Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

[TommyGirl]

"I don't dislike the Raiders. It's just that ... how can I put this? It's like having a son you were once very proud of. A little rough at times, but he struggled and achieved and overcame a lot. Many people were against him. And then he just gave up. You look at him and you see a slouching person, nearing middle age, hair thinning, cigarette smoke staining his fingers, talking out of the side of his mouth, continually lying. Is this really your son? Well, yeah, and you still love him underneath it all. You just don't enjoy being around him.''-- Paul Zimmerman in his SI.com column last week, responding to a reader who accused him of not liking the Oakland Raiders.

Gawd. That hurt. Too close to home, my friends...Too close to home.

[Crow]

From prom queen to crack whore. Damn shame.

[Stanny]

Dr. Z is a douchebag.....Let the guy write a column, allow him to vote for the HOF is a damn shame.

[massraider]

Dr. Z is a douchebag.....Let the guy write a column, allow him to vote for the HOF is a damn shame.

Wow, I really disagree with that. Dr. Z knows his stuff. He gets stuff wrong ("Randy Moss won't be able to handle press coverage"), but he watches a lot of football, and more importantly, admits when he doesn't know something.

[007]

I fuckin hate Zimmerman too.

Raider hatin peice of shit.

[hawaiianboy]

It's like having a son you were once very proud of. A little rough at times, but he struggled and achieved and overcame a lot. Many people were against him. And then he just gave up. You look at him and you see a slouching person, nearing middle age, hair thinning, cigarette smoke staining his fingers, talking out of the side of his mouth, continually lying. Is this really your son? Well, yeah, and you still love him underneath it all. You just don't enjoy being around him.''--


Sounds like something Natty's pops would have said....


Can't complain too much... we've certainly earned all the criticism hurled our way the past few years... We've been our own worst enemy as far as providing fodder for the "Raider haters"...

We've got a very good dynamic young coach leading us (IMO anyways)...
A talented young defense led by a good, albeit ragged looking coach...

We're just adequate O-line play and a QB away from being spongeworthy again IMO... We're on our way out of the post '02 funk... I can feel it...

[Raidermania12]

Wow, I really disagree with that. Dr. Z knows his stuff. He gets stuff wrong ("Randy Moss won't be able to handle press coverage"), but he watches a lot of football, and more importantly, admits when he doesn't know something.

i seem to have missed those moments.

[Raider Nation]

Sounds like something Natty's pops would have said...

Dr. Z actually is my father. I'm just like him except I'm taller, smarter, better looking, and actually have a visually identifiable set of balls. Pops hasn't been the same since the ill-fated female love tunnel surgery and botched labia transplant.

But, like I tell him, just as long as he keeps sending me checks in the mail I don't care what he says about me... that grizzled tranny bitch.

[TommyGirl]

Natty, have we NOT outgrown the notion that accusing someone of having female genitalia is somehow talking trash?

Oh, wait. I read the Little Al trash talking thread.

SO sophomoric. I thought you guys could do better than that.

[Limee]

I thought you guys could do better than that.

Based on what?

[BigTron]

Dr.Z can go blow a sweaty pole. How man teams have never even lifted up 1 Lombardi trophy let alone three. How many teams have still never been to the fucking superbowl? The Chargers have never won a superbowl and just hired Norv Turner. Fuck this guy. We were the last team in the AFC west to be in a superbowl, and we recently had the MVP of the NFL running our #1 offense. His magazine isnt worth wiping my ass with anyway, just like his commentary. I cant wait until we turn this shit around so I can read all these asswipes praising Al Davis and the organization. The flavor of the week journalism that allows these guys to be the most opinionated people alive one week and then changing their whole stance after a couple of wins is laughable mayne.

Al Davis = Legandary and Immortal football god (prolly literally too)with extreme significance to the game.

Hack Reporters = a dime a 1,000 dozen, bumps in the road on the way to greatness for Al Davis. No historic significance, forgotten shortly before or after death.

[massraider]

i seem to have missed those moments.

Then you don't read his stuff.

[TommyGirl]

Based on what?

That is a great question indeed. I guess I'm a pro at deluding myself.

[TommyGirl]

For the record, I dig Dr. Z. I also happen to agree with him in this case. The season past left a horrible taste in...NEVERMIND.

If I'm a pretty good Raiders' fan by anybody's standards, and I'm having an incredibly hard time mustering up enthusiasm for camp, let alone the draft, then I suppose his statement about not wanting to hang out with him is pretty spot on.

[Raider Nation]

Natty, have we NOT outgrown the notion that accusing someone of having female genitalia is somehow talking trash?

Back in the kitchen split-tail, the cookies are burning!

[Raidermania12]

Then you don't read his stuff.

not all of it, but was i supposed to keep reading it if i wasn't impressed and would i try to read more when he just admitted that its based on a slight towards my team? :confused:

We can relate to his analogy, but how relevant was it to the question the fan posed?

[TommyGirl]

not all of it, but was i supposed to keep reading it if i wasn't impressed and would i try to read more when he just admitted that its based on a slight towards my team? :confused:

We can relate to his analogy, but how relevant was it to the question the fan posed?
I suppose his answer pre-supposed that the reader would understand that he doesn't hate the Raiders; It just pains him to see what a sad excuse for a ball team they've become.

[007]

I suppose his answer pre-supposed that the reader would understand that he doesn't hate the Raiders; It just pains him to see what a sad excuse for a ball team they've become.

Yeah...He doesnt hate the Raiders.

He just rags on them every chance he gets.

Dirtbag Dr.Z piece of shit.

[hawaiianboy]

For the record, I dig Dr. Z. I also happen to agree with him in this case. The season past left a horrible taste in...NEVERMIND.

I agree... As long as he's writing and not on TV, I don't mind him... He sucked as the TV draft expert though... Kiper is great in comparison...



If I'm a pretty good Raiders' fan by anybody's standards, and I'm having an incredibly hard time mustering up enthusiasm for camp, let alone the draft,




Christ... rub some dirt on it and get back in the game already dammit... :mad:

[007]

You bunch of Raider hatin', tampon wearing, pussies.

What happened to the: 'Your either with us or against us' attitude?

We're the damn Raiders, after all. The big, bad, nasty, Silver and Black!

;)

[Raidermania12]

Yeah...He doesnt hate the Raiders.

He just rags on them every chance he gets.

Dirtbag Dr.Z piece of shit.

yikes i gotta actually agree with 007. :eek:

you guys are making excuses for him blatantly saying he's taking digs at the raiders, then trying to please your fan element by saying its because they disappoint him. Damn next you know Peter King will be our #1 fan while smashing us inside out.

if you like his articles cool. but if you think he's disappointed in our team rather than hating on it, then good luck with that. I'll stick to my conspiracy theory. :P

Its like a dude saying "Yea I fuck your wife right in front of you, But she's a rotten whore and I hate doing it."

[TommyGirl]

Christ... rub some dirt on it and get back in the game already dammit... :mad:
YOU shut up. Believe me. You don't wantin' me posting my Little Al picks. You have SOME degree of self-esteem left. Why give that up?

[TheNextStep]

Natty, have we NOT outgrown the notion that accusing someone of having female genitalia is somehow talking trash?

Oh, wait. I read the Little Al trash talking thread.

SO sophomoric. I thought you guys could do better than that.

Further proof that the most important part of a male-to-female sex change operation is the frontal lobotomy.



Anyway, I don't really have an axe to grind with Z as a "Raider Hater." He's a dick for lobbying against Ray Guy and he knows damned good and well that there are a lot of great Raiders being frozen out (I loved the story a few years ago - written by Z - that told of Al Davis personally chastising him about it), but the guy DOES watch football with a critical eye and isn't prone to falling to his knees the moment the flavor of the month is decided.

Also, I agree with HB - if we want to shut up the "haters" we'd better do a hell of a lot better than 2-14. Everyone in the media is going to dog us this off-season. Why? Because we haven't really given them any reason not to.

[RaiderIVlife]

Further proof that the most important part of a male-to-female sex change operation is the frontal lobotomy.



Anyway, I don't really have an axe to grind with Z as a "Raider Hater." He's a dick for lobbying against Ray Guy and he knows damned good and well that there are a lot of great Raiders being frozen out (I loved the story a few years ago - written by Z - that told of Al Davis personally chastising him about it), but the guy DOES watch football with a critical eye and isn't prone to falling to his knees the moment the flavor of the month is decided.

Also, I agree with HB - if we want to shut up the "haters" we'd better do a hell of a lot better than 2-14. Everyone in the media is going to dog us this off-season. Why? Because we haven't really given them any reason not to.

I agree with all that.

I also agree with the sentiment that it's time to "rub some dirt in it and get back in there" or whatever HB said up there.

I'm actually optimistic and excited about this season. I'm usually that way, but no matter. Time to get on board. The team has, by almost any measure a pretty solid coaching staff given the circumstances, a lot of young talent on Defense, a few potential pieces on offense, the 1st pick in the draft plus a few exra's on Day One.

This team will be better. The question is how much?

[R4Life]

Another Blogger's take. I think he wants some dirt rubbed in it as well...

News You Can't Use
Here's what one Sports Irritating, I mean Illustrated, columnist had to say about the Raiders last week: "I don't dislike the Raiders. It's just that ... how can I put this? It's like having a son you were once very proud of. A little rough at times, but he struggled and achieved and overcame a lot. Many people were against him. And then he just gave up. You look at him and you see a slouching person, nearing middle age, hair thinning, cigarette smoke staining his fingers, talking out of the side of his mouth, continually lying. Is this really your son? Well, yeah, and you still love him underneath it all. You just don't enjoy being around him.''

As if that wasn't enough foam out of the mouth, now one of his esteemed colleagues reprints it as one of his "quotes of the day." They've certainly mastered the art of self-congratulatory navel gazing over there at SI. So the Raiders have given up? Four losing seasons following a Super Bowl berth means we've given up? Those are fightin' words, friends.

This arrives in the wake of the following recent quote from yet another SI columnist: "The two words used most frequently on draft weekend by Raiders coach Lane Kiffin will be 'Yes, boss' -- followed closely by 'Great call!' and 'Cream? Sugar?'"

One of these guys is in bed with the Patriots, and another is sleeping with the 49ers, so you'll have to excuse them for the hatred oozing out of their pores.

Anyhow, that's three SI columnists in two weeks publishing juvenile riffs on the Raiders. This is the point where people write and say, "What do you care? Who cares what they write? What do you expect, we're 2-14!"

Here's what I say to that: Way to back up your team. Way to fight back. Way to be a Raider. Yes, let's all go mute while influential sportswriters hate on our team like no other 2-14 team before it, like no other team that has won its division three times, advanced to the AFC Championships twice and even appeared in the Super Bowl in this yet-unfinished decade. Let's say nothing and allow these clowns to keep hating without any response or reaction. Let's allow them to keep misinforming potential fans who could fill seats and help make sure our team remains viable in Oakland. Yes, that's the spirit.

And that, Raiders fans, is news you can't use
http://raidertake.blogspot.com/

[TheNextStep]

Are those sportswriters influential? How so? Do they determine the shape or direction of a team? Do they affect my passion for my team? Do they make any personnel decisions for my team? Do they represent any potential free agents that my team might be interested in?

How, exactly, are these guys supposed to be influential? The answer is, "they're not." They aren't "influential... what they are is sometimes entertaining and (hopefully) sometimes informative. That's it. That's all that they are.

Now, do I enjoy reading stuff like that? No, of course not. However, do I think it is "un-Raider" to not throw a fit about it? Also, of course not.

"Being a Raider" doesn't mean writing nasty emails to everyone who deigns to have a different opinion than yours or call them "haters" or suggest that they ought to get more acquainted with their own genitalia. "Being a Raider" means getting on the field and making them eat their fucking words. Unfortunately, we haven't been doing that of late. Once we do, they'll all either shut the hell up or start singing a different tune.

That's the way it is. Nothing that I can say changes that reality. Also, I don't buy the weak "misinforming potential fans who could fill up seats" bullshit either. I'm pretty certain that if everyone on the board wrote, "Fuck Doctor Z!" it wouldn't mean the difference between a half-empty stadium or a sell out.

[massraider]

This guy is taking Dr. Z's comments all wrong.

I read what Dr. Z said as, "I like the Raiders, and I'm embarrassed for them for what they have become."

Strikes me as an understandable position.

[BigTron]

Last year would have been fine, mid way through last season. But with Kiffin, R.Ryan, Knapp and Cable, some nice free agents and key resigning's + a TON of good draft picks. This shit is pissing on my campfire...and ive been drinking the spiked Kiffin cool aid and wearing silver and black, so you know that aint going down at my campsite. This dude will need a real DR. if he keeps printing this buillshit. Figured id work in Ark Raiders sweet camping photos, haha. Seriously though i can take alot of bashing but this is too graphic and disrepectful, we are not a retarded drooling son that cant get his shit straight, we are a proud franchise fallen on hard times. Al Davis is like one of the founding fathers of the NFL not a fortunate son. How many owners used to be serious football coaches?I look at Al Davis more like a King whose aging and his kingdom is not what it used to be. But he is poised to make one last great move for his people and leave them in good shape for the future as his glorious reign naturally comes to an end. Its a good day to be a Raider fan, our future is bright.

[TommyGirl]

This guy is taking Dr. Z's comments all wrong.

I read what Dr. Z said as, "I like the Raiders, and I'm embarrassed for them for what they have become."

Strikes me as an understandable position.

What the HELL, dude? Why ruin all of this fun by dosing it with levity?

[massraider]

What the HELL, dude? Why ruin all of this fun by dosing it with levity?

Eh, I shouldn't have even come back in this thread. :o