Hater of the Week: Washington Times

Sun Myung Moon's newspaper, the Washington Times, has picked the Raiders to finish with the worst record in the NFL this year, with a 2-14 record.

(Hat Tip: Bronco Bill)

Bloggers by the Pool

Yesterday.

Happy Birthday Johnny

Just in time for Johnny's birthday, Bill Williamson's story of the week is JaMarcus Russell taking some initiative and planning a get-together with his receivers on his own time. In a substantial upset, it beat out Denver's Casey Wiegmann contract extension signing.

Perhaps Johnny can get at least another year out of last year's birthday present and can use it as a way to keep excess PBR off his self this afternoon.

Hater of the Week: Aileen Yoo

Blogger Aileen Yoo from SFGate's blog The Scavenger serves up a boatload of condescension in a piece about Permanent Man Crush Nnamdi Asomugha:

Now, Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha reveals what he'd do if he weren't playing for godawful Oakland. In ESPN's ongoing "backup plan" feature, Asomugha, the highest-paid defensive back ever and quite the do-gooder, morphed into an ESPN TV sports analyst, going from meeting to meeting, and learning the tricks of the trade.

The comments on this post are pretty funny. Right off the bat, JSpicoli writes, "Hey Aileen. You are Godawful."

In her favor, she also noted that 49ers tight end Vernon Davis wants to be an interior decorator when he's done playing ball. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Oakland Raiders: Global Icons

Bill Williamson links to this story in the Malay Mail about AirAsia's sponsorship of the Raiders.

Look at the picture of the jet with featuring Raiders players. According to the current roster, the players featured are Nobody (there is no #1 currently listed; in fact I don't think they ever give out that number), Quarterback Danny Southwick (#6, from Occidental college; not sure why he looks like a linebacker about to drill someone--maybe this photo was taken just after he threw a pick), and Safety Jerome Boyd (#30, rookie from Oregon, apparently returning an INT).

I think it's cool; as Williamson says, the Raider Nation really is international. Maybe from now on, we should call ourselves the Raider Internationale or something. There are too many "nations" these days, anyway. It's become a cliche when even NASCAR drivers refer their fans as "Earnhardt Nation."

Hopefully, this picture of the jet is a mock-up. Because what they should do is feature some of the stars; at the very least, Nnamdi should be up there. I'd put Nnamdi, JaMarcus, and McFadden on that jet.

Well, Crap

Why, ESPN?

Why?

Bait

Have wanted to do a proper post for some time...somehow not finding the time. But it is only fitting to take the bait while in Wisconsin. Everywhere you turn people are fishing around here. Or grumbling about how much they wish ESPN would quit talking about Favre.

The only good thing I can say about the Wildcat is I'd rather have McFadden run it than a sick freak who tortures dogs. And sure, I can argue for any of these five too, but Lester is just such an obvious choice it is ridiculous.

• Super Bowl Rings (note the "s") - check
• Best at his position at some point in his career - check
• Sustained greatness - check
• Stats - check
• Outplayed Hall of Fame peers while they were in their prime - check
  
• Made the game more entertaining by his presence - check
• Nike deal - check
• Plenty of air time on NFL Films - check
  

What other criteria are there?

Dan Bait, Part 2

Paul Gutierrez, who has taken over pretty spectacularly for Jason Jones covering the Raiders for the Bee (see this column on the passing of JaMarcus' Uncle Ray), has a week-old blog post up talking about the Raiders who are, in his estimation, have been snubbed by the Hall of Fame. His top five list:

1) Tom Flores
2) Jim Plunkett
3) Ray Guy
4) Cliff Branch
5) Ken Stabler

Of course, there are arguments to be made for all five of those guys. But there's a name missing. Who could it be?

Dan Bait

Bill Williamson argues that the Raiders should be more like Dallas and install the "wildcat" offense--called the Razorback by the Cowboys after Felix Jones' alma mater--and run it with their own Razorback, Darren McFadden. If I remember correctly, the Raiders did run it last year, with Greg Papa calling "the Wild Hog" formation. Every time, it made Dan say the F-word, because he really hates it. I may not remember totally correctly, though, because I drink a lot when I'm watching the games with Dan.

Just for fun, here's an old video of Green Day playing "One for the Razorbacks" off of Kerplunk!

Try Not to Laugh

This is seriously one of the most pathetic things I've ever read. When serving as a shelter for people whose houses have burned down is one of the top 50 moments in 50 years of franchise history, you know your team sucks.