My NFL Forums | NFL Forums & Blogs

There's an ugly draft blowing through the bay

You don't have to be a citizen of Raider Nation, or even have a green card, to root for the Raiders. Even Raiduh Hatas can root for success for the team's top two draft picks, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Mitchell.

If those two turn out to be legit, the draft blowhards will never be the same. If Heyward-Bey even outplays Michael Crabtree the next couple of seasons, the bombastic nerds of Draftnik Nation will be forever humbled.

Never in the history of the draft have the various media experts beaten up on a guy the way they're piñata-ing Al Davis for his draft picks. And they may be right, but the draftniks are starting to come off like a creepy cult.

One unsavory byproduct of their sanctimony: The instant villlainization of innocent young men like Heyward-Bey.

So wouldn't it be nice to see the experts Three-Stooge-slapped by Davis in a Moe wig?

On a more serious note, those two Raiders picks also control the fate of Davis' flickering reputation. If they fail, will anyone ever take Davis seriously again?

Davis went full maverick in this draft, and eventually he will emerge as either the Comeback Kid, or a smoking slice of silver-and-black toast.
Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots. . .

-- Said Barry Bonds, talking on the radio about his baseball persona: "You know, I created that character out there so I could sell tickets." Tell it to the judge, dude.

-- Alex Rodriguez tips a pitch to an opposing batter. Batter tees off, smashes line drive off pitcher's forehead, pitcher drops dead. Awkward!

-- That said, a base hit is a base hit.

-- Even New Yorkers aren't arrogant enough to spend $1,000 a seat to watch the world's biggest phony.

-- Randy Brown, former backup guard for the Bulls during the Jordan era, has three championship rings. He declared bankruptcy and the rings will be auctioned off for at least $75,000 per. What kind of vulture buys that stuff? Hey, baby, let me buy you a drink. This ring? No, I don't play. I bought it for $100,000 from some broke guy you've never heard of. Cool, eh?

-- Will Bonds become the new Wilt Chamberlain? Wilt, until well into his 50s, would periodically proclaim that he could come back to the NBA and play effective ball.

-- Let's hope Congress fixes the BCS like it fixed the economy.

-- And when they're done, if they have time, maybe they can fix health care.

-- If you're a spectator at a NASCAR race and a driver lands in your lap, do you have to throw him back? Carl Edwards didn't quite make it into the cheap seats at Talladega, but the radio account of Edwards' oopsie probably went like this: "And there's a souvenir transmission for some lucky fan!"

-- Who says we can't play croquet in NorCal? Orinda's Ben Rothman recently won the singles and doubles titles at the USCA National championship. Kiss our mallets, world!

-- Bruce Bochy hates the term "personal catcher." Memo to Bochy: If, by crazy coincidence, Pablo Sandoval keeps showing up behind the plate when Barry Zito pitches, would you please give us another appropriate term to use?

-- Small thing, but is this the look of an NFL quarterback? Mark Sanchez gets the draft call, puts on his new Jets ballcap, and spends a few seconds oh-so-carefully smoothing back the hair around his ears.

-- Six Beijing Olympians have been nailed for EPO in recent tests using new technology. Tell you what, if they find out Jim Thorpe was juicing, I'm outta here.

-- Dennis Rodman is ordered to pay $250,000 to a former casino employee for grabbing and humiliating her at work in '06. Does that mean he also owes money to 200 former NBA foes?

-- Cubs fans can now be interred (when they die) in a mortuary that features a Wrigley Field-like brick wall, Cubs-colored urns and "skyboxes" for 288 "season ticket" holders. How cool! Spend eternity with a bunch of guys whining about a jinxed goat.

-- The Cubs seem OK with the mortuary, but the team announced that it will not change its long tradition. As always, this season's Cubbie World Championship dreams will be laid to rest at Wrigley Field.
Knucklehead of the week Billy Beane

In one game last week, three A's went down with pulled leg muscles. But it wasn't as weird as it sounds. They didn't all go down on the same play.

However, Billy Beane built this team with a blend of guys who can pull hammies and guys who can pull calfies.

Nomar Garciaparra, looong history of calf woes. Jason Giambi, hamstring tweaks are no surprise due to age and build. Mark Ellis, coming off a big injury. Eric Chavez, coming off 127 surgeries. Utility infielder Bobby Crosby (OK so far), not a good health history.

That's a lot of potential trouble to pack into one lineup, let alone one infield. Beane is the smartest architect in baseball, and maybe he has an exit strategy from this M*A*S*H unit, but how could this roster not spell trouble? Just thinking about it, I pulled a brain muscle.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Deep down...Do U really think that Al Davis give a FUCK! What the so call experts thinks? For that matter, He don't give a fuck.. what U or I think either.

He cares what I think.