Where's the antenna, cause Cables Out in Oakland

Al Davis has been the owner of the Raiders since 1972. I was born 10 years post-Davis ownership. I've been a Raiders fan for my entire life. The transitive property teaches us that I have been a Raiders fan the entire time Al Davis has been the owner.

Robert Fulghum wrote that everything I needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten. Well, everything you need to know about Al Davis is here: Al Davis is crazy, looks like the Crypt Keeper, and is the majority owner of my favorite football team.

Only once have I seen my team make it to the Super Bowl and it was likely mere luck since the coach that put that team together (John Gruden) was the head coach of the team that beat them in the Super Bowl (Tampa Bay).

In the last 8 years, I've seen two college coaches (Bill Callahan , Lane Kiffin), a second stint coach (Art Shell) and a coach that went to another division rival (Norv Turner). I've seen Randy Moss traded for and away, Darrius Heyward-Bay drafted so high he makes Lindsay Lohan seem sober, and so many quarterbacks I'd be a rich man if I actually received a nickle back for every starter. Chaos = Raiders.

But until this year, I had not seen a non-losing season since Callahan left for greener pastures of Nebraska. How does the owner repay the coach that brought them back from laughing stock to mediocrity and the brink of winning? Silly rabbit, By not picking up his 2 year $5 million contract, that's how.

Sure, Cable went 17-27 in his 3 seasons as interim coach/head coach of the team. But he also increased wins, chemistry, and the fans ability to watch the team.

In 2006, just a year and a half prior to Cable's arrival - the same team went 2-14. Those 16 games included only 2 games where the Raiders scored 20 or more points. That season and the next, the Raiders finished last in offense. This 2010 season, the Raiders finished 3rd in the league in the same category. They not only beat the Chargers for the first time in 13 previous tries, they swept the division. They showed signs of life, filled a crumbling 40 year old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

As a grandson, you expect your grandparents to do crazy things. They tell stories that can't be true, they forget to do important things, and sometimes you just want to put them in their chair, hand them their sweet potatoes, and turn them towards the TV while you eat at the grownup table.

But as a Raider fan, you come to expect the unexpected. You come to expect losses and dumb decisions by an old man. A few years ago, I read an article that said as a Raiders fan, you should get to pick a co-favorite team and claim that team until Al Davis turns the reigns over... Let this be notice that I am looking for suitors.

Hey New England, how you doin?