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!!!