Trav's Thoughts

Lightening in Miami caused a delay in the start of the Raiders vs Dolphins this morning. The stadium is still configured for baseball, so when they do finally play it could be a sloppy field. We've got a little bonus coverage of the Jets at the Bills.

As of this morning, four teams still have a chance at the NL Wild Card on the last day of baseball's regular season. Up for grabs today for San Diego, Colorado, New York Mets, and Philadelphia are three playoff spots - NL East, NL West, and Wild Card. Chicago has already clinched the NL Central.

The American League playoff line up is set. Boston in the AL East, Cleveland in the AL Central, Anaheim (which is not Los Angeles no matter what MLB says) in the AL West, and the Yankees are the Wild Card.

The game has finally started and the Raiders are looking very strong so far. They didn't move the ball on their first possession, but got an interception return deep into Miami territory. After an offensive pass interference call in the end zone, they got the touchdown.

Dolphin LB Joey Port guaranteed a victory for Miami this week. You should really have something in your back pocket if you're going to do that. Oakland is running the ball right over and through Miami's defense. And the Raider defense has the Dolphin offense bottled up so far. It's still early, and I'm not talking smack - not with my Raiders' recent history. I'm just saying that if you open your big mouth with a guarantee, you best be prepared to back it up.

Heehee.


Bad luck for the Raiders - RB Lamont Jordan went down with a back injury at the end of the half. That puts an end to the success they were having with the power running game. We'll see if the defense can continue to play well, and if Justin Fargus can still be explosive as the every down back. And whether he can be durable.

I'm feeling good about my boys now. Fargus broke off a big run and QB Daunte Culpepper ran it in for the score. The defense is still playing strong. But dammit! Now there's a turnover on the punt! Grrrrrrrrrr. These are the ups and downs you go through when your team is coming off a 2-14 season.

YEAH!!! Raiders score!! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! That's the kind of drive I like to see. There's still quite a bit of time left in this game because of the 30 minute delay this morning. But at 28-17 and less than 7 minutes to play in the 4th quarter, I'm feeling pretty confident as we get ready for Seattle vs San Francisco.

I may post later with some afternoon observations. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!! And don't forget to tune in to Turnbaby Talks at 8pm EST, 5pm here on the west coast.