Stone Cold NFL Locks Week 5

Rest In Peace Al - 7/4/29 - 10-8-11

   
Last week much more like what a "LOCK" pick should
be, and a 3-0 weekend was a nice band aid to what has
ailed me so far.  My mark is still only 8-4 and I really
need to build on it to ensure that I don't go over my loss
total from last year of nine.  This week I will try and copy
last week with another perfect slate, here goes: 

1. Giants - It's Cleveland, what more do I need to say?

2. Houston - Against the Jets it should be like taking candy
from an infant.

3. Green Bay - The only "shaky" pick here, but I can't see
Rodgers getting outplayed by Luck.  Just don't see it.  
   
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Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Disco Stars Dying, and So Are T.O.'s Chances

Courtesy SF Gate: (L to R) receiver Eddie McGee,
T.O., Raiders Darrius Heyward-Bey, QB Carson Palmer
working out in L.A.

In just the last ten days, those of us old enough to
remember them, lost Robin Gibb of the Bee Gee's and
the Queen of Disco Donna Summer, and in a bit of
related news Terrel Owens fired his agent, Drew
Rosenhaus. Why is there is any relation can either
be an easy guess or a stretch, that depends on your
mindset. For me the deaths of Gibb, and Summer are
in a way indicative of the true death of Disco, not
the imaginary one that rock fans had hoped for way
back when. Terrell Owens making news, any kind of
news this late in his "career", to me is indicative
of the death of his "NFL career".

First he made the mistake of firing Drew Rosenhaus,
and now he says he wants to play for the Raiders.
Can you say crash and burn? If this was 1979, maybe,
but even Al Davis in his later years admitted that
taking chances on troubled players was no longer
something he had interest in. The new regime lead
by GM Reggie McKenzie is definitely not interested,
even though he did work out with Carson Palmer this
off season, and the Raiders wide receivers.

T.O. is really not faring well in his dying (career)
days, so while he's at it he should consider staying
away from the daytime talk show circuit, unless they
are paying him, or it's part of some teams mandatory
obligation.

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Raiders And New GM McKenzie Pick Where They're Supposed To

Photo Lee Kirby / US Presswire

I know that Raider fans wants to make a tremendous
amount of Reggie McKenzie's eye for talent and how
upset they were that they didn't have a 1st or 2nd
round pick in this years draft, but I contend that
drafting their first pick in the 3rd round is right
where they and their new GM belong.

For starters, their 1st round pick is Carson Palmer,
and love him or hate him, I'll take an established
player over a potential one in the draft any day of
the week. With Palmer. good, bad, or otherwise you
know what you have, and since he's your starting QB,
that's has to be pretty good. I won't list the
number of picks that have gone in the top 10 of past
drafts that have failed to produce anything, but if
I did, you could fill a nobody's nobody list of no-
stars that would require much more writing than you
may be willing to read or even recognize.

Secondly, as a life long Raider fan, and even more
so, a life long Al Davis fan I feel comfortable in
saying that his shoes will not only be hard to fill,
but even harder to try on. Davis won FOUR titles in
fifty years (1 AFL Championship, and 3 Super Bowls),
though it wouldn't be fair to McKenzie to hold him
up to those standards, he has won nothing as a head
man. You wanna make the case that he has TWO rings
as a member of the Packers front office, great.
He wasn't the GM for the first(Ron Wolfe), and was
not for the second(Ted Thompson) either. Yes it's
a team, but it's like giving Dan Pastorini credit
for the Super XV title, a bit of an exaggeration, I
know, but you get the idea.

Reggie McKenzie should make a fine GM, but he has
never truly been one before, so it remains to be
seen. Any Raider fan reading this article knows
that winning in the NFL isn't easy, that's why the
Raiders haven't done it for a while. More teams,
more competition, more cheating (See the Saints &
Patriots), and a constantly changing landscape to
any system you think figured it out for you.
The case was always made that Al meddled too much,
well if he had the last time they went to the Super
Bowl, they might have won, but Bill Callahan didn't
have the luxury of Al's meddling or he would have
realized that the former head coach was on the other
sideline with the opponent for that title game.

There are very, very few that can stand shoulder to
shoulder with AL Davis career wise, and Reggie will
be hard pressed to do that. Starting his draft off
in the 3rd round this year, and the 2nd next year,
is probably the best way to gently walk in the shoes
of a man who not only wore them, but designed, and
made them. If Reggie McKenzie truly has an eye for
talent, then he can find it anywhere, NFL history is
littered with late round draft choices from rounds
that don't even exist anymore. So why should today
be any different? Any Raider fan who has a long
history with Al Davis will want to see him earn his
stripes, I do.

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Pro Bowl Weekend & NFL's Rooney Rule Takes A Hit

George Rose/Getty Images

With probably less that 10% of all real NFL fans
watching the Pro Bowl this weekend, the league
and it's players get a chance to enjoy themselves,
and not worry about about impressing anyone with
an event that means little to nothing the week
before an event that means everything to many.
Though I am not going to give you any sort of
plan to make the Pro Bowl a better than it is,
it's something that is certainly worth looking
in to.

What is flying under the radar even more than how
boring and uninteresting the Pro Bowl is, is the
fact that the "Rooney Rule" took a little bit of
a hit this past off season. Though I don't think
that it's in any jeopardy of being ignored or
pushed aside in the future, the numbers now that
all the coaches to replace fired coaches have been
hired, have produced a negative step back as opposed
to a status quo or minimal gain. Going into to
the 2011 season there were 8 minority head coaches
in the NFL, seven African American, and one Latino
American(Ron Rivera). Once the season ended, of
the seven coaches relieved of the duties, 3 were
minorities, all African American, and all seven
were replaced by non minority coaches. So where
there was once a 25% presence of minority head
coaches in the league that number is now just a
shade over 15%. The drop of 10% may not seem like
much, but it can't be ignored either, just think
how great a 10% pay raise for you would be, or how
much it would suck if your rent went from $1500 a
month to $1650 a month in just a couple of weeks.

I have never been a fan of the "Rooney Rule" and
neither have some minority groups. You shouldn't
need to force someone to do the right thing, and
by right thing I don't mean force someone to hire
a minority, but rather look at all the candidates
as equally as possible. The Oakland/LA Raiders
hired a Latino American Head Coach long before
this rule, Tom Flores, and he won 2 Super Bowls
for them. They Hired an African American Head
Coach before the rule too, Art Shell, and he had
a winning record throughout in his first stint as
Head Coach. And though the "Rooney Rule" covers
minorities, and not women the Raiders also hired
a female Executive VP who is still on the job today
before this rule was adopted, Amy Trask. A perfect
example of how all you need to do is just hire the
right people, rule or not. We are divided in way
too many ways, so maybe this is a good place to
start ignoring the divisions, and embrace the one
thing that brought us here, Football.

It is also worth noting that this year the Raiders
were one of the three teams that fired their African
American Head Coach, Hue Jackson, but it was done by
their newly hired African American GM Reggie Mckenzie
and that is one place where minorities did make a
gain the the NFL this year, the front office.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Post Al Davis Era, Raiders Get It Right

AP File

Today was a tremendous day in Raider history, certainly
not bigger than the day Al Davis took over the Raider
franchise, but BIG. It makes the acquisition of Carson
Palmer earlier this season look like a 55th round pick
in the NFL draft, and yet much much smaller than Oct 8th
2011, when all that was Raider Nation changed for ever.

If you are reading this far down, there is a decent chance
you are a Raiders fan, and if you've been a Raiders fan
for more than 20 years then you understand that you cannot
be a Raider fan without being an Al Davis fan. It's like
being a Christian and not liking Christ, or claiming to be
a Scientologist and not believing in L. Ron Hubbard, it's
just not possible. These examples are extreme I know, but
they are as close to the truth as you can get. That being
said, if you hate the Raiders then you hate Al Davis, he is
the total embodiment of what they have become, make no
mistake about it.

Today his name was honored, today Reggie McKenzie was named
the first GM of the Raiders since Al Davis was GM of the
Raiders, but that's not the story, at least not in my eyes.
I have bled Silver and Black longer than most folks I know
have been football fans. You often hear terms like:
"The Cowboy way" or is has to be done "the Patriot way",
well this was done "THE RAIDER WAY", and I couldn't be more
happier with the process than if Al Davis himself came back
to life and approved it. That would be kinda scary though.

So many things happened that made this right. Ron Wolfe, a
long time Raider executive, and friend recommended McKenzie.
Ken Herrock, a former Raider player, and executive also went
on to recommended McKenzie. Mark Davis, Al's son was also
part of the interview process, and yet for me two big factors
were that McKenzie was a Raider, and John Madden assisted in
the interview. For me this was huge. Al Davis inducted John
Madden into the Hall of Fame, and John Madden inducted Davis
into the Hall of Fame, there is and was no one aside than
maybe Ron Wolfe that knew Al, and what he would have wanted
or that would have made me and scores of Raider fans happier
going forward.

McKenzie is a Raider, he has an impeccable reputation in the
league, and I trust that he knows exactly what the RAIDER
way is. When Davis passed I feared that my fandom would fade,
it has, but not enough to not care. I needed to see where the
family went with this, and thus far good steps have been taken.
It will NEVER be the same, change is inevitable, death is part
of life, and football is just a game, and yet we care.

The move today was good. The Raiders still have a chance, not
to be good, but to be "The Raiders", and that's a good thing,
and yet I can't help but think: THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

NBRHD

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Make 2012 A Great One !

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The Qtipping Mom

Data Church

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Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Steelers James Harrison Is No Ndamukong Suh, But...

Associated Press

I'm not going to sit here and write anything that would
compare what James Harrison does on Sundays and say that
it even comes close to what we saw Ndamukong Suh do on
national TV on Thanksgiving day, but he is far from an
altar boy when it comes to dealing out punishment.

What Suh did was dirty, but that's only because it had
nothing to do with the play on the field, was after the
whistle, and he went on to blatantly lie about it after
we all saw it on slow motion replay, not that slow mo
necessary.

I am a huge fan of dishing out hits on QB's and receivers,
make them think twice. The quarterback must go down, and
he must go down hard*, but don't cry to me about it when
your caught going a little too far and you get fined for
it. This is the same guy that a couple of seasons ago
threatened to retire over these fines. As I often ask,
REALLY?, Give up nine figures because you got fined five,
and the other guy is still picking up his teeth, REALLY?
I understand you want to plead your case, and I am
totally with when you say the the rules on hitting may
seem a little strict, but look at it from the other side.
The rules are there to make sure the other guy doesn't
need a colostomy bag the rest of his life, so stop
F@#king crying over your fines when you have already had
the luxury to out earn about 98% of the people who cheer
you on. What really gets me about these rules is that
they call them in the wrong fashion, but like I've said
time and time again: I want the opponent to get carted
off the field, but when the game is over I hope that the
injury is only a stinger and that he feels and is GREAT.

James what you need to clear your head with is, do you
want to retire over these fines and find out what it might
be like to earn a normal living once again? Do you think
you might be interested in feeling the crippling pain that
is the result of one of your hits?, or should you just be
thankful that you haven't paralyzed anyone, and haven't
been paralyzed yourself? Go out there, be the stud defender
we all know you are, and stop whining when it's clear you
crossed that line, it is now a byproduct of the game, and
hopefully a deterrent to some to not accidentally kill
another player by mistake

*Al Davis

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Ranting With Rizzo Replay 10-19-11

Last weeks show is up and ready for your listening
pleasure, make sure to write in and voice your
opinions at rizzo@wdisam.com Thanks!




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NFL Stone Cold Locks 2011 Week 5

Me & Al Davis October 7th 1990, 21yrs and 1 day before his death

Last week in an emotional moment I laid all my
eggs in one basket and used all three of my
picks on the Oakland Raiders, and though this
is not the norm, nor something I ever expect
to do again, it is something I will give myself
a pass on just this once. The record stands at
13-2, and looking continue last weeks momentum,
so here goes:

1. Pittsburgh (Del Rio on his last legs)
2. Philadelphia (Scene of Vick's post jail resurgence)
3. Cincinnati (I'm reaching here)

Al Davis, Jim Otto & Their Wives leaving Buffalo Hotel
October 1990 prior to a Sunday Night Game vs Bills


Thank You Al Davis ! Tweet

Raider Nation: Congratulations Mike Shananhan...

A story out today by many outlets tells of former
NFL QB Elvis Grbac being ordered by then offensive
coordinator of the 49er's Mike Shanahan to throw a
ball right at Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
This story though new to me, doesn't surprise me
much. Though it's true that the term "Douche Bag"
is getting a little over used in society these days,
there are quite a few occasions where it applies,
and this is one of them. Congratulations Mike
Shanahan, you sir are a DOUCHE BAG. It is, unlike
so many other honors you've received very well
deserved. Wear it proud, wear it loud, the ultimate
confirmation of your worthiness is now out there
for all the world to see. May you and Lady Al
Michaels live miserable lives together for eternity.



Thank You Al Davis ! Tweet

Stone Cold Locks Week 5

Last week I was 2-1 and I'm 10-2 on the season,
certainly not a showing a "Commitment to Excellence"
so far, so this week I will give honor to a man who
did nothing but dedicate himself to EXCELLENCE.

1. Oakland (Just Win)
2. Raiders (Pride & Poise)
3. Oakland Raiders (Commitment to Excellence)

Thank You Al Davis !

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Al Davis Is Dead, Long Live Al Davis!

I am truly and genuinely at a loss for words.
THANK YOU AL DAVIS, R.I.P.

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Curse Of The Schottenheimer ?

The Curse of the Schottenheimer may sound like
something I just made up, and it very well could
be, but if you take a look at the numbers of the
Schottenheimer trio and their history, both on the
College and Pro level, you have to admit, it may
actually exist. Marty the most notable member of
the Schottenheimer's has the most extensive career.
Marty started out coaching in the now defunct WFL
(World Football League), where he was the linebacker
coach for the Portland Storm. During his time there
they compiled a record of 7-12, and though you can't
very well blame that on him, you may eventually see
a pattern. I for one think Marty Schottenheimer is
a very good football coach, I just don't think he
is a coach you can win a Championship with.
I also think that Dan Snyder made a mistake firing
Marty and replacing him with Steve Spurrier, and I
said so at the time. Marty is a great coach to get
your team going in the right direction, but eventually
he plateaus, and that's as far as you're gonna get.

Marty also has a well documented one sided feud with
the owner of the Oakland Raiders. I say one sided
because he won't say anything other than he hates the
Raiders and Al Davis, and Al Davis never makes any
mention of this. Marty says that he will tell us all
in due time when he retires, but those days seem to
be upon us, since he hasn't coached in more than four
years and is quickly approaching the age of 68 when
team owners and GM's stop beating down the door of
a coach who has a losing playoff record and has never
been able to reach the Super Bowl let alone win one.
Marty never coached on the collegiate level that I can
find but his career numbers read as follows:
200 Wins and 126 Losses with one Tie a very respectable
.613 winning percentage but his playoff number are
a different story all together. He has 5 Wins and
13 Losses with NO Super Bowl Appearances, that is
a winning percentage of .384, and if you take
the numbers of the coaching staffs he's been a part
of the numbers get worse, 259-225-1 .538% and
5-15 in the playoffs for a .250 winning percentage.
His so called "feud" with Davis might in no small
part have to do with the fact the Marty was in his
first year as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland
Browns in 1980 when they lost to the Raiders in
Cleveland, but that's just a guess.

There are two other members of the Schottenheimer
clan that take part in this "curse". The lesser
known Kurt Schottenheimer is Marty's brother, and
though he has never been a head coach, the teams
he has been on the staff of, and many times as
defensive coordinator have compiled a record of
202 Wins and 166 Losses, and while again a .549
regular season winning percentage is quite
respectable, the playoff numbers dip to 5-11 or
a .313 winning percentage. Add to that that he
was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay
Packers the year they lost to the Giants in the
NFC Championship game in the 2007 season.
Just another Conference loss for the Schottenheimer
clan, and believe me those are plentiful.
By the way Kurt did coach on the college level, and
again never as a head coach. His collegiate numbers
are as follows: 39-57-1 a woeful .402 %

Since conference Championships were mentioned with
Kurt it's only fair to point out how fresh Marty's
son Brian is from Conference Championship battle.
Brian has been the offensive coordinator for the
NY Jets the past two years worth of those, and
it should surprise no one that they are 0-2 in that
time. Brian's name has been mentioned many times
for head coaching jobs in the past, but if the family
numbers are to be taken into account, then the question
that begs to be asked is, why? His career numbers are
as vanilla as the family trophy case, 12-12 as an
assistant on the college level with two different schools.
96-96 on the pro level with 5 different organizations,
and 4-4 in the playoffs, and yes NO Championships.
With that the family numbers read as follows.
557-487-1 a .533 win percentage in the regular season.
14-30 a .318 win percentage in the playoffs, 0 for
7 in conference championships, hence the ZERO Super
Bowl appearances, and that is with eleven different
franchises. Yes even as assistants.
Their college numbers are 51-69-1 .421% with 7
different schools and ZERO Championships.
More numbers, if you add all this up it is as
follows: 526-586-2 a very very sad .472%

Rex Ryan said that Brian Schottenheimer would
absolutely be back as offensive coordinator of
the Jets the day after they were ousted in the
AFC Championship for the second consecutive year,
but maybe he should have taken a little time to
think that over. Many Jets fans want Brian's
head on stick, however that's not unusual for fans
these days. It's just that the numbers don't lie
and perhaps they are starting to understand that
having a Schottenheimer in your ranks may not
lead to the type of success you're looking for.

All The Right Moves? Well, Sometimes

Nowadays it's quite common to take shots at Al Davis
in the media, and truth be told, most that do are either
looking to fill some news space or too young to remember
that along with the likes of Dan Rooney, Wellington Mara,
George Halas, etc. of the world he is as much responsible
for the Multi Billion Dollar success of the NFL as they
are in many regards. You could also say that there were
times where he seemed to be a detriment to the league as
well, but what powerful league figure hasn't been accused
of that?

Saturday's game between the embarrassingly playoff bound 7-9
Seattle Seahawks and the defending Super Bowl Champion New
Orleans Saints was just one more example as to how many
things, be it in the NFL or life itself are interconnected.
Pete Carrol did Al Davis a favor that day. One that Davis
did want, need, or even ask for, but nonetheless he did.
Al has been taking a bit of flack from Raider fans and non
Raider fans alike for his decision not to renew the contract
of Tom Cable his head coach for the past 2 1/2 years.
I too thought this was a mistake, and in a small way have a
hard time admitting that it still might not be a mistake,
but after that debacle that was a title defense of sorts by
those miserable Saints, something Al said after the Raiders
finished their 2010 season with a victory came to mind.
He was asked if he thought their 8-8 record was an improvement
from recent seasons past (I'm paraphrasing here). His response
seemed harsh at the time, but made sense if your an owner that
wants to put a winner on the field. He said " If that's
the world you live in". At the time I kind of took it as
a snappy type of remark, but you see, his job or desire if you
wish is to win another Championship, not to make friends,
I'm sure he already has too many of those. If Pete Carrol
can take his 7-9 rag tag bunch into the playoffs and get one
step closer to a championship, one that would be an embarrassment
might I add, then why shouldn't he expect the same out of his
team and his coach? I'm sure that one of things that probably
annoyed Davis, even though the decision was made well before that
game was the fact that his Raiders had defeated those very same
Seahawks 33-3 this very season, and that the Raiders 8-8 mark,
though not good enough in his mind was still better than theirs.

Those who choose too criticize Al's football decisions should keep
in mind his many accomplishments as well. Under the watch of
Al Davis the Raiders have won more Super Bowl games than 43%
of NFL Teams combined, and they have appeared in at least one
Super Bowl game in every decade excluding this one so far.
I could bore you by going on and on with this, but I won't.
I will however speak to those that choose to say that it's time
for Grandpa Al to move over and let someone else take over the
franchise. Probably the same folks that would be quick to find
a spot for their parents or grandparents in the nearest nursing
home the minute they became useless to their needs. We live in
a what have you done for me a second ago society, but should
realize that we will be in that position sooner or later as well,
and we may not want to be judged so quickly or harshly when it's
our turn. Don't like that argument? Well how about this then?
It's his team, he can do as he wishes, even if it means not
thanking Pete Carrol for a favor he didn't ask for.