Must have been just another one of Al Davis’ senile mood swings. The Raiders are now denying reports that they wanted to kick out Lane Kiffin.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported Friday that Kiffin was asked to resign, but refused to do so. Now the ASSOCIATED PRESS reports the Silver & Black are taking it back. Oakland exec John Herrera retorts, “There is no issue here. There was never an issue here. There’s nothing to it.”

Kiffin himself told the Worldwide Leader, “I’m not going to comment on anything that has transpired in the past three weeks.” Sounds like Lane isn’t going to let the rumors ruin his wonderful weekend in Mobile, Alabama, coaching the Senior Bowl.

It’s no surprise that the Raiders are denying the whole thing, since it’s rather embarrassing - especially considering Kiffin refused to step down. So we aren’t about to enroll Mort into the Kirk Herbstreit school of reporting coaching moves.

Like Shaq in the Champagne Room last night, SbB limps to the finish …

• ESPN has apparently now embargoed any Dana Jacobson news.

• Al Davis wants to derail Lane Kiffin’s Raiders coaching career.

• Jim Spanarkel used to be a sexy (Blue) Devil - now he’s a sexy Pirate.

• If a Ray Lewis lie detector test falls in the woods…

• Tony Romo ended his relationship with Jessica Simpson - to marry his college sweetheart?

• The latest LaDainian Tomlinson action figure features the Chargers RB with his end on the bench.

• A college basketball coach goes barefoot to end the agony of poor kids without shoes.

• The Pistons brawl starter ends his freedom with another drunk driving charge.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports this afternoon that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis “sent a letter to Lane Kiffin recently asking for the coach to resign.”

Kiffin then told Mortensen that he had refused to resign.

Davis is reportedly also, SURPRISE, “considering Dennis Green as a potential replacement, sources close to Kiffin and the team said.”

How low can go when you’re referred to as a “source close to Kiffin“? Might be time to look for another line of employ when that happens. Read more…

KIFFIN LIKELY FIRST CRAPPY COACH TO TURN DOWN HOGS? The ARKANSAS MORNING NEWS reports today that Lane Kiffin apparently is a candidate for the vacant Arkansas football coaching position.

Excerpt: “A source familiar with the situation said Tuesday that Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin could be a good fit for the Razorbacks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kiffin has wanted to coach at the college level.“Kiffin’s father Monte was an assistant coach at UA under Lou Holtz in the late ’70s, so there is a vague connection there.

More: “Kiffin, whose job security with the Raiders has been questioned as recently as last week, signed a three-year contract with Oakland in January.”

This report sounds like wishful thinking from the Arkansas outlet, which is ironic considering Kiffin’s coaching ability is akin to trash bag leakage. The reax reminds us of a Big 12 school buying into the fraud of an Oakland coach: Nebraska and Bill Callahan.

Coincidentally, if Kiffin was to consider a college job, Nebraska would probably be at the top of the list as his father played and coached there for many years. But we doubt Nebraska will make that mistake again.

That said, we hear Oakland fans are considering holding candlelight vigils - as they wait for white smoke to appear from Razorback or Memorial Stadium.

DAVIS THINKS RAIDERS CAN WIN TWO MORE SUPER BOWLS: The latest sign that Al Davis is slipping further into senility - he says he’s not leaving the Raiders until they win two Super Bowls:

Sid Hartman of The MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE caught up with the sepuganarian owner, as he sat in the Metrodome on Sunday to watch his Silver & Back get shellacked by the Vikings.During yet another loss, Davis told Hartman that he won’t retire until a couple more Lombardi Trophies are sitting on his mantelpiece.

Really.

Al also says he’s happy with Daunte Culpepper but not happy with the team’s 2-8 record. Better get your resume ready, Lane Kiffin.

Regrets? He’s had a few. But Davis only mentions trading away receiver Randy Moss, and it wasn’t even his original idea, claiming some coaches “convinced” him to go through with it.With this latest round of nonsensical nagging, you’d think Al had shared a few hits with Randy before the flanker flew off to the Patriots. The real Black Hole doesn’t reside in McAfee Coliseum, but sits between Davis’ ears.

PC RUNNING INTERFERENCE FOR INCOMPETENT ASSISTANT: Adam Rose of the LOS ANGELES TIMES records Pete Carroll admitting that he “blew it” by allowing quarterback John David Booty to finish the USC loss to Stanford this season despite a “broken hand“:

“We really blew it against Stanford. We screwed it up because we played a guy that was hurt. I made a mistake on that. That was me. That wasn’t Norm or Lane or Eddy-O, or any of those guys. That was me screwing it up and not recognizing it, and sitting on the football at the end of the game. We kept throwing it with a guy with a broken hand.“Pretty contrite, eh? And if you don’t know anything about USC football, you would think Carroll is legitimately owning up to his own mistakes. But what he’s really doing is covering for under-fire offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Why else would Carroll mention former offensive assistants Norm Chow and Lane Kiffin in his denial?

Like we said, that works well for the masses outside the 213, but if you really know what the hell is going on, you understand that Carroll’s inability to hire quality assistant coaches has been the major on-field downfall of the program.Norm Chow made the careers of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart and based on his USC, NC State and BYU accomplishments, may well be the most-decorated assistant coach in college football history. Here’s what he told Scott Wolf of the L.A. DAILY NEWS last year about the competence of Sarkisian and Kiffin (in relation to UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker): “I know DeWayne Walker may be better than both of those guys.”

And we all know what happened last season at the Rose Bowl.If Carroll really wants to own up to the true error of his ways, he should fire Sarkisian. Because since they are such close friends, that won’t happen. But you can bet Carroll will be working hard to get Sark a “promotion” this offseason - much like the black hole Kiffin has since been sucked into in Oakland.