"While Art will no longer serve as head coach, he and Mr. Davis have discussed and will continue to discuss opportunities for Art to remain a valued member of the Raider organization," read a Raiders press release.

In other words, um Art, could you sweep up any broken glass or other loose debris you see around the Raiders organization?

We also have to wonder if Davis and Shell have a budding Billy Martin/George Steinbrenner thing going here. The first time Davis hired him was in 1989, replacing Mike Shanahan. Shell was canned in '94 after taking the Raiders to a 9-7 record ... which must be looking pretty good in retrospect. Oakland was 2-14 this season. Top replacement candidates? Hard to say: They won't stop running long enough to be clearly recognized. OK, the San Francisco Chronicle is naming Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, former Giants coach and Raiders assistant Jim Fassel, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and Fresno State coach Pat Hill. So Art Shell, finally gone. It's like he just got here; we never had time to say goodbye.

Shell Fired By Raiders Again

To recap this Jerry Porter situation: He sits out Week 1 because he hates Art Shell and wants to be traded, but he's on the sideline anyway. So then he cheers after Aaron Brooks is sacked for the 28th time, and then, as a way to deflect criticism from that, he points out that he wasn't paying any attention to the game. Which, all considered, is better, we guess.

This is going to beautiful to watch all season; there's already chaos in Oakland, and Randy Moss hasn't even piped up yet. People in the Bay Area are noticing this, and the "uh, it kind of doesn't look like this coaching staff has the foggiest idea what it's doing" stories are already popping up. Which is a shame: We can't break up the party before it's even started, after all.

Porter Was Chatting With Fans, Ignoring Game [San Francisco Chronicle]