Due to the violence the plagued last year's 49ers vs Raiders game (an exhibition battle between San Francisco and Oakland), the "Battle of the Bay" has been cancelled. Which: good. A fight inside the stadium during last year's bout, if you recall, spilled into the parking lot and resulted in two people getting shot. (One of the victims was sporting a "Fuck the 49ers" t-shirt, which irked several lunatic Oakland San Francisco fans.) more ›

Oh dear. The Oakland Raiders fired head coach Hue Jackson on Tuesday. Jackson, if you recall, coached for one season after the firing of brutish coach Tom Cable. "Jackson let the Raiders to an 8-8 record, the same record achieved during the 2010 season," reports CBS-SF. He also garnered unfavorable criticism "after the team led the league in penalties and penalty yards." more ›

Jed York set the tone for yesterday's press conference with 49ers team officials and Mayor Ed Lee when he told the press, "the degenerate behavior that happened on Saturday is not going to be tolerated." And after confirming rumors we heard yesterday that the team would ask the league to cancel the yearly San Francisco-East Bay rivalry game, York laid out the team's new guidelines for tailgating at Candlestick Park. more ›

ecause of American football's atrocious yet accepted violent nature -- well, specifically due to Saturday's Raiders and 49ers game that ended in two shootings and at least one assault at Candlestick Park -- "a high-ranking NFL source said it is certain that the 49ers and Raiders will end their annual exhibition game against each other," reports the Mercury News. more ›

Just a friendly reminder that football returns to Candlestick Park tomorrow for the regular preseason matchup between the Niners and the dirty, rotten Raiders from across the bay. The game will be Coach Harbaugh's first home game in Candlestick since signing on with the team back in January and all eyes are on QB Alex Smith who's got a short leash after last season's shoddy performance. more ›

According to the Chronicle's intrepid reporting duo Matier & Ross, Utah-based discount clearance site Overstock.com has taken over the naming rights to the home of the Raiders and the Athletics. Appropriately enough, the stadium's top sponsorship spot has been unsold since 2008 when McAfee Antivirus decided not to renew. Overstock.com didn't get much of a discount though: the six-year deal will cost them $1.2 million for the first year and a 3% increase every year after that. Overstock's president says the site has a strong customer base in the Bay Area, which we suspect is mostly people out in Walnut Creek buying closeout patio furniture. And anyway, M&R say it's a fitting name, "considering how many unsold tickets the two teams have on many game days." [Chron] more ›

Raiders coach Tom "I'm Going To Kill You" Cable is out. "The Raiders announced their decision not to exercise a two-year, $5 million option on Cable's contract for 2011 and '12, two days after wrapping up an 8-8 season that gave Oakland its first non-losing record since winning the 2002 AFC championship," reports AP (via KTVU). Cable, if you recall, was accused in 2009 of kicking, choking and threatening the life of former assistant coach Randy Hanson. [KTVU] more ›

A fight at Candlestick Park yesterday ended with one victim stabbed and another beaten. "Arriving crews found one man stabbed in the lower part of his body, and another man with a swollen eye and lacerations to his face, reports KTVU. "Both victims are in their 30s." more ›

Noted as "one of the most feared hitters in NFL history," former Raiders great Jack Tatum died today. He was 61. Tatum, according to SFGate, was best known for paralyzing Darryl Stingley in an NFL preseason game in 1978. Tatum died of a heart attack in Oakland. more ›

After not beating and choking of his ex-assistant coach, Randy Hansen, Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable is ready to get the boot from owner Al Davis. The impending firing, it seems, is due in part to yesterday's loss to the Batimore Ravens, which, according to CBS 5/AP, "gave the Oakland Raiders seven straight seasons with at least 11 defeats, the worst run in NFL history." more ›

After yesterday's (surprise) decision by a Napa Valley DA not to press charges against Raiders coach Tom Cable, the coach told the media, "I'm obviously very thankful that the authorities did the thoroughness that they did in terms of getting the facts and all that ... I never let it become a distraction because as I mentioned many times, I just had a lot of faith. I knew what happened." His assistant coach, Randy Hansen, if you recall, claimed that Cable choked and threatened to kill him. Hansen's claims were "not corroborated by the three assistant coaches in the room at the time" of the alleged attack. more ›

Napa District Attorney Gary Lieberstein announced today that Raiders coach Tom Cable will not be charged in the alleged beating and choking of his assistant. If you recall, after a scuffle at the Oakland team training camp headquarters back on August 5, "Hansen alleged Cable broke his jaw in a fistfight and threatened to 'kill me.'" (via Lieberman) more ›

It's time for American Football Spectacular's capsule reviews of the first round in the 2009 NFL Draft. All the intrigue, all the anticipation, all the measurables! All hard information was culled from NFL.com's pretty excellent draft tracker site. Let's do this. more ›

Gilroy's second-favorite export is returning to the Bay Area. more ›

Only a few games left of the NFL's 2008 season and as is customary, the Raiders are in full plummet. The last things that stand to be parsed out are which players are making enough of a name to picked up by other teams next year, which players are playing enough to be kept via Al's calculi for next season, and those that have given up all hope whatsoever.

"We're not close," said Oakland's best player, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, to the Merc after the last week's loss to San Diego, "and it's clear that we're not close. We don't play good football, we don't play sound football, and we have been undisciplined. We wonder why we don't get prime-time games, and this is why. We were on Monday night against Denver, we got blown out. Now, we came here and we got blown out. You just wonder how many people care and how many people are upset. You can't go out and play the way we played and expect to win or expect to do well."

Ouch. more ›

While your editor is no picnic to look at, this here is some terrifying stuff. Check out the Gate's jarring shot of Oakland Raiders master and lord Al Davis. Shudder. more ›

"Too vocal for his liking," Raiders owner Al Davis fired coach Lane Kiffin, 33, last night, just two days after the Raiders bit it hard to the Chargers (28-18). Also, word is that Davis won't pay Kiffin the "roughly $3.5 million left on his contract," which expired in the 2009-2010 season. Kiffin, if you sports fans recall, has been vocal about his disdain for Davis, prattling on to the press about his "lack of power in choosing his players and coaches." Kids! We don't know what's wrong with these kids today! (SFGate) more ›

Oh wow. This is amusing. Oakland police used used stun guns to break up several fights going on during Monday night's Radiers vs. Bronco game. Drunkenness, fighting, assault, and drug charges (drug charges?!) topped the list at Monday night's game. Raiders fans, in case you haven't heard, are (in)famous for their, um, excessive liveliness and enthusiasm. (CBS 5) more ›

Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame guard and union leader Gene Upshaw died last night at his Lake Tahoe home. He was 63. Having been diagnosed last Satuday with pancreatic cancer, the death comes as a surprise to fans, family, and friends. According to the Gate, his "illness, as well as his sudden death, stunned the sports world and caught even his closest friends by surprise. He had lost weight in recent months but continued to work at his usual breakneck pace." RIP, Upswhaw. more ›

(By Joe Kukura) more ›

(By Joe Kukura) more ›

By Joe Kukura more ›

Here's what we've missed in the world of Bay Area sports while trying to figure out who the Oceanic 6 are... more ›

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/25/SPJPUM98P.DTL&tsp=1"> get into a nasty spitball spat with Lane Kiffin. Apparently, Al is a little upset that the Raiders once again didn't have a winning season and blames himself Lane. He is also pretty miffed that Lane talked him into trading Randy Moss. It's a little unclear as to what is going on as ESPN and the Chron have differing accounts but it appears that Al is trying to get Lane to quit so he doesn't have to fire him. more ›

Tiger attack victim, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., was mourned last night at the Five Wounds Portuguese National Church in San Jose by hundreds of loved ones. more ›

Photo of fireworks for New Year's Eve more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

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• School buses to run on waste grease from local restaurants. [SF Sentinel]
• 2007, as Chrissy from Newport Harbor: the Real OC might say, is "o-v-e, but the 'r' is not there yet." Totes, dude. Totes. [SFoodie, SFBG, CHOW, Gridskipper, Yelp]
• "Subprime" is your word of the year, or so says the Gate. [SF Gate]
• Tiger stuff. (An aside: Big-Cat Expert is perhaps the best job title in the world, ever.) [Examiner, SFBG]
• New Jersey bans sexual predators from the Internets. How very boring of them. [ValleyWag]
• A Sunday win by the Oakland Raiders could, like, make them be really super special. Or something like that. [Oakland Tribune]
• Best breakout performance: Mint Plaza. And more over at Curbed SF Awards 2007. [Curbed] more ›