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Oakland Raiders: Uh-Oh, Sanjay Lal Is In Trouble

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A.J. DeMello

A.J. DeMello

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Correspondent Written on August 04, 2009

(Photo by Getty Images)

TFDS' guest writer AJ DeMello sees some trouble brewing with the Raiders new receivers coach.

This after the rather inexperienced position coach got a stern talking to by Mr. Al Davis himself and later another finger-wagging from Tom Cable.

Darrius Heyward Bey picked the wrong time to have a lackluster showing in practice the other night as it was the first appearance at camp for "His Greatness".

And while I am sure no one expects DHB to charge out the gates and look like a star receiver, I am sure that shabby performance didn't help matters. And things don't get any easier from here on out for anyone.

They get decidedly more difficult and more stressful.

Although, I'm sure Mr. Davis has James Lofton on speed dial if he needs it.

But let's just hope it doesn't come to that...

Restaurant Brawl, Starring Tim Thomas?

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Tim Thomas has been (rightly) accused of dogging it his whole career. One thing that doesn’t lack intensity, though, are his fights (allegedly): “Thomas, another man and three women entered the Denny’s. Damien Pettie, 29, recognized Thomas and told police that he stated, ‘What’s up?’ Thomas told him not to talk to him, using curse words and racial and anti-gay epithets. Pettie responded with profanity. The man with Thomas then struck Pettie twice in the face, splitting his lip. ‘Then all parties within both groups began to throw chairs, knock over tables, and fight each other’ until the store manager told them he was going call police. A suspect, identified as Thomas, threw a chair that struck Moya Kissick in her left side. Thomas and his group then left the restaurant before police arrived. Colleen Kissick, 29, said she and her mother had been out celebrating her mother’s 65th birthday, which was Tuesday. They had just gotten their food when the fight suddenly erupted without warning and her mother got hit with a chair.”

Message to Obama: You Can't Have Muhammad Ali

By Dave Zirin

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On November 19th, President Barack Obama wrote a stirring tribute in USA Today to the most famous draft resister in US history, Muhammad Ali. On Tuesday, Obama spoke at West Point, calling for an increase of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, with a speech that recalled the worst shadings of George W. Bush's "war on terror."

 

On November 19th, Obama wrote about why Ali's photo hangs over his desk, praising "The Greatest" for "his unique ability to summon extraordinary strength and courage in the face of adversity, to navigate the storm and never lose his way." On Tuesday, Obama showed neither courage nor strength but the worst kind of imperial arrogance. He asserted America's right to go into a deeply impoverished country that - from Alexander the Great to the USSR to today - has made clear to the world's empires that it wants to be left the hell alone.

 

On Tuesday, Obama summoned the spectre of 9/11 and said, "It is easy to forget that when this war began, we were united--bound together by the fresh memory of a horrific attack, and by the determination to defend our homeland and the values we hold dear." He didn't mention how many innocent Afghans had already died in eight years of "horrific attacks" on their homeland or how many would die in the months ahead, defending their own homeland.

 

On November 19th, Obama praised Ali as "a force for reconciliation and peace around the world." On Tuesday the Nobel Peace Prize winner, reconciled himself with war.

 

Would that Muhammad Ali still had his voice. Would that Parkinson's disease and dementia had not robbed us of his razor-sharp tongue.

 

Today, Ali has been described as "America's only living saint." But like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, both postage stamps before people, Ali has had his political teeth extracted.

 

But in a time when billions go to war and prisons while 50% of children will be on food stamps for the coming year, we can't afford Ali, the harmless icon. Maybe Muhammad Ali has been robbed of speech, but I think we can safely guess what the Champ would say in the face of Obama's war. We can safely guess, because he said it perfectly four decades ago:

 

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No, I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here..... If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people, they wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years."

 

Replace Vietnam with Afghanistan and it's a message Barack Obama and our troops need to hear. But we shouldn't wait for some celebrity or athlete to make that statement for us. Muhammad Ali may have helped shape the 1960s, but those years of resistance also shaped him. We need to rebuild the movement against war. We need to revive the real Muhammad Ali to inspire draft resistors of the future. We need to reclaim Ali from warmongers who would use his image to sell a war that will create more orphans than peace. This is the struggle of our lives and we have the Nobel-minted President of the United States on the other side of the barricades. Barack Obama can have the fawning media, the adoring generals, the RNC, and the liberal apologists on his side.

 

But he can't have the Champ. Remove that poster from your wall Mr. President. Your Ali privileges have been revoked.

 

[Dave Zirin is the author of "A People's History of Sports in the United States" (The New Press) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]

It's Happy Hour Somewhere, Right? Oh, There's An App For That

By Peter Ha on December 7, 2009

On the off chance that I manage to get out of the office at a reasonable hour, I like to partake in the consumption of a frosty beverage or two to calm the nerves. It might not help me sleep at night, but it's a wonderful stress reliever. But the problem with living in NYC – and there aren't very many – is that I never know which establishments have a happy hour. Or, which ones are actually worth going to. There's an app for that, right?

Well, it seems there are handfuls of “happy hour” apps, but the Happy Hour App from Boomtown Apps claims to filter through the rubbish and deliver “a concise list for eager drinkers to find cheap booze” using their own custom database. The $2 app launches tonight and will serve up drinks to those in need of cheap booze in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and Nashville. Other cities will be included by year's end.

(More on Time.com: The Top 10 Everything of 2009: iPhone Apps)

The app will locate parched libation seekers based on GPS coordinates (or you can input an address) and lists the proximity of each bar, optimal drinking times and cheapest prices. Which could turn out to be well worth the $1.99 spent when you're not shelling out $6 for a can of PBR. If you don't have an iPhone then fret not because Boomtown has a searchable database online. You can also follow their Twitter for nightlife news.

Now go have a drink because I'm still working, jerk.

Happy Hour App [iTunes]

Kobe Bryant: Inspirational texter

December 3, 2009 |  5:31 pm

Forum Blue and Gold/NBC Los Angeles's Kurt Helin (who got wind of the news through the New York Times) recently wrote a piece about Kobe Bryant buoying the spirits of Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young through a series of texts.  The timing of these messages happened to coincide with Young getting back on field and steadily regaining his footing, and the QB has expressed gratitude for 24's concern. 

I asked Kobe after Tuesday's game against the Hornets about what prompted the interaction with Young.  Here's what he had to say:

I found particularly interesting Bryant expressing an ability to relate to Young. Obviously, on a purely professional level, he's never experienced the Longhorn legend's recent lows. I don't think Kobe's even endured a "bad" season, much less one where he lost his starting job and people wondered whether or not he had a future in the league. But Bryant does know what it's like to be harshly "written off," whether you're talking about the on/off-court image rehab he's successfully undergone or simply shutting up those claiming he'd never win a title without Shaq.  For his part, Young has dealt with questions about his mental stability, intelligence (Wunderlich nonsense) and drive. He also felt a particularly strong loss with the passing of Steve McNair, who'd served as a mentor for the fellow Titans slinger, meaning additional sources of advice and perspective were likely needed.  In any event, I thought it was pretty cool of Kobe to reach out like that,  And I'm glad to see Young enjoying success after a rough 1-2 years. 

Helin noted how Bryant, while rising to back to the top, had to drown out the critics, a message likely passed along to Young.  But Kobe also emphasized a need to keep the foot on the gas while things are running on all cylinders, because goodwill can be temperamental and subject to gravity's pull.

"If he has two bad games, everybody goes back to talking a bunch of (smack)," noted Kobe with a sly grin.

AK

Group puts up billboard with plea

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Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Disgruntled Oakland Raiders fans are making a high-profile plea for owner Al Davis to step down as the team's general manager.

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AP Photo/Paul SakumaThe group that put up the billboard says it has gathered 21,000 signatures for a petition asking Al Davis to step down as GM.

A billboard was posted on the freeway near the Oakland Coliseum this week, saying "MR. DAVIS, DO THE RIGHT THING, PLEASE HIRE A GM."

The group that put up the billboard says it has gathered 21,000 signatures for a petition asking Davis to step down as general manager. The petition also calls on Davis to hire a new GM, hire a Super Bowl-caliber coach and "agree to refrain from intervention in personnel or football operational matters."

The Raiders (3-8) have won three Super Bowls under Davis' leadership but appear headed to a seventh straight losing season. Oakland's 27-80 record since the start of the 2003 season is the worst in the NFL.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Dream Homes or Foreclosure Risk?

Jonathan Rivers

December 1, 2009

File under Tags: consumers, economy, foreclosure

For those of you that haven’t watch the show yet, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” finds worthy families that have faced some sort of recent or ongoing hardship and gives them a helping hand by remodeling their home (or replacing it entirely if its beyond repair).   The show is now in its 7th season, but a recent disturbing trend has been creeping up as strings of makeover homes faces foreclosures.

The Wofford family of Encinitas, California, whom got their house over 5 years ago (episode 15, season 2) are now facing foreclosure, after struggling to pay for their bills for two years, according to San Diego 10 News.

Though many times the audience may be lead to believe that each episode ends with happily-ever-after scenarios, realistically, many of the families may continue to face financial hardship with higher property tax and utility cost.

Beyond the Woffords are also the Harper family of Atlanta (episode 29, season 2), who famously faced foreclosure last year after taking out an unwise $450,000 loan using the makeover house as equity.

Critics have often contend that the makeover homes are too lavish to be supported by some of these financially strapped families (such as the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, and 7-television home to a family of 4).

Faced with foreclosure pressure, some families have also opted to sell their homes in order to avoid foreclosure or the excessively high property tax.  The Hassall Family (given a 3,298 sq. ft. home in episode 62, season 3)  did just that after they’re left with more than $100,000 to pay off on their mortgage.  After three years, the family decided to sell the home rather than faced the stress of increasingly high property tax and utility bills.

As homes across the country face foreclosure risk from the fallout of the recession, we may unfortunately soon hear more stories of yet-another makeover home being on the verge of foreclosure.  Perhaps with this in mind, the producers of the popular ABC show will adjust future makeover homes to account for any potential future ramification to the families’ finances.