Gearing Up

It's about 14 hours before kickoff at Lambeau, which gives us about the right amount of time to begin the layering process to keep from freezing tomorrow. Actually, it's 15 and snowing now, and should be up over 20 for the game. Not too bad. Certainly not like the 1993 game, which I've learned was the third-coldest game in Lambeau history.

One dilemma I have not yet resolved is whether to wear my white away #37 Lester Hayes jersey or my black home #37 Lester Hayes jersey.

Away jersey: it is an away game and the Raiders are 1-0 when I've worn the away jersey during games this year.

Home jersey: it is more obviously a Raiders jersey and I might need the sun-absorbing properties of black to survive the game.

At any rate we are very excited and plan to be tailgating by 9:30 am.

Regarding Nancy Gay, I just flat out have trouble trusting her when she writes so definitively that the Kiffin-Arkansas rumors have some substance. She was absolutely sure that Moss would not be traded and predicted that Sapp would be cut. Obviously her style is to write with conviction even when she is going out on a bit of a limb.

Nancy Gay's Arkansas Source Revealed; John's Picks

Soon after Steve here was taken into custody, he used his one phone call to call Nancy Gay and tell her how substantive the Lane Kiffin-to-Arkansas rumors were. "I remember that day USC put up a buncha points on my Hogs," Steve told her. "We thought they was just a buncha queers from Los Angeleez, but they put a asswhuppin' on us. My wife was so made she stabbed me in the face. That Lane Kiffin was a helluva play caller that day, tell ya what. If this asshole cop hadn'ta impounded my lawnmower I was on my way out there to personally recruit him."

Now that we've cleared that up, onto the picks.

On the one hand, Pittsburgh has some playmakers on both sides of the ball. On the other hand, they lost to Man-gina nd the Jets. I think they make that one mistake that hands the Patriots the game, 24-21.

Adrian Peterson is running for 230 yards and four touchdowns against the 49ers, helping the Vikings win the game 35-13, and Bubba Malaysia win his fantasy game 142.34 to 97.54.

I still have a lingering feeling of bliss leftover from last Sunday's trip to the Coliseum. I have to give a shout out here to Bill Simmons. He wrote a column last week about taking his two year-old daughter to her first NBA game, and what a great time they had together. I forwarded it to the Professor and she laughed her ass off, and said, "Let's take baby Lily to the Raiders game Sunday." We had planned to get a sitter and have an adult-knucklehead-fun-day, but when that fell through we weren't too disappointed. And if you saw the look of pure Joy on Lily's face in the pictures I posted the other day, you know we did the right thing. She's still talking about going "to the stadium see the Raiders play a football game!" She wants to go back this week, and didn't quite understand that they're playing in Wisconsin, until we explained to her that the Raiders had to fly on an airplane to get there. "Lily flies to Texas and California!" she said and I said "Just like that, only to Wisconsin," and she said, "Raiders fly to Wisconsin!" and then she asked for a cup of chocolate milk and for me to turn on her Thomas video.

So, I think the Raiders keep it going. 23-20.

Wisconsin Is Cold

Here in Oshkosh, WI it is 21 degrees and snowing. Last night it dropped to about 3 degrees. Since our arrival late Sunday night I've shoveled so much snow that I am painfully realizing I have a whole portfolio of strange muscles in my arms and back.

In other words, I'm ready for Lambeau!

The last time I was at Lambeau to see the Raiders play, LeRoy Butler invented the Lambeau Leap en route to a 28-0 shellacking. It was one of the coldest NFL games ever played, with a game time temperature of 0 and a wind chill of -30. This one shouldn't be quite so bad, but Kristy has been stocking up on winter gear nevertheless.

Will the Raiders handle the cold? Maybe, and the Packers' QB situation is less than ideal. My guess is Favre will come out a little wild while still recovering from his smashed funny bone. He effectively has no backup, but then again he hasn't really needed a backup since 1992 anyway. Ultimately I'm going to pick the Packers for the simple reason that the Raiders are undefeated since I began picking against them in this blog. And barring an AFC West miracle I'll be pulling for the Pack through the playoffs, so it does not do to my soul the damage that picking the Broncos to beat the Raiders did last week.

Minnesota is really coming on while at least we can say the 49ers are showing some sort of life. Although I'm not really sure what sort of life. Despite being a longtime fan of Dilfer, I guess someone will be Dilfered and the Vikings will run to victory. Some drunk 49ers fans will then get in a Minnesota fan's face and demand to know why he cheered for the Vikings. Minnesota fan will reply, "I grew up in Minnesota." 49er fan will then try to find some other reason to take a swing at Minnesota fan but will fail, and will walk off grumbling.

At least that's what happened about this time last year when I went to the Packers-49ers game with one of my friends from Wisconsin - just replace "Minnesota" with "Wisconsin" or in some cases "Green Bay," and "Vikings" with "Packers." You get the picture...

I choose Pittsburgh over New England. My distaste for the Patriots has gone far beyond healthy standards and I'm really trying not to care anymore. I sat very calmly through the ridiculous finale to Monday night's Baltimore game. What a joke this undefeated season will be in that context. Oh yeah, and in the cheating context. Wait - I'm calmly not caring anymore. Go Pittsburgh.

Week 14 Picks: Sllaacs gets Dilfered

This was waiting for me in the CLOAK OF IMMORTALITY inbox:

Yo,

So the niner fans got kind of Dilfer-ed last week against the Panthers. I mean, we HOPED the Niners would be who they were against the Cards, but... Who cares at this point? No #1 pick for SF, besides the one they got from the Colts last year - and that's not exactly exciting. The Niners will lose to the Vikings, I say by 10.
24-14 Minnesota.

Raiders vs. the Packers. This one is in Green Bay - the fucking Tundra. Forget about it, Fargas may find it hard to run in subzero temperatures, and Oakland may get blown out here. I'm picking the Pack 31 - 13.

Patriots vs. Steelers. Based on the last two weeks, I'm going to pick against the Patsy's here. NE barely won thier last two, and Pitt is better than the Eagles. I think Big Ben gets it done - 35-27.

Go Dilfer, it's ya birf-day, Go Dilfer, It's ya birf-day...

Sllaacs

I'll be back with my picks and a wrap-up from Sunday, which still has me wearing a smile.

Best. Day. Ever.

So I went to the game yesterday. By now, both readers of this blog know what happened: the Raiders won 34-20, JaMarcus got some action and looked good doing it, and Josh McCown looked like an honest-to-God NFL quarterback.

I'm not even really going to write a whole lot. We took some pretty great pictures that I want to share.


This guy set his DJ booth up on the back of a cargo van that was backed right up to where we had parked. He was kicking out the jams all morning. His family or buddies grilled up some bacon-wrapped shrimp that was the best thing I've ever tasted.










Here's the Professor and Baby Lily, who was making her debut at a Raiders game, just like JaMarcus. You can see the flags in the background. Obviously, she's having a good time. Seated in the background, in the Bill Romanowski throwback, is Carl, our designated driver.










Here's the rest of the crew with the DJ setup. The guy in the Michael Huff jersey and the woman in the Jerry Rice hookup were the chefs. I'm sorry I don't remember their names, but everyone in this picture was super nice.














Here's Lily and Me with Gorilla Rilla and his posse.






















The guy next to us was pouring tequila shots down the grooves of this huge Ice Block.











So you know I had to try it. It was good.


























Here's the band Izzy Ozbourne, in the middle of "Mr. Crowley." Lily was really interested to see
Skylar, the girl playing the keyboards.














This our designated driver, Carl, and his sister Suzanna. Yes, she's a Broncos fan. But, she was a good sport. She took a lot of abuse, nothing too vicious. And she took really great care of Lily, who fell asleep in her lap during the fourth quarter.

She also organized the festivities, having Carl pick us up at 6:30 so we could get to the House early and get a prime tailgate spot.





This is probably my favorite picture of the day:

Lily and me watching the band. At one point the Professor thought it might be too loud, I should take Lily away, but she got really pissed and started yelling "Go BACK!"

She's a rocker, just like her mom.

Everyone was really great to her, especially when they found out it was her first game.

We can't wait to go back.

Trying Again

Our Saturday attempt to get the Lambeau tailgating started early was foiled by weather, so that makes today our travel day. So we'll just have to wait for John's in-person account. Faced with the prospect of spending Saturday night in the Kansas City airport - with our dog and our Raiders gear - we chose to roll the dice with today. So far, so good - planes seem to be running, unlike yesterday.

Here's hoping we have a good set of JaMarcus highlights to review when we arrive in Wisconsin tonight! And a 2-0 AFC West streak to celebrate!

Big Day

As I said earlier, I will be in the House today when the Raiders play the Donkeys. As Jerry McDonald wrote yesterday, we just might see JaMarcus. I really, really hope so.

Dan is in Wisconsin, at his childhood home, preparing to represent next Sunday at Lambeau. If he's able to catch the game today I know he'll be doing the in-game updates that both readers of CLOAK OF IMMORTALITY have come to depend on.

I'll be back with a big post including pictures of the tailgating from the Coliseum parking lot.

Get ready for a Donkey Show, because Denver's about to get abused.