One NFL, 31 Football Teams, One Jerry Springer Tell-A-Thon…

By MikeBullock  |   Saturday, August 22, 2009  |  Comments( 27 )

Oakland Raiders
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I grew up loving the Oakland Raiders. I can recite more oddball facts about the Raiders than most people I know can about sports in general. I still love Napoleon Kaufman and wish he’d never retired. Bo Jackson races past the Seattle secondary in my daydreams more often than I can count. I own a small fortune in Raider memorabilia that all resides in boxes now.

I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere between the Marcus Allen show and The Infamous Lane Kiffin-centric Press Conference, I realized that my reasons for no longer being satisfied as a Raider fan had nothing to do with wins & losses. A real fan roots for their team no mater what happens on the gridiron.

However, when eighty percent of the news coming from your favorite organization’s facilities revolves around topics better suited for Montel Williams and Jerry Springer it’s obvious to someone who craves football that something’s wrong.

That's when it hit me: I was a malnourished fan. I don’t care about Al’s latest tiff with the coaches. I could care less about who tried to give back their signing bonus and quit. I don’t want to hear any more junk about power struggles between players, owners and coaches.

I want football!

With the latest Raider scandal, (dubbed Cablegate by some), it’s incredibly obvious that Xs and Os no longer matter at 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway. It’s as if the cast of the long gone television show SOAP have taken over a football team.

Now, I’m sure the Raider Nation will come out in force to blast me for this article. So be it. But, before you wail on me, ask yourself why you’re a Raider fan? Is it because you loved watching Superbowls XI, XV, XVIII and players like Darryl Lamonica, Ted Hendricks, Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Tim Brown, Rich Gannon and the rest or because you crave scandals that have no place in organized sports? If it’s the former, then I salute you. Those teams and players were some of the world’s elite and darn fun to watch. If it’s the latter, save your comments for Jerry Springer, who, rumor has it, is biding his time waiting for the right opportunity to purchase the team and turn them into a reality show he and Steve Wilkos can use as the latest vehicle to broadcast everything that’s wrong with America and sports in general.

I’ll save the word play involving “commitment” and “excellence” since I’ve seen it so many times it’s nauseating. Instead, I’ll end with this: If Al does decide to sell, my only hope is that John Madden is there, cash in hand. Madden could make it about the game again. Al obviously cannot…
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