I caught up with Ira Miller this morning. He and his wife Sharon were driving from their home near Chicago to Penn State for the weekend. Ira is a loyal Penn State alum. He's going to State College for a football game and to see some students he mentors in journalism. Here's our chat about the Raiders. The Niners will come later.

Cohn: Your reaction to the latest allegations against Tom Cable?

Miller: We really don't have the first clue what it's all about. The most interesting thing is the idiotic response by the Raiders about we've dismissed employees before.

Here is the Raiders statement: "There have been occasions on which we have dismissed Raider employees for having engaged in inappropriate conduct. For reasons of privacy, we kept the basis for those dismissals confidential. We endured public opprobrium for the dismissals, all the while knowing our basis for them was appropriate."

Back to Ira: Why drag this stuff into it? And then the other idiotic thing about ESPN.

Here is the Raiders statement re: ESPN: "ESPN's role in this matter must be carefully examined. ESPN routinely disseminates falsehoods about the Raiders. During the last year, ESPN (working with someone who was in this organization) engaged in a calculated effort to distort the truth about the Raiders, utilizing lies and innuendo."

Back to Ira: If you're the Raiders why not try to put a football team together. You stink. You're in the 7^th year of the worst stretch in NFL history. Are you waiting for a government bailout or what? You can't make up this stuff. What goes on with these people is unbelievable.

Cohn: What should the Raiders do about Cable?

Miller: The league should try to find out what really went on, too. As far as the Raiders go, I assume where they're concerned anything that makes sense they will do the opposite. You can't take them seriously. Any facet of that operation strains the bounds of belief. I do not think Cable is a good coach but we all know where the problem starts with the Raiders. I do not understand the motivation of people who still buy tickets to their games. It's like, "We've got to go back to this restaurant because the food is so bad I want to see if it's still bad."

Cohn: Are the Raiders a story as a football team or only as a soap opera?

Miller: If they were a soap opera it probably would be canceled.