First thing’s first: Ron Washington deserves to be the next manager of the Oakland A’s. Oakland’s loyal, underrated third base/infielder’s coach has turned Eric Chavez into a perennial gold glover at third base, fixed Miguel Tejada’s inability to make the routine play, and has made Mark Ellis the American League’s best defensive second baseman. Heck, the man turned Scott Hatteberg into an above average first baseman. The players love him. The fans love him. Even the media is pulling for him. Washington has said it would be a dream come true to manage in the big leagues. And, this is why I hope he DOES NOT get the Oakland job. 
         Don’t get me wrong; Washington absolutely deserves to be a major league manager. He has paid his dues and his stock has never been higher. But, Washington also deserves to be in control of his players, coaches and clubhouse. As long as Billy Beane is running things in Oakland, he, or anyone else, will never have that opportunity. 
         Billy Beane parted ways with Ken Macha for the second time in two years. This time, he won’t be back. Days after the A’s were swept by Detroit in the ALCS, Beane cited “communication” problems with Macha and fired him. Usually when a manager takes a $60 million dollar payroll to the ALCS, communication problems work themselves out. Not in Oakland. Macha, growing tired Beane’s my way or the highway approach, began voicing his frustrations in the media, and Beane noticed. While many things in life are questioned, the fact that Billy Beane is the commander in chief in Oakland is not one of them. To question this is the equivalent of begging to be fired. Macha did. His services are now available.
         We all know Beane does not think too highly of the managerial occupation. If it were up to him, he’d probably abolish any rule that says a team has to have a manager. They are there to not screw up the cast of players Beane has assembled. They are, in a sense, Beane’s puppets. Sounds like a real dream job, huh? 
         Ron Washington has worked his way up the ladder of the coaching ranks. Many feel he should already be a manager. And while I hope he finally does get the chance to manage his own team, I hope for his sake it is nowhere near Billy Beane. Now that would be a dream come true. Just ask Ken Macha.  www.oldskoolsports.com

The Oakland Raiders run as official bad boys of the NFL might have come to a close Thursday. The team forever known for blatantly disregarding personal character and signing players with rap sheets longer than Robert Downey Jr. is going to have to fight the newly crowned Cincinnati Bengals for its title back. Somewhere Al Davis is smiling. You see, the on the rise Bengals, anchored by a great young quarterback in Carson Palmer, an exceptionally smart coach in Marvin Lewis, and arguably the game’s best playmaker Chad Johnson is getting more attention for its players’ behavior off the field than their hard-nosed play on it. Just the other day Cincinnati linebacker Odell Thurman was suspended for the first four games of upcoming season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. No big deal right, he isn’t the first professional athlete to allegedly enjoy nature’s herb, so lets not be so quick to hang the guy. But I haven’t mentioned that Thurman was previously kicked off the Georgia football team while in college for failing at least one drug test, which bodes well because Thurman now has something in common with the Bengals’ newest addition, supplemental draft pick linebacker Ahmed Brooks of Virginia. Brooks was arrested in 2003 for marijuana possession, and after failing multiple drug test was dismissed from the team this past March. These two should get along just famously. If two troubled linebackers weren’t enough, the Bengals actually have the resources to field a whole position of knuckleheads when rookie linebacker A.J. Nicholson lines up next to Thurman and Brooks on defense. Nicholson was arrested on charges of theft and later dismissed from the Florida State team for sexual misconduct before the Orange Bowl. Not to be outdone in the race for shame is rookie Frostee Rucker, who is facing two spousal abuse and two vandalism charges in Los Angles County, and teammate wide receiver Chris Henry, who now is the NFL’s No. 1 Bad Boy, after being arrested four times in seven months. Ladies and gentlemen, your Cincinnati Criminals…I mean Bengals. The Bengals’ owners need to start using their brains before their team gets completely out of control. There is something to be said for a person’s character. Look at the Patriots for instance, who are the epitome of class and character. The Bengals have too good an opportunity to win, and too many good, young guys to build around to jeopardize that future by continuously adding misfits to the roster. They need to start drafting more with their heads and not their egos. My suggestion would be to send a message and kicks these guys off the team, or suspend them, but make them earn the privilege of playing in the NFL. It’s not too late to start rebuilding the team’s proud image, and besides Al Davis is always one questionable signing away from the Raiders’ reclaiming the top spot again.   www.oldskoolsports.com