ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Jack Del Rio has been fired as coach of the Oakland Raiders, ending his three-year tenure after a disappointing 6-10 record this season.
Oh well, it had to happen. Expectations might've been higher than deserved, but Jack Del Rio couldn't even produce a .500 season. He had to go and hopefully the new coaching staff can get the team to play up to their potential. The Oakland Raiders are a talented team. They're much closer to being a champion than at any time since 2002-03. The right coaches with the right schemes can give Oakland a football championship before the teams' exodus to the desert.
Rumor has it that owner Mark Davis is talking with former Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Do we really wanna see Chucky come out of the commentating booth to take a swing at coaching a team to a championship again? Hasn't he been away from coaching for over a decade? Come on Raider Nation, we don't need our hearts being played with. Thanks for the memories Chucky but that boat done sailed many moons ago. We can do much better than having an out-of-touch Jon Gruden at the helm.
Whoever ends up steering the Silver & Black pirate ship come next season, they better bring something to the table that we can recognize as a winning plan. Jack talked a great game. But the talk ran out of gas. Now it's show-me time.
R A I D E R L E G E N D
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Human Torch Gives A Scorching Performance In Return
Dammit if he ain't the most Golden athlete on the scene right now. Steph Curry, aka the Human Torch, came back after missing what seems like a gazillion games and just about took down the Memphis Grizzilies single-handedly. If ever the nickname Human Torch fit like a glove on the NBA star, tonight was the night.
In his first game back from an ankle injury, Steph dropped 38 points in just 26 minutes. His 10-3pt shots made, felt like layups and everything he did just seemed effortless. It looked like the entire Warriors team knew that the Human Torch needed to clean out his flame thrusters, so they simply fed him shots to load up and shoot down.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson chucked in 21 points and Kevin Durant was able to rev it down from his 30 point nights to a pedestrian 20 points. Klay confirmed that the Warriors high scoring night was "100%" attributable to Steph's return.
As much as we love watching Klay get hot and KD shoot his unstoppable jumper, there's nothing that compares to the overall high us basketball fans get from seeing Steph Curry go all out "Flame On" in a game. In heated performances such as these, #30 is just not human ya'll.
Remember the quote from Rocky II when Apollo Creed
Final Score
Grizzilies 128
Warriors 141
Monday, December 25, 2017
Durant and Warriors Take Down Cavaliers
No Curry! No Problem!
The Golden State Warriors hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas afternoon and you know what that means; No gifts for Lebron and company. That's right, the Warriors won the game 99-92, giving the home sellout crowd a much anticipated wrapped Christmas gift.
Defense and more defense is what this game was all about. Plenty of blocked shots and hustle by the Warriors. Plenty of crying and pleas for fouls by the Cavaliers; same old Cavs. The game was close throughout, but when it mattered most the Warriors showed Lebron and the rest of the NBA exactly why they're champions. We've got Kevin Durant; Ballgame!
Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal..............
The Golden State Warriors hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas afternoon and you know what that means; No gifts for Lebron and company. That's right, the Warriors won the game 99-92, giving the home sellout crowd a much anticipated wrapped Christmas gift.
Defense and more defense is what this game was all about. Plenty of blocked shots and hustle by the Warriors. Plenty of crying and pleas for fouls by the Cavaliers; same old Cavs. The game was close throughout, but when it mattered most the Warriors showed Lebron and the rest of the NBA exactly why they're champions. We've got Kevin Durant; Ballgame!
Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal..............
Thursday, December 21, 2017
V. Putin's Private Video Vault
Note: footage to be released if our man in Washington outgrows his crib
1973 was not a good year for The Donald
1973 was not a good year for The Donald
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Tribute To A Fallen President
Every tear wiped away,
Pain and sickness gone;
Wide awake there with Him!
Peace goes on and on!
Description:Pain and sickness gone;
Wide awake there with Him!
Peace goes on and on!
Ed Clark (American, 1911-2000)
FDR Funeral, Warm Springs, Georgia, 1945, printed c. 1982. Titled and dated in ink below the image l.l., signed and inscribed "Edward Clark - Life" in ink below the image l.r., signed by the subject Graham Jackson and dated "1982" in ink below the image l.c., signed and numbered "8 of 10" in ink on the backing. Gelatin silver print, image size 8 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. (22.5 x 32.3 cm), matted, framed.
Condition: Taped to overmat with masking tape, gently light-struck, solarization or similar in dark areas of image.
N.B. As a staff photographer for LIFE, Ed Clark drove all night from his home in Nashville to Warm Springs, Georgia, after learning of the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As the President's body was transported to the train station for the journey back to Washington, Clark captured United States Navy bandsman Graham W. Jackson, Sr., playing "Goin' Home," one of Roosevelt's favorite tunes, on his accordion. The now iconic photograph of Jackson with tears streaming down his cheeks, a poignant and moving symbol of the nation's grief, was published in the April 17, 1945, issue of LIFE.
FDR Funeral, Warm Springs, Georgia, 1945, printed c. 1982. Titled and dated in ink below the image l.l., signed and inscribed "Edward Clark - Life" in ink below the image l.r., signed by the subject Graham Jackson and dated "1982" in ink below the image l.c., signed and numbered "8 of 10" in ink on the backing. Gelatin silver print, image size 8 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. (22.5 x 32.3 cm), matted, framed.
Condition: Taped to overmat with masking tape, gently light-struck, solarization or similar in dark areas of image.
N.B. As a staff photographer for LIFE, Ed Clark drove all night from his home in Nashville to Warm Springs, Georgia, after learning of the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As the President's body was transported to the train station for the journey back to Washington, Clark captured United States Navy bandsman Graham W. Jackson, Sr., playing "Goin' Home," one of Roosevelt's favorite tunes, on his accordion. The now iconic photograph of Jackson with tears streaming down his cheeks, a poignant and moving symbol of the nation's grief, was published in the April 17, 1945, issue of LIFE.
No, it's not the dashed playoff hopes of the Oakland Raiders that has me posting this iconic print.
I just happened to be browsing popular photos of African-Americans taken during the 1930's and 1940's. This print of Navy bandsman Graham W. Jackson crying his heart out over the loss of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt is a moving historical document.
Here is a black man enlisted in a segregated military playing a eulogy song of tribute (Going Home) for a fallen white President in front of a mourning, segregated southern audience. Well, at least a few in the audience seem in mourning; many are caught up gawking at Graham and perhaps wondering why a Life magazine photographer would be interested in taking such a shameful photograph of a crying Negro. If only they knew.
I'm sure throughout the years this photograph has been viewed with wonder at why this black man playing his accordion was crying so hard and what could be so tragic to bring about such a grieving face. His grief seems so much more than just one of patriotic tribute to a great leader.
Well it turns out that Graham was a renown musician and personal friend of Eleanor and President Franklin Roosevelt. His grief was one of deep personal loss and friendship; and it shows. Maybe the southern audience did know and found such close personal friendships between blacks and whites shameful during that time. Unfortunately for me, an African-American knowledgeable about America's history of racial prejudice, in looking back I tend to see the ghosts of hate that caused so much pain and suffering for my peoples.
If we take out the southern gawkers from the photograph, which it seems many newspaper editors did at the time, the hint of racial unacceptance and/or shamefulness is erased and you're left with a feeling of total tribute to a leader and friend. It's like using the Photoshop Application today to alter or enhance photographs; perception becomes reality. That is, until viewers come face to face with a not so perfect reality.
Its possible that what I see in this picture is nothing more than figments of my imagination. Disturbing photos like that of the lynched Tom Shipp and Abe Smith (Beitler Photo), or that of the brutalized body of 14-year old Emmett Till continue to haunt that era of American systemic racism and can never be fully erased from the minds of black folks. I suppose seeing a 1945 photo of a black man crying while southern whites look on in the background just somehow awakens the ugly ghosts of racial prejudice past and present. The fact remains that for whatever reason, there have been and continue to be white people who dislike people of color based solely on the tint of their skin. It's a curse our country seems to be doomed to live with.
If we take out the southern gawkers from the photograph, which it seems many newspaper editors did at the time, the hint of racial unacceptance and/or shamefulness is erased and you're left with a feeling of total tribute to a leader and friend. It's like using the Photoshop Application today to alter or enhance photographs; perception becomes reality. That is, until viewers come face to face with a not so perfect reality.
Its possible that what I see in this picture is nothing more than figments of my imagination. Disturbing photos like that of the lynched Tom Shipp and Abe Smith (Beitler Photo), or that of the brutalized body of 14-year old Emmett Till continue to haunt that era of American systemic racism and can never be fully erased from the minds of black folks. I suppose seeing a 1945 photo of a black man crying while southern whites look on in the background just somehow awakens the ugly ghosts of racial prejudice past and present. The fact remains that for whatever reason, there have been and continue to be white people who dislike people of color based solely on the tint of their skin. It's a curse our country seems to be doomed to live with.
(May 2016)
Headline News: Lynching mural sparks debate in Illinois town
Sunday, December 17, 2017
What's Wrong With Carr Now!
In a game where the Oakland Raiders did just enough to slow down Dallas and put themselves eight yards away from a win, quarterback Derek Carr simply fumbled away all hope.
3rd and 3 at DAL 8
(0:31 - 4th) (Shotgun) D. Carr scrambles right end to Dal 1 for 7 yards (J. Heath). FUMBLES (J.Heath), ball out of bounds in End Zone, Touchback.
The Dallas Cowboys, thanks to the Derek Carr touchback fumble one yard away from a touchdown, got the ball back with 31 seconds remaining to run out the clock and secure a victory.
I don't wanna hear it was just a competitor trying to do too much. What I saw was exactly what's been wrong and continues to haunt quarterback Derek Carr; poor decision making.
He had the first down. He had time to run four plays from the 1- yard line. He had Beast Mode ready and able. He had the home crowd stadium and the Cowboy hatin' nation watching on Sunday night television, ready to crown him a worthy clutch quarterback. He had it all, if only he'd chosen to simply dive out of bounds with football tucked securely away.
But something happened to Derek while scrambling those seven yards. He thought he was bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than J. Heath, the Dallas safety closing in on him. So he decided around the 3-yard line to impersonate superman by going airborne and extending the ball toward the orange pylon at the goal line. Heath, unable to ground superman, simply gave him a jarring shove in the back which loosened the ball from superman's outstretched grip and sent it tumbling in and out through the end zone sideline. Touchback! Cowboys ball. Ballgame!
I only hope that Derek can take something positive away from this one bad decision. I like Derek and think he has a lot of good football left in him. We didn't need superman tonight to beat the Dallas Cowboys; we just needed to remember who we are and what we do best. Unfortunately, what we've been doing better than anything lately is fumbling away every chance to return to the playoffs. It's time to say goodbye to the Oakland Raiders 2017 season. They're done and so am I.
The Oakland Raiders did compete tonight. In the end the ball just bounced the other teams' way. F#ck It!
3rd and 3 at DAL 8
(0:31 - 4th) (Shotgun) D. Carr scrambles right end to Dal 1 for 7 yards (J. Heath). FUMBLES (J.Heath), ball out of bounds in End Zone, Touchback.
The Dallas Cowboys, thanks to the Derek Carr touchback fumble one yard away from a touchdown, got the ball back with 31 seconds remaining to run out the clock and secure a victory.
I don't wanna hear it was just a competitor trying to do too much. What I saw was exactly what's been wrong and continues to haunt quarterback Derek Carr; poor decision making.
He had the first down. He had time to run four plays from the 1- yard line. He had Beast Mode ready and able. He had the home crowd stadium and the Cowboy hatin' nation watching on Sunday night television, ready to crown him a worthy clutch quarterback. He had it all, if only he'd chosen to simply dive out of bounds with football tucked securely away.
But something happened to Derek while scrambling those seven yards. He thought he was bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than J. Heath, the Dallas safety closing in on him. So he decided around the 3-yard line to impersonate superman by going airborne and extending the ball toward the orange pylon at the goal line. Heath, unable to ground superman, simply gave him a jarring shove in the back which loosened the ball from superman's outstretched grip and sent it tumbling in and out through the end zone sideline. Touchback! Cowboys ball. Ballgame!
I only hope that Derek can take something positive away from this one bad decision. I like Derek and think he has a lot of good football left in him. We didn't need superman tonight to beat the Dallas Cowboys; we just needed to remember who we are and what we do best. Unfortunately, what we've been doing better than anything lately is fumbling away every chance to return to the playoffs. It's time to say goodbye to the Oakland Raiders 2017 season. They're done and so am I.
The Oakland Raiders did compete tonight. In the end the ball just bounced the other teams' way. F#ck It!
Cowboys 20
Raiders 17
Thursday, December 14, 2017
What's Wrong With Carr?
Where has QB Derek Carr disappeared to?
After the Raiders 26-15 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City this past Sunday, an espn staff writer wrote an article about QB Derek Carr that "pointed out the obvious;" broken finger, broken fibula, broken bone in the back.
Basically, Derek Carr has been "Broken" since late last season. And like a broken bone, the marrow of his courage and confidence seem brittle, as if enough time hasn't passed for them to fully mend. The question I have is will Carr ever wholly mend and return to being that courageous, efficient leader we saw commanding the playing field early last season. Time will tell.
In the meantime the Raiders are 6-7 and looking up one game to the 7-6 Chiefs and Chargers in the AFC West Division lead. Its more likely that the Raiders will miss the playoffs than make them. They host the Dallas Cowboys this week in their final home game of the season. Many eyes will be on Derek Carr this coming Sunday, looking for any hints of truth to the theory that broken bones lead to broken courage and character in sports.
Will Derek Carr begin to look more like the fearless leader we all know he's capable of on the football field, or will the ghosts of his record high career sacked NFL quarterback brother David Carr haunt him into obscurity? Again, time will tell.
"Geology is the study of Pressure and Time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure and time. That and a big god-damn poster." Quote from movie Shawshank Redemption
Monday, December 04, 2017
Raiders in Three-Way Division Leading Tie
The Oakland Raiders are showing much improvement on defense and the offense seems to be rediscovering its strengths. They took down the lowly Giants (2-10) at the Oakland Coliseum yesterday and did it without their two starting wide receivers, Coop and Crabtree.
The game had many Raiders highlights but coulda, shoulda been a Raiders blowout. The New York Giants are simply not a good team. They fired their head coach and general manger this morning, and I hear that benched quarterback Eli Manning is ready and expecting to take back his starting job come their next game.
Meanwhile, the Raiders are now 6-6, tied with the Chiefs and Chargers for first place in the AFC West. With four games left in the regular season, the division title is up for grabs. The teams will meet up in the following weeks and those games will likely determine who will represent the west in the AFC Playoffs.
With the backup receiving corps showing some grit, and the emergence of a beastly Marshawn Lynch effectively grounding and pounding yesterday, it's not far-fetched to see the silver and black in the Playoffs. Win out and they're in.
Game Ball to WR Cordarrelle Patterson for killing the Giants with his speed. Also the defense, now under newly promoted defensive coordinator John Pagano, played with a passion. Yes, the Raiders defensive engine is revving and ready to make up for past transgressions. The team heads to Kansas City this weekend for a showdown against the Chiefs. With the playoffs on the line, its time to be great.
Just Win Baby!
Final Score
Giants 17
Raiders 24
The game had many Raiders highlights but coulda, shoulda been a Raiders blowout. The New York Giants are simply not a good team. They fired their head coach and general manger this morning, and I hear that benched quarterback Eli Manning is ready and expecting to take back his starting job come their next game.
Meanwhile, the Raiders are now 6-6, tied with the Chiefs and Chargers for first place in the AFC West. With four games left in the regular season, the division title is up for grabs. The teams will meet up in the following weeks and those games will likely determine who will represent the west in the AFC Playoffs.
With the backup receiving corps showing some grit, and the emergence of a beastly Marshawn Lynch effectively grounding and pounding yesterday, it's not far-fetched to see the silver and black in the Playoffs. Win out and they're in.
Game Ball to WR Cordarrelle Patterson for killing the Giants with his speed. Also the defense, now under newly promoted defensive coordinator John Pagano, played with a passion. Yes, the Raiders defensive engine is revving and ready to make up for past transgressions. The team heads to Kansas City this weekend for a showdown against the Chiefs. With the playoffs on the line, its time to be great.
Final Score
Giants 17
Raiders 24