Tag: Oakland

The Stars Are Aligning to Make Las Vegas the Greatest Sports Town in America

CBS Sports – “The Oakland Raiders are going to move to Las Vegas. I am finally convinced of it. After being a skeptic throughout this process and especially in the aftermath of owner Mark Davis’ deal with casino magnate Sheldon Adelson falling apart around the Super Bowl, there are too many people I trust telling me this has become basically a fait accompli for me to deny it any longer. By Monday night, Davis will be cracking open the bubbly and toasting to his future on the Strip, because with the NFL including a formal vote on Vegas on its official agenda for the annual spring meeting, there is almost no time for this to fall apart now.”

First there was the NHL, which sacked up with the Golden Knights who will be making their Las Vegas debut in the 2017-18 season. Now after all the rumors and speculation it seems like the Las Vegas Raiders might finally become a reality. We all know that the Raiders have basically been trying to get out of Oakland because their stadium is a shit hole. They play on a baseball field for christ’s sake.

And it seems like Oakland is all set on footing the $750 million bill for a brand new stadium. So lifelong fans and tradition be damned, Mark Davis is taking his ball and moving to Las Vegas.

Obviously this could go off the rails for any number of reasons, as it almost did recently when Goldman Sachs dropped out of the funding. But it seems like this is about as close to a done deal as you can get.

“This is going to happen,” said one well-connected league source who has been in close contact with many influential owners on this matter. “Enough people will hold their noses and pray for the best and vote this through. Oakland — and by Oakland I mean the government officials there — hasn’t stepped up nearly enough, and the league is ready to put this to a vote. And while there is some trepidation about this market, it is going to pass.”

So Vegas is obviously already the most debaucherous city in the world but now add in TWO professional sports teams? My god, the stars are aligning for this to be the greatest sports town in America. Picture this, flying in for a weekend gambling your balls off, then heading over to watch the Golden Knights, maybe place a (legal) bet 90 seconds before walking into the rink, then getting bombed at a hockey game in the desert and hitting the “casino” til 4 am afterwards. Sleep, wake up, grab some bloody Mary’s, head down the strip to see DA RAIDERRRRSS and day drink until you can’t feel feelings anymore. All after placing a few (legal) prop bets of course.

I heard someone mention this on 98.5 this morning and its 100% true. The Raiders are going to have the greatest home field advantage in the league. Just think about it, half of these guys can’t control themselves in shit holes like Atlanta and Jacksonville. Now you’re going to drop them in downtown Las Vegas? The ones who don’t get arrested for prostitution and cocaine are going to be hungover as balls on Sunday.

I demand a hockey/football/casino weekend the likes of a degenerate has never seen before.

Make it happen, NFL.

Marquette King Punting Moon Shots Will Change Your Opinion of Punters Forever

So Oakland (read: Las Vegas) Raiders punter Marquette King was showing off his bionic leg for some charity event recently and holy hell. All punters more or less look like guys that just wondered off the soccer field and fell into a million dollar salary ass backwards. But when you see shit like this from up close, my god I will never (not true) disrespect a punter again.

Marquette King may be my favorite non-Patriots player in the entire league when you pair that video with his electric, flag inducing celebration dances.

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Hey Raiders, you move to Las Vegas and I’ll be first in line to get a Marquette King jersey.

Raiders Down to Notoriously Bad Body Language Guy Connor Cook to Start in the Playoffs

CBS SportsBad news: The Raiders are down to No. 3 quarterback Connor Cook, and it looks like he will start in Saturday’s wild-card matchup in Houston…The Raiders, meanwhile, are “moving forward with the expectation” that Cook will be under center this week, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport because No. 2 quarterback Matt McGloin suffered a shoulder injury in last Sunday’s loss to the Broncos.

Connor Cook, the man of exactly zero NFL starts will be making his first career start in the playoffs this weekend with both David Carr and Matt McGloin out with injuries. If *this* guy:

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is making his first start in the NFL playoffs and its the guy you’re depending on, then you are fucked.

I’m a huge body language guy; theres a reason everyone points to Jay Cutler’s shitty attitude and body language. Probably has a direct effect on him being a shitty quarterback. And I don’t care how many TD’s Cook threw in college. This is all I need to see. Just absolutely blowing off the guy handing him the trophy so he can get his shine. Gotta respect the little guys. That’s the move of a dickhead.

Luckily for Cook (who actually played pretty decent against the Broncos) the Raiders are playing the also terrible Texans so who knows maybe he plays decent, but I would not be surprised if he gets smashed. And its really too bad JJ Watt isn’t playing because that guy DESPISES young QBs who are a little too confident.

Las Vegas Raiders Dream is Still Alive!

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ESPN – Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis will attend a meeting with Nevada tourism officials Thursday in Las Vegas to discuss relocating to a proposed domed stadium there…The location for the proposed Las Vegas stadium is a 42-acre lot on Tropicana Avenue, a few blocks off the Strip.
This has to happen. Listen the Raiders want to move because Oakland is a dump and why move to LA just to be Stan Kroenke and the Rams little brother? You really wanna be the Clippers for the next 30 years?

Now would an NFL team in Vegas be a disaster? Probably. Best case scenario the Raiders spawn some kind of weird tourist fan base like Siegfried and Roy or when the Backstreet Boys set up shop in town for a few months. Worst case scenario is half the players can’t control themselves in Sin City with all the debauchery, drinking, drugs and gambling. In other words, exactly how Al Davis would have wanted it.

This immediately would become the top destination for any guys looking to catch a game out of town. Fly in on a Friday, destroy your body all weekend and then have a few Bloody Mary’s at the stadium Sunday afternoon watching the game that you 100% have bet your rent on. Sign me up.

Former Madden Legend JaMarcus Russell Says He’ll Play QB in the NFL for Free

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ESPN – JaMarcus Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft who hasn’t played since 2009, said he will “play for free” if a team gives him another chance…”I am willing to lead the scout team for free for one year just to get experience in your system,” Russell wrote in a letter to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, according to Sports Illustrated.

On one hand this is legitimately sad for the former No. 1 overall pick in the NFL to be offering to play on a practice squad for free just to get back in the league. On the other hand JaMarcus signed a $68 million deal (poor bastard only actually got $38 mil of it) with the Raiders back in 2007  so he’s not exactly working at the gas station. Fortunately for him a certain team up in New England could potentially use a low-cost (free) QB for a few weeks to start the season. And with Johnny Football in and out of court and all coked up at Coachella, opportunities are abundant for washed up QB’s. It’s called destiny, JaMarcus.

Red Sox Easily Could Have Josh Donaldson at 3B Right Now Over Pablo Sandoval

Courtesy of ESPN

Courtesy of ESPN

God I wish Dave Dombrowski got to Boston a year earlier. A guy who gets aroused trading unproven prospects full of potential for legit major league talent. The Blue Jays gave up their top prospect and a few other players to land Donaldson, but in his first season in Toronto all he did was hit .297 with 41 HR and 123 RBI en route to winning the AL MVP. OK I guess. Meanwhile the Sox spent $95 million on the abomination that is the Pablo Sandoval contract. Not to mention Donaldson isn’t arbitration eligible until 2018! He made about $4 mil in his MVP year, which bumped up to $11 mil this year whereas Pablo’s making a cool $18 mil to ride the pine. (*Fun little note – Baseball Reference’s Top 10 most similar players to Pablo include Corey Koskie, Shea Hillenbrand and Aaron Boone. Gross). At the time of the trade Donaldson’s WAR was a ridiculous 15.4 the past two seasons, trailing only Mike Trout in the majors.

The Blue Jays gave up third baseman Brett Lawrie (injury prone career .262 hitter), right-hander Kendall Graveman (Oakland’s No. 7 prospect after 2014), left-hander Sean Nolin (Oakland’s No. 8 prospect after 2014/No. 14 after 2015) and top shortstop prospect Franklin Barreto (Oakland’s No. 2 prospect after 2014/No. 1 after 2015, No. 86 ranked prospect by Baseball America after 2014).

Ohh what could have been..

This.

Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

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