Updated: 1/2/2008
According to ESPN.com the Oakland Raiders will have either the 3rd or 4th overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.  The regular season might have just ended, but the off-season for the losers just began.  All season long the guys on ESPN and Fox Sports Net have been talking about the teams at the top the league, with good reason, but now with the off-season only weeks away, the whole outlook is about to change.  When the Super Bowl ends and a champion is decided, the Raiders go from the bottom of the conversation list to the top.  Why; because [...]

Well it’s over; the Oakland Raiders ended their season with a 30-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers.  I was looking for Don Meredith’s rendition of “Turn out the lights, the party’s over” (Willie Nelson) that he use to do when he ended Monday Night Football games in the 70’s and early 80’s, but I was unable to find the footage.  I did though find this version done by some Oklahoma Sooners’ fan, although random, he does a better job than Meredith.  The best way to end a season in failure is to forget what happened and to move on. [...]

ESPN is reporting that both Warren Sapp and Derrick Burgess have been fined for “physical and verbal actions towards a game official.”  We all know the incident, but what we don’t really know is what exactly happened. 
What we know so far is that Sapp says he never touched any of the refs, and that he feels like he’s being singled out, and can’t remember hearing about anybody being thrown out of an NFL game for something none physical.  But due to the wording in Sapp’s impending $75,000 fine, there’s reason to doubt both sides of the argument until the appeal [...]

Head Coach Lane Kiffin’s comments on JaMarcus Russell’s performance via Jerry McDonald from Inside Bay Area (the stuff in italics that’s not in quotes, are his lead-ins, which I had to put in cause they’re so perfect).
Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and John David Booty apparently never threw blindly to the other side of the field at USC.
“Naturally, his confidence wavered a little bit.  Extremely poor decision making, I haven’t been around decision making like that before as far as just throwing the ball up across the field, like he did a number of times,”  Kiffin said.  “I’m sure that didn’t help [...]

Each of the teams in the AFC West has suffered a blowout loss at least once this season.  The San Diego Chargers gave up more rushing yards to one man than any other team has ever given up in a devastating loss to the Minnesota Vikings (35-17).  The Denver Broncos lost to the Detroit Lions by nearly 40 points, and the Kansas City Chiefs were torn apart by the Broncos when they played earlier this month.  To complete the trend, the Raiders suffered their worst loss of the season last Sunday in Jacksonville (49-11).
The defense finally self-destructed after a season [...]

For the last couple days I’ve been debating with myself whether it was a bad idea that the Oakland Raiders took JaMarcus Russell out of last Sunday’s game so early.  The game was still winnable, and Russell was struggling, but a part of me still thinks he should have been left in to play the entire quarter.  It shouldn’t matter what occurs before or after Russell enters the game, because his time on the field needs to be looked at under its own microscope.  It seems to me like Head Coach Lane Kiffin wants to win with Russell now, instead [...]

The linebackers have been a bright spot for the most part of the season, but I think the injury to Sam Williams has really opened my eyes to another problem.  He was replaced on the field by Robert Thomas, who has done a mediocre job.  The thing that concerns me is that Williams has been cleared to play in the last 4 games, but hasn’t seen the field, except for on special teams.  If Sam is healthy enough to play on special teams, then why isn’t he starting at outside linebacker?  I know Williams has struggled at times, and has problems [...]

ESPN.com is reporting that the Oakland Raiders Head Coach has made a decision on JaMarcus Russell’s playing time against the visiting Indianapolis Colts.  Yet the statement isn’t completely true:
Coach Lane Kiffin has committed to playing time for rookie quarterback JaMarcus Russell for Sunday’s game.
Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, has appeared in only one game this season, Oakland’s Dec. 2 victory over the Denver Broncos, and has spent much of the year third on the depth chart. Kiffin has not said how much Russell will play Sunday, but has designed a limited package of specific [...]

Barry Bonds probably had his baseball career, and legacy saved today by one man.  In the Game of Shadows Bonds is said to have been angry that he wasn’t getting the attention that he thought he deserved, during Mark McGwire’s record breaking 1998 season.  Bonds then was said to have started using everything he could get his hands on.  In a way you could understand why he did it; he was a lot better player than McGwire, and Sammy Sosa for that matter.
Today Roger Clemens was identified in former Senator George Mitchell’s report on steroids in baseball.  Clemens was said (in [...]

The defensive line seems to be a major weakness for the Oakland Raiders, but to say that a majority of the players need to go would be an overstatement.  In fact, I’d actually keep almost every player on the roster.  I’d just the add a couple run-stopping defensive tackles, and pray for the healthy return of Tommy Kelly.  Gerard Warren is a good addition to the Raiders third down passing attack, along the side of Warren Sapp, but he’s no good on running downs.  Besides, is Sapp even going to be a Raider next season?
To start with, Gerard should return in a [...]