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Archive for October, 2011
You hate to see a quarterback get thrown aside after working hard to see the team just start to improve. For Jason Campbell, it was a harsh reality right after surgery, knowing that the team he had fostered back to respectability suddenly mortgaged the future to get another QB. For the Raiders and the Raider Nation, the desire to both reach the playoffs and do well outweigh the singular player's desire to remain, and a team needing to remain in the hunt for the playoffs...it's the cold, brutal way of life in this day and age of the NFL. True, ...
The Raiders certainly have had themselves an interesting week.On Sunday, starting quarterback Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone. On Tuesday, Oakland traded for Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer. On Thursday, ESPN reported that Palmer would start on Sunday versus the Chiefs. On Friday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Palmer is not likely to play.While all of this has been going on, Coach Hue Jackson has been all too willing to not say anything, leaving everyone in the dark in the process.But Palmer has not been the only interesting high-profile Raider this week.Friday, October 21 at 12:41 p.m. EDTSchefter reported that the ...
Hue Jackson never sounds worried. The Raiders Head Coach is always cool, calm and confident. But somewhere in his mind, he has to be somewhat concerned. The Raiders start an important portion of their schedule on Sunday, with three straight games against AFC West opponents and several key positions have question marks next to them.Heading into Sunday's game against Kansas City, it appears the Raiders will start newly acquired Quarterback Carson Palmer, a player who, just one week ago, was sitting at home and considered himself retired. Palmer could very well step in and be the All-Pro signal caller that ...
Theo Epstein has made it official: he's leaving the Boston Red Sox for the friendly and eternally losing confines of Wrigley Field. While everyone obsesses over how quickly Theo can transform the Cubs from perennial mediocrity into World Series champs, his departure from Fenway Park does bring the Moneyball concept full circle.  Remember the dynamic and exciting Oakland Athletics teams that were the subject of the Michael Lewis book and of the current hit movie starring Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill? The A's supposedly popularized the "Moneyball" approach to small-market baseball success, and while Oakland A's GM ...
The media would like us to believe that in the NFL the QB is God and that we are all his willing Sunday subjects. The case is no different for newly acquired Raider QB Carson Palmer, who has been asked if he will be able to "lead" the Raiders to the playoffs this season.The answer to that question is a resounding, unequivocal "hell no!" He is NOT the leader of this Oakland Raiders team and shouldn't be expected to lead a bunch of grown men he just met yesterday. Hue Jackson is, without a shadow of a doubt, the leader ...
It's uncertain whether or not Carson Palmer is going to play this week for the Oakland Raiders as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs, but there is no doubting that there is still going to be a ton of excitement surrounding the Raiders.Oakland always has a good home-field advantage with Raider Nation and the infamous "Black Hole," but there is something different about this season.There is a ton of buzz about this team, even league-wide, and the moves that they have made at the deadline prove that they are in it to win it.Carson Palmer is still up in the ...
Carson Palmer was given the title of elite and he did not earn it. His failures in Cincinnati were charged to the game because of the “environment,” but now it is time for Palmer to earn his keep. Since Day 1, Palmer has been given things he did not earn. He was given the Bengals starting quarterback position by head coach Marvin Lewis after Jon Kitna had led the perennial basement dwellers to respectability. Now, with an injury to true Raiders starting quarterback Jason Campbell, Palmer has been given another chance that he has not earned. How he got there no longer matters. It ...
Whenever it is announced that a pitcher has to undergo Tommy John surgery, fans are deflated immediately.  It usually means the player will miss at least a year, and depending on when the surgery takes place, he might miss a large portion of two seasons.The latter is the case for Oakland A's starting pitcher and a main component in the "Big Four," Brett Anderson.Anderson had the surgery in July of this year and is not expected back until at least the same time next year.That's the bad news about Tommy John Surgery.  The good news is that it's possible to ...
When you mortgage a large chunk of your future for one player… play him right away! Carson Palmer needs to be the starting quarterback for the Raiders this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Right now, head coach Hue Jackson is leaning towards not starting him according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The basis for the assumption is from this quote courtesy of a source close to the situation: I'm 95 percent sure he is not going to play.  Wednesday and Thursday, he felt he's not ready to make those high-velocity throws yet. Maybe they could decide something at the last ...
So a few minor things have happened since I last wrote an article two weeks ago today.Minor things like the man, the myth, the legend, THE Oakland Raider, Al Davis, passing away. For those of us who thought of Al as some clandestine Blackbeard, forever immortal and pulling strings behind the scenes, it was tough to believe.For those of us who, during our time in Raider Nation, had issues with Al but always loved and respected him, and saw him for the brilliant man and leader he was, it was difficult to accept.For the media, peers, colleagues and football people ...