Thursday, November 30, 2006

News You Can't Use

Can you believe that a “sportswriter” actually draws a paycheck from a major media outlet while writing the following: “…The game will be decisively lost. You Raider fans will endure all of it because you still believe your heart rather than your own lying eyes, and good on you and your blind, delusional faith. It's good to believe in something, even if it's just a sham.”

Wow, you can pull a hamstring hating like that.


The author of this love letter, of course, is none other than Raider Take’s favorite columnist, the bloviating wordsmith of unintentional haiku, the guy who assured us that Al Saunders was the next head coach of the Raiders, and that winning big was the only way for the team to sell out the Coliseum. You know, the guy who last year wrote not one, but two Raider-hating articles within a span of 24 hours.

Do you think we might have a bias problem here?

Let’s return to this latest love letter, which was published before the recent Chargers game, and which has been stuck in my craw ever since. As a Raiders fan, do you not feel personally attacked? You and your “lying eyes” and “delusional faith,” you "blind" imbecile! The sad thing is that this man was likely once a sports fan just like us. But he has forgotten what it’s like, or means, to be a fan. The job has apparently worn him down and crushed his soul. He hates the Raiders, he hates you, and he probably hates professional sports.

I’m sure that it’s hard to maintain a fan’s innocent and unwavering fanaticism when you’re on the sports beat and grinding out stories under deadline. Any time something becomes your job, it naturally loses a bit of luster. But that’s no excuse to denigrate the very basis of your existence as a sportswriter: the reader, a.k.a. the fan. I’m sure that Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune and Phil Barber of the Press-Democrat have some rough days, too, but they still seem to love the sport and respect the fan.

The above-referenced "lying eyes" column was published on Friday morning, November 24. Think about that. Unless our friend had this piece in the can for a few days, he must have written it on…Thanksgiving! What a joyous way to spend the holiday. It pains me to think of what he has planned for Christmas.

It doesn’t stop there, of course. Just yesterday, he published
yet another column ripping the Raiders, in which he wrote the following: “His (Al Davis’s) team, in fact, is 15-45 since the morning of Super Bowl 3XV2I, and is as irrelevant as it was since the day he landed in 1963.”

His grammar here is twisted as usual ("is as irrelevant as it was since?"), but he seems to be saying that the Raiders have been irrelevant since 1963. Good grief, isn’t there an editor in the building over there on Mission Street? Or does our guy simply have carte blanche to conduct drive-by journalism, no matter how absurd his statements, grammar or logic?

Maybe we should all chip in and buy our favorite columnist a one-way ticket to Canton, Ohio, where he can learn about the Raiders’ irrelevance since 1963. In fact, he can fly out on December 25. He’s clearly overdue for a happy holiday.

And that, Raiders fans, is news you can’t use.


P.S. Thanks to LeighRaider in England and BamaRaider for sending links and helping inspire this take.

25 Comments:

Blogger Joaquin said...

Pantyraider beat me to it.
Why anyone would read anything that clown writes is beyond me.
The guy is nothing but a whining titty baby.
Screw him!

5:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blind faith? Wow! Has he not watched our defense? Just a big improvement from the last 3 seasons, and it's only going to get better. Not too mention one of the bright spots on our season, that continues to give us hope.
Another is special teams.
RT, this guy writes this crap just to get inside Raider fan's craw. He likes our craw, it's warm, cozy, and he has a "jolly" good time there. Not to mention, it's the closest things to "big silver and black brass ones" that he will ever see, and wishes he could become.
The reason it doesn't bother me so much, is watch how his opinion will change the next time we make it to the Big Dance and pummell our opponent. That is when I will personally drop him a line, giving him a nice shove off the plank of the Raider Bandwagon Party Pontoon.
I'm not in the Bay Area, but when I did, I remember this guy has always written disdainly of the Raiders, and more specifically Al Davis. He's a product of the DeBartolo/Policy era, and has sucked on them his whole career. Now that they're gone, he's turned his focus to hatred. Because he feels it was Al Davis who chased his love triangle out.

6:06 AM  
Blogger StickUm25 said...

I read that, and discounted it as another shot by a San Francisco paper - I gave up reading them long ago. When you figure that he is so far out of it that he didn't know Merriman wouldn't be playing, how can you take him seriously? But it's a good point - his editors must be incompetent as well, or they would have caught it. Maybe he wrote it after downing a couple of bottles . . .

Side note - could this article have been one of the things that set Art off this week? Could be some of the comments were things that Lombardi (assuming it is him) has said in the past.

6:49 AM  
Blogger Penny Distribution said...

Ha!

Funny your NYCU articles always draw the "Why would your read that" comments! See the last NYCU article for a thorogh discussion of why we read these articles and critique...It's a valuable public service!

Thanks, RT. I mean, even look at the guy's picture! It's obvious he needs something to gripe about, and he sure never gripes about the 9ers!

9:42 AM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Thanks, HorsecollarJack!

Indeed, for those who say we shouldn't hold these haters accountable: the Chronicle is distributed to a half million people each day (and that's just the print edition). Do you not think that some of those people just might have filled some of the empty seats this Sunday (or future Sundays) if they weren't constantly being fed slander about the Raiders and Raiders fans on a regular basis?

If you don't care about empty seats, and about bringing new fans into the fold, then how will you respond if the Raiders leave Oakland because of an unviable economic environment?

10:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stupid sports writers aside...

From Marcus, to Porter, and now, Lombardi, Art Shell has shown a good deal of paranoia is running round his head.

Maybe Shell is right in each case, or perhaps some things have been imagined, but, I can't see Shell lasting for the long term if he keeps going down this road.

12:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Raider00 said, "Maybe Shell is right in each case, or perhaps some things have been imagined, but, I can't see Shell lasting for the long term if he keeps going down this road."
I thnk this places him in the perfect position to take over Al Davis' position as owner. The same paranoia that drives Shell, is what drives Davis to sue the living crap out of the city of LA, Oakland, and the NFL.

1:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PantyRaider,

I could name you many coaches, who coached in the NFL for 20 + yrs, that did not have even one, Marcus, Porter, or Lombardi situation. Shell, for someone who really hasn't coached that long, has these "battles", popping up all over the place.

I think it's fair to at least ask the question why.

2:42 PM  
Blogger BlandaRocked said...

Here I am to advertise a new post up at BlandaRocked. Raider Take, do you normally charge for this?

4:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Am I the only person on the planet that is STILL disgusted at Art Shell for strolling onto the field to congratulate the Bills in 1990, after they kicked a field goal in the final minutes to make the score 52 - 3.

4:38 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Hey, BlandaRocked, no more than you all charge me for contributing great comments to Raider Take!

Please remember to write your full URL, some newcomers might know know your blog address.

5:21 PM  
Blogger BlandaRocked said...

Anon:

What? You prefer Joe Bugel who refused to appear at the post game press conference after losing to KC? I should hate Art Shell for being a good sport? For rising above it? I think that's called "character," Anon, and I tend to like that quality in people.

5:24 PM  
Blogger BlandaRocked said...

Thanks, RT. It's http://raiderhistory.blogspot.com/ for those who don't know.

5:26 PM  
Blogger Calico Jack said...

RT - Your NYCU editions are always entertaining. If 'defending the Nation' leads to and sways 5, 50, or 500 fans to buy a ticket to the game, it is a noble cause. Your passion for the Raiders and perspective is a much needed anitdote to Ray "smug" Rat-O.

BR - You are linked to my site. I only charge $6.00...enough for a pint of Guiness to get me through the season of "As The Raiderworld Turns".

6:25 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Thanks, Calico Jack!!!

To PantyRaider and others who commented earlier today, my comment above about holding the haters accountable was not directed at you. I know that, even if you personally choose to ignore the hater-authored articles, we are all in the same boat when it comes to Defending The Nation.

Rather, it was directed at those who periodically come in here and say WE have NO business holding the media accountable for fairness and accuracy in Raiders coverage.

7:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lol, hey Raider losers, maybe if you actually won some freaking games, maybe the big mean writers will stop writing all those mean things about you! hahaha, I love to see the Raider ship at the bottom of the ocean. Does this Patriot heart very very good. My boys will be going to the playoffs again and then collect our fourth Lomardi, while your loser team is about to get swept by your own division for the 2nd year in a row. And then you will cry and whine about how the media hates you and writes mean things about you! I LOVE IT!!!!

7:57 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

I'm sure you're a pre-Tom Brady, card-carrying lifer Patriot fan who just happens to spend Friday night cruising Raiders blogs, right? Yeah, right.

8:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

whatever bro, I was goin to Patriots games when Foxboro was known as Schaefer and then Sullivan Stadium, I been through the ups and downs with my team, and at least I have a team now that has a future. You losers cant even win a game in your own division. You have won 15 games in 4 seasons, and you expect the media to be nice to you? I thought Jets fans were the biggest whiners around, but I stand corrected, I have never seen a bigger bunch of crybabies and whiners then Raider fans. Cant wait to come to Oakland in 2008 and stomp a mudhole in your asses, that is the only time we will ever play you guys again, cause God knows your team will never see the playoffs.

8:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PantyRaider,

I also always try to remember we are all Raiders fans rooting for the same goals. A Raider championship !!
You are one of my favorite bloggers here, and I love your positive spirit.

Having said that, let me respond by pointing out that yes, Gruden had problems with Porter, and Porter, I beleive, is a problem in general. But Gru never let his problem with Porter spill out onto the field. He never let it divide the lockerroom.

Also, I believe Gru was smart enough that if, Rice, or Brown were injured, he would have put his difference's aside, and put Porter on the field. No way would he start a lesser player, and hurt the teams chances of winning, just to prove a childish point.

An NFL headcoach has enough to deal with just trying to find a way to defeat the other team. The last thing he needs is in fighting with his own players, & GM.

I think this has happened enough with Shell, that we can say a bit of a trend has started. What if it happens again next year, what should we think then ??

Shell has to remember that his job is to stay focused and beat the opponent each week.
Not to beat Porter, & Lombardi.

8:36 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Well, Patriot fan, then you should know all about remaining loyal to your team during tough times, since your team didn't win jack for 42 years prior to Belichik.

P.S. Your first Lombardi comes with an asterisk known as the Tuck Rule.

9:49 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

R-8-er Mike, nice work and great ideas! Thanks!

9:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe you guys should see the light.. this team is a freakn joke.. aaron brooks walks around with his shitty grin.. fumbles and penalties.. i have been a loyal fan for 35 yrs but this is the pits.. i would boycott raider games.. make this team pay for the jokeland raider product on the field now.. it is real bad .. enuf is enuf.

4:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i am a Raider fan and i have to agree with the OTHER fan... he speaks the truth...if all of you would stop caring about what the hacks are writing and concentrate on what is ailing this team... it might actually start the movement to CHANGE... you all want to defend something that isn't defendable,how can anyone with a brain sit here and right that we as a team or going ANYWHERE????? most of you on here hide behind the " we are defending the nation,we are the true fans" WHAT A CROCK.... you are part of the problem,you keep feeding the monster of failure..you keep backing this garbage so you are a contributor to it.....WAKE UP...and 1 more thing,if most of you put your energy into wanting to get this organization turned around instead of whining what stupid ass reporters are writing,things might begin to change...... but no,according to you the team is ok,it's just the press' fault that we haven't had a TEAM for 4 freakin years and with no end in sight...try writing about that because all your denial and defelecting of the truth is truly pathetic.

6:24 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Hey, Anon, you tell me to try writing some criticism about the team, why don't you try reading what I've written over the past several months. There's been no shortage of criticism on these pages.

I notice that every time I write News You Can't Use, a handful of people come in here and whine that I'm whining. Name calling is not a take. I don't mind if you disagree with my points, but make your case. I have called out this journalist for some very specific reasons. Where am I specifically wrong?

8:32 AM  
Blogger yanmaneee said...

michael kors outlet
vapor max
yeezy boost 350
michael kors purses
nike max
fitflops sale clearance
kobe shoes
moncler jackets
air force 1
nike kd 11
20181212xixi888

6:33 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home