How much longer will it be before the Raiders admit that they rushed JaMarcus Russell into the starting lineup?
Russell is a prime example of what happens when you waste a No. 1 draft pick on a quarterback. The expectation is that he needs to play immediately because a team has spent so much money on him. The Raiders didn't let him play much his first year because their offensive line was so bad that he wouldn't have been protected. If I were the coach, he'd still be sitting.
It's a shame that the Raiders didn't keep Jeff Garcia, who took the Eagles to the playoffs in 2006 after Donovan McNabb was injured. Garcia is a vocal guy, and I'm sure the Raiders' management didn't want to keep hearing him tell people he should be playing or that he was better than Russell. The Raiders want a backup that will go with the flow. That's why the team doesn't have a decent No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback.
Russell can throw the ball 80 yards in the air, but that's not what offenses do nowadays. It's an intermediate passing game that has proven to be the most effective in the NFL, and Russell's accuracy stinks. Two weeks ago agianst Kansas City he went 7-for-24. Need I say more?
The Raiders would have been better off investing in a good offensive or defensive lineman rather than Russell a couple of years ago.
With a productive running game like Oakland's, all that is needed is a QB who can manage a game. Russell hasn't even been able to do that yet on a consistent basis.
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I thought it was a classy act when Giants manager Bruce Bochy decided to give veteran Rich Aurilia one last start in front of the hometown fans. Bochy made an even classier move when he replaced Aurilia at first base after the inning started, giving the fans one last time to say goodbye to one of the fixtures in the organization. It's highly unlikely that Aurilia returns next year, but the Giants would be wise to keep him in the organization somewhere. The Giants have many tough decisions to make, but one thing for sure is that they need a couple of big boppers in the lineup. They need a first baseman who can produce 20 homers and 80 RBIs, somebody that can complement catcher Benjie Molina and third baseman Pablo Sandoval.
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The surprisingly quick ouster of Chicago as a possible host of the 2016 Olympics came as a shock to many. If you looked at stories from the varied media outlets, the quick hit appearance by President Obama may have hurt the United States' chances more than it helped. President Obama's wife arrived in Copenhagen a few days earlier. Why didn't the Obamas come together? Certainly Obama can get things done while he's out of the country. Maybe he should have spent more time there. After all, just think what an Olympics can do for the economy. I think Chicago would have been a great spot, and the immediate area already has a lot of arenas, both professional and college, that would have been good Olympic venues.
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With Nevada Day fast approaching, I urge the schools and community leaders in the Carson and Douglas areas to start thinking outside the box. The Carson-Douglas football game should be played on Saturday afternoon after the parade every year. Make the game part of the big celebration.
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This past week all I heard was the rivalry talk about the Nevada-UNLV game. Nevada head coach Chris Ault talks about how important it is to win that game; how it's for the state championship. That part is true enough, but I think the UNR people get more excited about this game than the UNLV people do. Part of that is Ault and part of it stems from the fact that UNLV has gone through more than a couple of head coaches in the last 20 years. The one thing I'd love to see changed regarding the rivalry is to see it played Thanksgiving weekend every year.