Raiders win!! Raiders win!!

A win over the hated Broncos means that this is not a lost season after all.  The victory showed a few good things (imaginative play calling, good execution, some discipline, except for roughing the passer).  However, my hope remains that this doesn't dull the perception by the powers that be that we still have some glaring holes.  It was interesting to note, however, just how effective Chris Johnson was replacing DeAngelo Hall.  :)

2 TDs by DMac, JRuss 10 for 11, and some actual cohesive offensive production.  Who knows what the future holds, but beating the Donkeys is enough to make a bitter man smile!

Three and out

Alrighty, so where should I begin?

Huskies:

  The Huskies played their hearts out, blew one coverage, and badda-bing a 4th consecutive Apple cup loss.  One of the Cougs is the only Coug to have ever beaten the Huskies 4 times in the hundred years they've played.  Wow.  Nice milestone.  And time for a fresh start.  Who'd've thunk that we'd be looking back at the 'good' Neuheisel teams, and actually thinking: "Yea, i know he lied, cheated, broke NCAA rules, but it's not like he was a bad guy."  Here's hoping for a head coach who knows offense, drives discipline, and energizes the fan base.  The program has fallen too far.

College FB:

  Wow.  Oklahoma puts a hurting on Texas Tech, Florida beats the Citadel, and Florida leapfrogs them in the standings.  Interesting.  It's in all the media - but the SEC Championship and the Big 12 Championship will decide who gets to the Champeenship Game.  The Pac-10 and the University of Spoiled Children will have to watch from the outside.  I'm thinking Florida and Oklahoma will end up in the Championship - because the Big 12 Champion (currently Texas is leading I think) might lose vs  Missouri.   But, as the President-Elect said - the thing that would help this the most is an 8-game playoff.  Pretty straightforward - and remarkably similar to, let's see, EVERY OTHER COLLEGE Sport.  The Final Four, the Frozen Four, soccer, baseball, volleyball. . .gosh what a wacky idea to pick a champion on the actual field of play.

Raiders:

  Well, it's only been a week since our last snatching defeat from victory in the 4th quarter.  I remember when Gru-dog was coaching us, and the guys complained about gassers all the time.  However, we never gave up 4th quarter leads, and we were in better shape than the opponents.  Not anymore.  Even when I played rugby here in Seattle, 0ur coach ran us into the ground, and we hated it.  30 yard sprints up a 45degree asphalt hill.  15 yard sprints up a grass hill - with a teammate on our backs, and "down and back" - sprint the long side of the field, jog across and back, and sprint again.  Half the time we wanted to kill him, and the other half we wanted to puke.  But come Saturday afternoon - we out ran, out hustled, and out thought our opponents.  It's much easier to finish a game with oxygen still running into your brain at the end.   Bad decisions get made much less often when you can breathe.

   And hey, it's 13 minutes into the Donkey game, and it's still scoreless!!  Wow.  I'd love to beat them, but at this point, my tank is nearly empty on faith.  [Editor's note: it's now 31-10 with 9 mins to go! ]

   All the Husky comments above apply to my Raiders coach thoughts-  discipline, offense, and fitness.  I do not want a re-tread. Period.  No Fassel.  No old fogey.  And to some degree - not another old white guy.  There is most likely a young guy out there - regardless of background who could come in with a chip on his shoulder, and hopefully work for the new GM in Oakland (please not a retread there either), and Al will quit interfering.  This season has been a joke, and I hope the off-season prepares us to not be a joke next year.  Ditch Walker, get a real top-tier wideout, and have that WR, McFadden and Russell be our "triplets" for the next generation.  

-- RF Out.

The first rant

Ok.  So, the color scheme makes it pretty clear about where my NFL loyalties lie.  My beloved Raiders. . . Oh how the proud have fallen.  So, the 2008 season is lost.  Our #1 draft choice hasn't been allowed to play the game at any level, so let's think of some next steps:

1) Fire the head coach 4 games in.

2) Let the interim guy coach.

3) Release the cornerback that you just paid $70M.

4) Remove the play-calling from the guy you brought in to install a new offense

So, now we play the Dolphins.  At the end of last season, we had a head coach with potential, and the Dolphins had squat.  Now the Fins have the wildcat offense, a 5-4 record, and have made some good teams look bad.  They even have some free agents that produce.  And we have . . well. . a lot less.  I think we know how the game is gonna play out, don't we?  (and I haven't completely lost hope, I'm just a wee bit discouraged - but there's still some hope down deep).   

Let's look at the Falcons - rookie QB, coach that quit, GM that split, and where are they - 6 and 3.  Interesting.  And don't get me started on the Cardinals....

We had all of that potential.  We have some ath-e-letes on our team.  But we also have no GM and a dictator running the place.  No real skill evaluation of talent, or even retention.  Despite our Super Bowl appearance, the last ten years have gotten us what - 3 first round picks we still have, and the rest of ours have either left town, or are out of football.   It hasn't been pretty.

Let me sum up the current overlord/lexicon of evil approach to team management - 

"I know everything.  I don't need anyone to tell me what a good player/coach/GM/scout looks like.  I can draft anyone/anytime and always be right.  No matter how big of a turd it is, it turns to gold when I touch it.  Vertical stretch can still work.  Regardless of personnel.  It's the system that matters and I can put any players into my system.  The coaches don't matter either . I can hire all of them independently and create a unified, well functioning coaching staff from the parts.  Just like the team I have working for me in Alameda.  What's that?  The Lord of Darkness on line 1?  Excuse me - I have to take that call..."

I just don't know when it will get better.  Mark my words with this prediction - this offseason, we'll have a lame duck coaching search - will hire a re-tread. . or maybe a new guy, and then cripple his ability to make changes, and then complain when he doesn't produce results.  Russell will have to learn a new offensive system, and Fargas and McFadden will have to work with an offensive line that just figured out zone-blocking.  It doesn't bode well.  I'll withhold my final prediction for 2009 for a few more weeks, but suffice it to say, I don't see it being much different than the past few.... I'd love to be surprised. . I'd love to be overwhelmed by success, but we shall see.  We shall see.....

The first post. . .

So, some of my friends thought I was funny. . .and I've got plenty of sports angst in my spleen to vent, so thus - the Ragged Fan was born. . .a tirade from time to time, a sprinkling of logic, and hopefully once in a while, a chuckle. . even if it's just someone laughing at my pain, and thanking their deity that they're not me. . .

For a sample of my ire - click here. Yep. That's me. The Ragged Fan made it to ESPN. Who knew?

In terms of teams, I'm a simple man - there's really only one true sport to watch - the NFL. I dabble in the other sports, and each year, I swear off of my beloved/hated Raiders. . and each July, I'm checking the weather in Napa for their training camp. Such is the life of the Ragged Fan.

Outside of that - it's a boycott of the NBA (due to the theft of the Sonics), the Mariners, and the Sounders in MLS. I also follow college football. Virginia Tech is a favorite, as is Texas, and the Huskies. Although, I also root for whomever is against Notre Dame, Florida, or USC each week.

So, that's the first post. The next one will delve into the Raiders dysfunctions - including the demotion of the playcaller by a lame duck interim coach, working for a non-existent GM, and a senile owner.