Unbelievable...

It is absolutely unbelievable losing this game. I knew at the beginning of the 4th quarter when the Raiders were firmly in the lead what Lane and Rob (The Dullard Duo) were going to do. I knew Rob would play a stupidly soft defense allowing the Bills to pass at will. Of course Deangelo Hall (who I am learning to despise more each game helped by never being anywhere close to his receiver. How he got so much money I'll never understand. He is horrible.) Anyway, I also knew that Lane would have no game plan whatsoever. I KNEW he would run unsuccessfully and be stuck punting. I knew this because it's what he always does, not become I'm a super genius when it comes to football. I just can't understand why Lane doesn't realize he is allowed to pass. Jamarcus hasn't thrown an interception this year, so he's obviously careful with the ball. I know our line is suspect, but we're going to lose all year long with this gutless play calling. Rob Ryan cannot hold a small lead...He knows this. So what does he do; he gets a lead and lays down.

This coaching is pathetic. I know it's better than the B&B offense, but not a lot better. Look at the results. I suppose this is all Al Davis' fault isn't it? Well somehow the media and Lane will spin it so that they can blame Al.

Hey LANE:

Hey ROB:

There are 4 quarters in a football game. YOU MUST PLAY ALL 4.

I am fed up with bad coaching. You're "In" alright Lane. You're in the toilet.

Hey AL:

Please find us some coaches that know what the hell they're doing at the NFL level. We have some talented players. But our coaching decisions are beyond ridiculous.

Children...

I've read a bunch of crap this morning...People bitching about Al Davis and praising Kiffin. It really makes me question the intelligence of humanity. It's no secret I think most major sports outlets employ writers that have as little talent as the Chiefs offense, but when I read all of this junk it just makes me want to rant....so here it is.

I keep seeing this ridiculous made-up definition mostly used in business saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. For those too challenged to use a dictionary, the correct definition of insanity is:

dictionary results for: insanity
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
/ɪnˈsænɪti/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[in-san-i-tee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.
2. Law. such unsoundness of mind as affects legal responsibility or capacity.
3. Psychiatry. (formerly) psychosis.
4. extreme folly; senselessness; foolhardiness.

That other "definition" is made up to get someone's point across, usually in business. This is typically done by salesmen to get you to BUY something. So when someone "defines" insanity to you this way don't trust them.

Al Davis does what Al Davis thinks is best. That's the way every human being on earth operates. And he's one of the most successful owners in professional sports despite the last 5 years. So here are some reasons why those of you that support Kiffin's inept coaching and bad attitude should re-think what you're writing online.

#1 It's not the right attitude to go and publicly complain about your job and/or your employer. I think you'd realize that if you did the same you would be fired from your job. You can't publicly gripe about your employer and stay employed typically.

#2 The right attitude would be Kiffin shutting up and doing his job and not complaining about it all the time. If he spent less time complaining, he have more time to come up with game plans that aren't so pathetically one dimensional.

#3 Kiffin is 5-13. That's pretty unsuccessful no matter how you look at it. They had the same basic record with the crummy coaches that were here before Kiffin. So what is he doing so well that he has a right to complain exactly?

#4 Al Davis has 5 Superbowl appearances, the last one in 2002. What exactly has kiffin done? Oh that's right he's 5-13 and has never head-coached at any level before this. How exactly does that give him the right to bite the hand that gave him his very first opportunity?

#5 Al Davis wants to win. Kiffin made excuses that he didn't have enough players. Davis spent a ton of cash to give him more players and he did worse against our arch enemies than he did before Davis spent all this money. So if you are Al Davis, you wonder why did I just spend all that cash.

#6 Every other team in the NFL has a GM that has control over personnel. VERY FEW teams give the the GM responsibilities to the head coach. Why exactly should Kiffin have that priviledge when he's 5-13 and never been a head coach again? Al Davis is the GM. And he's proven qualified to do so. EVERY TEAM HAS A GM THAT NEGOTIATES WITH PLAYERS. Read that again. EVERY TEAM HAS A GM THAT NEGOTIATES WITH PLAYERS.

#7 And last: Every team in the NFL would consider firing a coach who is 5-13. What team do you know that wouldn't at least kick around the idea of firing someone that has won just 27.7% of their games. If football were a test, 27.7% is so far beyond failing it's ridiculous.

I'm at the point of not reading the internet anymore about the team I love, because some people have gotten so used to blaming everything on Al Davis that they don't realize that if they owned the Raiders and had to sit there and watch a coach lose 73% of the time, they would be hands on also. Come on, you know you would. Think about your children. If your kids passed 27% of their assignments would you just sit by and watch? That would truly be insane.

I H8 Donkeys

Well so much for my prediction. We came close but no cigar. One thing I was thinking about though. Is it strange to anyone else how weird stuff always happens to the Raiders when they're playing the Donkeys, Chefs, or any other time we SHOULD win? I am not into the conspiracy theories, at least not as much as the most of my family is; but why can't we just have things go the way they would for any other team in the NFL once in a while? Case in point: We make a 52 yard field goal and have to rekick it, and because of mostly dumb luck it's 2 inches wide. A 52 yard field goal isn't exactly simple so if you make us kick it enough times we're bound to miss it, but that really isn't the point. Still though Janibrewski should have made it.

Have you heard the saying "Chance favors the prepared mind"? Recently I've thought that if we were as prepared as our adversaries we would have just as much luck right? Well I'm throwing that out now, because the Donkeys winning Sunday was 100% PURE LUCK!!! And it made me sick. Only Shinyhand gets so lucky. I am not going to do it, but I could list probably 10 times from the past when we've come up short of winning based on pure garbage - BS - luck against Denver. And I may not have believed it under Art Shell, but under Lane Kiffin I believe we are without a doubt just as prepared as our opponents.

The problem is as fans we are also prepared. Prepared to lose, prepared to get burned by the other team's luck/favorable call, prepared for some ridiculous obscure rule to bite us on the .... I really do look forward to a day where I truly deep down inside expect to win. I miss that feeling.

Now we have to face Cleveland. Their generic QB1 threw like 5 touchdowns last week and they scored 51 total points to beat Cinci. I hope our defense is awake for this one. If we lose to Detroit and Cleveland in the first 3 weeks of the season it could be a really frustrating year, and I was personally hoping for some vindication this year. It's strange but I would trade a lot just to be a mid-level team right now so I can be done listing to the mediots saying how bad the Raiders are and how dumb Al Davis is. They seem to keep missing reality, which is that he is much smarter than they are. That's why he owns a NFL team with 3 SB Rings and a SB appearance in the last 5 years. Anyway, all of that is pretty played-out in my humble opinion.

I do know one thing though: I hate Mike Shanahan. But it's ok that he has a grudge like he does against Oakland, because his 2 games againts us each year are basically his Superbowls. He has to take what he can get since he can't get back to the big game without Elway. (Another blog for another time)

Now for the prediction:

Oakland actually gets off to a decently fast start this week. Our defense continues to improve, and puts good pressure on their QB1. Would be fun if it were Brady Quinn. Their beast of a running back (Jamal Lewis) has another good day, but Oakland wins 34-21.

For now, and ever, I'm in the Raiders Corner!!!

Week 1 Takes

Ok, I know I've been gone a long while, but I couldn't deal with writing after last season. I needed a break. But I'm back, and hopefully will be posting weekly. He's my first 2007 installment. Enjoy....

General NFL:

1. Kevin Everett - Wow how great is it the way this story turned around? From a life threating injury to he'll walk again. I know the night we heard about it we prayed hard for him, and it was pretty cool to hear the next day that he was going to be ok. God still does miracles!
2. The Patsies - Well I know it's been covered but I just think a couple of things about this story are funny. First of all, I've seen a lot of Patriot fans saying how other teams are just jealous because the Patriots are the best team. I guess they miss the irony here that perhaps their team isn't as wonderful as advertised without having CHEATED. It's exactly the same thing as celebrating Barry Bonds achievements and forgetting he cheated to get there. Then the next funny thing; I was reading quotes from Shawn Merriman about the Patriots cheating. Wonder if he can spell hypocrite...
3. Randy Moss - He really makes me sick. As long as he gets everything he wants he goes out and busts butt. I have a 9 year old nephew that is more mature. I am willing to wager that he'll continue like he did Sunday, up until he gets hit real hard. Then he'll suddenly start cutting off routes again. I am not sure how long it'll be until he decides he'll "play when he feels like it" again but rest assured Patsies....it WILL happen.

Now to the Raider stuff:

1. I am not saying we're going to be a playoff team this year, but I liked a lot of what I saw. I didn't like losing obviously but considering we scored 1/4 of the total offensive touchdowns that we scored last year in one half of a game; it gave me some encouragement.
2. Was it just me, or did Lamont Jordan look like a man on a mission Sunday?
3. I am becoming a HUGE Ronald Curry fan. I haven't bought a jersey since my in-laws gave me a Randy Moss jersey a couple years ago. I may burn that in effigy and buy a new 89 jersey. Man that guy is a player when he's healthy.
4. I was pretty surprised and annoyed actually to hear people booing McCown Sunday. I know the general consensus is that Culpepper is better, but there has to be a reason why Kiffin stands behind McCown. So either you believe Kiffin is an idiot or you stand behind his choice, knowing that he has seen a heck of a lot more of both players at this point than we have. It's pretty silly in my opinion to boo somone who completes 75% of his passes. I saw his interceptions too, and while there were some timing issues, they weren't like Kerry Collins passes that were thrown right into the hands of the opposing team. They were bad luck more than anything. I mean what are we asking for here? Do we really expect the Raiders to go from 2-14 to the Superbowl this year? Perhaps our expectations should be realistic. And by realistic I mean can we see steady improvement in our team? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? I don't think anyone can argue that with the exception of some defensive miscues this is a much better team than we fielded last year.
5. After one game a few of my friends have really turned on the Raider defense. I know that it's really hard to judge them based on last year, but I don't think the sky is falling after this one game defensively speaking. It looked to me like we played a LOT of zone in that game as compared to our normal man to man. I really think Ryan over thought things on Sunday. I'm not trying to make an excuse for all of the mistakes, but things just didn't look right. I have a very strong suspicion that our defense will bounce back big-time this week. You can call me on it if I'm wrong, but look for Jevon Walker to have a decent day just because he's a great player, but he'll be about it.
6. The Donkeys are in for a surprise: I don't know why (maybe I do) but I have a feeling the Donkeys are going down this week. For one I'm not convinced Jay Cutler is any good. Sure he looked ok against the Bills, but I think he's about to see some interceptions. And when I say he looked ok, I mean he looked just ok. I think their defense is in big trouble. For those of you that have been clamoring for Daunte, it looks like you'll get your wish. I seem to remember Jerry Porter torching Chump Bailey last time they actually played against each other, and Ronald Curry might even be better than Porter at this point. Add to that Jordan running hard and we'll have offense. And with our afore mentioned defensive bounce back I look for a 24-17 win by OAKLAND. No last second lucky kicks this week.
7. Janikowski - Man this guy drives me nuts. It's not all his fault but a lot of it is. The worst part is, I was looking through the Raiders stats a week or two ago, and believe it or not, Janibrewski has the best percentage of field goals made of any Raider kicker. Isn't that ridiculous? I thought I remembered Chris Bahr being great, but statwise he was worse than Janibrewski. After his 3 misses on Sunday Jeff Jaeger might have caught up percentage-wise, but it appears we've really never had a great kicker. What a shame.
8. My prediction. 2 years from now Johnnie Lee Higgins is a premier receiver in the NFL. I have a really good feeling about this guy. Just a gut feeling but why not get it out there.

I have a good feeling about this week. I look for a win, and a free lunch from my CEO who is a big big Bronco fan. Let's take em down in their house. GO RAIDERS!!!

For now, and ever, I'm in the Raiders Corner!!!

Al Davis - Man in Black and Silver

I am not sure how they got my info, but I got this email from Gregg Manning Director, Web Services, Hall Of Fame Magazine, LLC, wanting to promote this article from Hall of Fame Magazine about Al Davis. I think it's a pretty good read, and I wanted to share it with any of you who might not have seen it yet. I'm not sure I totally agree with the comparison of Al Davis to Fidel Castro, but as much as I'm not a huge Leslie Visser fan, there is still some good stuff in here. Quite frankly, it's nice to read something that's as polar opposite of the media's recents takes on Al as it gets. Anyway thanks Gregg for the heads up. Enjoy the read, and here's a link to the original article - http://www.hofmag.com/content/view/580/213/

For now, and ever, I'm in the Raiders Corner!!!

John Madden said if he had only one phone call to make, he'd dial Al Davis. Many of Davis' former players - and current attorneys - might agree. The legendary anti-hero is among the most brilliant, loyal and litigious figures in sports today. Some compare him to Castro - charismatic, controlling, and a man who made an entire landscape in his own image.

Davis dresses in silver and black in homage to the Black Knights of Army (more on that later). He signed people worthy of ultimate fighting - Jack (the Assassin) Tatum, Kenny (the Snake) Stabler, Ted (the Mad Stork) Hendricks. He slicks back his hair, wears a black jogging outfit and tells his team to "Just win, Baby."

And they do. From 1963 until 1992, the Raiders were 285-146-11, the best record in all of professional sports. They were filled with misfits and castoffs and a mystique worthy of the Phantom of the Opera. Al didn't care what you thought of him, which made us care all the more. I've only had a couple of private moments with Darth Vader himself, but they were illuminating. One occurred in January of 2003, before the Raider playoff game against the Jets. I was in Oakland to do a story for CBS, and Al called me into his office. It was 9:30 in the morning, and we had just learned that a mutual friend, the great Boston Globe writer Will McDonough, had died of a sudden heart attack.

Al cried before I did. I will never forget him pulling out pictures of Will from 25 years before, when both were young guns in the world of professional football. We talked about Will and the history of the AFL for more than an hour. Most people don't know this, but Al Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, not Brooklyn, although his accent and his attitude are pure New York.
My second memorable moment with the aging general was in Canton, Ohio this past summer, where he came to present John Madden as the 17th "Raidah" to enter the Hall of Fame. At the party afterwards, Davis was his imperial self, refusing to speak to anyone other than Raiders Jim Otto or Mike Haynes. Sensing that I wanted to talk to him, he let me into his very tight circle, but then he only wanted to speak to my husband, Dick Stockton, about Syracuse football! He told Dick he was disgusted that their alma mater had fallen into such despair. I had to laugh. Al's body is broken, but his mind is MIT.

No one is laughing about the Raiders now. One of the great franchises in NFL history has become a sad and withered third-world country. Davis always loved the loyalty and dedication of the Army. His first job was coaching at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia, and he modeled his silver and black after the gold and black of West Point. A student of military history, Davis once even coached at the Citadel. But his Raiders are now the opposite of what he created.
This year again, the Raiders had shocking, mind-numbing losses. Oakland stumbled to its fourth straight losing season - 2-14, which was the worst finish in more than 40 years. The pain was nearly equal to the losses Davis endured off the field. In one week, he lost both legend Lamar Hunt, founder of the AFL, and "Run-Run" Jones, the all-purpose handyman who was a fixture at the Raiders' Alameda complex. Davis was also quite close to the great Red Auerbach.

"At some point, you run out of tears," he said quietly, holding on to his walker, "but I'll figure this out. We've been to five Super Bowls (winning three). I'll get it straightened out."

His fearlessness and maverick style were responsible for Davis taking over the team when he was only 33-years-old. The Raiders had gone 1-13 the year before; they went 10-4 when he took control. He readily employed the vertical game, the bump and run, the rebel in full voice. Three years later, he became the Commissioner of the AFL and was one of the driving forces between the historic merger of the two leagues, creating what we know today.

He also became the coach as liberator. It seems like a strong word, but he deserves it. Al Davis was the first to hire a Hispanic head coach (Tom Flores), an African American coach (Art Shell, twice), and currently has the most powerful woman in the NFL, the enormously accomplished Amy Trask – CEO of his team. One of his first interviews for a new head coach was 32-year-old Steve Sarkisian, quarterback coach at Southern Cal. Sarkisian took himself out of the running, and the job went to 31-year-old Lane Kiffin, son of the legendary Tampa Bay coordinator, Monte Kiffin. Davis is nothing if not a risk-taker; Lane Kiffin is younger than his defensive tackle, Warren Sapp. And remember that Davis is the guy who let Bo Jackson play two sports.

But the Raiders have fallen out of fame and fortune. Since moving back to Oakland in 1995, after a 13-year run in Los Angeles, the Raiders have sold-out only two-thirds of their games - the Black Hole isn't even terrifying anymore, it's known to be a bunch of decent lawyers and accountants pretending to make tough. The Raiders did reach back to make the Super Bowl in 2003, losing badly to Tampa Bay, but blunders light up the marquee since. Davis hired his offensive coordinator, Tom Walsh, from a bed and breakfast in Sun Valley, Idaho, then demoted him mid-season. His Hall of Fame coach often looked unmoved on the sideline, and Davis canned him after the season. The franchise that gave us Stabler, Fred Biletnikoff, George Blanda, Willie Brown, Marcus Allen, Gene Upshaw and Ray Guy, sits near at the bottom of the league in most categories, although the defense showed some life this year.

And then came the lawsuits. Davis moved the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982, winning a court battle that said the NFL couldn't stop him - then he moved back to the Bay Area when he realized the old LA Coliseum had no luxury boxes. A flurry of lawsuits followed - breach of contract on a new stadium proposal in Los Angeles, a lawsuit to stop expansion teams from using black in their uniforms, another suit to avoid revenue-sharing (at one league meeting, a rumor circulated that some owners didn't show up because they didn't want to be subpoenaed).

The economics and the style of the NFL have changed in the past 10 years. The outlaw brand that Davis created is now polished and corporate, a league run by people with graduate degrees. When Davis signed on as General Manager in 1972, he received 10 percent of the team for only $18,000. The average today is near $900 million, but Forbes Magazine puts the Raiders at $736 million, 22 percent below the rest of the league.

Davis is 77-years-old, with ties to the Raiders for more than four decades, more than half his life. And his life is more than just jogging suits and law suits. He's one of only three coach/owners elected to the Hall of Fame. The others are Paul Brown and George Halas, both cornerstones of the NFL. Davis enjoys friends as diverse as his own staff. He's eulogized people like Sugar Ray Robinson and singer Sarah Vaughn. Some whisper that in 2007, the game has passed him by, and this actually makes him laugh. "That's a joke," he says in that wonderful sneer. "It's impossible for it to pass me by, I understand the game too well."

Lesley Visser has been a pioneer and standard-bearer for her more than 30 years covering sports. She has spent half of her career at CBS Sports where she currently is a member of the network's lead broadcast team for NFL football. Lesley was inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 2006. She can be reached lvisser@hofmag.com

Breath of fresh air......

Well it will take quite a bit of fresh air to cleanse the average Raider fan's nasal membrane of the stench of this last season. I know it's been difficult for me to get the energy to post to my blog lately. With all of the bad speculation, poorly researched, misinformation laden mess that the Bay Area media has spewed at us lately, I've honestly spent most of my time wanting to escape all of the rumors and lies. Every single time I see the phrase "unnamed source", I get the feeling I'm being conned. I was excited when it was thought that Sarkisian was going to be the coach, but after reading that his goal in life was to be a college head coach, I was surprised. To me that is tantamount to saying your goal in life is to be the Vice President, or training really hard for a sporting event hoping that you'll achieve second place. I know coaching at the college level is fun, and has its merits, but it would seem to me that a great future coach would have a higher goal than that. Anyway, I don't want to belabor this point, other than to say that if coaching in college is his goal, he wasn't right for the job to begin with.

At first I wondered how so many rumors get started about the Raiders which have no merit. It irritated me when the media took the Sarkisian story and turned it into another coach turning down an offer to work for Al Davis. Especially when both sides said there was no job offer. They apparently don't understand the difference between a job interview and a job offer. I questioned a couple of the reporters who presented this misinformation in their articles and got the same response from each. That response was always something along the lines of: "I have contacts with the Raiders and they say......". It's the easiest way to lie about, or exaggerate a situation and never have to be held accountable. I basically discredit these articles immediately now, because after seeing the Lane Kiffin interview...http://cbs5.com/sports/local_story_022230720.html I can see the reality of the situation and can honestly say that the majority of sports writers are totally full of it. The video really does explain a lot as far as Al Davis' method of going through the hiring process. He even goes so far as to say that he interviews people he knows sometimes just to get their name out, and help them get jobs coaching. Doesn't really sound like the evil Al that the mediots portray.

As far as Lane Kiffin is concerned. He wasn't an amazing speaker in front of the media in this interview, but he was a breath of fresh air when compared to the monotone of Art Shell. He has passion for the game and is excited both to be an NFL head coach and to be the Raider's head coach. He looks at this job as a great opportunity, and NOT a coaching black hole a la Ann Killion. (By the way, it amused me greatly when Al busted her for that comment.) In some ways he very much reminded me of Chucky. He has fire and a lot of energy from the looks of things. I can't wait to see what he does with the offense, and with personnel. This is a guy who might be able to re-energize Porter and Moss. If not, I'm sure they won't be around to drag down the clubhouse next year. Anyway, from my perspective this looks like a very good hire, and I'm excited to see what happens. Probably the most excited I've been since Gruden was hired.

The last thing I wanted to bring up was the ugly (read repulsive) rumor that has surfaced regarding a trade for Michael Vick. It was reported that there is a deal being worked on that included a trade of Porter AND Moss AND our #1 pick for Vick and Atlanta's #1 pick. If this happens I will be quite upset. If we have to get rid of Moss and Porter fine, but there is no way Michael Vick will get us to a Superbowl. He is terrible and the Atlanta fans are very excited about the possibility of getting rid of him. He's never been good at the NFL level and I hope with all my heart that we don't do something stupid like this. Just the economics of this are silly. With #1 pick you can grab Jamarcus Russell and have someone that will be at least as good as Vick (probably better) without Vick's attitude. Plus you can either keep our two best receivers or trade them for draft picks or other players. Michael Vick is a never was in my opinion, and I desperately don't want to see him in Silver and Black.

At any rate, I'm excited that we have a coach that I can get behind. I am really looking forward to the draft, and I wish this season would end so next season can start.

For now, and ever, I'm in THE RAIDER'S CORNER!!

2nd Interview for Sarkisian

According to this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070117/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_raiders_coaching_search, Sarkisian was brought in for a 2nd interview. It's starting to look good for him to replace Art Shell as it's been reported that Al Davis is favoring an offensive minded coach. Probably a good idea considering our performance this season. Here's the text:

"The Oakland Raiders' search for a new head coach picked up steam Wednesday when Southern California quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian was brought in for a second interview.
Sarkisian, the first candidate to interview after Art Shell was fired, met again with owner Al Davis and other team executives, a person in the league with knowledge of the search said on condition of anonymity. The person requested anonymity because the Raiders are not releasing any details about the search. Sarkisian didn't immediately return a message seeking comment."

I know it's not a popular statement but if they don't hire Sarkisian I don't think Fassel would be a bad choice. If he could get the Giants to the Superbowl with Kerry Collins as his QB, he's got to have something going on upstairs. Although I thought he and Al didn't get along too well. I am not sure why that is stuck in my head, but I seem to remember some hostility there. Could be mixing that up with someone else.

James Lofton is the other candidate that has had serious press concerning being hired. I don't think Al will hire him in this capacity though. I am not sure Lofton is ready to move that far up the coaching ladder. Although maybe he could get Porter and Moss to pull their heads out for a while and think of the team instead of themselves. That in itself would be worth hiring him in my opinion. As long as we DO NOT hire Denny Green I am fine with the folks Al has interviewed so far. What I don't want is a retread who has never been seriously successful. I know Denny Green had a good team with the Vikings, but if he were worth his salt he would have done something with the Cardinals by now. For them it's status quo.

In other news it looks like Marty Shottenheimer is going to be back again next year. I was really hoping the Chargers would fire him for being such an idiot in that game against the Patriots, and for having such an abysmal playoff record. He's definitely a different coach in the playoffs. He seems to own the Raiders though so it would be nice if they'd remove him, but it looks like he'll get another year.