Citizen Unk

This weekend we are in the San Joaquin Valley celebrating Lennis Scheline, a.k.a. Unk, as Kingsburg, CA's "Citizen of the Year." He is certainly one of the CLOAK readers of the year, as well. Yesterday our very own dignitary got a ride down Draper Street in this jewel of a Firebird:



Robert Gallery was not in attendance.

We then put on our game faces for a picture in front of the maypole.


You may notice the "Citizen Unk" artwork on my custom T-shirt. CLOAK contributor Brad Webster, a.k.a. dobolina, is the artist.

And finally, as David White can attest, no trip to the Valley is complete without a visit to Sal's for a Fancy Burrito.


Congratulations, Citizen of the Year!

Chaz vs. Crabtree

Jerry Mac makes the case today for Uncle Lenny's favorite receiver. He also has an interesting chat transcript involving Warren Sapp, who loves the Black Hole and is apparently a JaMarcus apologist as well. The opposite of Bronco Bill Williamson.

Elsewhere, Timmy issues a clarifying statement about African-American Athletes from Notre Dame.

Raiders and David White Having a Good Offseason

The Raiders' approach to this offseason has thus far been a pleasant surprise, as noted here and here, and measured by the generally upbeat tone of the blog given that the Raiders lost 11 games (again) last season.

Another pleasant offseason surprise has been the blogging of the Chronicle's David White (noted here, here, and here). Back from a week in his hometown of Selma, CA, today he achieves permanent "That guy's ok with me" status after explaining that he spent a significant portion of his vacation dining at Sal's Mexican Restaurant. My parents are from Kingsburg, a mere couple of miles down the road from Selma, and Unk lives there today. Every time we visit Unk, we make a trip to Sal's.

If you are ever in Selma, eat here.

Schilens!

I had my questions about clock management during the two-minute drill, but JaMarcus throws a dart to Unk's favorite, Chaz Schilens (~Scheline), and the Raiders score with 30 seconds to spare.

Interesting conversation going on between Fargas and McFadden on the sideline - lots of shaking heads. But even more interesting comments from Gannon, who is a Cable believer. I've got to say, with the way JaMarcus is playing, Cable is rising on my list...

14-7 at half!

Was Shanahan Right?

I have long maintained that Mike Shanahan, with his beady eyes and small mouth that rarely moves, is closely related to Satan. He is well known for having taken over a talent laden (LA) Raiders club from legendary coach Tom Flores in 1988 and running it into the ground while trying to change a "Just Win Baby" culture that gave players the benefit of every doubt and bred a locker room completely lacking in self discipline. The culture clash was summed up by Howie Long's complaint that Shanny did not allow players to sit on their helmets on the sideline. When combined with a mediocre record this gave Al plenty of cause with which to fire him.

On Wednesday, Mike Shanahan showed a previously undisplayed ability to speak the truth when he said of CLOAK man-crush Nnamdi Asomugha, "He is the most underrated football player, to me, that I have ever been around. For people not to talk about him as the top corner in the NFL...to me, is a crime."

Cynicism set temporarily aside, Shanahan's ability to tell the truth opens a large can of worms and reminds me of a comment that a despondent Unk made when I visited him in Kingsburg in October:

"Maybe Shanahan was right."

Originally dismissed as the bitter ramblings of my Raider mentor still waiting for this team to show him some signs of competitiveness, perhaps it deserves consideration today. If in the face of the current housing meltdown we can question the validity of claiming a fundamental right for every American to own a home, surely we can question the Raider approach to player discipline in year six of an arguably worse meltdown of Raider football.

Fittingly, as I sat down to write this entry, my lovely wife was reminiscing over one of her favorite teams of all time, the notoriously undisciplined 1990's Dallas Cowboys. As the NFL Network show told stories of Michael Irvin missing the team flight to away games, I wondered how they managed to become so successful. Three reasons immediately leapt to mind:

1. Talent (i.e., good personnel decisions)
2. On-field leadership
3. Coaching continuity

That we are only in year six rather than year twenty of a Raider meltdown is owed to a short, simultaneous visit by the above three points to Alameda in the late 1990's / early 2000's.

So was Shanahan right? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes and no. Discipline certainly helps when every team is closely matched and looking for every edge to win each week. But discipline will never be a part of the Raider culture as long as Al Davis is alive. Therefore, we'll continue to pine for that uncommon combination of talent, on-field leadership, and coaching continuity that has eluded us these past six years. Two good offseason hires could go a long way towards making that a reality. (Read: Hope; also, Delusion).

As for this week's comments, do we believe that Shanny will avoid 21 tomorrow or do we worry that he's prepping to make a free agent run at Nnamdi? In a double entendre that only with him might I believe was intentional, Nnamdi said, "He’s lying. He’s coming for me."

Bye

I finally had a chance to click Johnny's infamous "here" link and watch a portion of Al's press conference for the decades. Wow. With even more drama than usual and no on-field action to spell us, it's good timing that I drive with Kristy to the remote Mammoth Lakes area to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Hopefully the closure to the Fossett mystery will not overwhelm us.

So I check in from Kingsburg on our way to Tioga pass. Unk's "show me" approach to the season continues, with some skepticism over the commitment that Cable's interim tag can inspire. But he's right, we know we won't get a loss this week.

Maybe it's the heat of the Central Valley, but I'm picking the Forty Niners over the Patriots. Let's say 24-16. Randy Moss will do something to remind us why Al shouldn't be so disappointed that Kiffin (allegedly) moved him. Perhaps he'll be seen walking an out route to the Gatorade table during a play designed to go to the other side of the field.

The Packers will beat Atlanta, but I can't even keep track of who is healthy for Green Bay anymore. And the state has gone all Brewers crazy. It must be the first time in any Packer player's lifetime that the Pack has been overshadowed by the Crew...though the situation may have passed by Sunday. Let's say 27-14.

And for this week's wild card, I'm going with another crazy west-coast upset, Arizona over Buffalo, 31-24. No real good reason for this, except that Buffalo at 5-0 would look weird. Maybe Whisenhunt is a good enough coach to bounce back after a bad loss. And they have to be fired up for Anquan. Unk tells me Buffalo should win. He doesn't think they are a 5-0 team, but Arizona isn't good. He probably has a point.

Hey, look at this. Dobolina and Warren Sapp see eye-to-eye after all. And the "professional liar" has even stepped in to stir the pot.

Enjoy the weekend. Best of luck to Dobolina who should be a father for the third time over within a matter of hours.

Tales from Camp

Thanks to the distractions of work-related travel last week, I missed much of the hoopla surrounding the start of camp. It has taken me until now to catch up with all of the information posted on the CLOAK and associated links. And now I can't help it. I'm excited.

As John alluded to, this midsummer excitement is nothing new. But with the 19-wins-in-five-seasons statistic headlining every Raider article, is this optimism turning to stupidity? Even Unk, a loyal reader and the man responsible for my lifelong Raider obsession, insists that he is taking a "wait and see" approach in 2008 - for the first time in 40 years.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I'm excited:

The defensive backfield. This is my favorite part of any team, and the Raiders have invested here for 2008. Sure, the Hayes-Haynes comparisons are wildly premature, but not since Nike was hanging "No Passing" posters in the early '80's have the Raiders had four DBs who look so good on paper. Reports seem to indicate that Gibril Wilson is the real deal, while Michael Huff sounds reborn. No complaints about Hall, and Nnamdi...what can you say about Nnamdi? He just wants to win. Awesome. Even good ol' Coop is making his presence known at safety while keeping the one-liners coming.

Young offensive stars. Another major investment area for the Raiders. By all appearances JaMarcus has taken on his role as a leader and indeed can make all the throws. Jerry McDonald even invoked the name "Jeff George" to describe one JaMarcus practice throwing clinic. McFadden sounds as fast as we imagined but without the fumbles. And Zach Miller is picking up where he left off last year as a TE worthy of playing in the AFC West. I'm buying into this group.

Kiffin in command. After an offseason of drama, Kiffin is wearing Raider gear and even making the players eat whole wheat pasta. That's a hugely welcome sight.

For the counter-argument, we can always look to Tim Kawakami. Have we really not gotten around to giving him the Nancy Gay treatment yet?