Dec 28, 2005 

Cheerleader Of The Week--Lucretia

Oakland Raiderette, Lucretia, loves footlong hot dogs--lots of them--but, of course.

She loves short walks on the beach--the enormous amount of thigh friction creates one hell of a strawberry. Strawberries? She loves them...by the case!

WOULD YA!!?

CAST YOUR VOTE ON THE RIGHT PANEL.

Dec 13, 2005 

Bradley Adds Much Needed Toughness to the A's

HIGHLY-TOUTED PROSPECT DUE TO FIZZLE IN L.A.

The A's made a deal today for Milton Bradley that speaks volumes about the tenacity and gamesmanship of the talented, but not quite driven teams of the past six years

Bradley is a player of high regard around the majors, if only, the guys' on-base percentage could be separated from his yapping mouth.

This is not a slight to Milton Bradley, who has worn out his welcome in both Cleveland and Los Angeles by pubicly antagonizing his managers and by creating violent antics on the field, the A's sorely need someone to light their fire.

The A's are lauded as a free-spirited and laid back atmosphere to work for. This is great if you're a player who wants to have a great time while others win the World Series.

It's not clear if A's G.M. Billy Beane recognized that fact and tried to rectify it by acquiring a volatile player like Bradley or he couldn't pass up a great deal?

It may have been a little of both, except that the Dodgers had little wiggle room by reiterating that Bradley was not welcome back next season.

Ned Colletti, the new G.M. of the Dodgers probably felt acquiring a young stud like Texas League Player of the Year, Andre Ethier, was too good to be true. In the end, it just might be.

It would seem that Ethier is this year's proverbial red herring of minor league star whom the A's tout and then quickly trade when the false buzz reaches its zenith.

Remember all the blue chip prospects that Beane has traded for proven Major Leaguers who then languish in anonymity with their new clubs?

Mark Teahen who was traded to Kansas City a few years back closely resembles the rise of Ethier. He came out of nowhere as the next great A's rookie, except he played third and was blocked by Eric Chavez already at the hot corner.

Beane traded Teahen to the Royals in the Carlos Beltran deal that eventually brought Octavio Dotel to Oakland. Today, Teahen is nowhere near the player that the A's had advertised him to the rest of baseball. He hit a weak .246 with seven homers last year.

The A's won't have to wait for the first signs of eruption from Bradley because it would happen. For one, Bradley's career has been sprinkled with a problem with authority. He won't have that problem in Oakland because manager Ken Macha has little authority in the clubhouse. It's designed that way. If he dares to take a swipe at Beane, history as shown, he'll be on the first plane to Kansas City or Tampa Bay to languish.

The other player acquired by the A's in the Bradley deal shouldn't be overlooked. Infielder Antonio Perez might mean the end of Marco Scutaro in Oakland. Perez his .297 last year in 268 at-bats with the Dodgers. His glovework may not be as good as Scutaro's, but Ron Washington can fix that.

Make no mistake, Beane has struck again with an excellent deal that will add an aggressive dimension to the typical country club atmosphere that too often permeates the A's clubhouse.

Dec 12, 2005 

Raiders Give Up On The Season

FANS SHOULD BOYCOTT LAST TWO HOME GAMES

Yeah, the Raiders are done.

No news flash there. Raider fans from Monterey to Redding have known this for weeks, but yesterday's dismal performance was one of the team's worst in recent memory. Assuredly, the worst since the Silver and Black's return to Oakland in 1995.

The Raiders 26-10 loss to the lowly and injury-riddled Jets should have been just a bad loss, if not, for the utter disgrace of a gameplan drawn up by coach Norv Turner and his staff, it became an epic disgrace.

Here's the abysmal facts:

Running back Lamont Jordan, who has maintained all season that a heavy workload of 25-30 carries would translate to victory, ran the ball only 14 times against the 29th worst defense against the run. Despite the final score, the vast majority of the game was a tight 6-3 affair, meaning the Raiders could have easily sought to grind out yards with Jordan. But, they didn't.

By not running the ball more effectively, they fed QB Marques Tuiasosopo to the wolves of the Jets defensive line. In his first start, Tuiasosopo was apparently expected to brave a majority of the snaps with passing plays behind an offensive line as porous as the levees in New Orleans.

The Raiders defensive strategy wasn't any more thoughtout. They allowed an equally inept backup in Brooks Bollinger to beat them, not through the air, but with his feet. Bollinger ran for 56 yards, which was more than any Raider back. It was the most rushing yards by a QB in Jets history.

Why did the Raiders defense blitz the quarterback only four times and give a quarterback like Bollinger, who has yet to show any passing ability, the time to scramble?

These sort of obvious miscalculations on the Raiders coaching staff gives the impression that a revolt is reaching cancerous proportions in the locker room.

Turner's mindboggling gameplan also gives credence to the notion that the demotion of Kerry Collins came from the pressbox and not from the coaching staff.

Not only did Collins vent passive-aggressive frustration to the San Francisco Chronicle, but Lamont Jordan and Derrick Burgess also criticized the team in a public fashion.

The Raiders, from the players to the coaching staff, have pathetically given up with three games still to play. It's time for the fans to do the same and stay home for the last two home games. There's a reason why the Raiders don't sellout their games. Why would you pay exhorbinant prices to watch a team you can't trust will play honestly?

Dec 6, 2005 

Turner Tapping Tui Will Be Davis' Call

NORVAL GETS NO BENEFIT IN BACKUP PLAYING

The whispers out of Oakland are that Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins will be benched for next Sunday's game against the Jets in favor of little-used backup Marques Tuiasosopo.

The company line was this yesterday from coach Norv Turner:
I wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't something we're considering strongly. We're going to look at the quarterback situation and say, 'Hey, is it time to look at Tui?' With his mobility, would that help us?

Aside from another humiliating defeat, what has changed this week from the past lackluster 11 weeks? While Collins was again highly erractic, his performance wasn't a new low in quarterbacking.

The truth is, Al Davis made the call.

If Turner was so interested in seeing Tuiasosopo scramble around the backfield, then why didn't he substitute Collins in the third quarter last Sunday night? It was quite obvious that Collins was not leading the team to victory that night and bringing the backup QB would have been warranted. Instead, Collins fluttered a few more flutter balls and another interception run back for a touchdown. Right now, Y.A. Title is throwing the ball with a crisper spiral than Collins.

The notion that the Tuiasosopo's running ability is going to spark the Raiders is ridiculous. Turner has watched Tuiasosopo for nearly two years. Turner's didn't bring him into a game earlier, because he obviously has no confidence in him; or, at least, ol' Norval feels that Collins is better suited to keeping the coach's job better than Tuiasosopo can.

If Turner is hesitant to bring in Tuiasosopo then you can forget actually seeing the quarterback that would most benefit the future of the Raiders--their rookie third-round pick--Andrew Walter.

Here's hoping that Al Davis makes another call and sacks the current coach.