Droppin

Art Shell is taking this Raider team back to the days of old but it seems he needs to go back further than 2005-06.  The performance tonight does not give me any confidence that the Raiders will improve their sorry record of 4-12 from a year ago.  When was the last time you saw a team start to run out the clock to begin the second half?  I can’t even begin to explain what went wrong tonight, the Raider Recap was going to return tonight but I have decided not to waste my time on this pathetic performance.  Look at my post from late August and notice my top concern was the offensive line.  I quote myself, “I hope they (o-line) gel quickly and turn this around or it will be a long season.”  They will not be able to fix the o-line anytime soon and it will take too long to develop all of those players into a strong unit.  I don’t even think the talent is there.  Gallery is proving that his first round selection was a waste and they really don’t have anybody else worth noting.  It will be a long season for the Raider Nation.  This game was torture!
 

My Observations:

• Courtney Anderson dropped three catches that he should have had.  So much for the TE emphasis if you don’t have a TE with hands.  
• When the announcers are complimenting your punter all night, your team stinks!  
• Again, defense makes a few big plays then give up a big play or commit a dumb penalty to keep the drive alive.  (Last year, 25% of the opponents’ scores occurred during a drive where the Raiders gave the opponent a first down via penalty).  I did like the effort though, the D should improve this year but if the Offense cannot stay on the field, the D won’t have a chance.  
• Raiders had 45 Total yards at halftime, LT had 100 by himself.  
• Taunting penalty on Moss after 20 yard gain was weak sauce by the refs.  
• Brooks was not on his game, but what can you expect from a man who is running for his life.  
• Lechler did perform well and so did all of special teams.  
• At one point Brooks throws an out to Moss and it wasn’t close and so Moss didn’t even stick out his arms to try for it.  Brooks gave a confused “what the…” look which just oozes confidence.  
• Walters gets thrown to the wolves and moves the ball but it was reminiscent of preseason as we were playing against the second team (and he still got sacked twice).  
• After another holding penalty by Gallery, Jordan fumbles handoff from Walters on their own 6 yard line.  Sets up another easy score for the Chargers.  
• Oakland called timeout with 15 seconds left in the game and Marty was annoyed, best part of the game in my opinion.  The camera catches him yelling, “Don’t let them get in the #@!%&$ end zone.”  I wanted Sebass to kick the field goal just to avoid the shutout but they decide to go for the TD.  Of course they botched that play up too as Roland’s momentum carries him out of bounds on the four with nobody in front of him as time expires.  
• Raider QBs were sacked 9 times tonight (7 Brooks / 2 Walters)  
• Raiders Total Yards for game = 129, LT had 131 rushing yards for the Chargers.  
• Penalties: Raiders 7 for 54 yards (Not that high but they all were devastating tonight).  
• Raiders are now 2-17 versus the AFC West in recent years.

Shell stated after the game, “I was shocked.  We didn’t play well, as you could tell.  We didn’t have the intensity level that the Chargers did.  I didn’t get us prepared for this game.”  I think Randy is right when he said something “fishy” is going on in Oaktown and it isn’t coming from the ocean.  I am also losing faith in management and the offensive coordinator, Mr. Walsh.  You have got to be able to counter that defense with something right???  One word, embarrassing!
 

Silver lining, I know I am reaching here but eight years ago, the Raiders lost by 20 to a Schottenheimer team, committed 15 penalties, allowed 10 sacks, fumbled 7 times and missed two field goal attempts.  That was the beginning of the Jon Gruden era and that they were able to turn that around right?  I am still supportive of Art Shell, I think he is the right man for the job but he needs a lot of help.  Trust me, it is going to get worse before it gets better.  Al, I know it is hard to do but can you say rebuilding year?  Oh yeah, don’t look now but Ray Lewis and the Ravens D are salivating for their match-up next week in Baltimore.  Can the Raiders go scoreless two weeks in a row?  Yep, it could happen.  Que Lastima indeed.  When does NCAA basketball start?   

Well if you’re a mindless drone who likes to let TV critics tell you what to do then you might be interested to take a look at the following article I found over on Dark Horizons.com.  According to a poll of sixy-six leading TV critics (what exactly you have to do to be called a leading TV critic I do not know but as far as I know I am not one of them) the new shows you should be watching are Studio 60 (the new Mathew Perry project), Ugly Betty (which I haven’t even heard of), The Nine & NBC’s overly pimped out every commercial break for the last two months Hero’s (of which’s promo’s are so conflicting I have yet to determine what exactly the show is supposed to be about).

Take a look at the link to find out the fates of other of this falls upcoming crop of shows : Dark Horizons

This may show you a little bit of how big of a geek I am but I’d like to kick off a new feature here on Droppin that I hope to maintain as a weekly feature. Each week I want to single out an old school wrestler from my youth that I particularly enjoyed. No real reason, just to give you all another glimpse into the mind of Seven…

Lets kick things off with…“MACHO MAN” Randy Savage!

Macho Man was perhaps one of the greatest wrestlers of all time if you consider his total package of in ring ability, mike skills, character and general all around prescence. His biggest downfall of course is the fact that his is legitimately insane and was never really able to reel it in enough behind the scenes to cement his legacy. He remains one of the few big names of the 80′s to not make nice with Vince McMahon to this day so his impact on the a “sport” of wrestling may never be fully appreciated.

And of course the fact that he was involved in the greatest match of all time VS Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III doesn’t hurt cement his place in my mind as one of the greatest of all time.

Check out more of the madness at his wikipedia site below:

Macho Man

Once again I’m left beating my head over the sad REAL-ity that I’ve spent waaay too many hours of my life watching another season of Big Brother that is going to end in nothing but pain and suffering for myself, and judging from popularity polls and message boards, millions of Americans.  Without the Master (aka Will, love him or hate him he made a complete mockery of the show while completely running it.) and America’s bimbo sweetheart Janelle I’m guessing the finale with Skeletor and the coatail riding wannabee Mike will be the least watched show of the season.  Can anyone tell my why I watch Reality TV again?