C'mon, Lane, you KNOW who to start this Sunday

So the Raiders finally added JaMarcus to the roster, making way for him by cutting veteran DB Duane Starks, rather than ship off poor Andrew Walter. This report from John Clayton says that Walter's future is dependant on whether or not Josh McCown's foot will gimpify him for an extended period of time. Okay, here's the thing, there should be no dilemma here. Here's why:

1) Culpepper should be starting ahead of McCown, regardless. Especially with his former team in Miami up next on the schedule. Think he doesn't know what kind of tricks the Dolphins are up to? Daunte will be geared up.

2) Reminder: Daunte stepped in against Cleveland. What happened? A victory.

3) You managed to ship Randy Moss for a mere 4th round pick. You can't get at least a 6th rounder for Walter???

Of course, I understand that JaMarcus Russell is actually the problem, here. The guy still doesn't have a clue about the offense and if Culpepper goes down with McCown already lame, we're screwed. A fine Raider situation, indeed.


Elsewhere, the hot button topic the last couple days is OK State's Mike Gundy blowing up at a press conference, slaying the Daily Oklahoman. Well, the columnist of the article in question has fired back. After reading her rebuttal, I'm left wondering what the hell it is that got Gundy so bent out of shape. His image may have just plummeted from model of integrity to over-protective cry-baby -- the type of parent who shelters their child from everything, resulting in a warped, timid approach to life.

Well look who decided to finally sign an effing contract

Before getting to the titular subject, a couple NFL bits.

1. Given all the allegations of cheating (not only against the Jets, but also last season versus Green Bay), the whole Brad Childress fiasco (non-story, that it is), the celebration at midfield in San Diego, Rodney Harrison's HGH suspension, the acquisition of Randy Moss, The Snowjob in 2001, etc, etc, etc... is there any reason not to think that the Patriots are scum?

2. How screwed up are the Cleveland Browns? More over, how out of his depth is Romeo Crennel? Sending Charlie Frye to Seattle for a mere 6th-round pick after just two and a half quarters of football, having annointed him the starter coming out of preseason (a decision which many generally consider to have a great deal of thought attached to it) might be the final straw. Crennel doesn't know what's going on. If you were this down on Frye, why suffer through playing him over Derek Anderson (and, yes, the not-quite-ready Brady Quinn), when all it took was one bad half of football to say, "You know what? I'm not comfortable having you on the team. Forget what I said minutes ago about you being the starter." Woof. The Browns are going to get mangled by Cincinnati on Sunday.

3. Speaking of the Bengals, they should consider themselves lucky to get the win, last night, for two reasons. 1) That was never an offensive pass interference on Todd Heap and the touchdown clearly should've stood. 2) The Ravens weren't smart enough to just let Willis McGahee barrell through the tackles from 1st and goal on the 1. That's just stupidity.

4. Thoughts go out to Kevin Everett, formerly of the Bills. A crystal clear reminder of how the word "priveledge" -- as in, "It's a priveledge to play in the NFL" -- is well overstated. Your life is on the line. Your well-being is on the line. All you get in return, tangibly, is money (and they, NFLers, deserve every penny they earn). That being said...

5. JaMarcus "$61 million" Russell is finally an Oakland Raider. $32 million in guaranteed money for a guy who might be able to contribute midway through next season. Forget being familiar with the playbook, this year. That ship has long since sailed. He's been on my s-list for a while, now, as I never agreed with the pick to begin with (I was far more in favor of trading down, selecting Calvin Johnson, and using the gained draft picks to help address other needs), but now... Now that Russell is the highest paid rookie in NFL history (and last I checked, rookies -- especially QBs -- were more likely to bust than to succeed), he's got a serious uphill battle to wage if he's going to gain my support. Not that he cares the slightest about that, and, hey, give the man credit for scoring a massive payday. But to me, it's an issue of principal. Far too many have brought the hammer down on the Raiders' organization and tyrannical Al Davis for failing to get this deal done back in July (and that criticism is well-warranted) without giving any grief to Russell's camp. This season is a waste as far as his development goes. So let me ask, how worthwhile will this guy turn out to be? I'm skeptical, to say the least. Now, let's start Daunte and see what happens.

Predictions for the weekend

- No matter what the reports are saying, JaMarcus Russell will remain unsigned by the Oakland Raiders. And it's all this senile crazy's fault!

- Despite issues with Russell, the Raiders will win (and cover) their season-opener at home against Detroit 16-12.

- In addition to Oakland winning, the Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, and Washington Redskins all start the season with Ws, too. (Granted, they're playing Kansas City, Atlanta, and Miami, respectively, but shut up) During the Vike's win, Adrian Peterson announces his candidacy for offensive rookie of the year in a big way.

- Roger Federer (do I even have to say that he'll grab the US Open on Sunday?) beats Novak Djokovic in a classic four-set final.

- Because Major League Baseball is HELL-BENT on finding a feel-good story to combat their dishonest image of cheaters and steroid-abusers, the reports of everyone's favorite "special retard" will be ignored. At least, for now, while he's still hitting homeruns.

- Arizona will score at least two touchdowns en route to beating Northern Arizona on Saturday night in Tucson. You might be thinking, "Hey, jerk, duh! Of course that's going to happen." To that, I would respond, "Did you see the BYU game?"

- I will miss this weekend's action from the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off tonight, because I don't get bloody Setanta and probably won't be getting up super-early to find a pub that does. However, South Africa (with a boost from Nelson) open with a victory over Samoa and the USA (Yes! They're in the RWC! Again! You'd never know, living in this country.) will get flogged by an underachieving England side.

- Jimmy Clausen will throw four interceptions and not finish the game, as Penn State beats Notre Dame by three touchdowns.

- No player in the NFL will have as bad a performance, during week 1, as Jason David of the Saints did, last night. Absolutely shocking.

- No NFL team will look as dominant and impressive, during week 1, as Peyton Manning and the Colts did, last night. Cripes, they looked in mid-season form. Frightening, really.

- No matter what the result, there'll be far too many rednecks at the Virginia Tech v LSU game. Tigers by a touchdown in what turns out to be a really boring game characterized more by mistakes than good defense. 17-10.

- Michigan squeaks out a late field goal to beat Oregon, but their defense continues to be decimated.

- Israel will shock the world and steal a 0-0 draw at Wembley, this weekend, during Euro 2008 qualifiers. Steve McLaren will come under fire, once again, for being an idiot.

- When I attend tomorrow's Galaxy game against the Colorado Rapids, the stadium will be half-empty because a) Beckham is out, and b) this is the worst team in MLS. Rapids 3 - 1 Galaxy.

Football and Futbol

It's the NFL's favorite train-wreck, the Oakland Raiders! Yay, my team! Mike Freeman at CBS Sportsline chimes in with a rather uninspired, easy pile-on as to why the Raiders are the laughing stock of the league. I'm not about to deny that that is the case, for now. But let me tell you a couple three things, the longer this JaMarcus Russell eff-up lingers and drags out, the more and more I side with the franchise. Honestly, people like Freeman can slobber and fall all over themselves about how Russell will deliver this team to greatness, but anyone can tell you that it's no lock. Hell, the guy hasn't taken a single snap, WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME SHOULD HE BE GUARANTEED MORE MONEY THAN GOD HIMSELF? I understand where Russell's camp is coming from, too. If the market is there, you seize upon it. Economics 101. But he hasn't done a damn thing yet. Frankly, I just as soon see him holdout for the whole season, at this point. Culpepper is more than servicable and both McCown and Walter are adequate backups. This team has no illusions of reaching the playoffs this season, so why cave and give the rookie everything he wants? Obviously, the way this has unfolded has been classic Raiders in the worst sense, but, in a strange way, it's also classic Raiders in an historical, defiant sense. "We're not going to be the team bullied around by some punk kid."

Maybe I'm reaching.

Listen, JaMarcus, you'll make more than Brady Quinn, more than Alex Smith, just get your punk-ass into camp. Because the longer the holdout goes, the worse YOU look. Not the team. And it behooves guys like Mike Freeman and other media hacks who take the easy road and pile-on rather than analyze and opine to adopt that mentality at this stage in the game. You want to change the absurd culture surrounding NFL Draft picks? That would be a start.



Meanwhile, in the more appropriately named football, this David Beckham character finally scored his first goal for the Galaxy. I have to say, even with all the ambivalence I've felt since his arrival and the fact that I can't imagine any knowledgable fan placing Beckham among the top 30 players in the world (if not top 50), it did feel pretty good to see him get off the shnide. In classic free kick fashion, to boot. Reminiscent of England-Greece at Old Trafford.

Across the pond. Listen, you really think a fractured toe is going to keep the skipper off the pitch on Sunday versus Chelsea? You must be dreaming. It's actually win-win for Liverpool fans: Gerrard will play on Sunday and skip the meaningless friendly against Germany. Huzzah!

My, the plot thickens for the mystery wrapped in an enigma know as West Ham. They finally brought in Kieron Dyer (realizing my dream -- albeit an insincere one -- of reuniting Dyer with Lee Bowyer) right as they get ready to pull their pants down and take one from behind at the hands of Sheffield United. If there's any justice, the Blades will be adequately compensated for their losses as a result of the whole Tevez-Mascherano swoop West Ham thought they successfully pulled off last season. True, if Sheffield win one more match, they stay in the top flight and none of this is an issue, but it's the principle of the matter. How bizarre, by the way, to think that less than a year ago, everyone was salivating over West Ham's Argentine makeover and look at them, now. Masch is with Liverpool, Tevez with the Mancs, and the Hammers still being haunted by the "third party owner." If the FA had handled this properly in the first place, Sheffield United would still be in the EPL. That's really all of the argument that you need to hear.

Picking Culpeppers

It's an interesting signing, Daunte Culpepper to the Raiders, to say the least. On the one hand, Oakland is picking up a veteran talent who, at the top of his game, is a Pro Bowl shoe-in -- a QB with the leadership and ability to shepherd a JaMarcus Russel (or, hell, even an Andrew Walter). But that hand is purely theoretical. The other hand -- the hand more grounded in tangible reality -- is the one favoring this signing as yet another stop-gap for the Raiders. Granted, those QB stop-gaps seem to be climbing the charts in relevance over the years (from Kerry Collins, to Aaron Brooks, to Daunte), but there's not much reason to cheer. Culpepper's body is broken and the distance to go to prove to the league that that is no longer the case is pretty substantial. Nevermind that every media pundit and fan happily overlooks Culpepper's penchant for turnovers (the man is "Captain Turnover," after all), even when fully healthy, the guy is stepping into an offense that is starting over from scratch. That includes having an inept offensive line. Yup. Culpepper will definitely get back on his A-game with all the protection he'll be receiving this year. Uh huh...

Anyway, the issue with JaMarcus is one that plagues the NFL and is one of those rare instances where football really can learn from the NBA. Regardless, I wouldn't have expected to see the #1 pick get any game action until around week 8 or 9. Now that Culpepper is in time, probably week 11 or 12.

Oh the Raiders... Amid all of this, however, I maintain that they'll beat the Lions in week 1. Booyeah!

Switching gears to the "other" football across the Atlantic, to a team regarded by many as the Oakland Raiders of the English Premier League (popular club that all opposition fans HATE, starved for success, serving to rabid, passionate, deprived fans amid constant turmoil), Newcastle United supporters didn't do themselves any favors when they descended upon unhappy star Kieron Dyer. You'll never see that kind of fervor over here. Imagine if Kobe Bryant's house was egged and surrounded the day he demanded a trade. Or his car mobbed by angry fans. Nope, not in this country. Not in a place where sports are considered a casual hobby rather than the only source of distraction from an oppressive, dreary existence in Northern England. I, for one, would laugh hysterically for days if Dyer went to West Ham. I'd pay money to see that reunion with Bowyer.

Only ten days 'til the return of the EPL! Me: excited. Liverpool kicks off with a visit to Aston Villa. Game on. I'll have to post some sort of predictions at a later time.