Random Football Thoughts.......

1) Now I'm a fan of Oakland Raiders punter Shane Lechler for two reasons. First, he's a good punter on my favorite team. Second, he's got guts to speak his mind over the inane decision by good ol' Al Davis to let Tom Cable go as head coach. Just as it looks like the Raiders are FINALLY pointing the ship in the right direction, they let go a coach loved by the players. And the old-timers, like Lechler, have now seen six coaches come and go

2) Another bad domino falling here is the development of Jason Campbell. Yes, if Hue Jackson is promoted to head coach, the offensive scheme will stay, but what if he goes to San Francisco? How many times did Campbell have to change offensive schemes during his Washington tenure with their "coordinator coaching carousel"? Coming to Oakland was supposed to end that.

3) They (the Raiders) better keep McFadden and Bush happy. The only way our renaissance continues is with the continued improvement of our running game. Look where Kansas City is thanks in large part to Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones.

4) Could someone please show Derrius Heyward-Bey the door? Our first round drafting in odd years lately has been, ah, suspect.

2009: Heyward-Bey
2007: JaMarcus Russell (oh my word....)
2005: Fabian Washington (now in Baltimore)

Thankfully, we can look back at 2003 and see success in Nnamdi Asomugha.

2001: Derrick Gibson (retired)
1999: Matt Stinchcomb (retired after leaving for Tampa Bay)

Needless to say I am not holding out much hope for the 2011 Draft, but at least we won't be picking in the Top 5, right? :) BTW, if the Raider War Room needs advice, draft DEFENSE! Only exception is to get a can't miss offensive lineman.

----------------------------------------------------

ITEM: Vince Young and Tennessee part ways. Excellent move by the Titans. I don't think Young's career is over, he just has to land in the right spot where there are people who can put up with him. He also needs to stay healthy! And, yes, I'm already hearing rumblings about Vince and the Raiders. Just what we need, THREE possible answers to "Who's at quarterback this week??"

I'll look back at my 2010 Preseason predictions soon. I whiffed on some (San Francisco, anyone?), nailed others (Cincinnati) and was right in saying no team coached by Wade Phillips or Norv Turner would make it to a Super Bowl.......

Unlike most TV and internet talking heads, who now "re-predict" the post-season, since my original Super Bowl picks are alive, I'm staying with them. It'll be an NFL miracle if they make it, but if they do, the Colts and Packers both will have to win three to get there, and Green Bay will have to do it ALL on the road (Indy gets the Jets at home Saturday night in their Lucas Oil finale.....)

We'll see! In the meantime, check out my new favorite weather site, where the buzz is of a possible southern snowstorm come Tuesday.

My 2009 NFL Predictions....

Hey, why not? Everyone else does? :) :)

NFC:

NFC East--Philadelphia
NFC North--Green Bay
NFC South--Atlanta
NFC West--San Francisco
NFC Wild Card Berths--Chicago and New Orleans

NFC CHAMPION: Atlanta

AFC:

AFC East--New England
AFC North--Pittsburgh
AFC South--Houston
AFC West--San Diego
AFC Wild Card Berths--Baltimore and Tennessee

AFC CHAMPION: Pittsburgh


SUPER BOWL XLIV: Pittsburgh over Atlanta

2010 Draft--#1 pick to the Oakland Raiders!

#2--Cleveland
#3--Buffalo
#4--St. Louis
#5--Detroit

Oh, and Brett Favre won't make the trip to Green Bay in early November. He'll either be hurt or will have retired for the 38th time.

Let the football begin!!!

Tom Brady didn't die, he's just hurt!

Good Lord, you'd think they were gonna shut down the NFL for the season and award the Lombardi Trophy for Super Bowl 43 to the New England Patriots because the whole world is in mourning over Tom Brady's knee injury.

Headline I saw this morning:

"Will Tom Brady's injury mean to football what Tiger's injury means to golf?"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Golf is almost irrelevant to pop culture without Tiger.

NFL without Tom Brady? No offense, but, it'll be just fine. I've never once turned on the TV to watch a football game because "I wanna watch Tom Brady".

Had I felt that way as a kid, in 1980, after Dan Pastorini got hurt, I would have been like, "Well, I won't turn on the Raider games with Jim Plunkett at quarterback, I tune in for Dan Pastorini!!"

And I would have missed Super Bowl XV.

NFL equals TEAM SPORT. No offense, but no Brady is no problem. Please welcome Matt Cassell.

OH, and, from the how quickly we forget department, do you remember how we were all introduced to Tom Brady in the NFL??

That's right--the LONG-TIME quarterback of the New England Patriots, Drew Bledsoe, (gasp!) got hurt!!!

Bledsoe never goes down, and who knows where Brady would be today, or if we would have ever heard of him......

So, to all the TV commentators who acted like Brady died Sunday rather than just suffer a season-ending injury, take heart.

There are well over 1500 other players in the NFL. Some pretty good ones, too. We'll be just fine.

And besides, it gives you more time to fixate on Brett Favre, and you media guys LOVE to do that, right??

Oh, well........

.....welcome Darren McFadden to the already crowded backfield in Oakland.

BTW, who gave Justin Fargas a new contract anyway?? WHAT?????

Quick last-second draft thoughts......

1) To the Oakland Raiders----PLEASE do NOT take Darren McFadden. That's all we need; most of our $$$ tied up on two "rookies" as catalysts of the offense. We need to replace Warren Sapp. We need a defensive stud. And since it looks like Howie's boy can't make it two generations in Oakland, we'll welcome Ghoulston, but DEFINITELY would welcome Glenn Dorsey!!!!

2) To the New York Giants----get a linebacker and a DB. And, in round 7, grab a kicker to scare Lawrence Tynes!!!

27 years ago today.....

....Super Bowl XV.

Jim Plunkett, Kenny King, Rod Martin, and the rest of the crew.

Three road wins to get there.

Then a 27-10 win in New Orleans over Philadelphia.

THANK YOU OAKLAND RAIDERS!!!!

So, what DO I remember about the 70s??

Now, what, two weeks AFTER my 40th birthday, I thought I begin taking care of some unfinished business; most notably, the posts I promised looking back on a generation of, well, me.

I did the 60s year by year; if I do that for every year from 1970 on, I'll have to blog for 33 consecutive hours, and one with sleep apnea doesn't stand a great chance of staying awake for that long.

SO, ROB'S REVIEW/MEMORIES (and maybe a little rewritten history) OF THE 1970s!!!

(in no real order, rhyme, or reasoning. hee hee....)

SPORTS:

--I fell in love with baseball cards.
--One of the biggest days of the year was the day the UPS truck arrived with our order of that year's Topps baseball cards, ordered from Renata Galasso.
--My brother developed a baseball game using homemade cards and dice, with lineups made out of your team, the players being represented by their baseball card.
--Too bad he didn't seek a patent.
--I made sure my first team had what I called the "superstar outfield", which would include Cito Gaston, Ed Stroud, and Rick Monday (I had a Rick Monday glove as a kid).

--I chose favorite teams....

The Baltimore Orioles: their games were on the radio every night; my brother was a Yankee fan (yecch!!); I liked their rookie outfielder that year, Al Bumbry. I even named a cat Al Bumbry. Brooks Robinson became my favorite player, followed by Jim Palmer.

The Oakland Raiders: not sure why, but Kenny Stabler quickly became a favorite, plus Cliff Branch and Fred Biletnikoff. I remember Stabler tossing the winning TD while falling down to Clarence Davis in the playoffs to eliminate the two-time defending champion Miami Dolphins.

The Washington Bullets: Closet NBA team to home, and I liked The Big "E"!!! That's Elvin Hayes for those of you who know nothing of the NBA pre-1991 Chicago Bulls.

The Denver Nuggets: My ABA team, because my favorite college basketball player, David Thompson, went to play there. Plain and simple. And, when the leagues merged, I chose the Nuggets as my "favorite" favorite. I'm still waiting for their first title.

The Montreal Canadiens: They won. Alot. Try four Stanley Cups in a row from 1976 to 1979. My brother and I would play Canadiens versus Flyers on our table hockey game, where you would "twist" the player using the metal pole he was affixed to. My favorite Canadien? Ken Dryden, the greatest goaltender of all time!!

The Winnipeg Jets: My favorite WHA team, featuring Gordie Howe (who knows how old he was by then!). When the WHA folded into the NHL, the Jets were toast in my eyes. The Jets? Over the Canadiens? Are you nuts??

The N.C. State Wolfpack: The 1974 championship team. David Thompson, Tom Burleson, Monte Towe, Tim Stoddard, et al. This is a case of following my brother's footsteps; the Pack being his favorite team.

Jack Nicklaus: The Golden Bear. The man. I don't care how many majors Tiger wins. Nicklaus took golf to a level never, ever seen before. His 1980 U.S. Open Championship was the greatest golf perfomance I've ever seen. It was magical. Even if Tiger Woods eclipses his record of 18 majors won, I won't consider him on Jack's level unless he can win one around age 46, as Jack did at the '86 Masters. Then we'll talk. :)

Bjorn Borg: The Master of Wimbledon. Five straight titles; and throw in six French Opens for good measure. The only blemish? Four U.S. Open finals, no wins.

---------------------------------------------------

What did I see on TV?

--Reggie Jackson's 3 HR's in game six of the 1977 World Series.

--My Orioles BLOWING a 3-1 lead, losing the last two games AT HOME, to give the '79 World Series to the Pirates.

--Super Bowls VIII thru XIII. XI was the favorite, as my Raiders finally won, beating Minnesota, 32-14 while a snowstorm fell outside my home, January 9, 1977.

--Super Bowl XIII was seen on a Days Inn hotel room TV in Ashland, as our house had no power for two days due to an ice storm.

--The Bullets losing to Golden State, then splitting two NBA titles between themselves and Seattle.

--Ali--Spinks I: the upset of the century. (Sorry, Buster)

--Alabama and Penn State, 1979 Sugar Bowl, featuring "The Stand". Alabama keeps Penn State out of the end zone to preserve a 14-7 win. Boo. I was rooting for Penn State.

--Michigan State vs. Indiana State: 1979 NCAA Basketball Tournament Final. This was the coming out party for college basketball to the entire nation. Thank you Magic and thank you Larry! Boo. I rooted for Indiana State.

--1978 One Game AL East Playoff: Yankees vs Red Sox. My teacher let us watch it in class!!! For those of you born after 1980, there were once baseball playoff games during the day.


WHAT DID I MISS DUE TO A POWER OUTAGE:

--Hank Aaron's 715th HR, breaking Babe Ruth's all-time record. The game was on NBC's Monday Night Baseball, and my brother and I were watching it, when, we lost power, thanks to a storm I believe. A little later on, our Dad comes to the door and tells us he hit the homer, having heard it on the radio.

WHAT I SLEPT THRU, WAS TOO YOUNG TO STAY UP FOR, OR AT LEAST SAW HIGHLIGHTS OF:

--Carlton Fisk's wave, willing a baseball to hit the foul pole to win Game 6 of the 1975 World Series for the Boston Red Sox.

--The Celtics/Suns Triple OT game of the decade; 1976 NBA Finals, Game 5. The telecast of the overtimes was nuts.

--N.C. State finishing off Marquette, winning the '74 NCAA Title.

Whew! And that's just sports memories!

This Nation has NO immigration problem....

....it's more like how to handle a mass exodus.

I am speaking, of course, about The Raider Nation. Just a few years back, the Oakland Raiders won the AFC Championship and headed to Super Bowl XXXVII. Early on in the game, John Madden (who coached the Raiders to their first Super Bowl at Super Bowl XI), noted how uninspired the Raiders looked. "They're playing for the world championship of professional football", he said, but he was right. They just weren't there.

It didn't help that former coach Jon Gruden was the opposing coach (Tampa Bay), thus he was wise to pretty much know what the Raider game plan would be. The final? 48-21. Our second Super Bowl loss, after three wins in a row. Since then:

2003: 4-12
2004: 5-11
2005: 4-12
2006: 2-14.

Now you know why memberships to the Raider Nation, once auctioned off for thousands, can now be found at your neighborhood yard sale.

So, Art Shell is out as coach after one, ah, dismal season. The last time they finished that bad, I wasn't even alive (1962). Where do they go from here?

There's no quarterback.
There's no running back.
There are loser wide receivers who don't deserve the honor of wearing an NFL uniform.
There's no offensive line.

Now, the defense was rated #3 in the league in 2006, so we have good talent there; a mixture of young guys and vets.

Heck, I can still live with Sebastian Janikowski.....who had to be one of the more frustrated Raiders in 2006, because he doesn't get on the field until the Raiders, like, get in field goal position, or, even more unbelievably, score a touchdown (they only scored 12 the WHOLE season!) Otherwise, he gets to kickoff once at the start of either the first or third quarter, then, that's it. Hey.....maybe I can get a job like that!!

So, we have the top pick in the April NFL Draft. Some thoughts.....

1) FOR THE LOVE OF KEN STABLER, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT DRAFT BRADY QUINN!!!

---notice how, when Notre Dame played tough competition, they not only lost, they were trounced (see Michigan, USC, and LSU the other night). He ain't got it. Period. And to think Matt Leinart was still available in round one last year, but, nnnnooooo, we couldn't pick him!!

2) SAY GOODBYE TO ANDREW WALTER AND JUSTIN FARGAS.

---Fargas isn't that impressive, and certainly is not a #1 tailback. (Now that Ladell Betts signed a five-year deal with Washington, could we trade for Clinton Portis??)
---Walter is not the QB answer. Sorry. Nice guy and hard worker, I'm sure, but I doubt anything he brought to the table this season made the remaining Raider Nation salivate for 2007 and beyond.

3) GET BACK TO THE RAIDER WAY----FIND PLAYERS WHO PLAY RAIDER FOOTBALL!!!

---People have been mistaking this for the past 15 years as "players who play Raider Football equal hoodlums". For those of us who remember the true Raider Way, we know what this REALLY means. May I present.....

---Jim Plunkett, Kenny King, Lyle Alzado, Chris Bahr, Bob Chandler, Raymond Chester, Rich Gannon, Ted Hendricks, Jerry Rice, Bill Romanowski......heck, the best current receiver on the team, Ronald Curry, fits this category.

Real Raider fans know where I'm going. We go get the guys other people think are either washed up, have hit the apex of their career, or just plain old "won't make it in the NFL".

Jim Plunkett......very disappointing years in New England and San Francisco. Injuries, interceptions, etc. San Francisco cut him before the 1978 season. He caught on with Oakland, and rode the bench as insurance for Dan Pastorini.

Dan breaks his leg in the fifth game of the 1980 season, Plunkett takes over, and his last game that year was a victory in Super Bowl XV. Three years later, he wins the Super Bowl again. Jim Plunkett defines a "real Raider".

Add these to some deft draft choices over the years (though except for the past few years), mainly in the AFL days thru the 1980's, and you see why the Raiders were always near the top.

Oh, and Ronald Curry. I know a thing or two about him. Comes from Virginia. Played college football as a quarterback for North Carolina. When Curry was coming out of high school in Southeast Virginia, he got ALL the press. This other quarterback coming out around the same time from the same area, a guy named Michael Vick, got little attention.

Curry's stock plummeted; the Raiders picked him in round seven in 2002. He moves from return man, to wide receiver, thru an injury, and now, arguably, the best receiver on the team.

WHAT??? WHAT ABOUT RANDY MOSS??? Randy Moss doesn't play football. He is a guy filling an NFL uniform who doesn't deserve to. You play 24/7 as an NFL player, or you go to work at the local plant. Bravo to Ronald Curry for NOT giving up, especially after having so much attention fawned upon him so young.

----------------------------------------------------------------

In closing.....

1) If you can't pry Russ Grimm from Pittsburgh, promote Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator, who has crafted that side of the ball to near the top of NFL statistics. They say Al Davis loves to hire "offensive-minded" head coaches. His last choice from the defensive side? Some guy named John Madden.

2) Take JaMarcus Russell as your QB of the future (LSU), coming from the same mold of Steve McNair and, now, Vince Young.

3) If you trade the number one pick, you better get three great picks in return, plus a quality offensive lineman and a third-down back.

4) Memorize the waiver wire and free agent lists post-draft, and FIND SOME RAIDER PLAYERS!! First priority------offensive linemen.

Otherwise, who's gonna protect JaMarcus Russell?

I'm not leaving the Raider Nation---after 32 years as a member, I have tenure. :)