Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones likes to be known as a maverick. He's not afraid to go out and sign questionable character players in hopes of bettering his team. He also has no use for a general manager when he thinks he can get the job done himself.
Those qualities are definitely reminiscent of another National Football League owner.
Al Davis, I'm looking in your direction. Maybe Davis didn't hear me. Perhaps I should post it on a projection unit to better make myself clear.
Regardless of whether or not the Raiders owner understands anything anymore, the real problem is that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is quickly heading down the same road as Davis.
For the last several seasons, the Raiders have operated without anything resembling a true football-knowledgeable general manager. And since their Super Bowl appearance in 2003, the Raiders haven't won more than five games in a single season. Their lack of true direction has failed to give them neither any significant draftees nor any significant free agent signings. (Draft picks JaMarcus Russell, 2007, and Darren McFadden, 2008, are still up in the air.)
Likewise, Jerry Jones is serving as his own general manager and has made moves such as signing Terrell Owens and Adam 'Don't call me Pac-Man' Jones.
The Raiders used to be known as the team where trouble-makers would find a welcome home. Jones is changing that theory, even welcoming Adam Jones back after the Cowboys defensive back/kick returner fought one of the bodyguards his boss assigned to keep the DB in line. Jerry Jones looked past Adam Jones' history and Terrell Owens' on-field history of badmouthing quarterbacks to welcome them. And what's happened? The Cowboys missed the playoffs despite having one of the most talented teams in the league.
Both Davis and Jones share a passion for their team many fans could only dream of from their teams. Neither sees their respective teams as merely cash cows. They know they'll make money, but they also want to win. Unfortunately, neither realizes that in order to do so, you need better leadership at top. They both need solid, football-oriented GMs.
They need to let those GMs do what they think needs to be done. Neither owner is afraid to open his pocketbook. The Raiders and Al Davis spent more than $150 million in the offseason on free agents. Jerry Jones showed his propensity for spending when he opened his checkbook and signed Terrell Owens to a $34 million contract. All Owens did this season was whine when tight end Jason Whitten helped the Cowboys get first downs. In fact, Owens had more receptions, more targets and more drops than Whitten, but apparently none of that mattered in T.O.'s eyes. So he let it be known he was unhappy. Well, I'm betting all the Cowboys are unhappy now that they will watch the playoffs from the comfort of their Lazy-boys.
A good GM wouldn't put up with an unhappy, ungrateful malcontent. Instead, he'd ship him off somewhere else (probably to a sucker team like the Raiders who see stats and ignore character).
While Al Davis is closer to his way out than his way up, Jerry Jones has plenty of seasons left in him. (At least he looks like it thanks to that facelift.) Jerry Jones is at a crossroads. He can take the path Al Davis took and travel down Crazy Coot Lane. Or, he can opt for his own path and put the Cowboys back on the right track.

Way to go Tampa Bay Lightning. Great move firing a head coach 16 games into the season in the pathetic Southeast Division in which the team was only three wins out of first place.
Ahh the NHL.
Not only did the Lightning jump way too early, but in firing head coach Barry Melrose a man convicted of being associated with a gambling ring (including betting on NHL games) takes over the team.
Associate coach Rick Tocchet is now the new Lightning head coach.
The MLB won't allow its all-time hits leader into the Hall of Fame, but the NHL doesn't bat an eye at letting Tocchet coach a team after pleading guilty to his involvement in a gambling ring.
I'm sure Tocchet is completely rehabilitated despite not serving any jail time. In 2007 Tocchet pleaded guilty to RUNNING a gambling ring. Yet he's still being allowed to helm the 2004 Stanley Cup champions. I'm sure he doesn't have any connections to those who helped him run the illegal nation-wide sports booking company.
Maybe the focus should be more on the idiocy of the Lightning for firing Melrose so early in the season. It's Melrose's first gig behind the bench in 13 years, he needed more time to get his feet wet. He needed at least until through December to learn his players and what they prefer, whom they prefer to play with and how they operate best. Instead, the players can already see this as a sign the season is lost.
Possibly the Lightning, moreso than any team in the league, needed a head coaching change before the season. They got it. Melrose might not have been the right guy but he wasn't given enough time to show what he could do. (Don't think he deserves credit with getting the L.A. Kings to the Cup in 1992-93; that playoff run rested solely on the aching back of Wayne Gretzky that season. Don't believe it? Go back and watch, and pay special attention to Gretzky's playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.)
Enter Tocchet. The Gamblord is now in charge of a professional sports franchise. A man who pleaded guilty to illegal betting activity on a sport he played and coached in (he was an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes when he was busted) is leading a professional team.
The NHL has yet again shown why it is at best the fourth most popular sport in the U.S. (Although fourth is putting it at the highest possible. It's probably somewhere between WWE and MMA.)
Playing in the Southeast Division the Lightning still have a chance to reach the playoffs. It's too bad Melrose won't have the chance to be behind their bench leading the charge.
It's unbelievably embarrassing that the NHL would permit Tocchet that opportunity.

Don't lay that betting money down just yet on Kelly Pavlik. Don't go jumping on the Youngstown, Ohio, native's bandwagon like everybody else.
Before thinking Pavlik has a walk in the park and that he's going to be the first person in history to stop Bernard Hopkins, remember who he's fighting.
Kelly Pavlik isn't boxing some over-the-hill George Foreman. He's not fighting Evander "No more boxing deals, please" Holyfield. He's not stepping into the ring with a shell-of-himself Julio Cesar Chavez.
Kelly Pavlik is getting into the squared circle with Bernard Hopkins. The non-title fight at 170 pounds takes place in Atlantic City Saturday night.
Pavlik is unbeaten. In his 34 victories, only four have not resulted in knockouts. But none of those fights have come against the likes of The Exectuioner. Other than Jermain Taylor, name a legitimate foe Pavlik has stepped into the ring. Gary Lockett? C'mon. Bronco McKart? Even you could beat him. Edison Miranda? An undisciplined free-swinging power puncher who gives opponents every opportunity to knock him out.
And Taylor. He has yet to beat Hopkins decisively. Go back, watch the tapes. Look at Taylor's face after his first fight against Hopkins. Now tell me, which one looks like they were in a brawl. Exactly.
Against Pavlik, Taylor was leading on all three judges' cards before Pavlik surprised him in the seventh. Then Pavlik had to leave it to the judges to win the second fight.
Now he'll get a taste of a real fighter. Not another brute puncher like Miranda. Not a guy willing to exchange blows and look for shots like Taylor. Now Pavlik is going to stalk, and the Executioner is going to counter. And countering plays right into his pugilistic hands.
Bernard Hopkins (48-5-0, 32 KOs) will use every trick in the book (he's added plenty to that book himself) to frustrate Pavlik. He'll keep him on the outside when he needs to. He'll fight him inside when he wants to.
By the 10th round Pavlik will be exhausted. The 26-year-old will look more like the 43-year-old that Hopkins actually is. Talk about a knockout from the Pavlik camp is laughable. It's impossible to land a clean shot on Hopkins. When you do hit him it's a glancing blow to the side of the head. Or an innocent slap to his shoulders.
Yes, Hopkins has lost three of his last fights. But two of those were incredibly close with Taylor. The third, a decision for Joe Calzaghe, also could have gone either way.
The only questions for Hopkins is if he'll counter punch enough and will those counters do enough to earn points on the judges' score cards?
The majority of money will be on Pavlik. The dumb money will be on Pavlik by KO. The wise money goes with the wise-man. And B-Hop is among the wisest when he enters the ring.

If you have Al Davis' personal e-mail address, can you please forward this to him?

Dear Mr. (You can't call me Al) Davis:

You seem to be a big fan of letters, like the one you supposedly sent to now-former coach Lane Kiffin via Federal Express. So here's one for you.

Pay attention! Stop meddling in the Oakland Raiders' business. Yes, you are the "general managing partner" but it doesn't mean you need to put your fingers into everything that goes on in the organization. Your incessant meddling has yet again ruined this team beloved by the Raider Nation. Pay attention! Stop dozing off while you sit there in your walker with your Silver and Black #### old-lady glasses.

Let me explain to you why you're a horrible owner, this coming from a Raiders fan.

1. If you hire a coach, don't call him on the Raider hotline in the middle of the game. He's busy. You seem to feel compelled to demand certain defenses be run, and certain plays be called on the offense, as former Raiders defensive lineman Warren Sapp said you do. If the coach wants your opinion he'll ask you for it.

2. Don't demand a coach draft a player that the coach doesn't want, as you did with quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Kiffin didn't want Russell, so you shouldn't have drafted him. By doing so you undermined your coach's ability and respect from his assistants and players. It obviously handcuffed Kiffin's play-calling ability this year and at the end of last year, when you demanded Kiffin start the rookie. Kiffin was trying to win games and educate Russell, much the same way as your hated rival San Diego Chargers did with Philip Rivers.

3. Hire a real general manager who has actually participated in football in this new millenium, unlike yourself. Get someone who knows current players and current schemes. I'm sorry, but this ain't the 1960s, '70s or '80s. You can't throw the bomb every third play.

4. If a coach wants to bring in his own coaches, let him. You don't tell a coach he can't hire and fire assistants. That leads to a dis-harmonius working environment, as happened with Kiffin's team. He wanted a new defensive coordinator. You forced him to take back Rob Ryan. Hmm, sounds like yet again you undermined the HEAD COACH's plans and power.

5. Stop and look around at the personnel on the field. The Raiders are such a young team and were being molded for the future. Yet they found themselves against two of the AFC's best (Buffalo and San Diego) with leads in the fourth quater. Yes, they lost. But LANE KIFFIN had them in those situations. Not you. LANE KIFFIN built a pounding, bruising running game, good for fifth in the NFL. Not you. LANE KIFFIN showed the adaptability to construct a gameplan that would play to JaMarcus Russell's strengths, a player he did not want to draft. He was putting the starting quarterback in good situations (because he wasn't just chucking the ball downfield like YOU wanted.) And what a surprise, Russell responded and threw only one interception in the first four games. 

6. Go away. PLEASE!!!!! Sell the team and crawl into your favorite jumpsuit and root for the team as your fans do -- or what fans you have left after the shambles you've left the team in. Yes, true fans of the Raider Nation won't leave. But because of this most-recent travesty you've bestowed upon OUR team, you've wrecked another season for us fans. You've forced us to yet again pray for next season to come tomorrow.

I no longer have hope for this organization. I no longer believe in this organization that seems committed to excelling in mediocrity. I no longer believe in the Oakland Raiders mystique -- the most powerful mystique in professional sport. The Oakland Raiders were once a team to be feared. Now they are a team to be mocked. The reason? Take those crooked fingers of yours and point them directly at yourself.

Sincerely,

Does it matter? You don't listen to anyone other than Mr. Davis.

Talk about a switch in balance of power.
Never before has the balance in the National Football League switched so quickly.
In the span of one week, the NFC has gone from a conference with a number of also-rans to the stronger conference in the league.
Starting with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's season-ending injury and ending with the Indianapolis Colts' embarrassing loss at home to the Chicago Bears and the NFC looks like it's done taking a beating from it's cross-conference rival.
The AFC has won six of the last eight Super Bowls and eight of the last 11. Sure the New York Giants are defending champions, but they didn't go 18-0 to get to the Super Bowl like the AFC's Patriots.
Since 2004 the NFC has been the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. It's been more about which team will the NFC send to the Super Bowl as the sacrificial lamb to the AFC's lion. The New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers are mentioned every year as possible champions. Over in the NFC the topic has been who is going to get there and how many points will they lose by. That went for the Giants last year and the Bears the year before that.
But something funny happened in Week 1 of the 2008 NFL season.
Brady went down with a nasty knee injury. The San Diego Chargers lost on a last-second play to the NFC's Carolina Panthers. The New York Giants pounded their league rival Washington Redskins, looking like the NFL champions they are.
The Indianapolis Colts could do nothing against those Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears defense. Even Bears quarterback Kyle Orton looked serviceable.
The Dallas Cowboys picked up where they left off in the regular season last year, pounding the AFC's Cleveland Browns in Cleveland 28-10.
The Donovan McNabb-led Philadelphia Eagles put up 38 points with what appears to be a rejuvenated McNabb. The Eagles QB threw for 361 yards and two touchdowns, all without his top two wide receivers. He hit some guy named Hank Baskett for a 90-yard TD pass.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, thought to be on the verge of winning the AFC South from the Colts this season, looked more than pedestrian in their loss to the Tennessee Titans. True, the Titans beat the Jags in their first meeting last season, but the Jaguars should have been rolling already, not being rolled over.
Now people are talking about the New York Jets being the favorite in the AFC East. THE NEW YORK JETS! C'mon, just because they have Brett Favre at QB? They barely squeaked past the Miami Dolphins, the laughing stock of the NFL last year. If they're the best the AFC East can offer, what has the AFC come to.
The Cincinnati Bengals were supposed to be regrouped. Then they went out against the Joe Flacco-led Baltimore Ravens and laid a big fat 10 points in a loss to the Ravens. Nice work Carson Palmer. The Bengals QB was 9-of-24 for 94 yards. Ten running backs rushed for more yards than Palmer threw for, six of them from the NFC.
Against the Panthers, the Chargers struggled to move the ball. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson failed to break 100 yards against the Panthers defense.
The only saving grace for the AFC over the weekend was the Steelers. They rolled to a 38-17 win over the Houston Texans in a game that was over by the half. A number of Steelers starters got to rest in the fourth quarter. Good thing too, because they'll need their rest for their Super Bowl run.
The NFC looked like the conference ready to play. The Bears showed up on Sunday night and shut down the Colts and Peyton Manning. Sure Manning might have been rusty, but that's no excuse for the running game to amass 53 yards. Fifty-three yards. Bears ROOKIE running back Matt Forte scored on a 50-yard run against the Colts. That one run was three yards fewer than the entire Colts ground game. Atlanta Falcons, yes, Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner had a run of 66 yards by himself. One carry, 7 yards more than the Colts ground game. Even the Falcons look more of a contender than most AFC teams.
The power has shifted. Brady is gone. The Chargers have lost defensive end/linebacker/whatever-position-you-want-to-call-
it-he'll-play-it Shawne Merriman and the Colts defense looks inept.
The NFC might now stand for 'Nother Football Championship.

Oh the irony.

When last week's injury report came out for the New England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game, someone was missing. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was listed on the injury report all of last season as probable due to a shoulder injury.

So it was quite noticeable when last week's report came out and Brady wasn't listed. It was especially funny because there was so much speculation about his right foot still being injured. Rumors flew that he had a crack in his foot, a stress facture, maybe his right foot disappeared. In fact Brady not being on the injury report almost had you wondering if he wasn't going to play. When it comes to the cheating Pats coach known as The Hoody, you never can tell what he's thinking.

Then came Sunday's game. Brady looked healthy. He completed 7 of 11 for 76 yards. He didn't have any trouble shredding the Kansas City Chiefs defense.

Enter Bernard Pollard. The Chiefs safety clawed his way into the Patriots' backfield. Brady heaved another complete pass downfield. As he did so, Pollard reached out and hit Brady's knee, sending him to the ground clutching the left knee.

Brady will be undergoing surgery to repair the knee. His season is over.

The Patriots claim they aren't bringing in quarterbacks to shore up the passing game. Maybe they'll rely on Matt Cassel, who ended up the winning QB against the Chiefs. Maybe they'll go and coax Daunte Culpepper out of retirement. Who knows, maybe they'll get a phone call from Jeff George.

One thing's for sure, Tom Brady's name will be back where it was all last season. On the injury report.

So Ricky Williams wants to be a doctor?
Well, most of us have probably been to worse. At least with Ricky, you know the Miami Dolphins starting running back will make you forget about the pain. Unfortunately he might also make you forget to set your starting lineup for this week's opening fantasy football season.
And being an Oakland Raiders fan, I'm willing to knowingly forget any real-life playoff dreams for the team that has a 19-61 record over the past five seasons.
Williams recently said he's studying to be a doctor for life after football.
Why not? The man is obviously not your run-of-the-mill NFL running-back. His trips to the Far East and propensity for meditation speak to that.
He's also been ####ed up so many times, one has to wonder if he doesn't already have a jump on his pre-med compatriots. Between all his drug tests (both positive and negative) and his visits to physicians' offices to have bones and sprains worked on, Williams is more familiar than any student in any of his classes.
He's already 31, so he's got plenty of them beat in the maturity department (hopefully). He's a philosopher (traveling to India for the experience). And he's got experience with injuries. You gotta wonder if he already doesn't question his current doctors. "Umm, Doc, you sure you want to set that elbow like that?"
Ricky, when you pass your boards, let me know. I'll be sure to check in first sign of trouble.