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in 1979 my cousing gave me a hand me down. it was a raiders varsity jacket. black with the gray sleeves. it was bad ass. it spoke for me when walking the halls of hunnewell elementary. i just fell in love with them then. of course they were good. plunkett wins 2 superbowls and all was well. but then came the jay schroeder years. the absolute blowout in buffalo, todd marinovichs interceptions in kansas city. those playoff years were hard. then hoss shows us some guts and we finally get to gannon. its all coming together. the patriots had been my second favorite team having grown up in mass but the raiders were number 1. i remember the raiders intercepting tampa bay on the first drive. they only get a field goal out of it but im thinking the raiders have this no problem. then tampa bay just swarms oaklands offense from every angle and they crush the raiders. i was in shock. a year later comes the snow bowl. im living in orlando watching the game and my friends and family ask who im rooting for. i say the raiders but its hard. then in the fourth quarter they show a fan in the stands. he looks cold. he looks like society dismissed him long ago but he has wants like everyone else. at that moment i wanted that guy to be happy. i then realized i wanted my dad to be happy. right then and there i switched to the pats. no doubt brady fumbled and oakland won that game but it went my new favorite teams way instead. my dad came down to orlando to visit and we watched the patriots win their first superbowl together. it was awesome. since then ive never really had a reason to care about the raiders but i will never forget what they did for me.
Raiders to block off top of Mt. Davis February 6, 2013, 10:30 am
As part of a stadium "capacity adjustment" for the 2013 NFL season, the Raiders are going to block off the top of Mt. Davis on the east side of the O.co Coliseum -- sections 335 through 355 -- as well as upper deck sections 300 through 303 on the south side of the original stadium and sections 331 through 334 on the north side.
It is not yet known how many total seats are in those sections but with a pre-adjusted capacity of 63,132, the Coliseum had the second-lowest in the NFL, ahead of the Chicago Bears' Soldier Field, which is listed at 61,500.
The Raiders are going to announce Wednesday afternoon specifics to the new plan, which includes a price reduction on some season tickets.
Since returning to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995, the Raiders struggled with selling enough tickets to avoid local television blackouts. But in 2011, the Raiders sold out every home game and in 2012, after taking advantage of the league's 85 percent threshold rule, meaning they did not have to sell every seat in the Coliseum to avoid blackouts, seven of eight home games were televised locally. The only blackout was against Cleveland on Dec. 2.
In fact, the Raiders have televised 15 of their last 16 home games, and since 1995, the Raiders have televised 64 home games and been forced to black out 80 games.
The Raiders fired P.R. Director Zak Gilbert Saturday. Gilbert had been on the job for one year, and was fired by Raiders owner Mark Davis after he had been brought in by general manager Reggie McKenzie, who had worked with Gilbert in Green Bay.
Team sources say Davis was unhappy with a Sports Illustrated story that was published in April looking back on the team’s 4-12 season in 2012. The article, written by Jim Trotter, cast McKenzie in a good light but Mark Davis didn’t like how the story painted him or the job done by his father, late owner Al Davis, in the previous 10 years.
Gilbert had not been at the facility since the story came out, and was on leave pending Mark Davis’ decision. Will Kiss and Erin Exum have been coordinating interviews and media access during the NFL Draft and organized workouts.
Gilbert sent out this statement:
“I’d like to thank Mark Davis for the honor of serving the Raiders, and Reggie McKenzie for hiring me. I leave holding my chin up, knowing I dedicated every waking hour to promoting a positive image for our team. The co-workers in my Raiders family are extraordinary; the camaraderie we built was really special. Talking to Raiders fans on a weekly basis, I learned first-hand that their passion and loyalty is unmatched. I have great respect for the team’s rich history and took seriously the role of preserving it. Although disappointed that I can’t remain on the ride, I wish Reggie and Dennis Allen absolutely nothing but success in a bright future.”
Gilbert, 37, was the chief assistant in the Green Bay Packers public relations office from 2001-07, before going to Colorado State University, where he served as director of athletic media relations until 2012.
Joined: Wed December 12, 2012 10:33 pm Posts: 6932
Peter King gives a scary reminder what could have been. I find something quite sweet about two of Al Davis's most hated teams teaming up to screw up his very last draft:
TURLOCK, Calif. -- Colin Kaepernick a Raider. Imagine the change in history.
"I think about it all the time, believe me,'' Hue Jackson, the rookie Raiders coach on Draft Day 2011, said Sunday night. "No question in my mind we wanted it to happen, and no question I thought it could happen. We wanted the kid in the worst way.''
I was with Kaepernick Thursday night when he surprised his retiring Turlock Pitman High football coach, Brandon Harris, at the Pitman High School graduation about two hours east of San Francisco. What a surprise it was. Walking offstage on a warm central California night, the begowned Harris hugged Kaepernick and said: "You came for this?! Unbelievable!"
Before the event, I spoke with Kaepernick and his dad, Rick, mentioning to them I'd been with the 49ers on draft weekend 2011 when they traded up and picked him. I asked both about reports (some of them mine) that the Raiders were interested in picking him as much as the Niners were.
"Coach Jackson told me before the draft they were going to do everything they could to try to get me,'' said Kaepernick. "I thought there was a good chance they'd pick me. I never heard anything from the 49ers before the draft after I worked out for them [at Nevada]. I just figured they weren't interested."
Brilliant disguise. That was the first fast one coach Jim Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke -- working together for the first time -- pulled on the league, and, as you have seen, it wasn't the last.
A quick recent history lesson: The Raiders had Kaepernick the top-rated quarterback on their draft board -- ahead of the five quarterbacks who were taken ahead of him that year (Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder and Andy Dalton). And both teams knew they could wait until the second round to get him. The Niners picked seventh overall (Aldon Smith) and 45th, Oakland 48th, having given up its first-round pick in the Richard Seymour deal with New England.
Baalke called the Patriots, who owned the first pick of the second round, and offered two third-round picks (one in '11, one in '12) to move up 12 spots. New England wanted one of the thirds to be a second. No dice, Baalke said. Oakland called New England too, and failed to get the pick. "When we talked internally,'' Jackson said, "we knew we needed to fortify the offensive line, and we really liked Stefan Wisniewski. I think [Al Davis] felt we'd get a lineman who we figured could play for us for 10 years, then we had two third-round picks, and we'd try to move up late in the second round or higher in the third and try to get Colin."
But the 49ers knew the Raiders loved Kaepernick; it'd been in the media before the draft. So they kept working the top of the second round, and finally got the Broncos, at 36, to bite. Good price, too: It didn't cost the Niners two third-round picks to move up; it cost fourth- and fifth-rounders. "When they made the trade,'' Jackson said, "I knew exactly what they were going to do. They were going to take Colin."
Rick Kaepernick, Colin's dad, told me he'd heard Al Davis threw a glass across the room when it was announced San Francisco had taken him.
"I don't know that he threw anything,'' said Jackson. "But he was upset. So was I. Scouting him, I fell in love with the kid. Leader, won a ton of games at Nevada, really impressive when you talked to him, strong, all the tools to win in the NFL. No doubt in my mind he was going to be good.''
Would Jackson still be coaching Oakland had Kaepernick fallen to them? Certainly, Carson Palmer wouldn't have been traded to the quarterback-needy Raiders six months later. Certainly, the Raiders wouldn't have used (wasted?) a third-round Supplemental Draft pick two months later on Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. With Kaepernick, the Raiders likely would have stuck him in the lineup in mid-2011, when Jason Campbell went down with an injury. And I doubt sincerely Oakland would have gone 4-12 last fall with Kaepernick playing.
Not to be a wise guy, but figure the Patriots had the same pricetag for the Raiders that they did for San Francisco: second- and third-round picks in 2011 and a third-rounder in 2012. Let's see what the Raiders could have traded to move up to get Kaepernick:
• Center Stefen Wisniewski (second round, 2011). Had a so-so rookie year at left guard, then a slightly better year when switched to center in 2012. Center of the future for the Raiders, but not likely a Pro Bowl player.
• Cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke (third round, 2011). Played about 30 percent of the snaps as a backup corner in 2011. Released in the last cut last year.
• Quarterback Terrelle Pryor (third round, 2012, with pick assigned to Supplemental Draft in 2011). He has thrown 30 passes in mop-up duty in two years. Doesn't appear to have much chance to be the Raiders quarterback of the future.
Would you, Raiders fans, trade Wisniewski, Van Dyke and Pryor for Kaepernick?
Thought so.
Of course, San Francisco's pretty pleased with the results. It's not exactly the value of getting Joe Montana 82nd in the 1979 draft, but getting Kaepernick at 36 could turn out to be a franchise-altering deal if he can stay upright. The pick sure looks good now, after Kaepernick replaced Alex Smith in November 2012 and quarterbacked the Niners to their excruciating Super Bowl loss in his second season.
"Ever wonder what would have happened if the other team in the Bay Area had picked you?'' I asked Colin at Pitman High Thursday night.
"I don't think too much about things like that,'' Kaepernick said. Then he smiled. "But I am pretty happy how things turned out."
Joined: Wed December 12, 2012 10:33 pm Posts: 6932
I enjoy how Reggie McKenzie spent all that time letting quality players walk and cutting other players so that you'd have enough room to sign the kicker to a $19 million deal with $8 million guaranteed.
Joined: Wed December 12, 2012 10:33 pm Posts: 6932
Peeps wrote:
The Black Hole was giving each Eagles TD recipient the finger all game. You'd think that after TD #7 they'd get the hint that they got their asses handed to them.
Joined: Wed December 12, 2012 10:33 pm Posts: 6932
Oh man, Mike Silver just unloaded on the Raiders, and he's spent the past few hours arguing with their fans. I miss the days when a Raiders information minster would accuse Silver of all kinds of nasty things.
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