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Raiders' Cable knows Russell is his ticket

Short-attention-span reading and writing, plus some bonus cut-and-pasting from my Talking Points blog"...

Thumbs up to Tom Cable for aggressively embracing the reality that his Raiders coaching career will rise or collapse based most especially on one position and one player.

That'd be JaMarcus Russell at quarterback, of course. Cable, doubling as offensive coordinator, might as well meet that issue head on, which he is doing, rise or fall.

"That's the most important thing on this football team "... getting the quarterback position to a level which we can succeed at," Cable said Tuesday.

There are other Raiders problems, no question, as the April 25-26 draft comes up and Al Davis decides what to do with the No. 7 overall selection.

But Cable is going out of his way to underline his determination — and the franchise's need — to transform Russell from a super-talent into a super QB.

# That's why Cable pushed for the signing of Jeff Garcia as a backup QB with experience, bark and moxie — which Cable said already has been in lively evidence during "quarterback school" at the Raiders facility.

"Those guys have been going at it," Cable said. "Jeff is such a competitive guy and going at it with JaMarcus, and JaMarcus is taking to it and it's been everything I've wanted it to be so far."

You wouldn't call Garcia a mentor for Russell, would you?

"Why not?" Cable said with a grin. "You know, why not?"

# Cable also didn't back away from his recent pointed comments about Russell needing to establish himself as a leader heading into Season 3.

"It's like you and your house — you're the head of the household," Cable said. "And he has to be, as the face of the organization. "... That's a huge responsibility, regardless of what your age is, where you've come from or this or that.

"If you're going to be that, you've got to embrace it. And he's doing that. And I think it was just to reassure him, 'Hey, I see that in you but you've got to keep doing it.' "

# This should give us a hint about the potential No. 7 pick.

Cable says he has four players in mind and of course would not reveal them, but he said that four offensive tackles were outstanding (presumably Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe — both probably gone by No. 7 — and Andre Smith and Michael Oher). And Cable praised receiver Michael Crabtree.

Not shockingly, if the Raiders ended up with any of those players, the main beneficiary would be Russell. And, by close extension, Cable, whose tenure is riding on one player and one position and maybe just this one season.

# Andre Ward's 7-year-old son was giggling next to me Tuesday as he watched his dad and listened to upcoming super-middleweight opponent Edison Miranda all but claim that Ward was a pugilistic fraud.

So let's not take Miranda's colorful over-the-phone blasting too seriously. From his base in Puerto Rico, Miranda predicted a 10th-round knockout May 16 at Oracle Arena in front of Ward's home crowd. Miranda added that a friend of Ward's promoter is worried about all the money wasted on Ward over the years.

It's good theater. Great for the promotion. About time Ward, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, went into a bout with some amount of anticipation and risk potential.

If Ward gets through Miranda, he could get a major title fight by the end of this year, especially if his showdown with Mirdanda is explosive.

"I've been preparing for days like this and guys like him since literally I was 9 years old," Ward said.

# News item: The Warriors finally and formally have told Monta Ellis that they will not be voiding the rest of his $66 million contract.

Reaction: Now they might have some patching up to do with their highest-paid player.

So smart of the Warriors' front office to aggravate the situation by delaying this decision weeks and months longer than necessary, to gain "... err, what did the Warriors gain from this again?

LINK >> http://www.mercurynews.com/raiders/ci_12144000

This is an older article. I posted it for those that did not read it.

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