The Raiders Are the Villains of the Nfl Again
January 7, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis on the field prior to the game confronting the Houston Texans in the AFC Wild Card playoff football at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-United states of america TODAY Sports
Oakland Raiders Relocation A Failure Of Leadership More Than Anything
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis, in the wake of the possessor'due south vote to allow relocation of the team to Las Vegas, is being unfairly cast in the function of the blackness-hatted villain.
As difficult as it may be to believe, in that location is somebody right now with a lower approval rating than Donald Trump and Congress – and that is Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis. At least, in the East Bay area. Afterward winning approval to movement his squad to Las Vegas, Davis has become the most unpopular person in Northern California – though information technology's not entirely fair.
Sure, the sentiment among Oakland residents is heartbreak and outrage. And it's difficult not to feel your center go out to those longtime Raider fans in the expanse.
At the same fourth dimension though, the emotion needs to be taken out of it and it has to be remembered that the NFL is a business. And equally the possessor of the team, Marking Davis has a responsibleness to do what's in the organization's best involvement.
His decisions aren't e'er going to be popular ones – apparently – but they're aimed at bettering his system's situation. And let'due south face it folks, the current state of affairs in Oakland is totally and completely FUBAR.
It's like shooting fish in a barrel to pigment Davis every bit the lone villain, as the guy in the black hat who rode into town and stole the team, jerking the rug out from underneath everybody in the process. Simply that is a gross oversimplification of the state of affairs as well every bit a partial rewriting of history.
If blame must really be assigned – and every story needs a villain, right? – then there is plenty of that to go around.
The beginning – and biggest – finger should probably exist pointed at the politicians in Oakland who had years to find out a solution to the stadium issues. They had years, and nonetheless only started really working on it at the eleventh hr – and then dropped the ball terribly a few times forth the way.
Mar 21, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; General overall view of Oakland Raiders helmet at the Welcome to Fabled Las Vegas sign on the Las Vegas Blvd. on the Las Vegas strip. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-U.s.a. TODAY Sports
Though almost discount the idea – or just flat out don't believe information technology – Davis tried to notice a solution to proceed the Raiders in their ancestral home. And there never was a viable solution forthcoming from the politicians.
Rather than working out a lease deal that could have helped keep both the A's and Raiders in town while working with them both to find a stadium solution, the Oakland politicians seemed to prioritize keeping their baseball game team rather than their football team.
The lease the A's were given, made it incommunicable for Davis and the Raiders to even think most building a new stadium on the electric current Coliseum footprint for a number of years. And yet, with the Coliseum falling apart around their ears – with leaks stopped past using red Solo cups and duct record, and routine sewage flooding – it's more than clear that they didn't have a number of years to wait.
The A'southward though, did try to assist facilitate a bargain in which they were able to build a new stadium, and permit the Raiders to construct theirs on the existing Coliseum site. A's co-owner Lew Wolff did inquire the metropolis to help him secure a packet of land north of the Coliseum to construct a new ballpark – the city declined to help him. When Wolff then asked for help to commission a report for amalgam a ballpark on the south cease of the existing Coliseum site, the metropolis and county both declined.
There were a host of things the city could have washed to help facilitate a deal that could accept kept both the A's and Raiders in town, but they did naught. They simply kept trying to boot that tin downward the road – until the route abruptly concluded.
And lest anyone twist that sentiment into something it's not, this is not a case of the A's driving the Raiders out of town. This is a example of poor leadership – starting with the mayor'due south function – and them seeming to put a priority on keeping the A's in town, rather than the Raiders.
This all lends acceptance to the thought that Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf never fully intended to help keep the Raiders in town, preferring – as she stated on numerous occasions – to help keep the A'south in Oakland instead.
That idea is further bolstered by the eleventh hour pitch to the NFL to proceed the Raiders in Oakland – a pitch that in view of league executives, was little more that political posturing and a ways of "saving face" rather than a legitimate proposal.
Indeed, in reading between the lines of what has been said by league officials, Schaaf'southward goal was not to go on the Raiders in Oakland, but to give herself political cover by appearing to be doing something to keep the team in town – without actually doing much.
All throughout the process, Davis stated time and time again, that his preference, his absolute desire, was to keep the Raiders in Oakland. But he said he needed assistance to make that happen. Help from the city and from the canton – assist that never came.
So, with lilliputian option, all Davis could practice was explore other opportunities. And once Las Vegas ponied upward $750 meg dollars to assistance build a state of the fine art stadium in the desert, the dice was cast.
It's piece of cake to blame Davis. To cast him as the main villain in this drama. Only doing so overlooks the undeniable fact that the failure of leadership in Oakland – whether it was unfortunate happenstance, or by design – was the main contributor to the long, fatigued out nightmare that culminated in the approving to move to Sin City.
Though most tin can't seem to get past his goofy haircut or penchant for flight coach, Davis is a businessman first and foremost. He's going to exercise what he can to protect his organization – and yes, turn a profit while doing then. One of the reason he'south in the football game business is to brand coin doing and so – just as everybody else would be.
Merely it's likewise more than but turning a buck. In trying to maximize the profile of the Raiders, he'due south trying to secure the legacy of his squad. A legacy his male parent congenital. The Raiders are one of the league's well-nigh iconic franchises with a global fanbase.
Unfortunately, the metropolis they called domicile for many years, treated them like second grade citizens. And that is not Davis' fault. That is just, a dismal failure of leadership.
Then rather than throwing stones and burning Davis in effigy, maybe spare a few rocks and matches for the bigger villain in this melodrama – the Oakland city government.
Source: https://goldengatesports.com/2017/03/30/oakland-raiders-relocation-failure-leadership-anything/
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