Who is smiling the most over last week's episode of "The Edge of Greatness," in which Al Davis unceremoniously (except to Davis, of course) dumped Lane Kiffin as his head coach?

49ers fans, of course -- because until Tuesday, they thought John and Denise York ran the most dysfunctional pro football team in California.

But has that not been the Raider way of doing things since their move to Los Angeles?

It's simple: Whatever seems to create the most attention, especially if it's focused on Davis, to say nothing of the most litigation, count on the Raiders doing it. Anything to distract from the product on the field, which has gone 20-64 since 2003.

Need money? Move to L.A. Need more money? Threaten to move to Irwindale. Need even more money? Take the team back to Oakland ... damn the taxpayers, full speed ahead!

Don't want home games on local TV? Chase away the voice most associated with the team (the late Bill King), hire a marketing firm that's never sold football before and charge a ridiculous premium, all the while sharing a market that won five Super Bowls while you were gone. Want to put what fans you do have to sleep? Keep insisting you can win with a vertical passing game while the rest of the league is using some variant of the West Coast offense.

Win a Super Bowl, like they did in 1984 over the Washington Redskins? But then there was the ugly spat between Davis and the hero of that game, Marcus Allen. Make it to another Super Bowl, like the did in 2002? Lose badly, and to, of all coaches, the one you just let go in Jon Gruden.

And now exiting the morass of mediocrity the Raiders have become over the last few years, save a trip to the AFC title game a few years back, Lane Kiffin, who apparently took it seriously when Davis said he could run things his way. But, to pull one out of the Gladys Knight song book, he just found out the hard way that dreams don't always come true.

We could go on, but the story has been well-documented throughout the week in this paper and elsewhere. It all boils down to one thing -- Al Davis is determined to do things his way until they wrest the Raiders from his cold, dead hands.

And after that, I expect quite the conversation to take place between Davis and St. Peter over getting into another end zone.

Meanwhile, a few more thoughts worth that extra cup of coffee on a Sunday morning as we count down the days not only to the Dog Bowl, but the new season of "South Park" as well:

l Early contender for best catch of the year: Christian Ramos' one-handed grab during Friday's Redwood-Hanford game. Deadline and story dictates didn't allow me to give it the space it deserved.

l In case you missed it Thursday, we have a new addition to The Sentinel's lineup: The Athlete of the Week.

Each week we'll honor an athlete from a high school in our circulation area for his or her achievements and let you know a little bit more about them. It was Hanford West's Vontrail Love last week for his big game against Dinuba, who will it be next week? (Cue soap opera organ music) Check out Thursday's Sentinel to find out.

l It must be arranged, sometime soon: Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, meet Eva Longoria-Parker. We're, uh, desperate (and if you didn't see that one coming ...)

l Hall of Famers Dennis Eckserley and Cal Ripken Jr. are acquitting themselves well as TBS studio analysts, but what I would give to hear Charles Barkley blurt out "Ramirez!" when the Dodgers' Manny takes one deep.

Richard de Give is The Sentinel's sports editor. Reach him at 583-2430 or at sports@hanfordsentinel.com. Richard's Fearful Football Forecast runs weekly at www.hanfordsentinel.com/blogs.

(Oct. 5, 2008)