June 26, 2008
ESPN Disses the Oakland Raiders, Sports Center forgets they are in the AFC West
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Here at TFDS, not only do we cover the Oakland Raiders and the Raider Nation, we try to cover the coverage of the Raiders and the Nation. With a day off from my other job, I planted myself in front of ESPN to see if there was any news worth writing about. Imagine my delight when Sports Center was supposed to be talking about the AFC West. Well, in their discussions of the AFC West, there was absolute no talk on the Oakland Raiders.
Their idea of coverage of the AFC West was to have Tom Jackson discuss the pros and cons of the Denver Broncos. He said that the Broncos needed to find a pass rush, and that Jay Cutler's regression last season was due to his diabetes and should improve this season.
Chris Mortenson talked about the San Diego Chargers, saying that there are questions on how well Phillip Rivers injuries have healed, and that there was a controversy surrounding LaDainian Tomlinson and that they will miss his "very capable" backup Michael Turner.
The only mention of the Raiders was a passing reference to the "young quarterbacks" in the AFC West by Mort. "They have young quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and JaMarcus Russell."
And this passes for coverage of the AFC West? Ryan Brown of MVN's Home of the Chiefs has had better breakdowns of the entire AFC West, than these guys. So much for the "World Wide Leader in Sports." Tom Jackson is a retired Bronco who has shown that he has carried the rivalry with the Raiders into his second career as a so called journalist. Chris Mortenson is usually better than this, as he usually seems to know that there are four teams in the AFC West.
By contrast, their coverage of the NFC West at least touched on all four teams. I am not usually one to rant about sports coverage (outside of a couple of local writers who shall remain nameless), but this is just crazy.
Enduring BSPN so you don't have to here at TFDS!
Discussion
32 Comments on "ESPN Disses the Oakland Raiders, Sports Center forgets they are in the AFC West"
#1
Posted by Raider Raul, June 26, 2008 4:26 PM
PP,
I totally agree that espn's Raiders coverage absolutely sucks. I happen to record NFL Primetime every Sunday and fast-foward to the Raiders highlights. AT MOST, we usually get like 20-30 seconds of coverage. I remember one weekend, they completely didn't show highlights of our game. They're a bunch of Raider-hating jerks.
#2
Posted by Thoughts from the Dark Side: ESPN Disses the Oakland Raiders, Sports Center forgets they are in the, June 26, 2008 5:17 PM
[...] Read more. Posted in Blog, Oakland Raiders | [...]
#3
Posted by raiderchris56, June 26, 2008 5:48 PM
Would we rather be ignored on BSpn or straight out mocked on NFLratwork? The talking heads on NFLnetwork come out mocking the Raiders and laugh out loud at how terrible this franchise is from the owner to the roster to the towel boy! They don't hide their disdain in the least.
#4
Posted by Thec, June 26, 2008 6:06 PM
When the NATION wins and win often the mediots should all get the middle finger news. Michael Smith is one of the few that get it....
#5
Posted by El Dirty, June 26, 2008 6:09 PM
Well guys what do you expect from a bunch of guys that got worked buy the Raiders? I wouldn't want to talk about the guy that beat me up either.
#7
Posted by silver&black88, June 26, 2008 7:52 PM
Very few of those analysts are not biased. I agree about Michael Smith. Sometimes football players are on and they tend to be fair; even Shaun Phillips said the Raiders are a team to watch out for. Chris Berman likes the Raiders too I think
#8
Posted by pat T, June 26, 2008 8:43 PM
Man it doesnt matter what these dudes say or dont say... There always gonna TRY and look down upon the NATION, Al Davis, players, coaches, anyone who has something to do with the franchise... The media always remembers the bad, but they never give credit for the GREAT things Al Davis has done(HE IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT SHOULD BE THANKED FOR THE NFL TODAY), but rarely will you hear saying Al Davis has done this and what a great decision... I mean our some of our former players talk bad about the franchise, even guys who the Raiders gave an oppurtunity to(cough, cough, Chris Carr, Fabian Washington)... But then theres the loyal guys(cough, cough, Jarrod Cooper, Kirk Morrison, Art Shell)... We gotta force the media to talk about us... And we do that by winning...
GO RAIDERS!!!
#9
Posted by Natalie, June 26, 2008 9:56 PM
When has BSPN ever covered the Raiders, let alone favorably? I watch NFL Live every day and there's barely a whiff of Raiders coverage, unless of course it's about Javon Walker getting beat up or JRs contract negotiations.
Let them all hate, just makes me more passionate about the team.
#11
Posted by ortizlouie7, June 26, 2008 11:07 PM
Start printing the FUCK ESPN signs for Monday Night Football let' show BSPN what we think of them.
#13
Posted by KA1Z3R, June 27, 2008 6:19 AM
ESPN is pretty bad. Seeing as how they really thought Russell was 300 lb. saying "he'd be a better fit at DT and resign Culpepper (laughter)" By the way, that was Tom Jackson. You're right, Mortensen is usually fairly unbiased. And everytime they talk about Oakland they always say, "McFadden looks to rebuild this team (just an example). Remember Oakland's 19-61 since 2002." They say it everytime, but nothing like that when talking about other teams. Just us. That's why I no longer watch ESPN for my Raiders fix, instead I rely on reliable Raiders sites. Thank you Rob and Patrick for giving me reliable, fairly unbiased, truthful Raiders News.
#14
Posted by DevDuck, June 27, 2008 7:02 AM
The point that ESPN has a profound eastern bias and has also seen their journalistic standards plummet over the last few years has been well documented and should no longer provide a surprise to anyone.
The bottom line, however, is that league wide (and hence media) respect is EARNED, not GIVEN.
Anonymity, or even ridicule, is really all a team should expect when they lose more than three out of every four games played over a five year span.
Get the Raiders above .500 for a change, Patrick. Then, if the blow dried blowhards from Bristol still ignore the Silver and Black, you'll have something to complain about.
#15
Posted by oumike, June 27, 2008 7:18 AM
They always diss us...But they won't be able to ignore us THIS year...
#16
Posted by Raider Blues, June 27, 2008 7:43 AM
ESPN is terribly biased and it's well known you don't need talent anymore to report for them. I remember this last year they referred to the Ducks as the Beavers when they were waxing S. Fla. in their bowl game. the Oregon Beavers and nobody said anything about it! Ha! True we need to post a better record but BSPN and their silly SEC bla bla bla is over the top! Although the SEC does have the most customers for them to sell to.
#17
Posted by SpokaneOakfan, June 27, 2008 8:13 AM
You can't explain this away as "east coast bias" when they would all wear 49er jerseys if they were allowed to. It's hating, pure and simple and it would be great to say we'll all put it in their faces soon, but they'll just switch over. They loved us in 2001-2002.
Disney Sports bites.
#18
Posted by jay, June 27, 2008 11:35 AM
tom jackson is a big piece of denver donkey shit.He could not play and sucks on espn.The only person i hate to listen more is that marlbed mouth shannon sharpe.I dont think his own mother can understand him
#19
Posted by azraider37, June 27, 2008 11:54 AM
ESPN makes me absolutely sick. I'm so tired of watching Tom Jackson and Schlarith(however you spell it). I'll watch the NFL net, even though it isn't much better, for my football news. I have to watch ESPN for other sports news. It is far past the time for someone to come out with some competition, preferably someone based in the central or west part of the U.S.
#21
Posted by Cortez, June 27, 2008 4:41 PM
Wonder what there gonna say opening weekend on Monday Night in Oakland when we stomp a mud hole in Denvers Ass. We'll let them know what the Nation is all about. They cant ignore us then.
#22
Posted by samlaw, June 27, 2008 5:21 PM
I am a life long Raider fan, but don't think there is any reason to get upset over the ESPN coverage. Be realistic. The team has sucked ever since the Super Bowl loss. When they start to win again, the Raiders will get primetime games and favorable coverage, but no team gets that kind of media coverage simply due to potential.
You have got to "Just Win".
#23
Posted by Raider Blues, June 27, 2008 9:38 PM
Uh... no team gets that kind of media coverage simply due to potential... Have you ever watched the garbage they put on??? True they're trying to force those teams on us and Oakland isn't a favorite for them so it makes sense but no team is far from reality
#24
Posted by pat T, June 27, 2008 10:35 PM
samlaw your right we have to win... But there is a reason to get upset... If im watching ESPN(NFL Live) is because im interested in what their showing and if their show consits of breaking down division by diision then they need to do it right(a couple of details from every team)... Since ESPN is the leading sports channel...
GO RAIDERS!!!
#25
Posted by LDizzle, June 27, 2008 10:51 PM
Well I suppose no coverage is better than the negative press the Raiders usually get. After they talked about the "AFC West" was the next thing you saw a Dalls Star? They usually seem to jump back to talking about the Cowboys as quickly as possible.
ESPN: Forever riding the dicks of the Yankees, Red Sox, Patriots and Cowboys...Oh and Tiger Woods.
Not that Tiger doesn't deserve coverage but seriously the day he announced he was taking the rest of the year off for surgery, they acted like Brett Favre was retiring all over again. Even on NFL Live they were comparing him to guys like Ronnie Lott because Tiger played injured.
#26
Posted by pat T, June 28, 2008 12:02 AM
Hey at least JaMarcus isn't calling his WR's out for mistakes they make cough, cough Cutler...
GO RAIDERS!!!
#27
Posted by The Missing Link, June 28, 2008 9:00 AM
ESPN is still mad because the Raiders were shut out the the last two times they played on their cable channel. Think the Raiders can actually score some points against Denver on September 8th?
#28
Posted by OregonRaider, June 28, 2008 11:42 AM
Missing Link,
I am confident that the Raiders will be up for Denver in Septemper and I will be there making some noise for that little whiner Cutler. I compare him a lot to Eli Manning, not in stats though. In the way both of them look like little crybabies when things go wrong for them. JM gets sacked and he looks like he is going to get up and punch the guy.
Raiders coverage even when they are winning is less than a lot of others. That is because everybody has an opinion about the Raiders. They love them or they hate them. No other team is that way. If you are a Bears fan or a Green Bay fan and you are talking to a fan of another team they don't say "Oh, ya I hate the Bears or I hate the Packers." They are indifferent about most other teams except maybe div rivals. Not the case with the Raiders. If you are not a fan, you hate them 99 percent of the time.
#29
Posted by Ian Brennan, June 28, 2008 1:36 PM
how do you expect to get on the highlights when you lsoe all the time.....The chiefs were hardly on highlights either and yeah it pisses me off but what do you expect, people want the ebst on TV and the Raiders or the Chiefs don't give them that
#30
Posted by samlaw, June 30, 2008 3:14 PM
Raider Blues - You are right that some of the primtime games involve weak teams. But if you look at the schedule, you will notice that most the slots go to the prior year's division winners or teams with winning records. However, as we all know, many teams cannot repeat the success they had in the prior year. This is why the networks end up with some poor matchups. We have also seen a lot of one year turn arounds, and those teams won't be on the nationwide broadcasts because no one expected the to do well.
The Raiders will be back on Monday Night Football and primetime games when they post a winning record.
Bottom line: Respect is earned only thought winning.
#31
Posted by Quick Hits - Bad News on Nash, Forgetting the Raiders, and Pork Related Heart Failure - BroncoTalk, July 5, 2008 12:39 AM
[...] section “Thoughts from the Darkside” over at MVN noticed that ESPN basically forgot that Oakland plays in the AFC West as well. They seem whine about Tom Jackason covering the [...]
#32
Posted by jcampb72, July 5, 2008 2:44 PM
The raiders suck so bad that they forgot they were even in the league.....priceless!
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