Dan Roundup

My lazy summertime blogging frequency continues. I would blame it on the severe foot injury I suffered at Johnny's birthday barbecue, but if anything, that has kept me off my feet and even more apt to sit in front of a computer. At least I'm using my crutches less, but I still have a blister the size of a golf ball on the bottom of my foot. Kristy says no to pictures on the CLOAK. Too disgusting.

Just watched the few minutes of Greg Papa's interview with Al Davis that were shown on tonight's Chronicle Live. Al is looking more and more like the emperor from Star Wars, but his memory remains solid, telling stories about Brooklyn and how Mike Tyson called him one tough SOB for having grown up playing in Lincoln Terrace Park. No real football content, though.

The other day it was AFC West day on NFL Live on ESPN, and when they went to Bronco Bill for some insight via his lousy telephone, he actually declared Zach Miller his breakout player for the upcoming season. I can get behind that one, although it also says a little something about expectations for the vertical game.

One thing I never got around to doing was following up on my three points from minicamp.

1. So far Huff's only chance appears to be getting the Derrick Gibson treatment from on high. Given that Al called him Art Shell's pick, I don't see it happening. I sure do miss Eddie Anderson.
2. DHB was so-so. I didn't notice any gasps from the media as he ran down the field, but most focus was on his hands or his hamstring. He's a rookie WR, so doubtful he'll do a lot anyway. But Schilens seems to be on track to continue emerging, much to Unk's delight. And speaking of McFadden...that's my breakout pick for 2009.
3. The accuracy of JaMarcus. Not so good. At least he showed improvement. But what's with this story that he skipped the last OTA after showing such "leadership" calling for extra practice with his receivers? Did he disappear into the Twilight Zone with all the regular Raider bloggers? (See #2 under Things I Heard...)

No wonder I never followed up.

Finally, I could not help but notice that Ron Artest is heading to the Lakers. I haven't watched a full NBA game since November 19, 2004, when Ron and his buddies climbed into the stands and started beating up fans. Truth be told, it hasn't been that difficult given that I find the NBA game to be reasonably boring and I've drifted from the Lakers to the Rockets to nobody with the Hornets (Charlotte) thrown in there at some point as favorite teams. Sure, I bet a lot of those fans were assholes, but the sight of these guys climbing up there and pounding on people who paid to come to the game was just too much.