MM: Raiders not lost in madness this march

Ok, another week, another week. I have been following a bit of the NCAA tournament, along with the absolute lack of serious news regarding the Oakland Raiders.

Lets see, other than the rumor that deposed 49ers general manager Scott McCloughan could land in Oakland, there hasn’t been much movement on the Raider front for a while. That is what this entire offseason has been, hurry up and wait.

First Tom Cable was going to be fired, then wasn’t going to be fired. Then who knows? After the storm passed, Cable was still the head coach, Hue Jackson was the offensive coordinator, and Al Davis was running the show as always.

It is crazy how many mock drafts around the Internet have the Raiders going for safety Eric Berry out of Tennessee. That is not going to happen. First off, Berry played under Lane Kiffin, whom Davis hates with a passion. No way, Davis would give the Kiffin the satisfaction of drafting a player he had helped mold. Besides, if the Darrius Heyward-Bey pick proved anything, it was that Davis had his own draft board. If he picks a safety it will be Taylor Mays. Mays ran a 4.24 40 yard dash, is a physical specimen, and is from Davis’s first love: USC. However, no way Davis drafts a defensive back in the first round, especially a safety. With the emergence of Tyvon Branch last year, the addition of Mike Mitchell, and the emergence of Michael Huff the Raiders are set at safety.

The group-think pick that makes more sense is Bruce Campbell. At least he plays a position the Raiders have a need. However, picking the Raiders draft is always a crap-shoot.

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The NCAA tournament is about the only time I really come close to caring about basketball. As a general rule, I root for the underdogs. I just think it would be cool to see one of these schools that no one has ever heard of run the table and cut down the nets. The Kansas Jayhawks, whom many expected to win it all were knocked off.

From a local angle, 10th seeded St. Marys college in Moraga knocked off second seeded Villanova to advance to the Sweet 16. That is an upset, as ‘Nova is a perennial power and, well, St Mary’s website went down because it got so much traffic as people were trying to figure out who these guys were, and what exactly a Gael is. Cal-Berkeley did not fare as well, as they fell to Duke.

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There is no truth to the rumour I am doubling as a power forward for the University of Kentucky. I just want to have one or two of his cheques mailed to me once he his drafted. Nor are we related, as far as I know.

I would like to see them and St. Mary’s meet in the semi-finals. I got to throw some support for the local team, and some for the Patrick Patterson who keeps me buried in google searches.

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Jackass comment of the week:

On the post Big Ben mocked on South Park

Another Raider Dope Checks In…
written by DP, March 18, 2010
to benny….you are indeed an ass. no wonder you’re a raider fan. perhaps if you were more concerned with the joke YOU guys have for a QB, you’d be better off. at least ben knows how to play football and win games. i’m sure al davis would grab ben in a minute to replace the collection of no talent losers the raiders have at QB. any anti-ben comments on this site are surely nothing more than qb envy….HAAAA!!!!

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Insightful comment of the week:

On the post: JaMarcus Russell: Lowering the Bar

written by Antonio Swancy, March 17, 2010
Beautiful Article. This reminds me of an episode of “Everybody Hates Chris”. In that episode chris wanted an allowance so he could buy a leather jacket. After some retorts his father says no and that he shouldn’t get an allowance for doing what he is supposed to do. Which brings me to the funny nature of this debate. We are all make a big to due about anything “positive” that Jamarcus is doing when he should already be doing these things.
Last year, Ray Lewis showed up to camp looking younger and losing weight (gaining more muscle) but no one said anything about that. I agree with what the article says about have we lowered our expectations. In a short answer, yes! As for your critique of T.O. and Brandon Marshall; its a different wave length. Both T.O. and Brandon Marshall have produced for their teams at a high level. Jamarcus has been a distraction that has not produced. Unfortunately, Jamarcus Russell is probably the reaason we drafted DHB over Michael Crabtree. I call this the Jamarcus effect. We were scared that we were going to get a player who would hold out and relied solely on his talent while never living up to his talent and potential. So, until I see Jamarcus Russell do anything important in a real game then I want criticism to come to him. He needs to be not only fixing his mechanics but in the film room all the time. Look at what watching film does for players i.e. Ed Reed, Peyton Manning (all the Colts for that manner), Drew Brees,etc. I mean damn look at Louis Murphy! When he realized he could come in during the week and watch film; he exploded on the field.
I have been a raider fan since I was 4 years old. Jamarcus regressed in his football career since being in the league. So as far as I am concerned he is a bust. He has an opportunity to remove that label but until further notice he is a bust. I will die a raider fan but I am going to live as a realist.

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Classic movie of the week:

UHF

I just watched it again the other night, and it didn’t hold up quite as well as I was hoping it would. It was definitely good for a few laughs. It is worth a watch for the frenetic energy of a pre-Kramer Michael Richards. His energy carries this movie. The plot is superficial and dated with the dominance of the TV market by cable and satellite companies. Weird Al’s music is always fun.