Raidertopia

It’s pretty pathetic when a guy spends so much time and energy writing about how he hates the Raiders and their fans. He runs a blog called hater nation almost solely devoted to dissing the Raiders. On the one hand, some of his comments about some of the more questionable Raider fans are indeed a little funny, but overall, he’s a big jerk who must not have much of a life. It seems from his links and comments that he may be a Charger fan. If so, I understand now….the Raiders are something like 54-34 against them, they fill their stadium for home games, and get much more press. Of course, how can you not be bitter when number one draft choices don’t want to play for you and your division rival goes out and picks up future Hall of Fame talent? And don’t forget about that insipid team song they blare through the loudspeakers at home games – something about superchargers – that must have a lasting effect on their fans.

He’s most recently posted a link to an article on SI.com, penned by that talentless, former Saturday Night Live “actor” Jay Mohr. It’s all about being a hater. Sad, but then again I guess it’s better to be loathed than ignored. The fact that so much of their energy is expended talking about the Raiders says something. Easy targets they are, with some of the strangest, wildest fans and an owner with the fat Elvis’ fashion sense, but it’ll make the return to greatness that much more enjoyable for me.

This one to a lame (literally) placekicker. Final: a 23-20 loss after fighting back to tie the supposedly best team in the NFL. Honestly, though, our placekicker may have been more lame and he was healthy. Two missed field goals. I think it’s time to say that expending a first round draft choice for him was a mistake. What he’s given the Raiders so far in his career has been nothing a solid free agent placekicker could have given them. I’m sorry to say that, but he’s helped cost the Raiders two games this year already. They play a zero turnover game and yet miss easy points on the special teams.

There were the usually impeccably timed penalties that kept Philadelphia drives going. There was a lack of pressure on the QB – don’t know why they didn’t blitz a LB more often in the second half. Lamont Jordan just didn’t look like he was hitting the hole. One time in particular it cost a first down. There was the offense doing a disappearing act at inopportune times – twice in the second half, with great field position, they go three and out. The one, big positive was the play of TE Courtney Anderson.

Puzzling to me that the running game was ineffective. It tells me one of two things: 1) Besides the bad decisions by Jordan, maybe the offensive line is just not as good as we thought, at least with the run, or 2) The offensive game plan, with the Philadelphia LBs up on the line of scrimmage, didn’t do a good job of adjusting.

The guys are playing up to the competition but are just finding a way to lose. Bottom Line: Couldn’t stop Westbrook, let a hobbled QB go 7/14 on third down conversions and throw for 350, got two turnovers while making none, and lost to a team with a kicker who couldn’t kick anything outside the 20. Can’t make too many excuses about those misgivings.

And who really had the lame kicker?

Dynamic, young WR Ronald Curry is done for the year. Hate to say this, but it might be his career. An achilles tendon injury again. For the third time since college. This one, he had a good 9 months to rehab and yet he re-tore it without any contact (Damn that slippery Coliseum turf). It doesn’t bode well. I’ll always remember that unbelievable, one-handed catch at Denver in the snow. I just hope I’m wrong about his future. Best wishes for a full recovery.

In just about every article written about the Sunday night giveaway, the sportswriters harp on how the Raiders and their fans should stop crying about conspiracies. Here are just a few:

Not enough power behind Raider flash
It’s never quite fully in the Raiders’ grasp
Holding Pattern
Randy needs help

I agree to an extent, because even with those bad calls, the Raiders should have won that game. For example, four shots from inside the 20 at the end? Why not throw it to Moss at least once. He beat double coverage earlier and some of these articles say he was in single coverage on that fourth down play. And if Porter wants to be a next-level WR, he needs to make those catches like the one that hit him in the hands on fourth down. Granted, it would have been a great catch, but if he wants to be a great receiver, he needs to catch those. He needs to show more muscle. He let those tiny Chief DBs muscle him.

On the other side, if something is wrong, IT’S WRONG. Make it known. That pass interference on Moss was bogus and everyone knows it. The holding on Walker was highly questionable as well. In today’s NFL, we’re constantly told how parity is so prevalent. That one play makes the difference between winning and losing. Well, those bad calls make a difference, so why not complain about them? Even if only the Moss call was made correctly (i.e. not called), the Raiders would have needed only a short field goal to win in the end. Last week, it was the multitude of calls (16!). This week, it was the timing (on TD plays).

Finally, I like that Coach Turner mentioned that lame call in his halftime interview on ESPN. It wasn’t one of those typical bullshit cliches coaches spew on those interviews like, “we’ve got to take it one play at a time”. Wonder if the NFL will fine him (uhhh…..yes). And I like what Jerry Porter had to say in response to the reporters pounding him with the fact that “90% of teams that start 0-2 (last four years) don’t make the playoffs”….

“We’re not worrying about some silly baseball statistics,” said Porter, who caught five passes for 68 yards. “The thing is, we’ve got Philadelphia next week. We’ll go into work (today) and see what we did wrong and correct it.”

First thing I want to say is that I have faith in this team. The defense is much improved and the offense is obviously better with Moss and Jordan. I think they’ll only get better as the year goes on.

But that fact aside, I’m sickened by another typical loss. Especially disgusted that it was to a division rival in a game they should have won. Besides the usual terrible calls by the officials where points were taken off the board (I’m obviously talking about Moss’ TD catch where they called him for offensive interference. Not only was that a bad call but that official should be fired because he was influenced by the Chief DB who cried for the flag. He threw the flag way after the play.), our great kicker missed another field goal, Collins was off on quite a few throws, Jordan dropped a couple of big ones (one most probably a TD at the end), there were strategically called penalties (a long Jordan TD run), and Raiders gave them seven on rookie Chris Carr’s muffed punt. There were some things that continue to baffle, like way to many three-and-outs on offense, missed tackles on defense and the lame Chief receivers getting wide open. More bad: I know it’s early in his career, but Stanford Routt looks like bust James Trapp. And Ronald Curry’s injury looked pretty bad. Woodson just doesn’t look like his All-Pro self anymore, aside from that huge strip that should’ve been the play of the game if the offense had scored.

On the bright side, the D played a 4-3 the entire game, applied some pressure, and LB Kirk Morrison looks like a player. The schedule isn’t friendly either as they now have to travel all the way across country (again) to play Philadelphia. When is this shit gonna turn around?

First, I’ll say he starts out this article with some decent points about his overrated Patriots. I’ll give him that. But obviously, he and other Patsy fans still can’t get over the fact that people keep mentioning the Tuck Rule Robbery to them and that they should have never even been in the first Super Bowl they won. It’s obvious because he, once again, mentions these totally whacked out “facts”:

Every time the Tuck Rule Game gets mentioned, three other things should also be mentioned: First, Gruden had second-and-3 to close out the game, ran the ball twice up the middle, didn’t get the three yards, then punted on fourth-and-inches. If they had gotten those three yards, Brady never gets the ball back. Everyone seems to forget this. And second, on the famous play, WOODSON CHOPPED BRADY IN THE HEAD TO CAUSE THE FUMBLE!!! Not only is that illegal, it’s one of the few guaranteed “we’re calling that every time” whistles in football. Everyone forgets this, too. And third, not only was the rule interpreted correctly, but they voted on keeping it at the next Rules Committee Meeting.

To recap: Raiders fans have spent the last four years complaining about a play in which (A) their player should have been penalized, (B) the rule was interpreted correctly, and (C) it never should have happened in the first place because their coach choked away a second-and-3 situation and lacked the testicular fortitude to go for it on fourth down. Those are the facts. If you want to keep complaining, so be it.

(1) I agree that Gruden played it way too conservatively and could have closed it out before the fumble. But that’s just distracting everyone from the fact that the fumble was a good call and should not have been ruled an incomplete pass.

(2) WOODSON DID NOT CHOP BRADY IN THE HEAD! He’s smoking crack if he thinks so. It was the standard chop that pass rushers use to strip the ball from QBs. He might have slightly brushed against his helmet on the way down, but that’s even a stretch. What is he talking about? After he wrote this the first time, I pulled out my video of the game and lived through the travesty again. I don’t know what that idiot’s talking about. Just another Patriots fan deluding themselves to justify the false victory.

(3) His last point was that the rule, a bad one at that, was interpreted correctly. This is the Patsy fan’s fallback point. Video and photographic evidence strongly suggest that the rule should NOT have been employed because HE WAS NOT TUCKING THE BALL. HE HAD THE BALL STOPPED AND STATIONARY AFTER A PUMP FAKE.

I’ll finish by employing more of his favorite bold face font (as if this makes his lame points more valid) to say that THE CALL ON THE FIELD WAS FUMBLE AND RAIDER BALL. What ever happened to the “undisputable video evidence” guideline for overturning calls? Just going by the fact that we’re still talking about this four years later suggests it, IN THE LEAST, wasn’t so clear that it should have been ruled incomplete. NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING CLEAR AND UNDISPUTABLE!

I’m pretty much fed up with both sportswriters and the TV sports shows talking heads. First off, why are the TV guys so damn LOUD? It’s as if they think that if they say it louder, it’s more true. And why is there such an attack mentality wit sports writers. For them, it’s as if they think that if they don’t say something negative and try to be witty by criticizing, they won’t be read. In some ways, I can understand but man does it irk me. Cases in point involving the Raiders:

ESPN’s Tom Jackson consistently letting his Raider-hater brain affect his commentary. He actually predicted something like a 38-7 New England win the other night.

That big-mouth Sean Salisbury saying the Raiders will not amount to anything this year. They might beat a team like San Diego, but that’s about it, he said. All the while fawning over the Patsies. I just look forward to their demise so much so we can stop hearing all the static about how their not respected.

All the post press about the Raider loss pisses me off. “Easy win” one headline read. I see it as one turnover less and the game could have easily swung the other way. I guess it’s all about perspective and the Raiders will never get the benefit of that. Take the Tuck Rule Robbery as a prime example – many still say that was actually the right call.

My sportswriter comments are reflected in most of Ray Ratto’s recent columns involving the Raiders. He’s become quite the ass hole. I agree with him that Routt and Gibson played poorly, but to call the Raiders a 7-9 team and glorify the Patriots? Jerk. The way I see it, the Raiders had a lot of new guys playing together, traveled across the entire country to play a solid team at home, and lost because of a missed FG and a turnover error by their QB. And gave them 150 yards in penalties.

I just hope the Raiders read some of this shit, get mad and kick some butt this season.

Explosive beginning by the Raiders only to have the OL come out the second half and play like little girls. I’m really disappointed in them as I thought they would one of the strengths of the team. It’s only the first game, so I’m not panicing and I think they’ll improve.

On the bright side, Randy Moss looked awesome, with the exception of a dropped pass and a poor attempt at an alley oop pass on the two point conversion late in the game. Lamont Jordan looked pretty darn good as well. Jano and Collins both made errors that cost points, 10 in total. Jano missed an easy-for-him field goal and Collins fumbled away a ball that he should have ate. Stats were even otherwise. Turnovers are always the killer. Over 140 yards in penalties didn’t help either.

There was good and bag with regard to the defense. Run D looked significantly improved. Kirk Morrison looked like a solid tackling linebacker. My biggest beef was with the idiotic 3-man front defense. This Ryan guy just won’t let it go. Someone needs to hit him upside his head and tell him that with his personnel you gotta play four down linemen all the time. When they switched to mostly four in the second half, they got a lot of 3 and outs. They got absolutely zero pressure with three and New England picked them apart. The secondary also needs to get tighter. It’s the first game and there’s lots of new, young guys, so I’m hoping this will improve with time.

Overall, I liked some of what I saw and I’m confident that this team will be going places this year.

First team looked good again in the final pre-season game vs the Saints. Tui came in and actually didn’t give the game away this time. Rookie Andrew Walter looked good again, although he has to do better at holding on to the ball. WR Morant had a huge game too. Chris Carr was already a lock to make the team, but he solidified it with the 101 yd kickoff return, even though it was called back.

The final cuts were just announced and I was a little surprised that Teyo Johnson was let go, especially after he had a decent game catching the ball last Thursday. Also thought they should have held onto Anttaj Hawthorne a bit longer, but I think they may re-sign him if no one else does. Wasn’t too surprised about Hetherington. He’s average, but solid. They must really like this Foschi guy.