Inside the Raiders’ madhouse

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So, what’s it like covering the NFL’s poster child for a dysfunctional family, the Oakland Raiders? Tim Kawakami, a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, can tell you.

Kawakami, a former standout reporter for the L.A. Times, is known for his solid reporting skills and nice writing touch. He also doesn’t back down from a tough story.

So you can imagine that things with the often-touchy Raiders can get a little dicey at times. That’s what happened Monday, when Kawakami was confronted by Raiders executive John Herrera over Kawakami’s coverage of Raiders management’s well-publicized problems in retaining/firing Coach Lane Kiffin.

Deadspin had a posting on this incident earlier this week that included a conversation with Kawakami, who took the verbal assault in stride and held his own.

Just another day covering a team whose motto, ‘Commitment to Excellence,’ has lost all relevance.

--Mike James