Welcome Home, JaMarcus

Even though Dan's Unk Scheline is not impressed and thinks this is the biggest mistake in Raiders History, I'm excited.

And it almost made me forget about the video that Bill Simmons had on his stupid espn.com homepage.

Romo Providing Al with "Brain Fuel" Supplements

From Mark Kriegel at FOXSports:

And the shame of it is, at 78, Al Davis doesn't have too many left. In what seems an act of desperation, he reportedly has Bill Romanowski giving him "brain fuel" supplements. Still, despite his protestations, Davis no longer gets around as he once did. And though he remains as famously contemptuous of death as he once was of Pete Rozelle — "Raiders don't die," he likes to say — even his most ardent admirers understand his plight in terms of mortality.

It goes on to quote some crap Parcells said.

Still, this is SHOCKING. Not that Romo's peddling supplements (remember that show on ESPN a few years back that showed his four year-old son with his junior-sized box of vitamins?) but that Al would take anything from that crazy fucker.

Everyone knows the real reason Raiders don't die is the CLOAK OF IMMORTALITY.

Gene Wojciechowski is a Hater

I'm referring to his "100 NFL Predictions" column that came out today. The following evidence of his residence in the Doucheoisie:

100. What do JaMarcus Russell and Michael Vick have in common?

You mean besides they're both black and were drafted #1 overall at QB? Oh, hardy-fucking-har, neither of them will play this year. I get it...

97. LaDanian Thomson blahblahblah...the Raiders offense can't be that gruesome again, can it?

We get it, LaDanian Thomson is some kind of god, with super powers, and he killed us last year. See how he likes that Norv Turner kryptonite, though. C'mon Gene, as much time as you spent in the Bay Area hating on Barry Bonds this summer, you had to have picked up a paper other than the Chronicle at least once.

Speaking of which:

44. Shawne Merriman will be the Defensive Player of the Year, just like I said last year.

How come there's no sanctimonious editorializing about steroids here? I don't understand how Barry Bonds is a cheating disgrace but Shawne Merriman isn't.

At least Simmons doesn't jinx us by picking the Raiders as his sleeper team, they he way did last year with the Rams.

Something Other Than Quarterbacks

Is Culpepper-McCown a Davis vs. Kiffin showdown? Coming down to economics? Raw talent vs. ability to dig deeper in the playbook? A risk-taker vs. a conservative?

Or is it just a lot of fun with the media to kick off Lane's career?

Either way, it looks like the Raiders are about to wrap up their months of taking a stand vs. rookie salary escalation and JaMarcus can take his seat on the bench.

Meanwhile, there are 50 other players on the Raiders' roster.

• While I'm thrilled that Morrison appears to be continuing his upward trajectory and Howard seems poised for a breakout, I was pretty impressed with Sam Williams during the preseason. He may come into his own this year.
• Looks like I was wrong about Madsen. He's a pretty exciting player after all.
• Did anyone else think Schweigert was headed for a reduced role with the Darius signing? That the Raiders were unwilling to put up with Darius' minor injuries seems to be a major vote of confidence for Schweigert - and for Huff at SS.
• Higgins did a nice job taking the punt returner job, where Carr had struggled, but I suspect Carr is going to return an kick for a TD sooner rather than later.
• I can't figure out why Chris Johnson is on the team, either. Kind of annoying that he's wearing Lester's #37.
• I really like our WRs. This year could get fun...

Is it Sunday yet?

NFL Network says McCown.

Schefter says McCown will start. The ESPN comment came because I saw it on ESPN news just before posting it. I couldn't find a link.

So maybe instead of McCown saying that to Culpepper, it was Kiffin.

Dan has a whole set of examples why the Chronicle's writers are so often wrong about the Raiders. Maybe he'll share them when he's done winning powerboat racing championships.

Yo Dan, What's up with the Donkey colors on that boat?

ESPN Reports Culpepper to Start vs. Detroit.

It doesn't say if McCown had this conversation with Daunte after hearing the news.

Body Language

It's all over the place that Kiffin told the QBs which one is starting but won't tell anyone else. I saw John Clayton on the 3:00 Sportscenter say that based on Body Language alone, it looks likes McCown's the starter.

Jerry McDonald says pretty much the same thing, noting that "Culpepper's body language suggested he hadn't received good news."

But over at David White's SFGate Silver and Black blog, he says the exact opposite: "Judging by body language, it looks like Culpepper, who was all smiles compared to McCown's sighs, will start his eighth straight season opener.

Both blogs give caveats: McDonald musing that Culpepper could be bummed out about something completely different, and White saying that the Raiders are "more shroud than shield," and that the players may be under orders to "act the opposite of how they feel about getting the news."

I'm choosing to believe Jerry Mac and John Clayton, since David White sounds like a hater with his snarky "shroud" comment, and his stupid "act opposite" conspiracy theory. As much as I'd like to Daunte playing, because McCown just hasn't impressed me, I'm going with the guy--McDonald--who runs a Raiders blog with consistently interesting insider information.