"EX" As in Excellence

There is an old saying that "History always repeats itself". Ever since we learned how to read, people would start telling us to learn the history of everything, as it would shed us light on how things will turn out in future. We are also taught that we should embrace history but not to ignore it, as doing so would give us a huge advantage over others.

Now if that is true, the Oakland Raiders in the NFL should have been a huge success. Instead, they have been languishing in the wrong end in all major statistical categories in recent years. Its famous (or now infamous) motto of "Commitment to Excellence" has never been more inaccurate.

The Raiders is a team rooted in the past. Last season, their head coach was Art Shell, a Hall-of-Fame player on his own right, who was once named Coach of the Year during his previous stint with the Raiders. On paper, it looked very good indeed.

But the problem is, he won the award way back in 1990. He was fired by team owner Al Davis after the 1994 season, and had not been a head coach ever since before returning to the team last year.

And to make matters worse, Shell decided to bring back his ally Tom Walsh as his offensive coordinator. Now, being loyal to your buddies is a highly honourable act, but Walsh had been out of football since the early 1990s'. What's even more maddening is that during these two coaching stints, he had been running a bed-and-breakfast (what?) in Idaho, of all places. And that's not a typo.

That is simply ridiculous.

To be fair to Walsh, you just can't expect someone out of football for such a long time to come back and still be able to master the game plan. So not surprisingly, Walsh's offensive game plan proved to be too simple and easily defendable. Despite fielding a very good defense and having one of the most explosive wide receivers in the game in Randy Moss, the Raiders were so miserable in offense that they ranked last it all major offensive statistic categories. They eventually finished with a 2-14 record, the worst in the league.

There is always a silver lining in any story which sounds terrible, and there is no exception to this one. The consolation for their abysmal record is the top pick of the upcoming NFL Draft, and it looks like they will select quarterback JaMarcus Russell of Louisiana State. That will probably boost their ticket sales and allow them to restock their roster with quality players.

But just don't find another guy who has been running a bed-and-breakfast for years to coach them. Please.