Contrarian Award: Rich "Big Vinny" Lieberman

We need to come up with a better name for this. "Anti-hater?" Lover? Anyway, I chose "Contrarian" because Big Vinnie Lieberman goes to bat for the Raiders, taking on the conventional wisdom that the Raiders had the worst draft in the history of the draft in two posts at SFGate blog, Bright Lights, Big City. The first one absolutely eviscerates ESPN for their Anti-Raider bias, taking on Mort, Berman, TJ, and everyone else. Money quote from that post:

I'm speaking more about the premise of credibility. Berman's love affair with the SF 49ers and Giants is notorious. He's even mentioned it several times in interviews on the network itself. The "Raiduhs" shtick was cute about ten years ago, but Berman continues to think it's funny, a la, "back-back-back". He's never been a particularly objective guy when it comes to Oakland, and his partner on "Countdown", ex-NFL player, Tom Jackson, was a former Denver Bronco. Jackson didn't work the draft, but his anti-Raiders bias is well-known and documented. In his playing days, he once refered to John Madden as a "fatman".

Mortensen is in a league by himself. His distaste for Al Davis and the Raiders organization has been legendary, but when it gets to the point where it affects his reportings, then there's a credibility issue. After all, "Mort" supposedly is deemed by ESPN as an "NFL reporter/'insider". His "commentary" is, for the most part, first-rate and fairly accurate, but he needs to strengthen up the "objectivity" box in his Raiders file because no one takes him seriously when he opines about the Raiders.

We all know about Mort's well-documented history covering the Raiders.

In the second post, he goes out and runs the opinion of a former scout who makes the case for Darrius Heyward-Bey.

I was in the process, this morning, of collecting post-draft reactions from national figures; I still may do that. But I wanted to acknowledge that not everyone in the Media hates the Raiders; there's at least one guy out there who's not hater.

Arrival

I just got to Dan's house, and we've got NFL Network on, and Bill Belichick is flirting with Mike Mayock. Good times.

Have I mentioned that I dislike both of those men?

I think there's a CLOAK consensus that we prefer Eisen and his crew to Berman and the ESPN crew. Has anyone ever looked more awkward, in any situation, than Mel Kiper, Jr. operating the Minority Report style holographic draft tracker thing?

Also, Kristi has made a DEEE-licious dip, with beans and meat and cheese.

John's Picks

Since Sllaacs is apparently out making it safe for white folks to vote against Obama without feeling that twinge of white guilt, and therefore Sllaaccing on making the picks (Probably because the 49ers have a bye, and oh yes, that was a pun), here we go*.

Raiders vs. Falcons: You know, I was kind of back to feeling like we really, really suck, and that I should never, ever pick the Raiders to win a game. Plus, Michael Turner is on my fantasy squad, and given our difficulty stopping the run, I feel like I'm kind of guaranteed a big day there. But then again, JaMarcus has been sharp at home, as have the Raiders generally other than the first game. And seeing as we have the best defense in the AFC West, and DeAngelo Hall is fired up to face his old team, we can't lose. But that doesn't mean we're going to win, either. Tie Game, 20-20.

Green Bay vs. Tennessee: Aaron Rodgers got a contract extension. Maybe he'll lose all of his motivation. Tennessee has an awesome defense and Kerry Collins at QB, and in spite of that fact is undefeated. I like the Packers in this game, on the Road. 27-21.

Dallas vs. New York Football Giants: My buddy Todd is in New Jersey for this game. He's a Cowboys (and RomoSexual, like the Professor), and his girlfriend Adi has an inexplicable crush on Eli Manning. Well, Jessica's Boyfriend is not playing, and the Giants are good. I like the Giants, 27-17.

Washington vs. Pittsburg. Game of the week, easily. 5-2 vs. 6-2, in a game that may or may not have electoral implications. Berman is interviewing both McCain and Obama at halftime. Hopefully nobody will walk in front of the camera. I like the Steelers in this game, especially if Santana Moss doesn't play. 21-17.


*That's not really Sllaacs. It just kinda looks like him.