Oakland Raiders Blog

While I haven’t found much success drafting Raiders heavy fantasy teams over the past few years, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums may have a better chance with Yahoo’s “Mayoral Face-Off Challenge.” Yahoo has managed to gather Mayors from around the country to get into a Fantasy Football league where the winner takes home $15,000 for the city.

C’mon Dellums, do it for the Raiders.

Sunnyvale, Calif., August 12, 2009 – Yahoo! Sports, the web’s leading sports site and home of the #1 fantasy football game, will kick off its 12^th fantasy football season by fostering some friendly competition among mayors from big football cities across the nation.  The Yahoo! Sports Mayoral Face-off competition matches mayors head-to-head each week of the fantasy football season, which kicks off on September 10 and concludes on December 28.  The winning mayor takes home $15,000 for the local non-profit sports program of his or her choice. And in a battle for civic pride, a second $15,000 donation will be awarded to the city with the most votes from fantasy fans.

Mayors who are putting their football prowess on the line for this competition include:

o Byron Brown (Buffalo, NY)

o Jim Schmitt (Green Bay, WI)

o Mark Funkhouser (Kansas City, MO)

o R.T. Rybak (Minneapolis)

o Ron Dellums (Oakland, CA)

o Mick Cornett (Oklahoma City, OK)

o Buddy Dyer (Orlando, FL)

o Luke R. Ravenstahl (Pittsburgh, PA)

o Kevin Johnson (Sacramento, CA)

o Gavin Newsom (San Francisco, CA)

o Pam Iorio (Tampa Bay, FL)

After continuing to search the Gulf of Mexico for Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and William Bleakley for five days, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday, March 3rd that the search will be abandoned. With a massive space to cover, the capsized boat already found, the Coast Guard had little intuition on where to locate the missing sailors.

With Marquis Cooper and the fate of others remain grim, Cooper’s family has vowed to continue to search for the missing players.

Earlier today, the Raiders front office released the following statement:

We continue to hold out hope that Marquis Cooper, Will Bleakley and Corey Smith will be located and rescued…However, with the Coast Guard’s decision to cease search and rescue efforts, we are faced with the reality that this mission may not turn out the way that we all desire.

Marquis Cooper is a NFL journeyman who played for eight NFL franchises in his five season career. Cooper played eight games at linebacker for the Raiders in 2008. Cooper was well liked around the clubhouse and his presence will be missed.

How good is Raiders corner back Nnamdi Asomugha? Ask pro bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson. Coming off 3 consecutive games with a touchdown reception and over 200 receiving yards against the Tennessee Titans last week, Andre Johnson didn’t make his first reception until the 4th quarter.

As the Raiders pulled off a 27-16 home upset against the Texans, everything came together for the Raiders in Oakland today. With rain coming down throughout the game in an half empty stadium, the Oakland Raiders clicked on all aspects of the game. Asomugha and the defense shutdown a hot Houston Texans team. Fargas and McFadden controlled the ground game. While Jamarcus Russell gave Raider nation a glimpse of his potential completing 18 out of 25 passes for 236 yards while throwing two touchdowns. And shining all season, Johnnie Lee Higgins caught a touchdown and returned another spectacular punt return in the 3rd quarter to lock up the game for the Raiders.

After another disappointing season, the Raiders did their 40,000 fans at the coliseum right today by ending the last home game of the 2008 season with a win. The Raiders displayed their potential and for at least one game met the expectations of Raider Fans at the outset of the season. Rather than going out quietly, the Raiders have certainly built momentum going into the off-season today and Raider nation can hold their breaths for another season.

Highlights are available here at the NFL.com website

The Raiders meet old time coach Gruden next season for a Super Bowl XXXVII rematch in Tampa Bay next week. The Buccaneers having struggled recently themselves, I have but one small peace of advice, watch the Buccaneers-Panthers game from week 14 and run to the right.

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