Ted Washington to the Raiders...

[steelyeri]

if it's not a "dead end place", then would it be more sufficient to call it a Geriatric's Haven? either way...it seems to be where the old players go to finish their careers and the young ones don't want to be....

it's not that young players don't want to come to the raiders it's that al davis prefers vets. he doesn't have to pay them top dollar and they do well for him. last year was injury plagued but it wasn't a normal raider year. oakland also does a good job in developing the young players that they draft. and finally, i would rather have old players that are good than young ones that suck. I won't mention any names but i think we know what i mean.

DO you honestly believe the Raiders will compete this year?
.

the raiders aren't the cardinals or chargers or browns.
like i said we had a bad year, injuries suck but this year will be different.

And, I guarantee you that no New England fans would wish for the Raiders franchise--let alone half of it. .

please, new england fans only cheer for the patriots when
1. they win the super bowl
2. the red sox suck
and right now both are true.

And, yes, there is most certainly a conspiracy for the Patriots. We get all the calls. Right. And the refs made Oakland sign all old players.

hey, if old players can get us to the playoffs almost every year then it's fine with me. and yeah the ref is the patriot's 12th player on the field and without him there would be no superbowl for you my friend. no conspiracy

[Canacuna]

DO you honestly believe the Raiders will compete this year?

I think if last season was an abbreviation only due to injuries, which is entirely possible, they can be competitive. Rich Gannon can still be a good QB now that he's healthy and Callahan is gone. Jerry Porter was injured most of last season, but he looked great in the Raider SuperBowl run season. Norv Turner likes a RB who can grind it out, and while Tyrone Wheatley has never really been the #1 option, he's looked decent when I've seen him (not much, though) and certainly is big enough to run over some people. Their defense could actually be considered good compared to the others in the AFC West...

...Of course, Rich Gannon could have just gone through what Kurt Warner did (sudden suckiness), Jerry Porter may have been a one year wonder, Tyrone Wheatley can prove everyone right by sucking for an entire season, and the defense can be much worse than it is on paper.

[Transmogrifier]

if it's not a "dead end place", then would it be more sufficient to call it a Geriatric's Haven? either way...it seems to be where the old players go to finish their careers and the young ones don't want to be....

it's not that young players don't want to come to the raiders it's that al davis prefers vets. he doesn't have to pay them top dollar and they do well for him. last year was injury plagued but it wasn't a normal raider year. oakland also does a good job in developing the young players that they draft. and finally, i would rather have old players that are good than young ones that suck. I won't mention any names but i think we know what i mean.

DO you honestly believe the Raiders will compete this year?
.

the raiders aren't the cardinals or chargers or browns.
like i said we had a bad year, injuries suck but this year will be different.

And, I guarantee you that no New England fans would wish for the Raiders franchise--let alone half of it. .

please, new england fans only cheer for the patriots when
1. they win the super bowl
2. the red sox suck
and right now both are true.

And, yes, there is most certainly a conspiracy for the Patriots. We get all the calls. Right. And the refs made Oakland sign all old players.

hey, if old players can get us to the playoffs almost every year then it's fine with me. and yeah the ref is the patriot's 12th player on the field and without him there would be no superbowl for you my friend. no conspiracy

I'd be careful to label a large group of people like a fan base. Have you met all Patriot fans? While my first love is the Sox, that has nothing to do with my level of interest in the Pats. And, how do the Sox suck again? Your perception of suckiness is sure strange.

How is it that people still believe that the Patriots are only good because of the refs? It wasn't just one Superbowl, it's two. You are a really confused person.

[purestrength]

How is it that people still believe that the Patriots are only good because of the refs? It wasn't just one Superbowl, it's two. You are a really confused person.

People still believe it because it was obvious to anyone who watched the AFC championship game. Walt Coleman must be buddy-buddy with Belichick or Kraft or he must have had bets on the game to have no-called it the way he did.

The Patriots benefit from questionable officiating more than any team I can remember in any professional sport.

[moochman]

Hey Raider Nationites, good to hear from you again. Seems like most Raider fans have been silent since about mid-season last year. It's good to see that you have some optimism left. Don't let all the haters bring you down. The F/A season is upon us, and the draft is only 7 weeks away. Plenty of players out there to fill the gaps and all of the injuries will be healed. Every body will play up to their expectations and there will even be some surprises. I agree with you, a return to playoff form is right around the corner. Keep the faith, the playoffs are a possibility, signed Lions Fan.

[Transmogrifier]

How is it that people still believe that the Patriots are only good because of the refs? It wasn't just one Superbowl, it's two. You are a really confused person.

People still believe it because it was obvious to anyone who watched the AFC championship game. Walt Coleman must be buddy-buddy with Belichick or Kraft or he must have had bets on the game to have no-called it the way he did.

The Patriots benefit from questionable officiating more than any team I can remember in any professional sport.

Welcome to the cafe!

Quite the controversial first post. Are you a Colt fan? That game was left to the players, yes, but tell me, have you studied calls and non-calls? Or are you just subjectively looking at the Pats and seeing a lot of non-calls against them and determining this?

Seems to me you have a grudge. Yes, I'm a Pats fan, and I agree that they have gotten calls before--especially against the Raiders and the Colts--but all teams get calls. It's what you do with them.

Plus, you can't blame Manning's play on those calls. He was HORRID.

[steelyeri]

Hey Raider Nationites, good to hear from you again. Seems like most Raider fans have been silent since about mid-season last year. It's good to see that you have some optimism left. Don't let all the haters bring you down. The F/A season is upon us, and the draft is only 7 weeks away. Plenty of players out there to fill the gaps and all of the injuries will be healed. Every body will play up to their expectations and there will even be some surprises. I agree with you, a return to playoff form is right around the corner. Keep the faith, the playoffs are a possibility, signed Lions Fan.

thanks mooch, i see the lions in the playoffs this year as well. they also suffered from many injuries last year especially in the o line. they have a lot of young talent and had some very good games against tough teams last year (rams and packers). lions fans have much to look forward to in the future.

p.s.
im a bit of a lions fans myself. growing up i loved watching barry sanders play, and always found myself rooting for them.
except for when they played the raiders of course. that barry and bo matchup was the greatest.

[steelyeri]

how do the Sox suck again? Your perception of suckiness is sure strange.

one word... 1918

How is it that people still believe that the Patriots are only good because of the refs? It wasn't just one Superbowl, it's two. You are a really confused person.

you are the confused one. i didn't say the aren't a good team, because i think they are. what i said was that if they wouldn't have gotten those bad calls in their favor they wouldn't have won either superbowl.[/quote]

[Free Bagel]

thanks mooch, i see the lions in the playoffs this year as well. they also suffered from many injuries last year especially in the o line.

Wow...Lions in the playoffs? Man you're sucking up now, now offense mooch :p.

Also if I recall correctly, and I definitely could be wrong as I definitely don't follow the Lions, but don't recall many, if any, injuries to their o line. I thought most of them were elsewhere (rb, wr, defense)...

[steelyeri]

Wow...Lions in the playoffs? Man you're sucking up now

lol, it's not that. i truly believe that they have loads of young talent and will surprise many people this year. they also have high draft picks whith which they can fill some holes on their team.