Bronco Bill gets called away to Minneapolis to help cover the Brett Favre signing. Like it's a national emergency, and he's Anderson Cooper or something. Give me a break.
Because lord knows ESPN doesn't have enough boots on the ground in Minnesota right now. Unless Ed Werder and Mort got lost somewhere in Brett's colon.
The only people excited about Brett Favre coming back are Mike Vick and Tom Cable, because nobody's talking about them anymore.
Showing posts with label AFC West. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFC West. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Raiders Have AFC West's Top Rated Defense.
Bill Williamson breaks down the reason that the AFC West, as a division, is sucking so much against the rest of the league this year.
He points to the defensive rankings, which has the Raiders at #26.
That's the highest ranked team of any of the four, and he has a handy little chart in the middle of his post showing exactly where each team is in the league rankings, and then says this:
What's that, Bill?
It was so nice you wrote it twice: The Raiders have the Best Defense in the division.
Okay, I get it, he's trying to say that #26 is not good, and that division as a whole sucks because every team has a shitty defense.
But only a cynic would look at those statistics and not see the glaring truth:
The Oakland Raiders have the Best Defense in the AFC West.
We'll take what we can get.
He points to the defensive rankings, which has the Raiders at #26.
That's the highest ranked team of any of the four, and he has a handy little chart in the middle of his post showing exactly where each team is in the league rankings, and then says this:
The biggest problem in the AFC West is the poor defensive play. The NFL overall defensive statistics show that Oakland has the best defense in the division. It is ranked 26th in the NFL. Yes, that's the best overall defensive ranking in the division.
What's that, Bill?
It was so nice you wrote it twice: The Raiders have the Best Defense in the division.
Okay, I get it, he's trying to say that #26 is not good, and that division as a whole sucks because every team has a shitty defense.
But only a cynic would look at those statistics and not see the glaring truth:
The Oakland Raiders have the Best Defense in the AFC West.
We'll take what we can get.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Bill Williamson is Not Paying Attention.
He writes, in his preview of this week's AFC West Games:
Because right now? Everything's fine. Nothing to see here.
If the Raiders are beat handily by Kansas City, there will be trouble in Oakland.
Because right now? Everything's fine. Nothing to see here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
ESPN Poll, WTF?
Don't know how we missed this, but ESPN had an online fan poll asking who is the Greatest Raider Ever. Marcus Allen won a dominating victory with 54.7%. The great Tim Brown, for whom I'd have voted had I been paying attention and noticed that they were running this poll, came in a distant second with 14.5%, followed by Howie (10.6%), Ken Stabler, Fred Biletnikof, Art Shell, Gene Upshaw, Ted Hendricks, Willie Brown, and Dave Casper.
Marcus was a great Raider, and his Super Bowl performance against Washington is one of the most spectacular games in football history. But this selection is controversial, seeing as how roughly 1/3 of his stats came as a Chief.
I know a lot of that isn't his fault. But shouldn't Art Shell be penalized for his role in that debacle as coach, and him and Marcus cancel out each other's eligibility?
Where is Jim Plunket with his two Super Bowl rings? And don't get Dan started on Lester Hayes' exclusion from this poll. His head is still sore from banging it against the wall when Lester once again did not make the Hall of Fame.
And no Ray Guy? He wouldn't have won, but it would have been fun to include.
Also, Bill, the "Greatest Raider Ever" is Al Davis. Marcus Allen was voted the All-Time Franchise Player. There's a difference, and most Raiders fans, even they now hate Al, know this difference.
Marcus was a great Raider, and his Super Bowl performance against Washington is one of the most spectacular games in football history. But this selection is controversial, seeing as how roughly 1/3 of his stats came as a Chief.
I know a lot of that isn't his fault. But shouldn't Art Shell be penalized for his role in that debacle as coach, and him and Marcus cancel out each other's eligibility?
Where is Jim Plunket with his two Super Bowl rings? And don't get Dan started on Lester Hayes' exclusion from this poll. His head is still sore from banging it against the wall when Lester once again did not make the Hall of Fame.
And no Ray Guy? He wouldn't have won, but it would have been fun to include.
Also, Bill, the "Greatest Raider Ever" is Al Davis. Marcus Allen was voted the All-Time Franchise Player. There's a difference, and most Raiders fans, even they now hate Al, know this difference.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Best AFC West Rivalry
Bill Williamson says Donkeys vs. Raiders.
I would probably agree, but his Denver prejudice shows a little bit at the end:
Ooh, scary, evil Raiders fans throw "garbage," while the civilized, decent, hardworking fans of the Denver Broncos wear angry t-shirts.
This is a difficult dilemma for me. On the one hand, it's kind of cool that everyone is scared of the Raiders fans. We dress up in skulls and gorilla costumes and biker gear and people are terrified. It's fun to dress up like a pirate. Halloween comes eight times in the Fall.
But on the other hand, it's become the conventional wisdom that if you are a fan of another team visiting the coliseum, you be physically attacked. I know that's not the same as having garbage thrown at you, but "garbage" could be an empty bottle (although, if that's what Williamson meant, maybe he'd have written "risk being hit by recycling"), or a battery, or an old knife that the meth-addled Raiders fan meant to throw away.
This is way overblown. I was at the Denver game last year. I spoke with a family of Broncos fans, originally from Colorado, who had driven down from Santa Rosa or Petaluma for the game. We had a pleasant conversation. They people were talking some trash, but nothing threatening or intimidating. Maybe they could do without some of the cursing, but for the most part people were being cool. They hadn't been hit by any garbage, nobody'd poor a beer on them.
I told them to enjoy the game, and I hoped they had a good time, but that their team lost. They shook my hand, wished me the same, and walked away.
I mean, to read Williamson tell it, you'd think we were Christian Motorcycle Gang, instead of just plain old football fans.
I would probably agree, but his Denver prejudice shows a little bit at the end:
Wear a Bronco shirt in Oakland and you risk being hit by garbage. In Denver, one of the best selling clothing items is a "Raider hater" shirt.
Ooh, scary, evil Raiders fans throw "garbage," while the civilized, decent, hardworking fans of the Denver Broncos wear angry t-shirts.
This is a difficult dilemma for me. On the one hand, it's kind of cool that everyone is scared of the Raiders fans. We dress up in skulls and gorilla costumes and biker gear and people are terrified. It's fun to dress up like a pirate. Halloween comes eight times in the Fall.
But on the other hand, it's become the conventional wisdom that if you are a fan of another team visiting the coliseum, you be physically attacked. I know that's not the same as having garbage thrown at you, but "garbage" could be an empty bottle (although, if that's what Williamson meant, maybe he'd have written "risk being hit by recycling"), or a battery, or an old knife that the meth-addled Raiders fan meant to throw away.
This is way overblown. I was at the Denver game last year. I spoke with a family of Broncos fans, originally from Colorado, who had driven down from Santa Rosa or Petaluma for the game. We had a pleasant conversation. They people were talking some trash, but nothing threatening or intimidating. Maybe they could do without some of the cursing, but for the most part people were being cool. They hadn't been hit by any garbage, nobody'd poor a beer on them.
I told them to enjoy the game, and I hoped they had a good time, but that their team lost. They shook my hand, wished me the same, and walked away.
I mean, to read Williamson tell it, you'd think we were Christian Motorcycle Gang, instead of just plain old football fans.
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