Looks like Crazy Al has stepped in it with league commissioner Roger Goodell.  His ludicrous rantings at his press conference after firing his head coach for his own incompetence have finally drawn a response from the league office.

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has received a formal letter from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell informing him the franchise is subject to penalties for the public accusation of tampering against the New England Patriots, ESPN's Chris Mortensen confirmed.

The National Football Post first reported the letter on its Web site Tuesday.

The punishment could range from a substantial fine -- $250,000 or more -- to docking the Raiders one or more draft picks, or both, NFL sources told ESPN.

Apparently, as a team owner you can't just run your mouth and question the integrity of other teams without just cause.

In a June 5, 2008, memo distributed by Goodell to NFL clubs entitled "Policy on Integrity of the Game and Enforcement of Competitive Rules," the commissioner informed NFL team officials that competitive rules violations must be made in a timely manner. Davis' accusations against the Patriots came 18 months after the transaction occurred.

The memo also warns team owners and officials that making false claims leaves them open to NFL-imposed sanctions.

If I were Lane Kiffin, I'd like my chances of getting the remaining $3.5 million on my contract a whole lot better.  And maybe, just maybe the owner of our rivals will be stupid enough to respond to this publicly, try to buck the commish and earn himself a ban (ala George Steinbrenner).  Then maybe we'd actually have a rivalry against the Raiders that would challenge the Chiefs to improve consistently instead of once every decade whenever the Raiders just happen to have a good coach.

This definitely improves my already high opinion of the league commissioner...the NFL is on the right track under his guidance, maybe some of that will trickle down to our team.  Accountability is a good thing.