I love the NFL. It provides everything I want to get through Midwest winters, and that is why the season really starts tonight and not in August. Yes, I have been absent but only because preseason 'football' and me do not get along.
For everything that is great about the NFL, the joke of a preseason does absolutely nothing but make me want the regular season to start sooner. Thank goodness they will be extending to maybe as many as 18 real games in the very near future.
Oakland almost changed my opinion this year, although it had nothing to do with the games. First there was the Darrius Heyward-Bey drama if you will about whether or not he was the right choice in the draft. Quick, how many catches did that Crabtree guy get in Week 1? Hey-Bey will be starting tonight against San Diego and will get every shot to prove many wrong.
Don't forget the coaching soap opera in the Bay Area either, as Tom Cable is apparently beating up assistants now...really? Once the 'investigation' is over, my hope is that the Raiders can focus on the battles ON the field for once.
Jeff Garcia may have helped keep Mr. Vick from joining the Silver and Black, but his play couldn't keep him on the final roster. This was a strange call for many reasons, but obviously Oakland had no trade partners at the time. Now Garcia is with Philly, and JaMarcus Russell owns the present and future QB tag for the Raiders.
I'm still unsure of what to make out of the whole Richard Seymour saga, but his play for the defense could matter a lot for a young team. And make no mistake about it, Oakland is raw and untested, but the 2009-2010 Raiders will be fun to watch.
