I recently surfed over to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Web site to check out their A's coverage and stumbled across perennial A's basher Lowell Cohn's latest diatribe against Billy Beane and the green and gold.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080818/NEWS/10840/1057/SPORTS0908&title=Somone_has_some_A_s_explaining_to_do

A comment on the paper's Web site kicks around a rumor that the columnist is carrying a grudge against Beane because of the writer's close personal relationship with former Beane doormat Art Howe.   It's kind of disturbing if there's any truth to that rumor because it totally kills the writer's credibility.

At least the paper's beat writer seems to understand what the A's are trying to do in the long term and he also seems to be as puzzled as I am about the way Cliff Pennington is being used on a team that's headed nowhere fast.

http://baseball.pressdemocrat.com/

I think they should just play the kid every day and see once and for all if he's a wasted No. 1 draft pick.

An interesting read all around from the sports writers up in the Wine Country.  On the one hand you seem to have a cranky hothead with a grudge and on the other you have an intelligent, reasonable take on the A's approach to this season and the future.

Which way do you guys lean?  Is there still patience from most AN'ers about where the team is headed or are you on board with the columnist that the A's are simply a clueless outrage?

Personally, I still have patience to see how the rebuilding process plays out
even though it makes for some totally unwatchable baseball at the major league level these days.