Gracias #21, #9 and our Fabulous Females
By Charles Ybarra
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 pm in Oakland Raiders.
I’m not sure what to tell you all anymore, Nation. Our team has simply given up.
The fans have given up…
and yes, even you, the die hard….
has finally given up.
I appear to be still here…supporting my half ass team…yelling for my half ass team…encouraging my half ass team…
but I feel I am still missing true intelligence by still believing in what can never transpire…
ah, to be competitive again. A fool can only now dream.
…a fool like me.
I started taking off of my sweaty costume in the middle of the 3rd Quarter. I also started talking to fans near the end of the massacre..
“What would we all rather be doing on a beautiful Sunday afternoon such as this?!?!?!” I yelled.
I heard everything from Fishing, Movies, playing with their Children..
to simply just sleeping.
Lord, does it all sound tempting? You bet it does.
Damn me for being me. I always knew I had a passion for self abuse.
For every fan that still wanted me to put on the mask and play Mr. enthusiastic Clown in the 2nd half?
I’m sorry. The positive energy has been drained from me by the organization, the players and the Owner.
I’m not sure when there will be a better day….
but I just hope I’m still alive to see it.
Have mercy on me, World. This one hurt more than any other.
Matt Ryan threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to Michael Jenkins and the Falcons held the Raiders to negative yards and no first downs in the first half and their lowest yards total in 47 years in a 24- victory.
In a six-year stretch of losing, embarrassment and new lows in Oakland, Al Davis’ once-proud franchise might have reached a new low this week in front of a half-filled stadium of fans who began booing the Raiders (2-6) just minutes in. Oakland finished with just 77 yards for its worst total since getting 58 in 1961 against the Chargers, when Davis was an assistant in San Diego.
The Falcons (5-3) scored on their first four possessions as Ryan had open receivers to pick from almost every time he dropped back, while Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood had big holes to run through.
Atlanta also posted its first shutout since 2002, preserving it with an interception in the end zone by Erik Coleman midway through the fourth quarter.
Ryan finished 17-of-22 for 220 yards, outplaying JaMarcus Russell in a matchup of the first quarterbacks taken in the past two drafts. Turner added 139 yards on 31 carries.
The misery of 2007 that started with Vick’s guilty plea to federal dogfighting charges and ended when Petrino fled town with three games remaining in his first season as coach is quickly becoming a distant memory.
Led by a rookie quarterback in Ryan and rookie coach Mike Smith, the Falcons have already surpassed last season’s victory total by one at just the halfway point and are in the thick of the race in the NFC.
Ryan bombed on former Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins to cap the first drive. Stanford Routt then got beat on a corner route for a 27-yard touchdown on the third drive. Norwood added a 12-yard touchdown run and Jason Elam kicked a 48-yard field goal for Atlanta’s other first-half scores that made it 24-0.
The Raiders finally got a stop in the final seconds of the half when Gerard Warren sacked Ryan and forced a fumble that was recovered at the Oakland 23 with 16 seconds remaining. But John Abraham brought down Russell with his third sack to end the half. The Raiders finished the half with minus-2 yards of offense, compared to 309 for Atlanta.
Even attempts at trickery didn’t work for the Raiders, who sent in receiver Ronald Curry at quarterback on the first play of their fourth drive. Before they could even run a play, Robert Gallery was called for a false start and Russell returned.
Justin Fargas 13-yard run with 9:26 to play in the third quarter gave the Raiders their initial first down of the game and led to mock applause from the frustrated crowd. The boos quickly returned when Russell lost a fumble three plays later.
Russell doubled Oakland’s yardage total with a 24-yard scramble in the opening minute of the fourth quarter for the second first down of the game.
The loss was the third blowout in four games under interim coach Tom Cable, whose only win came in overtime at home two weeks ago against the New York Jets. Cable now has the same record that Lane Kiffin had when he was fired after four games.
The only positives?
The Raiderettes, Nnamdi, Shane and the fact that it didn’t rain.
Enjoy the new week, Fans..it’s going to be another long one.
Peace and Obama,
-DR
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November 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 am
Crabtree looks pretty good
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 am
Give up the dark side Vader. There is still good in you. Join the Charger Nation.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:29 am
I wish I could disagree with you but I can’t. As a fan who has watched this team since the 60’s I cannot take it anymore!! When is this organization going to wake up!! Ryan has got to go!!
I have to believe every team out there would love to play the Raiders so they can pad those offensive stats. I forget which defensive player said earlier that it did not matter if they were winning or losing by 30 points. He was still having fun.
Well guess what! That fans are not having fun. Maybe we need some players who aren’t having fun. Then maybe we might win a game!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Well the way I see it Al did a great job of saving 3 million on Kiffin by waiting for the season to start and firing him mid season. I’m guessing he’s probably losing that much every week in fan support.
Until Al is gone nothing will change. The raiders have become a bad franchise ran by a bad owner.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 am
I hear you! I stayed until the bitter end. I am considering litigation against Al Davis for falsely advertising a “Commitment to Excellence” because clearly there is no commitment. I will be at this Sunday’s game but instead of my normal face paint I will be wearing a brown painted bag over my head. People said that the Raiders quit after the first drive but the picture below shows that they quit before the kick off. Although not pictured, the Falcons stood in an orderly fashion (AS A TEAM), helmets off during the National Anthem while we milled around like cattle off to slaughter knowing what was about to happen!
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/11/03/kelly-sits-for-national-anthem/
Nnamdi Asomugha is a class act and like us faithful, deserves better!
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
i was not a fan of kiffin but that being said since cable took over in 3 of the 4 weeks we have seen a very flat raider team come out of the locker room and against the jets a badly focused team (constant penaltys) at least kiffin had the team ready to play and in most cases play hard (at least for 3 quarters) it seems to me like cable has lost a team which in fact he never had ,this was kiffins team they beleaved in him and in most parts played for him no doubt we will see new coach next year (why not give a walter a go as qb)
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Kiffin was changing the culture of losing. Brain dead Davis obviously didn’t learn from the last time he fired a head coach in mid season, nor does he comprehend the game has passed him by. Having time for 5-7 step drops is the exception rather than the rule in this day and age and is simply not going to work. Players are bigger, stronger and faster in today’s NFL and the game itself is much faster paced than in Davis’s age. Furthermore, the last time the Raiders were competitive, he had Bruce Allen running the show as GM. It doesn’t take a genius to see the damage Davis has caused to his own team. Using Davis’s own logic, he should have been fired long ago.
Just saying.
November 4th, 2008 at 6:13 am
So tell me Al Davis… Lane doesn’t look like such an idiot in wanting to fire Rob Ryan, and bring over his dad Monte now does he? Last time I checked, Monte was running a pretty good ship over in Tampa Bay. Al, listen to the pleas of the 65,000 fans… RETIRE!!!
November 4th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I don’t know why people are complaining, the Raiders usually get negative yards when i play against them in Madden.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
WOW darth Raider.. you said it… your tired and can’t take this anymore.. but wait hold on help is on it’s way.. another new coach, new system and another number one pick (BUST). I too will be at the game with my brown bag in hand. Al should have waited to the outcome of kiffen for this year. yes DARTH you have taken a beating, AL has more to dole out.. DeAngleo Hall(7mil), ronald curry michael huff(#1 pick)what’s next, I think it is Kuame Harris who doesn’t even know the snap count (this guy is a professional and attended Stanford. it is bad and going to get worse it is not fun and not a good product, these elite athletes are not used to losing… nnamdi derserves better he never quites or lechler either, by the way his leg must hurt with so many punts.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
i would think nnamdi will run to the hills at seasons end and who can blame him,harris has played like a bum,walker has gone awol for seven of eight games ,rob ryan does what he does, coach and gameplan like a prick ,cable is a nonentity but despite all this russel is my biggest worry he looks far to raw and i dislike his attitude losing does not bother him enough i mean for christ sake be a leader, dark days are in store for the whole true raider nation
November 7th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
No one fires kiffin, except a fool, and davis is making a clown look reasonable. and the other thing, when is jamarcus going to take those gay earrings out, if he was playing good it’s one thing, when you’re pathetic, it’s ridiculous, russel is pathetic. quinn all these other qb’s are outplaying him. take the gay earrings out. wake up, the only shots’ jamarcus is calling are passes fifteen feet over everyone’s heads, big ballin, go back to high school. give your earrings to some broad who still thinks you’re a stud.
November 8th, 2008 at 4:25 am
NFL players and agents listen up. Get a long term contract with the Oakland Raiders. It’s all about putting up with some short term abuse for the big bucks. Follow the money. (It’s easy to fool Ol’ Al.) With the Raiders down by 2 scores be sure to do one of those silly I just gained 1/2 yard dances to get Al’s attention. Then slack and get cut, to move on to a team that has a chance at a winning season. PS this doesn’t work for coaches other than motivating them to whip the Raiders forever…. Who will be next to Moss out of Oakland.
November 9th, 2008 at 3:33 am
After reading your comments it saddened me to think, the Raider faithful are only half assed. Living in the middle of Chief’s country and taking flack from their fans for the past forty years, I still have pride in the Silver and Black. I have e-mailed Al Davis countless times asking for changes in the front office.
We have the talent, but we have lost the heart and soul that were the Raiders, the never die to will to never give up. I will never give up on the Raiders, and will never follow any other team. And as for the Raiderettes, no group of women in any sports venue come close to the beauty and talent that supports the Raiders ever week. Get the Pride back, raise up your head and be a Raider again.