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Archive for February, 2011
Before the season, I wrote an article called "Darren McFadden: One Change Away From Super-stardom." It was about the little changes he needed to make in his running style to stay healthy and succeed. Boy did McFadden make that change to have his coming out party in the 2010 season. What change did he make? He's running lower. That has led to his dramatic improvement and it won't stop there. McFadden has only scratched the surface of what he can do in the NFL and will improve even more in 2011. Turn the page to see what that's done for him ...
NFL players, coaches and experts say there are no such things as moral victories.  As an Oakland Raiders fan, I disagree.  I know a playoff berth is what we all long for, but the 2010 season gave fans more victories than they have had in a long time and yes, a lot of those were moral victories. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to lump all of the moral victories into one. If Raiders fans have anything at all to boast about following the 2010 season, it's the fact that we swept the AFC West. Yes, the Raiders were the first team ...
The 2011 NFL offseason is in full swing, with plenty of rumors beginning about the NFL Draft and top free agents. This years free-agent class could be a big one, with the biggest name being Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Though the Raiders could be in play for him in free agency, there is a good chance Asomugha will either go to a contender or a team that gives in to his demands by making him the highest-paid corner back in football. With plenty of speculation going on about which teams will be in the running for his services, I ...
We are heading into a very important offseason for the Oakland Raiders. One in which a large number of key players from our much improved team will be either unrestricted free agents or restricted free agents, pending the finalization of the new CBA.The players listed here are the ones that I feel are the most important for us to re-sign. As well as options in this year's free agent class that could be important for us to bring in the mix to help improve the team.Begin Slideshow
Generalizations are dangerous. So when Donald Rumsfeld said to the Financial Times, "Nobody could support the Raiders, they're evil," was he trying to wage a war of words against Al Davis and the entire Raider Nation? Let's consider a few questions: 1. Since most people believe that Mr. Al Davis controls and "runs" the Oakland Raiders and since the persona of the Raiders was designed, in part, by him, is Mr. Rumsfeld sending out a message that Mr. Davis is evil? 2. Since Mr. Al Davis has been aggressively committed to giving a woman an opportunity to be the first high-ranking woman in the ...
The 2011 NFL offseason is in full swing with current labor deals, upcoming draft and top free agents hitting the market in a few weeks. I am going to avoid talking about the labor issue, since we will be hearing about it more in the next few weeks. I am going to stick to Saturday's top stories from around the NFL.The NFL world is only two weeks removed from the Super Bowl, but that won't stop the media from providing 24/7 NFL offseason coverage.There were plenty of rumors today, overtaking the Carmelo Anthony speculation and baseball spring ...
Note: This article will seek to traverse sticky questions of: good and evil, the fate of a nation and the soul, and the implications of religion in society. All of which will likely open Pandora's boxes. I will try however to keep this straightforward by focusing on questions and concepts. When I read the story about former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld referring to the Oakland Raiders as, "evil," and that no one could support the Raiders. I was unsure as to how I would respond, if at all. The story however evoked questions (to me) about the balance between protecting ...
How in the world can one say “Oakland Raiders” and “Fantasy Stock” in the same sentence? The Raiders have a new head coach, Hue Jackson, and until last year, they provided little fantasy football value. Typically, I try to avoid drafting players on teams with a new head coach or OC changes. History tells us when the head coach changes the players statistics usually change, too. To make matters worse, last year was Oakland’s first year to produce a couple fantasy studs in Darren McFadden and Zach Miller. So why are we talking about the Oakland Raiders? First of all,  fantasy football is about getting ...
The Oakland A's stadium situation has taken yet another interesting turn. Over the last two weeks I have outlined the A's desire to move from Oakland to San Jose. I have also written how Governor Jerry Brown plans to eliminate redevelopment funds and the impact it will have on both the Oakland and San Jose sites. It now appears that General Manager Billy Beane's future with the team will hinge on Major League Baseball's decision of whether or not to allow the A's to move south to San Jose. Bob Klapisch of FoxSports writes an interesting article in which he states that those close ...
It feels like I'm having a flashback or experiencing déjà vu. Welcome back Rich Harden, to the disabled list that is. Technically, Harden will not see the disabled list for his latest injury, at least not yet, but he did manage to strain his lat muscle during the first day of official spring training workouts for pitchers and catchers. The injury, while it does not appear to be major, will set Harden back for a couple of weeks: "We'll wait until he's pain free," A's manager Bob Geren said. "It's estimated that would be two weeks." Harden does not seem too concerned about ...