Raiders-Oakland relationship reaches endgame with reported lawsuit

It seems perfectly Oakland and Raiders that both entities are celebrating the end of their long association in the traditional way.
 
By saying it with lawyers and hatred, as God intended.
 
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier and Ross, the Oakland City Council has authorized the filing of a nine-figure antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the Raiders over their impending departure to Las Vegas, a move that might hasten the team’s departure to as soon as the end of the current season.
 
In short, you might not have to miss Khalil Mack for as long as you thought you would.
 
The suit hasn’t been filed yet (apparently three outside law firms are tidying up the language and promising to pay any up-front costs in exchange for leading the suit), but the Raiders have allegedly told Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority executive director Scott McKibben, who has been working to finalize the Raiders’ latest lease extension (which could take them through 2019 and maybe even 2020) that they won’t sign anything if the lawsuit is filed.
 
“They told me we might as well take the contract and rip it up,” McKibben was quoted as saying Tuesday.
 
It isn’t immediately clear what is actually at stake here, given the years of posturing between the two sides, but Oakland councilman Noel Gallo suggested that the city could win damages of up to $500 million.
 
Yes, and all your property taxes will be waived in perpetuity. Happy days are here again.
 
The interesting development here is that neither the Coliseum board nor the Alameda County Board of Supervisors were notified of the intention to sue, and some are perplexed and even irked by the idea of suing. Indeed, even Mayor Libby Schaaf is said to be lukewarm on the idea, out of fear that it might cost the city or delay future development plans for the Coliseum property.
 
But in the more immediate term, the slow-motion divorce between the city and its two-time partner has gone from slow to simmering and heading for full boil. We always figured this would end in fire and middle fingers, and now the endgame is apparently upon us.
 
We say “apparently” only because politicians are involved, and their ability to gasbag over any issue is true dirigible-tastic. There may not be a suit, or it may be threatened for months, or it may even be filed. The three law firms who want to go to court with the city as the aggrieved party clearly see some significant up-side, and just need a client to do the dance.
 
But it is surely also true that the Raiders are growing impatient to start the next chapter in their history, Band On The Run. Jon Gruden has jump-started the Nevada Rebuild by sending Mack to Chicago, and Mark Davis has already given the nation Brent Musburger, The Voice Of Sportsbook America. While they would prefer not having to pay for the right to leave, especially since they could barely scrape up enough money for an edge rusher, it seems like they would be up for a fight as well.
 
Well then, to quote a great American, “Let’s get it awwwwnnn.” If this is going to end with hatred and recriminations as every other franchise move in American sporting history has, let the cursing, the middle fingers and the barfights commence. Everyone has been putting off the day of reckoning since the first time Mark Davis started making googly eyes at San Antonio five years ago, a laughably transparent attempt to create an alternate market, but now it is here.
 
Or at least close to here. There remains a healthy possibility that no lawsuit will be filed at all and both sides will come to an amicable agreement that allows for an orderly transition down Highway 15 – damn their eyes.
 
But we would much prefer a full-on thrash, with the shots of moving vans and enraged fans, killing two attention-getting birds with one YouTube stone by burning Raider jerseys with the Nike swoosh. A franchise move should sting a little, maybe even a lot, and nothing makes a person wince quite like a lawyer doing nearly anything at the behest of a politician.