TheLounge
11-06-2007, 01:50 PM
What on earth are the Oakland Raiders waiting for? The time is now to start No. 1 overall draft pick JaMarcus Russell. The only question Raiders’ coach Lane Kiffin has to ask is: Which quarterback gives us the best chance to win? He’s already seen what Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper can do —*or better yet, can’t do. Russell can’t possibly be any worse.
Oh sure, Kiffin will pull out the old, “He has to know the playbook” nonsense, but the reality is both McCown and Culpepper have a handle on the Raiders’ offense and what has come of those experiments?
Some people will say now is not the time to bring in the rookie. The Raiders are only two games out of the AFC West Division lead and still have plenty to play for. Or, they’ll say you shouldn’t hurt a rookie’s confidence by not putting him in the best position to win. Bah. That’s a load of B.S.
The way I see it, the Raiders have just about everything in place: A running game that is light years ahead of last season, a decent receiving corps and a solid defense. The one thing missing? A capable quarterback. We’ve already seen what McCown and Culpepper have —*and it’s not much. Why not take a shot with the unknown? Russell can’t be any worse than what the Raiders have used up to this point.
***
I told myself at the beginning of the football season that I would try and be more in tune with the college game. I used to be a big-time college fan but between work and family, I thought it was a little too selfish to spend all day Saturday watching college football.
I am, however, watching a ton more college ball and following it more closely this season and it appears I picked a good year to do it. Has there been a more topsy-turvy season than this year? There are currently three undefeated teams in Division I and nine one-loss teams.
People have clamored for years about setting up a playoff system to determine the national champion. If those three undefeated teams lose a game and the one-loss teams win out, there is a chance to have a dozen teams with one loss and 12 teams that would have a legitimate argument to play in the national championship game.
The college presidents have been the biggest opponents of a playoff system. Too much time away from school, they claim. Forget the fact that there are playoffs in every other major collegiate sport.
Let’s see what happens when their one-loss team is left out of the national title game because organizers decided to go with a different one-loss team. A playoff will be incorporated sooner than later.
***
Somebody —*either Menlo School, Woodside, the Peninsula Athletic League or Menlo College —*needs to step up and re-imburse Woodside girls’ tennis coach Nancy Staves.
While attending the PAL individual tennis championships last week at Menlo School, Staves received a parking ticket and had her car towed. Apparently there was a “No Parking” sign posted quite a bit away from where Staves parked. She said she did not see the sign.
Considering Staves, as well as a number of other coaches, were participating in a school-sanctioned tournament, they should be excused from a small parking violation. The coaches were at the school for about a total 15 hours spread out over three days —*an average of five hours a day. So during that span one day, Staves received a parking ticket and had her car towed before she even had a chance to move her car.
Man, that’s some stringent parking enforcement. Maybe illegally parked cars should be given more time to have their owners move them before calling out the tow truck.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.
Oh sure, Kiffin will pull out the old, “He has to know the playbook” nonsense, but the reality is both McCown and Culpepper have a handle on the Raiders’ offense and what has come of those experiments?
Some people will say now is not the time to bring in the rookie. The Raiders are only two games out of the AFC West Division lead and still have plenty to play for. Or, they’ll say you shouldn’t hurt a rookie’s confidence by not putting him in the best position to win. Bah. That’s a load of B.S.
The way I see it, the Raiders have just about everything in place: A running game that is light years ahead of last season, a decent receiving corps and a solid defense. The one thing missing? A capable quarterback. We’ve already seen what McCown and Culpepper have —*and it’s not much. Why not take a shot with the unknown? Russell can’t be any worse than what the Raiders have used up to this point.
***
I told myself at the beginning of the football season that I would try and be more in tune with the college game. I used to be a big-time college fan but between work and family, I thought it was a little too selfish to spend all day Saturday watching college football.
I am, however, watching a ton more college ball and following it more closely this season and it appears I picked a good year to do it. Has there been a more topsy-turvy season than this year? There are currently three undefeated teams in Division I and nine one-loss teams.
People have clamored for years about setting up a playoff system to determine the national champion. If those three undefeated teams lose a game and the one-loss teams win out, there is a chance to have a dozen teams with one loss and 12 teams that would have a legitimate argument to play in the national championship game.
The college presidents have been the biggest opponents of a playoff system. Too much time away from school, they claim. Forget the fact that there are playoffs in every other major collegiate sport.
Let’s see what happens when their one-loss team is left out of the national title game because organizers decided to go with a different one-loss team. A playoff will be incorporated sooner than later.
***
Somebody —*either Menlo School, Woodside, the Peninsula Athletic League or Menlo College —*needs to step up and re-imburse Woodside girls’ tennis coach Nancy Staves.
While attending the PAL individual tennis championships last week at Menlo School, Staves received a parking ticket and had her car towed. Apparently there was a “No Parking” sign posted quite a bit away from where Staves parked. She said she did not see the sign.
Considering Staves, as well as a number of other coaches, were participating in a school-sanctioned tournament, they should be excused from a small parking violation. The coaches were at the school for about a total 15 hours spread out over three days —*an average of five hours a day. So during that span one day, Staves received a parking ticket and had her car towed before she even had a chance to move her car.
Man, that’s some stringent parking enforcement. Maybe illegally parked cars should be given more time to have their owners move them before calling out the tow truck.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.