Wednesday, November 10, 2010

How NOT to capitalize on the good feelings after a 3-game winning streak

So here come the Raiders, hottest team in the league, winners of three straight. Sunday's game was exhilarating to be sure. But after 7 years, Raiders fans are like abused spouses, always looking away, unsure and untrusting, wondering if this time, the counseling and AA will finally work, or if something will snap and we're back to the screaming and the beating and the misery.

How little we trust this team can be illustrated by this text message transcript from Sunday, as Dan and I watched the game on opposite coasts.

All times Eastern:

Nov 7, 2010 7:15 PM (after the "fumbled" punt by Nick Miller)

John: What the fuck just happened?

Dan: The NFL is a joke. Rigged.

Dan: These Refs should not get a game check this week.

Dan: God Campbell sucks.

John: Why is it always us?

Dan: I turned it off. Refs obviously preordained this one.

John: Seymour made a huge play.

Nov 7, 2010 7:49 PM

John: Ford!

John: OT!!!

Dan: Waiting to see how they will take this away. My nerves are shot.

John: LOL

John: Ford

Nov 7, 2010 8:01 PM

Dan: Can we declare them for real? I need an anxiety pill.

We all needed an anxiety pill. Even Monday and Tuesday, in the afterglow of the biggest win since the AFC Championship Game against Tennessee in 2002, with fawning national coverage, I kept waiting for something stupid to happen.

And today, it finally did. Via Jerry comes this article by Steve Corkran.

The question is not why would Al Davis want Jason Campbell to stay the starting quarterback. That's not an indefensible position. He's won three in a row, and overcame an awful first half to win the game Sunday. What I don't understand is why the fuck would Al send his simpering underlings to anonymously insist that Al Davis wants Campbell to start.

Is Al not getting enough credit? Jesus Christ, even Mel Kiper (paid access only) wrote, "But Davis perhaps didn't get enough credit." He then goes on to give Davis credit for drafting good players and hiring Hue Jackson.

This would make sense if we were in the middle of another losing season. But we're not. The Raiders are a national feel-good story. They just had a sellout game, where the crowd played a huge role in the victory, causing false starts and delay-of-game penalties.

And this is how they're rewarded, with "sources inside and outside the organization" saying, "Mr. Davis likes what Jason has done the past month and doesn't see the need to change when things are going well" and "He thinks Jason is a classic fit for the Raiders style of play."

Again with the classic style of play. If "Just Win, Baby" means anything at all, Al will his coaches and his players play, grow some self confidence, and shut the fuck up.

1 comment:

Dan Hauenstein said...

Great post. Had me laughing through the first half and angry by the end. Seems like Cable is taking it in stride, though. That's Cable's greatest asset - he seems to be able to work through all this crap. And I'm convinced that if Campbell is awful in Pittsburgh and Grads saves the day again, Cable will get to start Gradkowski the following week.