Gene Wang is an ignorant asshole

Via Williamson, who to his credit says, "I just don't buy it," comes this piece of ignorance from some guy named Gene Wang, the Washington Post's "Fantasy Guru." In a checklist-style post, he mentions The Renegade/Second Chance factor, the athleticism, pairing Vick and McFadden in the Wildcat, and Oakland's geographical distance from Atlanta (whatever the fuck that means).

But it's the fifth and final item on the checklist that really kills it, and shows that Mr. Wang does not know what the fuck he's talking about:

Raiders fans, especially in The Black Hole, would have no trouble embracing a player with a prison record. Check.

Looks like we're 5 for 5, so Al Davis, what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone, give the man a call and get him on a plane to the Bay Area.

Um, no Gene. It most definitely DOES NOT look like we're five for five. Why don't you visit Oakland and do a little research first, before just assuming that everyone in the Black Hole who dresses up for the games is actually a criminal. The Bay Area in general and Oakland in particular is one of the most animal-friendly areas in the country. Jarrod Cooper is a fan favorite, and his charity, Help Code 597.org has been set up to help keep dogs out of shelters, and out of the hands of people like Michael Vick. It has the endorsement of the Raiders.

In short, it's the ANTI Michael Vick.

God I wish people would stop talking about this so that I could blog about something else.

More Nnamdi on Vick

I attributed this to Jerry Mac's twitter feed, because that's where I saw it first, but I should give props to David White who was on Chronicle Live with Nnamdi last night, which is apparently where the quote comes from.



Also, I'm not sure why the embedded video is cut off. The code they give you to copy is weird and needed to be edited, by me, with my limited skills.

Props to Ratto, I think, for the Bernie Maddoff joke.

Bill Williamson is Lazy; Jerry McDonald is Not (UPDATED)

The headline over at Bronco Bill's blog is "Sound-off: Michael Vick and the Raiders." He's soliciting reader emails, now that Vick's been conditionally reinstated, on whether or not he'd make a good Raider. I'm so tired of this, I don't even know where to begin. But since I had to say something, I submitted this:

Amy Trask would never allow it. You've written elsewhere that the Raiders linked with Vick is knee-jerk "Al Davis Loves Renegades" logic (or something). That fact that you've resorted to this on the day that Raiders training camp opens, and not whether or not Heyward-Bey is signed, or if JaMarcus can hold off Garcia, is just plain lazy.

I know, why doesn't Josh McDaniels bring him in to compete? Or is he happy with the duo of Kyle Orton and Chris Simms? Are Thigpen and Croyle really better than Michael Vick backing up Cassell? You'd be better off going back to transcribing Mike Shanahan press releases.

We'll see if he runs it. My guess is there'll be 20 emails for it, mostly from Denver, Kansas City, and San Diego, saying things like, "Of course the Raiders want Michael Vick. They're gangsters, blah blah blah Al Davis renegade blah blah blah if his 40 time is still blah blah blah wildcat."

It makes me want to puke.

UPDATE: From Jerry Mac's brand new Twitter page:

Nnamdi on Vick: ``Anytime there’s a criminal, or someone’s just gotten out of jail. Everyone says the Raiders are going to take him.”

Or, as our Permanent Man Crush might put it, the stories linking Michael Vick to the Raiders are apocryphal.

The Greatest of All Time

Congratulations to Rickey Henderson, who, if Al gives out Cloaks of Immortality to baseball players, would surely get one.

I've been trying to find an embed-able video link, but you can watch his induction speech here.

Money quote:

"My dream was to play football for the Oakland Raiders," Henderson said. "But my mother thought I would get hurt playing football, so she chose baseball for me. I guess moms do know best."

I bet if Rickey had played football, he'd have been one of the greatest return men of all time. And probably a shut-down corner, known for his speed and trash-talk skills.

Anyway, congratulations, Rickey. I'll never forget watching you play.

P.S. The Raiders better have a Rickey Henderson day at the coliseum this season.

The Autumn Wind is something or other.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has this posted at his blog:



The only thing I know about World of Warcraft is from the episode on South Park where the boys play to save the universe from some guy who can't be beaten. It's a really funny episode; my favorite part is when Cartman has diarrhea all over his mom.

It's weird, though, because I can't hear "The Autumn Wind" without getting pumped. To see dancing elves or gnomes or whatever, getting down to John Facenda's words just doesn't do it. This is more like it:

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.

Hater of the Week, Literary Allusion Edition: Tom Weir

This blog item started well enough, discussing Rickey Henderson's having his number retired by the A's. Then, Tom Weir goes on to muse about other franchises, like the Celtics and Yankees, that have retired so many numbers (because they have had so many great players) that they're running out of them. Then, we get this:

Mathematically speaking, the teams in the best shape are the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders. Both have great traditions (Or at least the Raiders did, until Al Davis started imitating Captain Queeg), but neither has ever retired a number.

Captain Queeg? Are you kidding me? Sure, he's weird, and his men hated him, but he wasn't exactly a great Captain. The U.S.S. Caine was his first command, and he fucked it up. Al Davis, when he took over the Franchise, Dominated for parts of three decades. Loyal CLOAK readers (both of them!) will know that if Al can be compared to a figure in literature, it's to Simon Bolivar in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, The General in His Labyrinth. Just read that description of the General and tell me that doesn't sound like Al, other than the premature aging.