Breaking News...You Can't Use
I just received an email from Randy at Raider Nation Podcast with some breaking news...you can't use. Click here and scroll down to the June 30 ESPN audio link titled "Worst NFL Owner," then bear with the nonsense until you get about halfway through the clip. Then brace yourself for an astonishing bit of historical revisionism based on the Sports Illustrated piece that has been roundly debunked in these pages and elsewhere.
Here's an excerpt: "The Raiders are a typewriter in an iPod world...They are so outdated...I'm not anti-Raider...I'm pro-truth...Every NFL guy I've talked to has made the same point...Raider fan thinks the media picks on the Raiders...No they don't...They are never going to, as long as Al is there, win big consistently in the league again...Al Davis is at the very bottom..."
Then our little genius goes on to praise Marty Schottenheimer as a paragon of modern coaching success! Fascinating logic. He also praises Jon Gruden as a paragon of modern coaching success. Who plucked Gruden out of obscurity and gave him the tools to win two straight AFC West titles? Whose team faced Gruden in the Super Bowl after winning a third straight AFC West title? Al...something. Oh, yeah. Al Davis.
If the Raiders are a typwriter in an iPod world, then what does that make the Chargers and Chiefs, to name a few? Horses in a Space Shuttle world?
Why must I keep repeating myself? When the Raiders have won more division titles, won more playoff games, played in and won more AFC Championships, and played in more Super Bowls than all other teams in the AFC West over the last six seasons—then why is it the Raiders who are allegedly living in the past, who are irrelevant, who haven’t done anything lately?
I think we know the answer, and it has nothing to do with objectivity. Attention Raiders Haters: Stop vibrating and gnashing your teeth. Stand still for a second and focus. Time and math are fixed entities. They are facts, not emotions.
P.S. I received an email from Raider de Coachella yesterday, in which he wrote: “I was reading on the Raiders’ web site that Al Davis is going to introduce a Hall of Famer (John Madden) for the 9th time. That is by far the most Hall of Fame introductory speeches anybody has ever given, does that say something about Mr. Davis or what? I always hear of people that are less than elite talking trash about Mr. Davis, why is it that when it comes to very important people (the elite) in the NFL, Mr. Davis is always referred to and praised as a superman?”
Good question! Again, I think we know the answer
Here's an excerpt: "The Raiders are a typewriter in an iPod world...They are so outdated...I'm not anti-Raider...I'm pro-truth...Every NFL guy I've talked to has made the same point...Raider fan thinks the media picks on the Raiders...No they don't...They are never going to, as long as Al is there, win big consistently in the league again...Al Davis is at the very bottom..."
Then our little genius goes on to praise Marty Schottenheimer as a paragon of modern coaching success! Fascinating logic. He also praises Jon Gruden as a paragon of modern coaching success. Who plucked Gruden out of obscurity and gave him the tools to win two straight AFC West titles? Whose team faced Gruden in the Super Bowl after winning a third straight AFC West title? Al...something. Oh, yeah. Al Davis.
If the Raiders are a typwriter in an iPod world, then what does that make the Chargers and Chiefs, to name a few? Horses in a Space Shuttle world?
Why must I keep repeating myself? When the Raiders have won more division titles, won more playoff games, played in and won more AFC Championships, and played in more Super Bowls than all other teams in the AFC West over the last six seasons—then why is it the Raiders who are allegedly living in the past, who are irrelevant, who haven’t done anything lately?
I think we know the answer, and it has nothing to do with objectivity. Attention Raiders Haters: Stop vibrating and gnashing your teeth. Stand still for a second and focus. Time and math are fixed entities. They are facts, not emotions.
P.S. I received an email from Raider de Coachella yesterday, in which he wrote: “I was reading on the Raiders’ web site that Al Davis is going to introduce a Hall of Famer (John Madden) for the 9th time. That is by far the most Hall of Fame introductory speeches anybody has ever given, does that say something about Mr. Davis or what? I always hear of people that are less than elite talking trash about Mr. Davis, why is it that when it comes to very important people (the elite) in the NFL, Mr. Davis is always referred to and praised as a superman?”
Good question! Again, I think we know the answer
posted by Raider Take at 9:54 AM
10 Comments:
I just finished listening to this garbage. Interestingly, I did not hear a name put to the voice, but the nonsense words are all you really need to hear.
The thing that bothered me the most about this is, the broadcaster kept saying the media really knows whats going on behind the velvet ropes in Oakland. The media, he states, has talked to many NFL people, who assure them that the Raiders are far behind the times.
Well, OK, just who are these NFL people ? I'd be curious to know who they are, what teams they are from, and just how many Super Bowls these Wizards have won lately. Why doesn't ESPN do a big story one day, announcing to everyone that they have the facts to back up all their spin ? Take the hoods off these NFL people, put them on T.V. and let them say their stories about the Raiders.
This will never happen, because the great, secret, NFL people will turn out to be, Tom Jackson, Marty Shottenheimer, Mike Shanahan, and other jokers who have an axe to grind.
Bottom line is, this is just another anti-Raiders piece from ESPN, a lazy network that would rather spin the same old nonsense, then tell the truth.
You know what's funny about all of this? It goes to show how ignorant ESPN really is, and their anal-ysts report from the figments of their imaginations. raider00, you want to know who these "NFL people" are? It's the person doing the report, Randy Cross and his Raider-hater friends that played in the NFL. He thinks that because he played in the NFL, makes him an "NFL guy" in the know of today's football teams. He is no better than Petey Gammons, a complete mockery of sports journalism. He isn't reporting anything but conversations he and his friends think about what goes on behind the scenes of the Raiders. He hates Al Davis, and it shows when he gives a hand-job to Schottenheimer, who has never won a SB, or even been to one. What about Tom Flores? John Madden? Art Shell (his first go round)?
The two biggest themes that you will ever get out of ESPN is this: THEY HATE THE RAIDERS AND YANKEES, and THEY LOVE ALL TEAMS BOSTON! If a team is in a championship that is not Boston, they will bandwagon the favorite, as long as it is not the Raiders or Yankees.
Raider Take, to make a correction, we do not have more Super Bowl appearances than the Denver Donkeys. They have 6, we have 5. But we have 3 trophies, to their 2, and 2 SB losses to their 4.
Great takes, amigos!
Nate, to clarify, I stated that the Raiders have appeared in more Super Bowls than the Broncos (and Chiefs and Chargers) over the period of the past six seasons.
This is to counter the spin that the Raiders haven't done anything lately, that their glory is all in the distant past, and that they have long been the dregs of the AFC West. Not true, of course, considering the facts.
All of the hating is what creates the bond amongst the Nation, so hate on.
Futhermore it takes alot of nerve for someone who has not accomplished shit to hate on Al. vnzyygxz
I hope there's some extra money in Art Shell's budget to buy some extra bulletin boards for the ol' headquarters on Harbor View Parkway. How many coaches would love to have this kind of bulletin board material in the slowest portion of the offseason? Unbelievable!
Al Davis is the worst owner in the NFL? And Marty Schottenheimer rules? What's in the drinking water at ESPN?
It just goes to show that if you win the big game, you're a genius, and if you lose, you're horribly out of touch. If the typewriter beat the iPod in the Super Bowl (and what a mixing of metaphors, since typewriters don't play music or video), then the owner would be praised for being old-school and true to tradition.
I guess the people at ESPN have nothing else to cover, now that the hot dog eating contest is over.
Actually, the Raiders are a typewriter in an iPod world. But that's not bad, that's good. A typewriter depends upon the creativity of the man at the keyboard, and an iPod only allows one to sit and listen to the creativity of others.
It's no wonder that people totally lacking in creativity prefer the iPod, and are threatened by those who are capable of using a typewriter.
The one speaking is Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio's "The Herd" syndicated radio broadcast. Now, generally, I really like the guy — he has insightful sports opinions and isn't afraid to take on the taboos in sports. This time, however, he's pretty much dead wrong.
In fact, right after I heard that take a week or so ago, I sent a thought-out, coherent e-mail to him point-by-point explaining why the John Yorks, Art Spanoses, Ralph Wilsons, Bill Bidwells, et al of the NFL world were far worse owners than our own Mr. Davis. Al may not be perfect, but at his undying core is the burning desire for the Raiders to win and be a champion — something a lot of owners seem to be sorely lacking.
Needless to say, I never received a response from Colin.
Matches, I somewhat disagree with some things. If, and when, Al leaves, I don't think the Raiders will do anything much differently. Al brings in players based on a few things. First their love to play the game. He doesn't bring anyone in who is going to play half-assed. If they come in and do so, they are not around for long (and part of that falls on the coach as we've seen since Gruden left). A lot of these guys he brings in are on the verge of retirement, but their respective other teams were not going to give them a chance (Rice, Gannon, Rod Woodson). Sometimes that doesn't work out (KFC, Harvey Williams). But it is something that has been more successful for Al, than detrimental.
Secondly, is potential. Their potential is a big key. I'm excited (and always have been) about drafting Huff. I'm also thinking that Brooks is going to make some Mediots look bad too, and eat some crow with what they've written about him. I like the potential that we have on the team. Not only that, I like the coach we have to develop that potential.
I hope when Davis does step out of the Raiders spotlight, things don't change. This is why the team has commitment to each other, and that they are part of the RAIDER NATION/FAMILY. Because Al takes care of those he likes, and play hard for him. I do think there have been some bad choices, don't get me wrong, but nobody is perfect.
Can't help but take another well deserved shot at ESPN. Has anyone else noticed their lovefest with Barry Bonds this season ? It seems the more fake something is, the more ESPN loves it.
Wouldn't surprise me if the ESPN crew is even giving Bonds his "unnatural streghth" shots right in his ass. This way they can inject it, and kiss it all at the same time.
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