How to stem the rising football stench in Oakland. Strip the franchise from Al Davis.

At the end of the day, the National Football League is just another business operating a franchise.

From time to time, every corporation is saddled with a franchise owner who becomes at the very least an embarrassment, at the very worst an insult to the company and it’s customers.

You’ve seen these pigsty purveyors in every walk of life. The fast food franchise, where rats and Roquefort dressing vie for equal counter space. The 24/7 convenience stores, where roaches rival those hot dogs sizzling in the midnight artificial sun. The home maintenance company that promises to deliver “Service, Satisfaction and Smiles” yet succeeds only in having Moe, Larry and Curly show up at the door.

When it comes to dealing with franchises such as these, the Corporate owners promise that these consumer connected clowns either get in line, provide a solid product at the level of excellence promised, or face the hounds of franchise revocation hell.

Taking all this into account, and if the NFL was truly a corporate entity honestly and sincerely concerned with how their product is produced and distributed to the consumer, while at the same time seeking to insure that consumer receives a level of excellence for their dollar, then there would be only one course of action for them to follow.

Strip Al Davis of his Oakland Raiders ownership. Then find someone who isn’t willing to let the fetid stench of mediocrity be combined with figuratively having someone in the kitchen spit in the entrée before it’s served.

Of course, we all know this isn’t going to happen. The NFL isn’t about to publicly embarrass one of their “legacy owners”, despite the fact his time as a franchise owner has been marked by equal parts brilliance and buffoonery.

But even in those face-painted corners of Raiders Nation, you’d be hard pressed to find even one swashbuckling soul who would rather leave Al running the franchise. Things have become so pathetically laughable that even these hardy pirates would rather have some Granny-led family ownership group sitting in the big chair. Even if it meant having frilled curtains in the locker room and “Up With People” the official halftime show.

The Raiders were once feared for their ability to play real, honest, original smash mouth football. Of late this pathetic franchise is better known for smashing each other in the mouth. In the locker room. Among the coaches, no less.

Head Coach Tom Cable wasn’t charged by local authorities after busting up one of his assistants in a closed-door session. Rumor has it the Randy Hanson wanted to know if Cable was suffering intermittent flashbacks to his wildly successful days as Head Coach of the University of Idaho Vandals. You may remember that stellar tenure as and the stirring eleven victories in four seasons.

Don’t fret, Tom. You’re in good company on this one. More than one NFL front office source I’ve spoken with in recent weeks had the same opinion. One veteran NFL observer noted that allowing Tom Cable to run the Raiders on-field fortunes is like bringing in Ryan Seacrest as the pre-game motivational speaker.

And now thanks to various broadcast reports, the Raiders hand has been forced to investigate Cable for charges of abuse against women. Let’s stress these are charges and there has been no legal finding of guilt or innocence. However, Cable does admit backhanding his wife some 20 years ago, and those who work on stopping the rampant violence against women will tell you that even doing it once can show a pattern of behavior.

But this is only the tip of the rotting core iceberg. When one of your best players notes that during the practice week the team “played like Super Bowl champs”, and then proceeded to be doughnut-holed 24-0 by the Atlanta Falcons, at home no less, what does it tell you about not only the coaching but the fantasy land occupied by players better suited to judging the award winning ability of the Raiderettes.

Glaring draft debacles dating back to 1980. The insertion of Head Coaches chosen not for football knowledge, but for their ability to have a backbone of Jell-O in dealing with Davis. They coughed up $8M for DeAngelo Hall in what amounted to eight weeks showcasing his waning skills. The best part of his tenure was learning that when Cable was announced as Head Coach, Davis was heard asking his PR folks for a few pointers because he has absolutely no idea who Cable was.

In four plus years this has led to a rewarding four coaches, four quarterbacks, and 18 victories.

I often joke with friends that Al Davis passed away about ten years ago, but no one in the Raiders front office has the cajones to tell him.

One could only wish the NFL has their own brass pair and could bust Al to the point of wandering the various League meetings attired in his prized “Members Only” jacket, mumbling incoherently about the glory days.

There is no glory in being either a member of the Oakland Raiders organization, or in being a fan. The renegades have been replaced by the wreckage of a once proud franchise.

The time has come and gone for Roger Goodell and the NFL to either publicly or privately get involved. Step up and insure an absentee and addled landlord isn’t ripping off your franchise customers.

Time to take out the trash.