Monday, September 14, 2009

It was the Own-ah!

I have been very quiet on this blog for a long time… Not much to say when our record is what is over the last six years… and what point is there to trying to defend against the nonsense spewed by the mediots? esp. since the media has made it very unprofessional and personal on so many levels i.e. with Darrius and Al Davis…

So when Al Davis finally spoke this past Saturday at the Seymour PC, what a treat! Quick synopsis: without using actual names Al called out NFL Network, ESPN, Rodney Harrison, Cris Carter, Mike Lombardi etc, on their lies and biased reporting.

Our new DL Richard Seymour backed-up everything Al Davis said at the PC and what Tom Cable said during the week… My personal favourite highlight: in 2003, a player (Rodney Harrison) asked Al Davis for a contract and Al said “No, I wouldn’t let him be a Raidah”… Is it any wonder Harrison says what he says? Not really, but the real wonder is that his employers, media such as ESPN and NFL Network allow him to spew his nonsense, his garbage, his lies…

There is no question the Raiders deserve criticism after the past 6 years, but what has gone on in the media is beyond critique…. In Al Davis’ case its pure Ageism – there is no way an 80+ year old senior can still do the work on a young man... And in Jamarcus Russell’s case, IMO Racism - stereo-typing JRock as the lazy young black man who is undisciplined and an over-weight 300lb quarterback when in reality he played great football towards the end of last season, showed progression as an true starting NFL QB, showed leadership and great promise, and protected the ball better than any of his peers – all of this with three different play callers and the worst WR corp in Raider history... JRock was at the Raider facility for nearly all the off-season but the reverse was reported.

This is what the media covering the NFL has become, its tabloid journalism at its worst - with no accountability, and portrayed as credible.

Seymour, in true Raider fashion called out the media, saying that he never said anything about the trade to anyone but his family and closest friends and because he remained silent the media “made stuff up”, saying in the end “we all know what it is”. He made it clear the "Seymour Camp" was his wife and kids and not what was reported...

In the end, it was nice to see all the BS called out. It was nice to see Seymour not only corroborate the “Raiders side” but to also criticise the media himself. It was a great shot in the arm for the credibility of Coach Cable – although IMO Cable doesn’t need it after his incredible work pulling the team together at the end of last season after the Kiffin disaster.

So here we are, Kick-off to our 2009 season only hours away... I am very encouraged by what we saw at the end of last year and how our off-season went, but to be honest, IMO our OL still scares the shit out of me…. Henderson and Gallery, no problem, but Morris, Carlisle and Green? Ouch… prove me wrong boys, please prove me wrong…... Will feel better though when Barnes gets back and hopefully moves to RT.

With Schilens, DHB, Louis Murphy, JLH and Nick Miller we can’t expect too much right away, but what we do have is great great young talent and with or without the veteran Walker, JaMarcus has much more than last year to work with.

Regarding Jamarcus, I’m so excited to see this young man develop. Al has given him a great stable of RBs to rely on, he has a true safety valve in Zack Miller and the young WR crew to grow with… a great opportunity for us to see this rising star grow with his young supporting cast.

Defensively, what was an area of weakness is now potentially a strength – conventional wisdom says Ellis and Seymour have a huge impact on the DL and LBs… the secondary with Nnamdi and Johnson on the islands now has the potential to be great if the investments in Branch and Mitchell work at the Safety positions as Al has envisioned.

All this to say, we will be better, much better, esp with Seymour and Ellis, tonight against the SD run game… hopefully the OL can protect Jamarcus and continue to block as one of the NFL’s top running attacks...

I want to end with a tidbit from the Saturday PC: Seymour was asked why he grew up a Raider fan? What player or team drew him to the Silver and Black? Al Davis piped in before Richard could answer: "It was the Own-ah" ... Just Win Baby
Raiders 23 – Chargers 20

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mark Davis said #1 that "we are trying to build a stadium here" meaning Oakland. Then he said" if we can’t build a Stadium in Oakland, we've been researching other sites in Northern California and talking with people in Southern California. If we can't get a stadium build in Oakland than LA is a possibility, anywhere is a possibility." LA times is doing a poll to see how many people want the Raiders in L.A. The good news for REAL Oakland Raiders fans is that the people developing the New LA stadium want some control & ownership of the Team they bring in & the Davis family will never give up any control of the Raiders. But Real OAKLAND Raider Fans must stop this LA momentum. Vote No to bringing the Raiders to LA.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2012/01/should-mark-davis-move-the-oakland-raiders-back-to-la-poll.html