BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
Being from the Bay Area it does my heart good to see the Oakland A's, despite general manager Billy Beane purging the pitching staff this year, hang in there and have a decent season.
Sure the A's are under .500, but what do you expect? Heck, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden and Dan Haren have all been dealt and that's at least 30 more wins the A's could have had.
Did the purge happen because Beane thought the A's would never catch the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or was it because all three of those were eventually going to command the big bucks that Oakland management didn't want to pay?
My thinking is it's the latter. If that is indeed correct, then I certainly have no issue with what Beane did. Baseball is a business, and he has owners he has to answer to. The A's owners aren't George Steinbrenner and the A's don't have a huge TV contract like the Yankees. There isn't an endless flow of money in Oakland's coffers.
I went to see the A's play twice this year. I admit to being frustrated because they made some youthful mistakes. I admit to staring in awe at some of the athleticism they have. I see signs of the A's being a serious contender again if the starting pitching gets a little more consistent. A big plus would be if Eric Chavez can ever get healthy again. If he can't, I'd like to see the A's get a proven third baseman.
I implore A's fans to be patient. Beane is a good baseball man. Put your trust in him.
- I'm writing this on Tuesday, and at the time of this writing, Lane Kiffin was still the head coach of the Raiders.
Raiders owner Al Davis has been trying to force Kiffin to resign so he doesn't have to pay him. That's bogus. Mr. Davis, if you want him out that bad, fire him and pay up what you owe him.
This is really a no-win situation. The Raiders have a rookie quarterback and very average wide receivers. The offensive line hasn't shown it can pass block with any consistency.
I think Davis wants younger, inexperienced coaches in there because he can wield more influence. Why do you think guys like Denny Green and Bill Parcells, when they were available, didn't give the Raiders serious consideration? Those two want total control of their team, and with the Raiders, that's not possible.
- Another trip to the New Mexico Bowl? That's what a couple of Web sites are predicting for the Nevada Wolf Pack.
ESPNU, at least as of about 10 days ago, had Nevada and New Mexico playing again. Another Web site had UNLV playing either Nevada or Louisiana Tech.
There are two important swing games for Nevada " at Hawaii on Oct. 25 and at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 29. Those are critical games and could decide third and fourth place.
Much will depend on whether Boise State can run the table again and get a Bowl Championship Series bid. If The Broncos do end up in the BCS again, Nevada could end up in Hawaii or Boise for the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl.
There is still a lot of football to be played, so bowl talk is premature at this point.
- The Reno Aces? I like the new name for Reno's Triple A franchise that was announced Tuesday afternoon.
The name Aces takes into account the gaming industry and baseball, too. Ace, in baseball vernacular, stands for a team's top pitcher.
I was kind of partial to the Reno Blackjacks or the Reno 21s. The team held a lengthy contest to name the team, and obviously the fans have spoken.
Now all that needs to be done is to finish the new downtown stadium, which if it's anything like Raley Field in Sacramento, people will love it.
As I've said a million times, it's time for Northern Nevada to step up and support something great like this. This may be the last chance for this area to get any kind of decent franchise.
I'm hopeful that in a couple of years this could be a San Francisco Giants farm team, but for now let's support the Aces, who are a farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or (775) 881-1281