The Bounce: Raiders’ Davis boots coach, then blasts him
by USA Today on Oct. 01, 2008, under Sports
<h4>QUOTABLE </h4>
'We bounce back every time we are against the wall.'
OZZIE GUILLEN,
White Sox manager, on his team winning its last three games to make the playoffs
ALAMEDA, Calif. – In a stinging public rebuke, mercurial Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis said during a rare news briefing Tuesday that he fired head coach Lane Kiffin earlier in the day because of a variety of things that ranged from lying to insubordination.
The interim coach will be Tom Cable, Kiffin’s offensive line coach and the league-leading ninth coach of the Raiders since 1989, thus ending months of simmering tension between the owner and the coach.
Davis said Kiffin’s firing has to do with “conduct detrimental to the Raiders,” and it’s the team’s opinion that the remainder of the contract that was to run through next season is, in effect, null, and Kiffin will not be paid. That almost surely will prompt a grievance to the league by Kiffin.
“I reached a point where I thought the whole staff, we were fractionalized.” Davis said. “It hurts, because I picked the guy; I picked the wrong guy.”
Kiffin, 33, who said he would hold his own news conference Wednesday, told ESPN on Tuesday that “It was very painful and emotional today. But I know I did the best I could, and I was very honest with the media. I wasn’t going to sit there and allow it to be a certain way and just accept it. I was going to fight for our players and staff for what we believed in that could help us win.”
The 79-year-old Davis said that Kiffin brought “disgrace to the organization,” that he unfairly undermined defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and blatantly lied to reporters when saying he rarely talked with the owner.
The Raiders, 1-3 this season, were 5-15 under Kiffin.
Kiffin garnered respect from Raiders cornerback DeAngelo Hall and teammates for his handling of Davis’ pressure to resign after an offseason clash over Kiffin’s desire to dismiss Ryan.
“You definitely feel bad for Lane,” Hall said. “Lane’s a good coach. He was put in a bad situation.”
Does Hall believe Kiffin has what it takes to resurface as a head coach down the road?
“Oh, yeah,” Hall says. “I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’s built to coach in the NFL. He’s built to relate well to the players.”
Williams fights urge
MIAMI – Ricky Williams says he was briefly tempted to smoke marijuana during the Miami Dolphins’ off weekend, an act that could have ended his roller-coaster NFL career.
Williams has been in the league’s substance-abuse program since 2002 and has tested positive for marijuana.
Williams told The Miami Herald for Tuesday’s editions that when players were given Friday off, “automatically your mind, which is so constrained since training camp began . . . says, ‘I’m free, what can I do?’
“So there was definitely an urge. But I just thought about what I have to lose, and it was easy. The urge didn’t last very long.”
Since 2004, the Dolphins running back has played only 16 NFL games, including three this year. If Williams were to smoke marijuana again, he would likely be out of the NFL for good because he has already violated the league drug policy four times.
The Associated Press
Mandarich comes clean
NEW YORK – Former NFL draft bust Tony Mandarich says he used steroids at Michigan State and faked a drug test before the 1988 Rose Bowl.
He also said during an interview on “Inside the NFL” that will air Wednesday on Showtime that he did not use steroids in the NFL but was addicted to alcohol and painkillers.
Mandarich, whose autobiography will be released in March, said he provided a fake urine sample to evade detection before the 1988 Rose Bowl in which Michigan State beat Southern California 20-17.
Mandarich said he couldn’t confirm a report that other players did the same.
The offensive lineman was the No. 2 overall pick in 1989 by the Packers. He lasted just three years with Green Bay amid rumors of steroid use.
The Associated Press
Medalist to visit Tucson
Seven-time Olympic medalist Jason Lezak, the athlete who jump-started the hearts of millions of Olympics viewers with his nail-biting swimming relay win in Beijing, will make a special appearance in Tucson on Nov. 23, said June Hussey, communications chairwoman of the Arizona Local Masters Swim Committee under United States Masters Swimming.
Lezak will speak to and sign autographs for ticket holders at a brunch reception at 10 a.m. at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Following his presentation, Lezak will conduct a two-hour Masters swim clinic in Skyline’s six-lane, outdoor heated pool. Registration for the clinic is separate from the brunch and is open to any registered member of United States Masters Swimming.
Citizen Staff Report
Johnson, Hill take titles
Ian Johnson and Lindsay Hill captured the men’s and women’s 11-mile titles Saturday in the annual Everyone Runs Catalina State Park Reverse the Course Trail Run.
Johnson, 27, set the pace in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 1 second.
Hill, 29, won the women’s division in 1:21:09. Both are Tucsonans.
Winners in the 5.5-mile race, were 14-year-old Jaxon Rickel (38:30) and Delayne Caseman, 26, in 44:53. They are both from Tucson.
Citizen Staff Report
Arizona crop image honors Ali
Boxing great Muhammad Ali's image is seen in a cornfield maze at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek on Tuesday. Ali came to Arizona to view the maze from above.
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ON THIS DATE
1903: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Pilgrims 7-3 in the first World Series game. Jimmy Sebring hits the first Series homer, Deacon Phillippe is the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.
1961: Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the season, against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The blow gives New York a 1-0 victory and Maris eclipses Babe Ruth’s 34-year-old single-season home run record.
1975: In the “Thrilla in Manila,” Muhammad Ali beats Joe Frazier in 14 rounds to retain his world heavyweight title.
1977: 75,646 fans come to the Meadowlands to see soccer great Pele play his farewell game. Pele plays the first half with the Cosmos and the second half with his former team, Santos of Brazil.
1997: Kevin Garnett agrees to terms with the Minnesota Timberwolves on the richest long-term contract in professional sports history, a six-year deal worth more than $125 million.
2004: Ichiro Suzuki sets the major league record for hits in a season, breaking George Sisler’s 84-year-old mark with a pair of early singles as Seattle beat Texas 8-3. Sisler set the hits record of 257 in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns over a 154-game schedule. Suzuki breaks it in the Mariners’ 160th game of the year. He finished the year with 262.
2006: Joe Mauer becomes the first catcher to win an AL batting title as Minnesota beats the Chicago White Sox 5-1. Mauer, finishing at .347, ends up four points ahead of New York shortstop Derek Jeter.
2006: Tiger Woods matches his longest PGA Tour winning streak of six at the American Express Championship.
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SPORTS SOUND-OFF
Reader prefers Lakers to Suns
Re: Suns playing in Tucson
I hear the Suns are coming to town. Big deal. Why don’t we bring the Lakers down here, a team that actually can advance in the playoffs?
I’ve been a lifelong Arizona resident, and I think the Suns should change their name to the Eclipses because they always find a way to disappear when it matters. Shaq, Nash, Stoudemire. It doesn’t matter who they have.
GABE R. MOLINA
Re: UA coach Mike Stoops
I’m not sure that coach Stoops knows how to relax and this is a good thing.
His intensity, although somewhat overboard at times, serves his team well. I like him as a coach and it looks like he, along with his staff, is starting to enjoy the fruits of his labor. No way does he relax for this very important football game.
THOMAS R.
No, Stoops won’t relax at all. He realizes how hungry this program is.
BOB B.
Stoops is at his worst when he relaxes. Same goes for Dykes.
Play and coach with desperation each week.
Dykes kept his playbook hidden in the New Mexico game. He did the same thing at BYU a year ago. Players take a cue from what plays are called.
Go all out for Washington and take nothing for granted. Arizona has run over nobody this year. Without a cupcake schedule they would be lucky to be 2-2.
TOM M.
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NUMBER OF THE DAY
3.49
ERA by Toronto this year, the best in the majors. Other leaders (*made playoffs):
L.A. Dodgers* 3.68
Tampa Bay* 3.82
Milwaukee* 3.85
Chicago Cubs* 3.87
Philadelphia* 3.88
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TRIVIA CORNER
Which MLB teams haven’t been the playoffs since the wild card started in 1995?
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Answer: Toronto, Kansas City, Washington and Pittsburgh.
