.

5. Keep Things in Perspective. Sports fans speak in way too many absolutes.  We crown players superstars in their first year. Or we call them busts after a few bad games early in their career.  Some of it comes with being a fan, I understand that. This is not completely our fault.  Sports media outlets love to proclaim a player, a team or even a league as reaching super star status or “in crisis”.  A perfect example of this is Tony Romo.  He was being compared to Brett Favre after his second NFL start.  Now? Not so much.  Let’s just take a little time before we proclaim the end of baseball as we know it or send Frank Gore to the Hall of Fame.

Over the years, probably because I’ve worked in sports or recreation jobs for most of my life, I’ve acquired a sizable group of female sports fan friends - (FSFF) and acquaintances -(FSFA). They come from various walks of life and ethnic backgrounds and for the most part they are just like their male counter parts:

 They are superstitious. One of my FSFF is a huge New York Mets and New York Rangers fan. Her game watching rituals involve having her mother and sister watch the same game in different rooms in the same apartment while sitting in specific chairs.  She also implores the Rangers’ defensemen to “Skate!! Skate!!”

 They are extremely loyal.  Riss, one of my best friends, grew up in California and is a devout (and bitter) Raider’s fan. Yes, she realizes Aaron Brooks is awful.  She is also aware that the offensive line can’t block. And yes, she knows that the Raiders’ kicker is almost 300 pounds. None of these facts makes her happy.  But she would never think of abandoning Raider Nation. Her beautiful 3 year old twin daughters are already wearing Raider jerseys and I think face paint is next. And don’t dare say the words “tuck rule” around her if you want to live.

 They play fantasy sports.  A fashionista FSFF I met while working at the NBA years ago just beat my team by 3 points in the second round of our fantasy football league.  (And no, it’s not fun to have a “chick-lit” writer talk trash to you. Not fun at all.)  She takes the league very seriously; she even told her boyfriend that she couldn’t drive him to the airport because she had to participate in her fantasy draft.

 “He knew the draft was today! Why would he put me in that position?” she wondered.  

 She made me so proud that day.

 But there are some differences between male sports fans and female sports fans.

They simplify strategy.  One of the guys I grew up with works for a NFL team.  When the two of us talk football the conversation goes something like this:

 Him: “They stayed in the cover-two shell too long. I thought that somewhere on the last drive coach would have called a safety blitz or at least gone to a pressure front look to make him check the ball down”

 Me: “Yea you have to do something different against Peyton Manning. Maybe go with bracket coverage, or a zone blitz, he was way too comfortable”

 Female sports just fans don’t speak this way.  Ever.  They break the game down to its simplest terms. One FSFF said to me, “Why don’t they just make sure Marvin Harrison doesn’t catch the ball? It’s obvious that’s who Peyton likes to throw to.”  This is not to say they females don’t understand strategy.  I know one in particular who loves the Match-Up show on ESPN.  They just don’t see the fuss in making the game more complicated than it needs to be. Why this skill doesn’t translate to shopping is beyond me.

 The players’ lives off the field are very important.  I have a friend who is a die hard Yankee fan and loves Derek Jeter.  Once we were having a random conversation about who Jeter will end up dating next.  I said “maybe he will go for Angelina Jolie once she’s tired of Brad Pitt”.

 She almost lost it.

 “If he dates her I will hate him. I can’t stand her. No, that can never happen”

What this has to do with Jeter’s ability to drive in runs or get on base is beyond me.

But all in all, male and female sports fans are more alike than they are different.  Both think the referees, announcers and sometimes the league as a whole are against their team.  The majority hate both Kobe Bryant and Terrell Owens.  And they both take losses very hard.  A female sports fan that attends the same graduate school I do didn’t watch television or read a newspaper for 3 days after the Yankees lost in the playoffs to the Detroit Tigers.  Because of this, she didn’t know what the weather forecast would be for the next week.

“I don’t want to see anything about the Yankees by accident, it makes my brain hurt.” she said to me in a low tone between puffs of a cigarette.

 Spoken like a true fan.

In case you haven’t heard, Michael Strahan talked really loudly to an ESPN reporter. He pointed his finger at her too.  A real tense situation. It seems that the reporter, Kelly Naqi, almost didn’t make it out of the locker room alive.  Luckily crisis negotiators were on the scene to defuse the situation. And now Giants are joining in song, standing up against the establishment. Sticking it to the man.  They won’t take the tyranny that has been inflected against them any longer. They will not let the powers at NBC, WFAN, ESPN or The New York Daily News break them. Instead they will use this situation to drive them to victory on Sunday.  I also think someone said “We will protect this house!!” but that wasn’t confirmed.

*Yawn*

Just another day in the codependent (and manipulative) relationship between professional athletes and the media.  “I’m just trying to do my job” the media cries “All you care about is the negative” the athletes scream.

Both parties need to shut up.

Was Strahan a bit out of control during his rambling tirade? Yep.  Did his actions make absolutely no sense? They made no sense what so ever.  But seriously, ESPN and the local media have blown this way out of proportion.  Members of the sports media constantly say that athletes need to deal with the pressure from the media.  That it’s a part of the job. “The price of fame” they say.  And for the most part they are right.  I personally feel that questions regarding an athletes’ personal life, family, sexual orientation, maternity payments or anything else along those lines should be off limits.  But reporters have the right to question athletes about topics that are relevant to their team and performance.  However, with that right, reporters need to accept the potential ramifications of asking such questions.  The player may flip out.  That comes with the territory.  They’re humans.  Sometimes we don’t like answering the same question multiple times.  If athletes need to “suck it up” because it’s their job, so do members of the media.  It’s a two-way street.

On the flip side, players need to realize that probably 90% of the “negative stuff” that the media pushes to sell newspapers or drive ratings is not media created.  Players serve up the negative stories on a platter, especially here in New York.  The media didn’t force Strahan to make negative comments about Plaxico Burress without talking to him first. The media didn’t make him lie about the situation either.  He has nobody to blame but himself.  And as much as players complain about the media, most athletes love every second of the attention. Ask Chad Johnson. They have no problem accepting checks to do weekly television or radio shows.  They show up as guest analysts.  They write books, and usually with team beat writers. 

So please, enough with the complaining from the writers and the players.  There are no victims here; you need each other.  And you both know it.

The legend of “Tom Coughlin: Disciplinarian” is a myth.

Sure he yells a lot.  And he has a bunch of  rules.  But he’s no disciplinarian.  Not by a long shot.

When Coughlin was hired as the Giants head coach in 2004, the main selling point was his supposed ability to instill discipline into the team.  Ownership felt former coach Jim Fassel was too soft, too friendly with the players.  The team needed to be pushed, needed to be more concerned with the details.  Coughlin was going to come in and get the Giants to perform with military precision.  The Giants will no longer beat themselves.  No more silly penalties.  No more bad decisions on and off the field.  Players will give full effort on every play.  Coughlin even insinuated that he would cut down on the number of hurt players, calling injuries “a cancer” that he could cure. 

Well two and three fourths seasons later, the Giants aren’t getting better in these areas.  In 2004, the Giants accumulated 977 offensive penalty yards, 7th most in the NFL.  In 2005 that number grew to 1115 yards, 5th most in the league.  Eleven games into the 2006 season the Giants have totaled 614 yards in penalties, 6th most in the league.  As for full effort on every play, if you’ve seen Plaxico Burress half hearted attempts when passes are thrown to him or Devin Hester’s 108 yard field goal return when the Giants played Chicago, it’s obvious that the Giants take plays off.   Every other week it seems that one of the key players calls the coach out.  From Michael Strahan in Coughlin’s first season, to more recently Tiki Barber.  And with seven starters currently injured, Coughlin hasn’t made good on his absurd proclamation that injuries are a “mental thing” and that it could be corrected. 

No, Giants fans didn’t get the coach they thought they were getting.  This team doesn’t play fundamentally sound, gets injured and does not always give a full effort.  They have a very average coach who doesn’t command respect from his players.   Not exactly the type of guy that will your team to the Superbowl. 

“The New York Football Giants are NOT in trouble.”  This is what I’ve been telling myself the last 48 hours.

I know, I know. The defense has injuries at all three levels.  Two Pro Bowl defensive ends (along with one of their primary back ups) are out.  Three outside linebackers are injured. The starting right cornerback is hurt too.  Oh yea and let’s not forget about the offense.  The starter at left tackle has a broken leg and the best wide receiver in franchise history is out for the year.  To top it off, the quarterback was awful against the Bears. 

Not a big deal.

Despite the injuries, the Giants’ defense is ranked 10th in the NFL.  The front seven have been solid against the run all season and while losing Sam Madison hurts the depth in the secondary, R.W. McQuarters has actually been playing better than Madison.  On offense, Tiki Barber leads the league in rushing.  As back up tackles go, Bob Whitfield, a 15 year veteran and former Pro Bowler is pretty good.  As for Eli Manning and the passing game, he still has his top weapons in Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey who have combined for 10 touchdowns.

So nope, the Giants aren’t in trouble. They are still 6-3. Still in first place in the NFC East.  Still 3-0 in the division. This is just a little bump in the road, a minor interruption on the way to the Superbowl.  By week 17 all of these injuries and bad vibes will be far off memory. Yup that’s it. I’m not worried at all.  Now pardon me while I dust off my rabbits’ foot, avoid the New York Post for the rest of the week and find my lucky New York Giants sweater.

Some thoughts before spending the rest of the day watching football and rooting for my fantasy team:

How the hell are the Raiders involved in a nationally televised game for the third time this year? The Raiders were part of the Monday Night Football opening week double header, a Sunday night game against Denver in week 6, and now they are playing at Seattle on Monday Night this week in a game that will feature both teams starting back up quarterbacks and back up running backs..  Can’t say I’ll be rushing home from class to catch this game.

I’m glad to see someone has their head on straight in comparing Tony Romo to Brett Favre.  I will not insult Favre by taking the time to list the reasons why these comparisons are absurd.  I’m just glad that Romo himself realizes that making this comparison is ridiculous.  Can the guy win two games in a row first? It’s unbelievable how quick we pass judgment (both positive and negative judgment) in sports these days. 

I thought I was a sports fan, but I guess I’m really not. I say this because I would never name my child ESPN like this couple.  And we though the name “Apple” was bad. One of my friends once told me that in this country we are getting to the point where the government is going to have to approve names, just to save kids from their parents.  I can’t say she is wrong.   

It’s good to see that the Knicks are making my decision to root for them to lose very easy.  I caught the second half of the home opener against Indiana last night and nothing has changed.  They gave up wide open jump shots off of simple high screens; allowing someone named Jasikevicuis to score 16 points on 5-10 shooting. They had 14 total assists; the Pacers starting point guard, Jamal Tinsley, had the same amount.  And last but not least the Knicks shot 43% from the field, compared to the Pacers 52%.  The positives were that home opener was not sold out, which will hopefully force Dolan’s hand even quicker to dump Isiah, and David Lee and Nate Robinson are still hustling.  Hopefully a new General Manager and Coach can salvage something out of the three young guys and maybe Eddy Curry before they blow the team up.