Essence Readers are Not Haters

Essence Magazine has an online poll called the Do Right Men. Week 4 features both Nmamdi Asomugha and Kirk Morrison.

They are Dominating. As of this posting, Captain Kirk leads all Candidates with 26.1% of the votes, followed closely by Asomugha who has 22.5%. This is out of 12 dudes. The next closest percentage is some dude named Angelo Mitchell. He has only 14.7% and is the only guy besides our defensive leaders in double figures.

(hat tip to Jason Jones)

For the record, I voted for Morrison. But it was a tough call. I figured that since Nmamdi was already my Man Crush of the week, I could give my vote to Morrison.

Insight from Jerry

It's no secret we love Jerry McDonald's blog. Another reason to love? His weekly live chat.

Thus far, very little seems to have been written about on-the-field-at-camp McFadden. Maybe it's just me, but I was starting to get nervous that our newest superstar was just bumbling along trying to catch passes with "incorrect hand placement." Two very encouraging comments in Jerry's chat:

"McFadden is a stunningly fast runner when he reaches the corner or finds a crack. One of the fastest I've ever seen carrying a football in person, the others being Deion Sanders, Randy Moss and Napoleon Kaufman."

Ok, that one was predictable, but this is even better:

"McFadden seems to be absorbing everything they give him in terms of scheme and complexity. I think you'll see him catch 40 passes minimum and the number will go up each year to what the Raiders hope is a Marshall Faulk level."

Jerry also brings up the "strange case" of Johnnie Lee Higgins, my least favorite Raider of 2007:

"Looks great one catch, lost the next. His ticket is if he is chosen to return punts. Kiffin clearly wants Higgins to win the job, but it's not clear he is up to it."

Unfortunately, we seem to have no full time backup plan at punt returner. Higgins was truly dreadful last year, and now he's in position to knock a promising WR prospect off the roster.

But in keeping with yesterday's optimistic tone, Jerry notes the drastic improvement in the passing game, among other improvements. Are the Raiders better than last year at this time?

"Overall, it's a pretty good upgrade."

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?

Pats Take our Sloppy Seconds. Again.

LaMont is a Patriot. Bully for him. I don't really have anything against Lamont; he played hard for the most part and was stuck on bad Norv and Art Shell/Tom Walsh squads.

But Jason Jones' LaMont Jordan "highlight" reel is brutal.

Maybe Lombardi's NOT a Hater

Looks like I was too harsh on Mike Lombardi the other night when I went into an overly long exegesis on the lyrics to the Eagles' "Hotel California" in response to his new blog.

Today, he writes about the Tuck Game. And does so in a way that shows he is still as hurt as any of us .

He also discusses the Hotel California reference in his comments.

Man Crush: Nmamdi Asomugha

Apocryphal:

adjective. 1. Of doubtful authenticity :SPURIOUS.
2. Often capitalized: of or resembling the Apocrypha.
SYNOMYMS: see FICTITIOUS.

I start this post with the dictionary definition of "apocryphal" because Nmamdi Asomugha used it correctly during his interview session yesterday after the opening practice of training camp:

I had heard all the apocryphal stories during the offseason of what was going on so I wanted to put everything to rest and just show up. . . It went both ways. I had a lot of people saying don’t show up and I had enough people saying show it up so it helped me out. I sought out the counsel that was needed in this situation and I was able to come and be here.

Please, Al. Pay this guy next year. Not only is he the anti-Charles Woodson in terms of team leadership-by-example, but the English Major in me can't resist a guy who uses SAT words like "apocryphal" correctly to describe the speculation about his contract negotiations.

And look, I know we're not supposed to feel bad for this guy, because he's making $9.87 Million or whatever it is this year. But that's not the point. This is:

I really want to win games. That’s a big part of why I’m here. It’s putting that on the line, that you could get hurt, and those types of things. But it’s in the name of being a cohesive unit and coming together and trying to win football games.

That is exactly the kind of leadership you want from your star players. He admits he was taken aback by the money the Raiders threw around this summer, but instead of doing sit-ups in his driveway, or staying home during training to "send a message"--a message absolutely no one would blame him for trying to send--he shows up in fantastic shape and intercepts the one pass that was thrown to his side of the field.

The actions of players like Asomugha seem to contradict all of the negative press swarming the Raiders this offseason. If the Hotel California was so goddamned disfunctional, why would an obvious "character guy" such as Asomugha be in such a hurry to get back and join his teammates, when he has every incentive not to?

It almost makes these stories seem apocryphal.

UPDATE: Per Dan's comment, here's Nancy Gay's article on Asomugha. She has some very nice things to say about Lane Kiffin as well.

The Favre Debacle, From the Perspective of a Lifelong Packer Fan

I have been a Packer fan my entire life. I would sit there, throughout the 80s, and watch them lose to the Buccaneers, one of the few teams that were actually sorrier than my team. I would sit there for the entire game, even when the game was basically over, due to my allegiance to the Packers.

For every other sport, I'm admittedly fair-weather. If the Brewers make it to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, I will be watching every single playoff game. However, I probably won't watch any of their games this season, and I can probably count on one hand how many televised games I've watched in the past 26 years. Don't even get me started on the Bucks.

The Packers are different. Growing up, I was emotionally involved with the successes (or failures) of Lynn Dickey, James Lofton, Harlan Huckleby, Chuck Cecil, Tim Harris, Ed West, Jeff Query, I could go on and on. I sat there--or more like paced-- every Sunday, cheering on my lowly Packers, only to have my heart broken at the end. But I always came back the following Sunday.

Then came Favre. Finally, all of my dedication to the team paid off. I can remember moving into the dorms my freshman year in college, going down to one of the study rooms that had the Packer-Bengal game on to check the score. The Majik man went down in that game, and I can remember thinking "here comes another loss". Next thing I know, Favre is taking the Packers 90+ yard in less than a minute in his first of many come-from-behind victories. That was the day the Packers stopped being the doormat of the NFL. And almost every victory, since then, has been because of Favre. And I'll always remember Favre as being one of the greatest, if not greatest, Packers of all time.

With that being said, I do not side with Favre in this dispute with the Packers.

Favre has every right to want to come back, and I would actually welcome him back as the starting QB for the Packers. I admit, the Packers have a better chance at winning the Super Bowl with Favre than with Rodgers this season. However, I do not blame the Packers for moving on. Favre has been jerking the Packers around since 2002, when he told Peter King that he was thinking of retiring. Every offseason is a media circus of whether or not he was going to retire. The Packers draft Aaron Rodgers three years ago specifically because they thought Favre would be retiring. Favre's indecision effects everything the Packers do--how they draft, who they sign in free agency, and how they design their playbook.

The thing is, the Packers were already going to let Favre unretire in March. A few weeks after his retirement conference, the Packers were informed that he changed his mind. They said that that was fine and that they'd welcome him back. The chartered a plane for Mississippi to finalize his return, but at the last minute he says "I discussed it with Dianna, and I think I going to stay retired." So the Packers go about their offseason as if Favre is not coming back. Drafting Brohm in the 2nd round, and another QB in the 7th. They tailor their playbook to fit Rodgers.

They moved on. Now they're supposed to scrap everything so that Favre can come back, again, because he changed his mind, again?

Like I said, Favre gives the Packers a better chance this year at a SB than Rodgers, but if they did accept him back as the starter, anything less than a SB win will be a disappointment and make his return a mistake. For really, why else, as a fan, would I want him back? Him coming back would almost guarantee the Packers losing Rodgers, and while we don't know what they have in Rodgers, it's certainly more than we know what they have in Brian Brohm.

At this point, I really don't care what happens--if he starts for the Pack this season, fine, if not, that's fine also. He can play for another team, as long as it's through a trade and as long as that team is not the Vikings.

No matter what happens, I'll always be rooting for the Packers. I survived the 80s, I think I can live through this.

And Al Davis should sell the Raiders.