MVN: Most Valuable Network

Is there a cooler vehicle than the Batmobile? Nah!!

As a citizen of Raider Nation, there's no doubt that you are completely ecstatic about the plethora of news coverage surrounding the ONLY team you deem worthy of reading about.  The time of year when the water cooler is beginning to warm up with various topics of conversation that have either been dormant since January or have just begun with the anticipation of another NFL season.  You are probably even enjoying conversations with fair weathered 49ers fans right about now, anything to get you talking about football and especially the Raiders.

• NFL topics coming to a BSPN in the near future

So are you already tired of the Brett Favre topic?  If you're not, MJ Kasprzak of MVN's The Frozen Tundra tells me that they can't stop writing about it.  It's gotten so bad that MJ's wife is telling him to stop calling her Brett or Favre.  In case you didn't know, the latest going on is that Fah-v-vrah is planning on being in camp sometime on Sunday...or Monday...or is it Tuesday?

A couple of years ago, I would've welcomed this episode and probably would've been the first guy petitioning the Raiders to work a deal for him.  Now with the investment in JaMarcus Russell and the hard work he's put in to be the franchise, I'm only hoping that Shan-a-rat or Carl Peni...Peterson don't get an idea to get him.  The Raiders don't need that twice a year.

It looks like top-flight (BSPN's that is) corner backs are having a difficult time staying on the field.  Assante Samuel strained his hamstring and had to leave practice,  Nathan Vasher hurt his groin, Antonio Cromartie got sick, Rashean Mathis hurt his knee, and Ellis Hobbs is on the PUP list with an injured groin to name a few.

Former Raiders corner, Fabian Washington, is also hobbling around as he recovers from hamstring injuries from the mini camps.  Washington was quoted as saying:

"My hamstring is back and it feels good running around with the guys.  I'm tired, but that comes with the territory. The running test is no joke. I feel good and I'm ready to make an impact on this team."

It's not so shocking to hear how hard camp is for Washington, but it is a little refreshing that he chose not to compare the activities of his new team with his old team.  I'm in no shape to pass the 'running test,' but I wonder why someone that gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay in shape and play football, isn't ready for the test when the time arises.

Speaking of former Raiders corner's, you may remember Phillip "taketh away" Buchanon.  It looks like former Raiders GM's and coaches like former Raiders players enough to make even the busts starters on their teams.  Yes boys and girls, PB is starting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...just in case you didn't know.

So the Chiefs signed Dorsey.  You remember Glen Dorsey don't you?  He was the defensive tackle the Raiders passed on who was supposed to be the most dynamic player of the draft.  Now he's getting paid like it.  Never doing anything in the NFL, he's now guaranteed $22 million.  The Raiders guaranteed Tommy Kelly $18 million based on the work he'd already done with them over the past few seasons.  So, who's the idiot now?  I'll give you a hint, his name doesn't start with an 'A'.

Get ready for the race card.  It's already started concerning the lack of jobs for former starting 'BLACK' quarterbacks.  Interestingly enough, two of them are former Raiders, a team that boasts one of the six starting quarterbacks in the league.  The quarterbacks causing this stir are Aaron Brooks, Daunte Culpepper, and Byron Leftwich.

Funny enough, Quinn Gray is also mentioned with those guys.  Gray may be pretty good, but he doesn't have the credentials that the other three have.  What the article doesn't mention is that Culpepper and Leftwich expect starter's money and a chance to start as well.

Wondering if there was any merit to this, I took an objective look around the league.  The AFC West, NFC West, AFC South, and the NFC East are chocked full of young QB's or proven veterans as their starters.  In the AFC North and AFC East, only N.Y., Miami, and Baltimore have questions, but all of them have invested more than one pick in their current crop set for competition.  In the NFC North and South, there are a few teams that may be interested.  Those teams are Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta.  Atlanta just drafted their QB of the future with their first pick, Minnesota doesn't want Culpepper back (plus he'd be replacing another black QB), Detroit has Kitna, and Chicago has a mess.

Of the teams that might be interested in these unemployed former starters, only the messy QB situations (N.Y., Baltimore, and Chicago) seem to be the best bets.  Out of these three teams, only Chicago and N.Y. seem to be the least prepared at the position.  If they sign one of these guys, they're going to want to know that being a backup isn't going to cause a stir in the locker room.  Color has nothing to do with that, especially when you consider the spotty resume's of each QB.

• The More Things Change...

The Raiders were arguably the biggest movers and shakers on the open market this offseason.  They went into the offseason needing to find guys to protect the franchise (J-Russ) and stop the run.  Over the past two days of training camp, it's become a little worrisome that the Raiders haven't fixed those areas.

We keep hearing stories about how great Jay Richardson, Kalimba Edwards, Derrick Burgess, Gerrard Warren, etc.. are getting to the quarterback along with stories about offensive linemen jumping before the snap.  There's no doubt that those offensive linemen are jumping because they are trying to do whatever they can to stop the pass rush.

When something good is being said about the offensive line, the stories coming out of camp is that they are doing a great job opening holes for the running game.  Hmmm?  Let's see, if they're opening up running lanes, the defense must not be doing a good job of stopping the run, right?

When Coach Kiffin says the following about your biggest offseason offensive line acquisition, you may not want to get too giddy about some of the news.  Here's what he said about Kwame Harris:

"Yeah, he has been a better run player for us so far. We have some things in the pass protection, going back to left side - he hasn’t been there for a while, that we have to work out that [offensive line coach Tom] Cable is working on with him. We have a lot of hopes for him and we are going to need him."

Coach Kiffin also had this to say about the second year pro, Mario Henderson, with the shifts he's taking from both sides of the offensive line:

"Yeah, we are trying to cross-train him. He is competing with Cornell Green over there on the right side. Anytime you are the third tackle, if that is what he ends up being, then he needs to be cross-trained for game day. We actually bumped Paul McQuistan out there today at left [tackle] and Paul has been taking backup snaps at left guard."

It's only two days into training camp, so it's way too early to reach for the panic button.  Let's just not get too overly optimistic about all of the great pass defense we're hearing about until we start hearing about the run defense a little more.  That, or at least not be too wowed about JaMarcus Russell bombs until we hear about how defenders are having trouble getting to him.

Right now, the only defender not getting to the QB seems to be Trevor Scott.  That doesn't bode well for his future with the team.  If he's having trouble now, he's got a lot of catching up to do if he's going to get past that.

Terry Glenn and Eric Parker are now available after being cut by their former teams.  If either were signed by the Raiders it wouldn't be a surprise.  Parker is probably a better option due to his youth, but having a couple of marginal veterans come in and compete with the young guys couldn't hurt, could it?

• Chiefs fans can't be that bad can they?

We would like to give a quick shoutout to Ryan Brown and the guys over at MVN's The Home of the Chiefs for getting behind the 66th Mob Family's Autism event.  We didn't ask them, but they went ahead and pimped it to the ketchup and mustard crowd to lend a helping hand.  Patrick and I both agree, it doesn't matter how much your team sucks, if you can lay down the gauntlet like that for a good cause, we can do the same and appreciate you for it...once.  All truth kidding aside, it shows a lot of class by Chefs fans which is probably why the Raiders-Chefs rivalry is such a good one.  In my opinion, I think Raider Nation respects Chef fan more than the Donkey or Dolt fans.

• The Dark Knight returns

Batman came back last week to record audiences and stellar reviews.  So we decided we'd try and get an interview with the Dark Knight while he was still making appearances.

TFDS: Wow!  It's really great to have you here...uh...err...do we call you Bruce, Mr. Wayne, Dark Kni...

Batman: I'm BATMAN!

TFDS: Oh, O.K., uh good because...

Batman: I'm BATMAN!

TFDS: Uh, yeah, alright.  Well Batman,...

Batman: That's me!

TFDS: Yes, we know.  So how are you enjoying all of the fanfare that the Dark Knight movie is getting?

Batman: I'm BATMAN!

TFDS: O.kayyy...So do you watch football Batman?

Batman: I like rugby.  I played that in school.

TFDS: Raider Nation is known for many outlandish and menacing costumes during Raiders events and games.  There's a Raider, a Gorilla, Darth Vader, but I don't think there's a Batman...

Batman: I'm BATMAN!

TFDS: Yes!  We know.  Would you have a problem with citizens of the Raider Nation paying homage to you by dressing in a Batman costume?

Batman: I'm BATMAN!

TFDS: Alright!  I think we're done here.  What the hell is wrong with you?  Is that all you can say?  We're trying to conduct an interview and ask you some interesting questions and all you can say is...

Batman: I'm BATMAN?

TFDS: Yeah, I think we're pretty clear on that now...

Just giving you something different here at TFDS