To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
I Surrender
I'll admit it. I was a Raiders fan. Not necessarily the team of 2006, but the teams of yester-year. The hard-hitting rebels who always played fair... but just barely. John Madden has forgotten more about football than most people will ever know. Howie Long was my hero. But, alas, that was long ago.
Last night was the final straw. I can no longer consider myself a fan. I just can't.
I mean, it wasn't bad enough that the Raiders got shut out (but, hey, they have the "honor" of being the ONLY team in Monday Night Football history to get shut out twice in one season... that's something... right?) It wasn't the NINE sacks that poor Anthony Walter (who???) had to suffer because, evidently, NO ONE on the Raiders' offense knows how to block. It wasn't the obvious apathy of several of the players. It wasn't Randy Moss alternating between looking frustrated one moment and looking completely lost the next. It wasn't the ejection of Tyler Brayton for kneeing Jerramy Stevens where a guy really shouldn't be kneed. It wasn't Art Shell sniveling after the game, trying to find the words to describe just how bad his team was on the field. It wasn't Al Davis' continued dominance as the worst owner in the NFL. I guess it was all of the above.
It's obvious that there is no discipline in the Raiders' organization, on or off the field. Players who don't like Shell's game plan just don't bother practicing. There is no structure, no teamwork. They claim to want to bring back the Raiders of old... the rough and tough, take no prisoners teams that dominated the NFL back in the day. Unfortunately, the Raiders of today are nothing like their predecessors. They will never be a powerhouse.
They're nothing but thugs.
Last night was the final straw. I can no longer consider myself a fan. I just can't.
I mean, it wasn't bad enough that the Raiders got shut out (but, hey, they have the "honor" of being the ONLY team in Monday Night Football history to get shut out twice in one season... that's something... right?) It wasn't the NINE sacks that poor Anthony Walter (who???) had to suffer because, evidently, NO ONE on the Raiders' offense knows how to block. It wasn't the obvious apathy of several of the players. It wasn't Randy Moss alternating between looking frustrated one moment and looking completely lost the next. It wasn't the ejection of Tyler Brayton for kneeing Jerramy Stevens where a guy really shouldn't be kneed. It wasn't Art Shell sniveling after the game, trying to find the words to describe just how bad his team was on the field. It wasn't Al Davis' continued dominance as the worst owner in the NFL. I guess it was all of the above.
It's obvious that there is no discipline in the Raiders' organization, on or off the field. Players who don't like Shell's game plan just don't bother practicing. There is no structure, no teamwork. They claim to want to bring back the Raiders of old... the rough and tough, take no prisoners teams that dominated the NFL back in the day. Unfortunately, the Raiders of today are nothing like their predecessors. They will never be a powerhouse.
They're nothing but thugs.
