The more I reflect on JaMarcus Russell's entire college career and his time in Oakland, I start to see a picture of an extremely talented kid who should've taken the team on his shoulders at LSU and won a couple of national championships with all of the talent he had, considering Dwayne Bowe and Early Doucet were two of his receivers and the rest of the team was loaded.
His time in Oakland was difficult from the contract issues, his immediate weight gain, and a known poor work ethic. Yes, he studied in the offseason and did work, he just chose ...
Al Davis was born on July 4, 1929. In 1963, he was assigned the head coaching and general manager job of the Oakland Raiders. He became the commissioner of the American Football League three years later, only to return the Oakland after the merge of the AFL and NFL.
Fast forward to 44 years later, Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders have three Super Bowl wins and appeared in five.
The Raiders have had the second worst record in the NFL since 2002, with only the Detroit Lions losing more.
Ever since, the Raider Nation has been ridiculed by the ignorant fans of ...
Former Major League Outfielder Billy Beane didn't have a great playing career, but his work in the front office has been phenomenal. He started off as a scout in 1990 and soon became an assistant G.M of the Oakland A's in 1994. In 1998 he became the A's general manager replacing Sandy Alderson. From that moment on, Beane built great teams on small payroll using sabermetric principles to evaluate players. Over the years, he's traded a couple of star players and veterans for younger players. Let's break down some of those moves.
It all starts with the big three.
BARRY ZITO: Zito, ...
Continuing our mailbox segment properly titled Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Inbox, our Insider will answer a question posed by one of our loyal readers.
If you have a pressing question for the Insider, whether it be a trade proposal or a spot-start question, drop him a line: nick@fantasybaseballinsiders.com .
This week’s question: Looking ahead to week seven, who is the best option among the following starting pitchers? Mike Leake , (who I currently own) Ben Sheets , Derek Holland , or Jhoulys Chacin ?
- Mark (Chicago, IL)
Thanks for writing the Insider, Mark.
Of the four ...
You can call it a question of perspective, but after watching the Ice Cube documentary "Straight Outta L.A.", I was left with two feelings.
The first feeling is that if you grew up watching the Los Angeles Raiders and then watched the team leave, you'd be sad. Sure, you had the Silver and Black for over a decade. You got to see a team that at the start could not be beat, but then went on a roller coaster ride from the end of the Flores Era to the Art Shell/Bo Jackson Show. Those were some great times.
Secondly, you have to ...
The history books will record the fact that JaMarcus Russell's bust is one of the biggest in NFL history. In the "Hall of NFL Busts," there are several players:
Ryan Leaf
Ki-Jana Carter
Akili Smith
Tony Mandarich
Charles Rogers
Heath Shuler
Blair Thomas
The word "bust" reminds me of the phenomena of a bubble. A bubble bursts (in my community, we grew up saying "busted bubble") when the pressure on the inside of the bubble is not equal to the pressure on the surface area outside of the bubble.
Let the word "pressure" be associated with "productivity." Let it also be represented by "worth" or "value" when connected to ...
Lets get on things straight off the bat.
I am a JaMarcus Russell fan and apologist. I believe many fans made a big mistake by booing JaMarcus and making him not want to play here and forcing the hand of the Raiders to release JaMarcus by threatening to not buy tickets.
We once had another QB from Alabama (The Snake,) who had the fortune to sit and learn behind "the mad bomber," for five years before becoming the full time starter. The Snake also had a HOF supporting cast.
Stabler was one of the ...
This is part two of the Raiders road to the playoffs. In the first part we looked at the Raiders non-divisional games. To be in good shape to make the playoffs the Raiders will have to win six of those non divisional games.
By week three of last season the Raiders had already played half of their divisional games. This season it won't be until week nine before the Raiders play half of their division.
The Raiders will have to win five of the six divisional games to win the division, but could make the playoffs with three or four division ...
Dallas Braden has been all over the media by pitching only the 19th perfect game in the history of major league baseball on May 9th, 2010.
The accomplishment rightfully overshadowed a possible code violation, but it should be pointed out.
Braden was in the middle of a perfect game when yet another player disrespected him. In the fifth inning, Oakland was beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0. Evan Longoria might have committed a violation of one of baseball's unwritten rules by attempting to bunt his way onto first thus ending Braden’s perfect game.
Longoria’s accused bush league antic sent him to the dugout. ...
Folks, it's time to hate the haters once again.
Rummaging through the Internet for any speck of news takes time. But finding an article that makes you want to throw darts.... that's priceless.
Jason Cole, of Yahoo Sports, wrote the article in question. Cole, apparently bored or pressured by his higher-ups, felt it important to compile a list of pass catching tandems for all 32 NFL teams.
For all the talent on Oakland's roster, and for all the forward progress, Jason ranked the Raiders' receiving corps 27th in the NFL.
27th? Seriously?
Granted, he'll satisfy most Raiders fans, who will use his picture as a ...