Silver and Black attack

I'm going to take this very seriously and tread very softly because I don't want to get hit over the head in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum (you'll forgive me if I don't use the full corporate name) this Sunday. Jimmy reports that wave upon wave of angry Raiders e-mails have poured in, so many that I'll have to address them en masse. Seriously. Without a hint of sarcasm or the trace of a smirk or the shadow of a smile or ... what other cliché can I use? Or the twinkle of an eye, how's that? Basically, what I've been accused of, in addition to my lack of respect, are the following:

1) Writing that the Raiders are old.

2) Predicting that the Jets were going to beat them (in last week's playoff game).

3) Making fun of the Black Hole.

4) Showing a typical New York bias.

5) Using demeaning terms for the offense, such as the "Gnat Attack."

Dear hundreds of angry Raiders e-mailers:

First of all, I had the Raiders No. 1 in my final Power Rankings. I wrote that they were old, and so did everyone else. Let's face it, they are old. Besides, it was only early in the season that I harped on this fact, predicting that it would catch up to them in December and January. I was wrong. So what?

I wasn't showing a New York bias in December when I devoted three quarters of my column to Jets-Raiders and predicted a Raiders win, calling it an "overmatch." In the playoffs I thought the Jets had a shot because they had improved and Oakland's cornerbacks looked as if they'd be in bad shape. They weren't. They were the deciding factor in the game, I believe.

The Black Hole? Fans, for some reason, can't wait to be told how evil they are, even if the only thing they do is dress funny. This is encouraged by TV announcers and writers who can't think of anything else to write about. You'll pardon me if I don't take the bait. But neither will I go down in the Hole and start yacking about how phony everyone is. I mean, I'm not nuts.

Gnat Attack? I thought the phrase would catch on. It hasn't. So far I'm the only one using it. I think it's time to bid it sayonara.

I hope this does it. I like Oakland. The trips there in the '60s, when I was a beat writer on the Jets, were thrilling. It was like going to a war zone. You drew combat pay. Some people came back with war brides. I had some very dear friends on the Raiders, such as Ben Davidson and Tom Keating and Freddy Biletnikoff. When Davidson mentioned, in that NFL Films piece on the Raiders, a dinner at Keating's house in which seven people knocked off 19 bottles of wine, well, I was one of the imbibers.

The question of officiating drew a few responses. Steve of Denver feels that some of the old guys who can't keep up should be weeded out. Well, I'd agree if it were obvious to me that this was the problem. But, although it's logical to assume that younger people could perform better than the older officials, I haven't really seen it as a problem. Maybe I'm sensitive because I'm old myself. My favorite official, Jim Quirk, the umpire on Tom White's crew, is getting along in years, yet he has boundless energy on the field.

Eric of San Diego, by way of Pittsburgh, a route I've never tried, approves of my suggestion to bring in the best officiating teams, rather than individuals, for the playoffs, but rather than my proposal of six teams for the entire postseason, he'd have only four. Eric, I make these suggestions in the hope that someone will at least look at them with a serious eye. The four-team idea would never go because too many people would be deprived of the extra revenue. Even six is iffy. The current 10, though, is a joke. Thanks for the nice things you wrote.

To Earl of Hoopa, Calif., who says this is the 15th e-mail he's submitted (maybe you should have changed the name of the town to something that doesn't sound so artificial): The furor over Joe Nedney's crack about his acting job on the running-into-the-kicker penalty, and then his apology, is, I believe a tempest in a teapot. He was trying to be clever, and thank God some people still are. It came off as a bit heavy. The league, which has no sense of humor in these matters, became sensitive. Oh, c'mon everybody. Let a guy drop his little one-liner in peace.

Les of Hoboken, N.J., thinks the infraction itself should only apply to the act of kicking. Well, let's face it, the guy did make contact with Nedney, and it wasn't just with a leg that was deliberately stuck way out there. Sure, I think the officials should be aware of pure acting jobs, but I've seen plenty of kickers hurt, too, right after their boot, when they're in a vulnerable position.

Dave of Louisville, Ky., and I appreciate what you wrote, Dave, feels that the game seems to feed players' tendencies to let their emotions run wild while at the same time failing to learn the fundamentals of the game. I've seen it for a number of years. Players are getting wilder and richer, and with riches comes a been-there, done-that type of arrogance, which makes them more difficult to control.

Marc of Pasadena, Newfoundland (huh?) wants to know what I think of Rich Gannon's offensive arsenal, namely Rice, Brown, Garner and Porter. Right now I'd say they form the best integrated attack in the game, and you didn't mention Doug Jolley, the tight end who can go down the seams. And don't forget James Jett. (That last one was a joke because I don't want to appear too soft, like I'm trying to curry favor with the Raiders fans). Thanks for your nice sentiments, Marc.

Abbott of L.A. is looking for Costello ... ha-ha ... Abbott of L.A. wants to know why I didn't include John Lynch among my difference-makers on the Bucs. Because I don't think he's in that category anymore. He's a good, tough strong safety playing close to the line and whacking people, but in space, I don't think he has the range he once did.

Still with the Bucs, Lee of Appleton, Wisc., has been monitoring Warren Sapp and finds a lot of noise but not much behind it. Once upon a time he made my all-pro team. He was explosive, a real hell-raiser. In recent years his production has declined. Last year he was hurt. At the beginning of this season I thought he'd be back to All-Pro level because he was trying to fight through the double-team (and few interior linemen catch as much double-teaming as he does) rather than just riding with it. But as the season wore on his effort diminished. When I graded my tackles, for possible all-pro selection, he finished sixth. If I'd have included the 49ers game, he'd have finished lower because his effort in that contest was abysmal. He tends to feed on pigeons, and it'll be interesting to see how he does against the Eagles' middle three of Mayberry, Fraley and Welbourn, all tough guys.

A double-dipper from Steve of Boston. First, my memories of the late Will McDonough of the Boston Globe. We covered the old AFL together. We were comrades for almost 40 years. Will was one of the few writers who actually played the game at a level higher than high school, so he could write with technical authority. Then he became a scoop guy. He developed a network of pipelines that was the best in the business, and he was always breaking stories. I envied him at first, then I kind of felt sorry for Willy, saddled with the unbearable pressure of always having to come up with scoops. Sometimes they just aren't there, so you have to reach, to go with flyers. We were on the Hall of Fame Committee together, also the Seniors Committee, and I always liked to sit next to Will during the sessions and trade one-liners, sotto voce, because he had about as much patience as I did with some of the goofy things that were occasionally said. Seeing Will die like that is terribly sad, of course, but it also brings home very scary feelings about my own mortality. Very scary.

Part 2 -- Describe the progress of Titans rookie Albert Haynesworth. Gradual. A force when he goes full tilt, but still not possessed with the stamina to keep it up for extended periods. I thought he had an excellent game against the Steelers. I graded him higher than any defensive lineman on the field, except for Pittsburgh's Casey Hampton.

Two pep talks in anticipation of my upcoming announcers column from John of Benson, Vermont, and Mike from Detroit. John is getting worn down by the parade of gaffes, both factual and verbal. All I can say to him, aside from thank you for the compliments, is that at one time I, too, used to monitor the butcheries of the language, but I've just about stopped, because it smacks of snobbism. Still, it makes me cringe when I hear ... "There's lots of ways" ... There is ways? C'mon now. The butcheries of the game itself, well, we'll get to those. Mike wonders if the announcers of, say, 20 years ago were better than the current vintage.

Now that's a good question. In the early days of TV they were kind of funny. I remember Red Grange doing his analysis at halftime, diagraming plays on a blackboard. "Now, on this one, he just ran straight down the field," he'd say, drawing a long, straight line down the blackboard. In the '60s and '70s there were a few I really liked, such as the team of Paul Christman and Al DeRogatis. I thought Merlin Olsen was pretty decent, but not critical enough. The old Monday night crew of Cosell, Meredith and Gifford? I never liked it, even though everyone refers to it as ABC's Golden Age. I never cared for the idea of people using the games as personal vehicles, and I thought Howard contributed nothing but shtick and bombast. Light, not heat, is my ideal.

Arthur of Narberth, Pa., suggests a stop at the Andover Diner, going west on Route 80. Hey, didn't that used to be a gamblers' hangout, where they could bet the Under Andover? (I just bounced that one off the Flaming Redhead and she made throwup noises.) Moving forward, Arthur suggests that the NFL follow baseball's lead and call a moratorium on hiring coaches during the playoffs. Right now assistants whose teams are still playing are at a disadvantage to the guys whose teams are out of it, because they can't be approached and the others can. You know something, Arthur? It makes so much sense that I don't think the NFL will ever go for it.

Simon of Montreal wonders why the Bengals continue to fight real progress, namely a complete overhaul of an outdated, antiquated and disastrous operation. For the same reason that got them to this state in the first place. They just don't understand what it takes to compete. Or, if you want to be really cynical, they're happy to accept their profit every year, which will occur whether or not they improve the product. Thanks for your compliments, by the way.

Robert of Port au Spain, Trinidad, can't understand why people don't see that Eddie George is more of a liability than an asset in the Titans' offense. A very tough evaluation for one who has meant a lot to this club through the years. And that's the problem, the same as it is in Dallas with Emmitt Smith. If you coldly put your loyal vets on the shelf once they show signs of lagging, it affects team morale. It injects a dead spot into the club. Sometimes it's something that has to be done, if the backup is clearly performing better, such as it is with the Zereoue-Bettis situation in Pittsburgh. But with George, well, I guess they feel that he still has enough smack-'em left to carry his share of the offense. Personally, I think Robert Holcombe is a more effective back, but I wouldn't just bench George for keeps.

Scott of Kansas City devotes a very long paragraph to building a case for Jerry Rice as the greatest player who ever lived, and he can't understand why more publicity is not given to this obvious fact. Well, how much can you write about Rice? How many ways can you describe his greatness? You say that no other receiver has ever come close to displaying his skills. Certainly not his longevity, but for pure skill? How about Lance Alworth and Don Hutson? Have you ever seen either of these gentlemen? Try to find some footage somewhere, although I'm afraid that the only place the good Hutson stuff exists is in the Packers' film library. You ask, "How can we continue to underappreciate the touchdown record Rice holds ... ?" Seems to me that it's been appreciated plenty in print. How much more can we do? Write sonnets? Epic poetry? Sometimes you can cheapen a thing by over-praising it.

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