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Archive for December, 2010
A Tale before Christmas—A Pep Talk Not many people teach on Christmas Eve.  I do because of the Winter session at the two year college in Texas. If you have a wish for the holidays, then believe me I have a big wish too. All some of us want for the holiday is a bunch of victories to end the 2010 season in an upbeat fashion. When I look at the Indianapolis Colts' record, I know, realistically, that the Oakland Raiders are going to have to stay on top of the situation. One writer suggested that the fate of the Kansas City Chiefs is ...
The Oakland A's have made some great moves so far this offseason, but they don't seem to be getting much recognition for it.   While teams like the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and others have been making large splashes by acquiring big name players, the A's have quietly had one of the best offseasons yet.   This upcoming season, they will look to capitalize on an AL West division that saw Cliff Lee leave Texas and go to Philadelphia, the Angels not make any moves to improve a roster that finished third last season and features a Seattle team that is perennially in ...
It's Week 16 and who would have thought the Oakland Raiders would be in playoff contention. That being said, this is a must win game. The first and most important is the defensive line. Richard Seymour (hopefully), Tommy Kelly, Matt Shaughnessy, Lamarr Houston and John Henderson must control the line of scrimmage. Peyton Manning is not a quarterback that holds onto the ball. If he gets time, he will pick apart any defense. It is of the utmost importance for the D-Line, which has contributed 24 of 40 sacks this season, and tied for third in the league in total sacks, to get pressure early and often ...
Not since the Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams has there been as much talk about the NFL in Los Angeles as there has been this year.From Magic Johnson liquidating his assets to jump into the football sweepstakes, to Philip Anschutz and Tim Leiweke reportedly attempting to acquire a significant stake in the San Diego Chargers, a storm, albeit far from perfect, seems to be gathering that would have professional football return to a part of the country that once hosted Super Bowl games and contenders on a regular basis.There are certainly plenty of reasons to think that the ...
Prior to making the offseason moves for Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy, the Oakland Athletics already had the best pitching staff in the American League.  Their 3.56 team ERA ranked first in the AL last year and fourth in the big leagues behind San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta.  The starting rotation stands to get better with another year of experience for young twenty-somethings Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez. With Dallas Braden sliding into the fourth slot, the fifth becomes an arms race between McCarthy, Harden, September call-up Bobby Cramer and the stirrup-clad Josh Outman, presumably sending the ...
  QB Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts will head to the Oakland Raiders Coliseum to battle a team that is fighting for glory and honor. The Oakland Raiders have totally shocked AFC West rivals by defeating them one by one to maintain a perfect 5-0 record in the West.  Peyton Manning and his Colts will attempt to take the Oakland Raiders out of playoff contention this Sunday but they will fail. Raiders! Prepare for glory!   In a turn around 2010 season, the Silver and Black attack of the Oakland Raiders has been phenomenal ! The Oakland Raiders defensive ...
The regular season only has two games remaining and the Raiders are still in the playoff race. This is the first time since 2002 that fans have a reason to watch the final two games.Oakland has improved in a lot of areas but also suffer from the usual mistakes and weaknesses.This team is close to becoming a true playoff contender but there are some issues they need to fix.Overall team discipline is still a weakness for the team. Giving up big plays, not being able to stop the run and penalties are still issues for the Raiders.The offensive line still ...
Doing power rankings is tough, but because of the limited number of games on an NFL schedule, it's one of the only ways to get an idea for which teams are better than others given factors other than just their records.  At my site, www.GuysNation.com, I do a weekly power ranking of all 32 NFL teams. It's a hugely subjective process in which I account for a team's strength of schedule, margin of victory, good wins and bad losses. Where do the Oakland Raiders currently rank? I'll admit it—I was starting to buy into the Oakland Raiders. Leading into their bye ...
Darren McFadden came out of the University of Arkansas with the bombast of his 4.27 40-yard dash time. He was then drafted by the Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders in 2008, flashing briefly upon arrival. His flashing was cut short by his many injuries, and those injuries caused McFadden's career to spiral downward. When he did play, it seemed that McFadden was unable to break tackles and make people miss. In a previous article called, "Darren McFadden: One Change Away from Superstardom," I wrote about how McFadden could solve all of his problems by running lower. All writers love it when they ...
Oh, but the fun we have, without the one horse sleigh. The Oakland Raiders, sitting at 7-7 (Yes, that's right, they are at .500) are going to be hosting a Colts team that is presently fighting for their own playoff lives. While their position is better than ours, controlling the AFC South, Oakland's path is a bit more difficult. When Oakland takes the field at 4:05 PM local time, those Raiders may already be out of the playoffs. Kansas City, which plays early Sunday, will be hosting the Titans, a team that has been given up for dead, but somehow is "still" alive ...