More Dan Bait: Jerry Mac on Hall of Fame

While we wait for Training Camp to start, I was checking out Jerry McDonald's Sunday Notes blog item. He was asked by MediaNews to answer a Page2 "Ask the Experts" question. The question is, of the three, Ray Guy, Kenny Stabler, and Cliff Branch, which one is most likely to make the HOF? Jerry says Ray Guy and makes a compelling case, i.e. he's the Greatest Punter of All Time.

But why is Lester Hayes left out of this discussion? (Jerry also points out, in his further discussion of Stabler on the blog, that Al is pushing for Jim Plunkett, hard, and I can't say I blame him.) But Dan has made the case for Lester Hayes, and I think it's a good one.

Wow: UPDATED

Jerry and David White both mention it, without providing links, so I had to google to find it.

But whoa.

I mean...just wow.

Jerry does a better job of keeping this in perspective than David does, who seems like kind of a prude. But I kinda wish there were pictures of Matuszak and Stabler partying. I mean look at the cover of Snake.

Maybe JaMarcus is just trying to bring tradition back.

UPDATE: David White shows a new pic, and also offers a little perspective. I should not have called him a prude.

Please do Not Stand Too Close to Dan

As he may decide to suicide bomb the Hall of Fame after Lester Hayes (and Kenny Stabler and Ray Guy, but it's Lester that has pushed Dan over the edge) did not make the cut in the voting. Again.

But Shannon Sharpe?

I just threw up in my mouth

Cheap Shot of the Week: J.A. Adande

Writing for ESPN.com, J.A. Adande drops this little simile into his account of Kobe's maturation into the leader of the Lakers:

Winning always helps. L.A. is a town that adopted the Raiders, which is like picking up a hitchhiker a mile from a prison. But they were only a year removed from winning the Super Bowl when they got to L.A., and they won a Super Bowl their second year there. So there are still people who miss them more than a decade after they returned to Oakland.

(Emphasis added.)

The Raiders-as-thugs sentiment is nothing new, and indeed at times we Raiders even seem to want to cultivate it (as in the tag line to this blog: Like Rhythm, but Thugged Out). The larger point however, that people in Los Angeles still miss the Raiders, is undeniable; go to any game at the Coliseum and you'll meet people who have driven, flown, or bussed up from Southern California.

In other news, it's been a long time since this blog has been updated. That's okay, since anyone who wants Raiders news can go to Jerry Mac or Jason Jones and get it hot. But my mother-in-law gave me three books: Black Knight: The Story of Al Davis and His Raiders by Ira Simmons, Cruisin' with the Tooz by John Matuszak and Snake, by Kenny Stabler. I've started the Al book; I'll be reviewing it as I go along here while waiting for training to camp. From what I can see so far, it's definitely hagiography, and what Simmons lacks in the prose department he more than makes up for with his enthusiasm for his subject. Snake has the best cover: an overturned Raiders helmet filled with crushed cans of Olympia and PBR.