TGJB Wrote:
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> Pdub-- did you write the article in today\'s times
> Magazine about being a lifelong Raiders fan?
This is completely off topic from horse racing, but since you mentioned it JB.....and I hope I don\'t start a 3 page mini thread, I\'ll review. I\'m sure this will come across as a shocking development, but I disagree with this guy. Yeah, I now.
Here is his list of the 6 worst moments in Raiders history.
1. Tom Brady’s Tuck (2002)
2. Super Bowl XXXVII (2003)
3. Drafting JaMarcus Russell (2007)
4. The Randy Moss Trade (2005)
5. Jack Tatum Paralyzes Daryl Stingley (1978)
6. The Immaculate Reception (1972)
My List:
1. The Immaculate Reception
Putting The Immaculate Reception at 6 is crazy. Its arguably number 1, both in its soul crunching finish and the fact it spring boarded that team I can\'t stand into a dynasty. Matter of fact, it is number 1. I can still remember watching it, I was 9 years old, and every time I see that clip - even 1000 times later - it still makes my blood boil. Terrible Towel my a**. I hate that roided up team.
Yes, I still am not over it. 40 years later.
2. Tom Brady\'s Tuck/ Gruden\'s Last Game
He got this one right. As awful as that play was, it is so much more than that. This team sucked for years, hire a 32 yo wunderkid who brought an attitude that the fans ate up, and were now a respectable and legitimate NFL playoff team. They lose the AFC championship game the previous year, helped by fat a%% Tony Siragusa breaking Gannon\'s collar bone.
A snowy night in Foxboro, the last game at that crappy stadium. Raiders were dominating that game every which way but the scoreboard. They have A 3RD AND 1 that if converted ices the game. Zack Crockett gets the handoff, on a play that they converted all year long, and get stuffed.
Brady goes back, Woodson clobbers him, Biekert recovers. Then the tuck thing. They continue the drive, Vinatierri makes a kick in a blizzard that he probably makes 1 out of 30 times. We never see the ball in OT. Can\'t remember a more deflating loss in my year\'s of being an A\'s and Raiders fan, other than the game I mentioned above.
Gruden gets traded to Tampa Bay, we get smoked in the Super Bowl the next year (I attended that game, and that is a crazy story in itself), and the franchise goes on a 10 year skid that is mind numbing by its ineptitude in every way.
Side note: Some say this was payback for the 76 playoff game, the one where Sugar Bear Hamilton was called for roughing on 3rd and 18 on the Raiders\' last drive. I was at that game, and I gotta say that was a shaky call for that time. Today, that gets called for roughing every time.
Yeah, as you can see by the 500 paragraphs, I\'m not over that one either.
3. Darryl Stingley
Jack Tatum was my favorite player. I loved lots of them, but he and Branch were my guys. (Someone please explain to me how Cliff Branch isn\'t in the HOF).
I was there, and it still bothers me when I think about it. Nuff said.
4. Leaving for Los Angeles
This could have been number 1, but the Top 3 are that awful. The Raiders belong to Oakland, I don\'t care what Ice Cube thinks. I guess he can be proud of the fact that after leaving Oakland, the thuggery and violence at Raiders games started. My father took me to almost every Raiders game from 1970 to 1979, and what you see today is a far cry from what you saw back then. It was one, big multi cultural family. I had tickets from 1996 to 2007, and gave them up because I got tired of being in that atmosphere. They have done a great job of improving the game day experience, but moving to LA took the heart and soul out of the loyal fan base.
I never saw 1 game in LA. Couldn\'t bring myself to do it. That was a punch to the gut that I will never forget.
5, 1974 AFC Championship Game
I could have picked from several crushing playoff losses. The 75 Championship game @ Pittsburgh where they watered the sidelines making it a sheet of ice. The 77 Championship game against Denver, featuring the non-fumble by Lytle after Tatum crushed him at the goal line. Heck, even the Super Bowl where our former coach beat us. Maybe its because I was 10 yo and was there, but this one hurt bad.
This was the week after the \"Sea Of Hands\" game vs Miami, still the greatest game I\'ve ever witnessed live. Beating the defending 2X SB champs. At home against the hated Steelers. This was finally our time, we\'re going to the Super Bowl.
No, we aren\'t. The Steel Curtain defense stuffed them all day long. Couldn\'t run at all, I think 24 yds rushing or something like that. 24-13 loss that didn\'t feel that close at the time. I left the game heart broken, and while my dad and his friends were eating and drinking after the final game of the season, I just sat with them and sulked.
Its amazing how hard you take losses as a kid.
6. Jamarcus
Ok, he makes the list.
My buddy got us a gig to deal in a charity poker tournament that night at the Playboy Mansion. We watch the selection, leave for the airport. I wasn\'t thrilled, I wanted Calvin Johnson. But hey, I\'m going to the mansion so I talk myself into thinking the pick isn\'t so bad, even though deep down I hated it. The NFL draft was #2 on the list of important things that day.
We all know he sucked and set the franchise back years.
So we get to the mansion. Attendees from what I remember: Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth, Annie Duke, Steve Danneman, Shawn Marion, and other assorted poker pros. Food and drinks lined up everywhere. We were told hands off until later. No problem.
These guys just have sick money. During a break, the guys at my table told me to put down a flop. Huh?? \"Paul, put down the flop\". So I put down a flop. How about the turn and river I ask. No, just the flop. These guys were betting a dime on the color of the flop, Red or Black. They did this 6 or 7 times. It was chump change to them. I did get a $20 bill from every hand, so for a gig that I wasn\'t getting paid for I did make over $100. They had wads of cash that would choke even the hungriest of people.
Got a few pictures, Annie Duke was a sweetheart. Shannon Elizabeth acted like I was requesting her to clean the kitchen. Its a picture Shannon, I paid my own way down here, working for nothing, smile and take a freaking picture. Danneman was awesome.
Bud girls in full body paint. By this time, my buddy and I had a full stomach and a full buzz on. Visited the grotto, where hot chicks were being groped by famous people. Toured the grounds.
The next day we stayed and went to Hollywood Park for Gold rush Day. Took a beating. We went to the Casino after the races and beat up on the softest 6-12 game ever created. Won $1000 which gave me a profit for the day, paid for expenses.
How did a Raiders post turn into a Playboy Mansion story?? I don\'t have near the talent of Richie, hope I didn\'t put you guys to sleep if you got this far.
