The Dream Season?
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by user Debo
Ladies and gentleman, we may be on the way to witnessing sports history. The Oakland Raiders are attempting to be the first team in the modern NFL era since the '76 Bucs to have a perfect season. There's no doubt about it - we're all rooting for them. Could this be the year? Could we see a winless team in the NFL after all these years of teams coming so agonzingly close? God willing, we will finally be put out of our misery this year. God willing.
So many teams have come oh so close. Ty Detmer did his best for the 2001 Detroit Lions, throwing seven picks in the opener to the Browns. Truly a gutsy performance, but Detmer was inexplicably benched later in the season, and the Lions went on to win two games. Just one year earlier, the Chargers nearly lived the dream. Led by none other than Ryan Leaf, it seemed like an 0-16 record was as close to a lock there had ever been. The anticipation was immense going into the season, and Leaf nearly pulled it out. The Bengals had several teams in the '90s that showed showed significant promise. But alas, no team has been able to handle the pressure since Tampa Bay in 1976.
This year however, the Raiders have assembled a dream cast. They made an incredible pickup in the form of Aaron Brooks, who has been amazingly horrible in New Orleans for the past few years. He just might have been the missing piece to this Oakland Raiders team. To back up Brooks, they signed 58-year-old Jeff George, who was crappy in his prime let alone now. George was later released in a controversial move by the front office. They let go playmaker wide receiver Doug Gabriel, in what appears to have been the best move all season, seeing as how Gabriel is performing in New England. To cap it all off, legendary coach Art Shell took over the reins as head coach. All in all, I really don't think you could have asked for a more productive offseason than the Raiders had.
The nation held its breath as it seemed like the Raiders' dream season was going to come crashing to a halt in just the fourth week. Brooks was hurt, leaving Andrew Walter, a slightly less talented but immensely more intelligent quarterback at the helm. Walter led the team to a 21-3 lead over the Browns in the first half. People all around the country were crushed - the dream season wasn't going to end so soon was it? Why do the football gods continue to tease us? Why????
But Art Shell pulled out his trademark at halftime - making absolutely no adjustments. I don't know if I believe in fate, but it can't be a coincidence that Shell was hired to lead this team. Any other coach undoubtedly would have made some adjustments, and in all likelihood the season would have been lost after that game. The pieces seem to be falling into place already.
I don't want to jinx this Raiders team. They have a lot of pressure on them, after all. 30 years of crappy players, idiotic coaches, pissed-off fans and horrible gameplans have given us nothing but agony, teams coming so close yet not being able to finish the season out. Please, for the sake of the NFL, for the sake of its fans, let the suffering end.
Date
Wed 10/04/06, 9:01 pm EST
