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Archive for December, 2011
While Todd Marinovich will claim that his parents loved him intensely and didn’t add unneeded pressure to his life, watching the film makes it abundantly clear that the former prospect’s childhood wasn’t normal. Children need to be and act like other children, eat the same foods, do the same activities, but instead, Todd was exercising and become the person his father wanted him to become. A true parent guides his children but ultimately lets them choose their own path. All of the pressure put on Todd by his father Marv Marinovich was too much for a young kid. That’s where ...
Amid all the hoopla regarding the Oakland Athletics’ shopping around pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey, one might wonder if starting pitcher Trevor Cahill had lost his cachet as a valuable commodity.After all, Cahill was himself an All-Star, who finished in the top 10 in the Cy Young Award voting a mere two seasons ago. Certainly he had just as much value as his two teammates who were being dangled to nearly every other team on the market for a quality starter. But the reason Cahill may not have received as much fanfare might be in small part to his ...
Like most teams in the NFL, the Oakland Raiders suffered a myriad of personnel transitions this past offseason. Players come and players go. That’s the nature of football—or any sport, for that matter. The Raiders’ offseason was highlighted by the departure of All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who eventually landed with the Philadelphia Eagles. However, several other important names that left Oakland included offensive lineman Robert Gallery, backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, outside linebacker Thomas Howard and tight end Zach Miller. The loss of Miller was deemed by some to be considerably hurtful to the Raiders’ offense. After all, Miller led the ...
Known as "Robo QB," Todd Marinovich was viewed as the perfect quarterback.He was trained to become a quarterback by his father Marv from the day he was born. While Marinovich did make it to the NFL, his career was over in the blink on an eye. Marinovich's father, a lineman and captain at USC, became one of the NFL's first strength and conditioning coaches. He used training techniques to prep Todd for football stardom, starting when he was merely an infant. The training clearly worked as Marinovich was a star quarterback in high school and was recruited by every major ...
Marv Marinovich turning his son Todd Marinovich into a science experiment from birth is the perfect train wreck for ESPN Films to evaluate.The "Marinovich Project" is sure to give us the inside look we've come to expect from ESPN Films and the extent of Marv Marinovich's training is sure to blow audiences away.There are a lot of rumors surrounding the training regiment and the strict diet Todd Marinovich was on throughout his life. It will be interesting to see just how much of it is true and just how twisted this project actually was.Would a father actually go to these ...
The Oakland Raiders have put themselves in a really tough position when they lost to the Miami Dolphins this past Sunday. They lost their one-game lead over the Broncos in the AFC West, and they also snapped a three-game winning streak.Now, they face the Green Bay Packers in the Frozen Tundra. The Raiders need to have some of their stars shine if they want to win this game.Here is a look at five Raiders who need to shine this weekend in order for them to beat the Packers.Begin Slideshow
Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane has a hot commodity in his hands, and he knows it. Left-handed hurler Gio Gonzalez has teams from the New York Yankees to the Kansas City Royals drooling, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.With the market that swamped with potential buyers, Beane (always a shrewd seller) figures to extract something more akin to a ransom than a fair price from whomever lands Gonzalez.Luckily for those teams who eventually lose out (or bow out) on Gonzalez, there are other, better values to be had. Some of them are risky, but in general, they're ...
A few years ago, when I was a lowly college sportswriter, I wrote about the NFL when the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season and blew almost everyone away by about 30 points. I used to refer to beating New England as “the impossible dream.” Well, that’s exactly what beating the Packers has become this year: an impossible dream. Shall we go over the numbers? Twelve wins. Zero losses. A quarterback who is putting up numbers that I can’t duplicate in Madden 12: Quarterback rating of 125.3, 37 touchdowns, five interceptions, 320 yards passing per game. If Rodgers were ...
In every sense of the word, the 7-5 Oakland Raiders now have their backs against the wall. The Denver Broncos have moved into a first-place tie with the Raiders for the AFC West division lead.While the Broncos are at home to face the injury-riddled Chicago Bears, the Raiders are traveling to the frozen tundra to face the Green Bay Packers. Just the sound of that hurts, with the Raiders fighting for their playoff lives, but anything can happen in the game of football.There are actually some reasons to believe the Raiders can pull off a colossal upset on Sunday.Turn the page ...
The Winter Meetings are over. Like the Christmas season, the build-up to the Winter Meetings leaves some excited about the gifts under the tree and others envious of the gifts their friends got.The Oakland Athletics are in the second category as they look at their divisional rivals.The character Billy Beane lamented the economic structure of baseball in Moneyball. The real Beane must be reeling this afternoon after the activities of the morning.The Angels staked their claim on the division for the next several seasons when they signed Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson to long-term contracts. It's tough to know what the Rangers will ...