jmccollum@latour.DEC (01/06/86)
What a pleasure it was to watch the Raiders go down on their home field yesterday. It's been a long time coming for the Patriots. It seems that nobody outside of New England has been paying any attention to them. All I heard from Raider supporters before this weekend was how well they matched up against the Bears in the Super Bowl. It really disgusted me. Here's a team with a one-man offensive attack and their fans feel like they should have some sort of automatic berth in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have an overall more talented roster and a first year coach that knows how to win in a tough division. Young as he is, Tony Eason is an infinitely better QB than Marc Wilson. I was really amazed at just how lousy Wilson was yesterday (and those two time outs were STUPID). It makes me wonder about the rest of the AFC west if the Raiders are the best they can turn out for divisional champions. I have to admit, I'm a life-long Raider-hater. I've seen too many cheap shots and victories by intimidation by them over the years. And a lot of it came at the expense of the Patriots. Everyone here remembers what Jack Tatum did to Darryl Stingley. Everyone here remembers the last time the Raiders and the Pats met in a playoff game. But as usual, the Raiders lived up to their reputation. They couldn't beat the Patriots on their own field so Matt Millen decided to beat up on New England GM Pat Sullivan. Howie Long (quickly losing his popularity in his home state of Massachusetts) had called Sullivan a "wimp", "spineless", and a "classless slob". But it was the Raiders Millen who showed his lack of class by beating on Sullivan with his helmet after the game. I think if any team in the NFL characterizes "classless", it is now and always has been the Oakland/LA Radiers. Great win! The Patriots and their fans deserve it. As for next week in the Orange Bowl, I think Miami is far too smart to take the Patriots lighlty. Despite the fact that they have now lost 18 consecutive games on the Dolphins home field, I don't think there is a single player on the Pats who doesn't think that this is the time. They beat the Dolphins in Foxboro and they could well have won the Monday night game in Florida a few weeks back. Tony Eason has gained playoff level experience since then (and including that game). If they can cut the turnovers out completely, I would not be too suprised to see them in the Super Bowl on January 26. Cleveland showed what a good running attack can do to Miami. New England has it. But they also have a passing game and a better defense than Cleveland. The stage is really set for New England to shed all the curses and jinxes that have plagued them over the years. The victory in LA this weekend was a major part of it. A victory in the Orange Bowl, now long overdue, would really make the nut. Jim McCollum decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-latour!jmccollum E-Net: latour::jmccollum Internet: mccollum at TOPS20.DEC.COM
rsk@pucc-j (Wombat) (01/08/86)
I'd like to take this opportunity to speak in defense of my second favorite football team, the Raiders. I was really looking forward to a Bears-Raiders Super Bowl, as I think it would be the kind of hard-hitting game that a Super Bowl ought to be. Now, then; the Raiders certainly are a physical, intimidating, brutal team; but there are plenty of other folks out there who take the occasional cheap shot or extra hit. The Cowboys are one of the worst at this; the Jets, Packers, and Redskins have done their share of dirty work as well; remember Payton getting dumped over the bench by Green Bay a couple of months ago? So before condemning the Raiders too loudly, consider how many blindside hits *your* favorite team's defensive backs have laid on wide receivers lately. -- Rich Kulawiec pur-ee!rsk purdue!rsk rsk@purdue-asc.arpa rsk@asc.purdue.edu
jmh@ltuxa.UUCP (Jon M. Hanrath) (01/09/86)
>shot or extra hit. The Cowboys are one of the worst at this; the Jets, >Packers, and Redskins have done their share of dirty work as well; remember >Payton getting dumped over the bench by Green Bay a couple of months ago? > >-- >Rich Kulawiec pur-ee!rsk purdue!rsk rsk@purdue-asc.arpa rsk@asc.purdue.edu I have a comment about the incident mentioned above. First off: 1) I am an avid Packer fan 2) I WAS disappointed in some of the cheap shots the Packers took this year, especially in that Packer-Bear game. and 3) I am a Waltor Payton fan. Now . . . I watch the incident mentioned above, and I think that Payton instigated the action. He held Mark Lee as Lee was pushing him out of bounds, and Lee retaliated. Unfortunately for Lee, by the time he retaliated, both players had run to the bench, which they then fell over. Payton has such a reputation that he could certainly never could have started something like this, and the Chicagoland media was nuts over how bad the Packers were. In my opinion it was a classic "throw the flag and call two penalties" situation. Payton, who is normally a reserved player, and an all-time great, got away with one. To throw Lee out of the game was absurd, as even the League office admitted later that week. The cheap shot by Ken Stills on Matt Suhey in the game was FAR more inexpensive (cheap, I mean -:) ). Stills deserved to be thrown from the game, but wasn't. I'd be willing to bet if he had leveled Payton, he would have been thrown out. Both teams got in their shares of cheap hits in the game, but at least the media around here (Chicago) hyped only the Packer's hits. I think possibly the reverse could be true in the Green Bay media. Jon Hanrath ihnp4!ltuxa!jmh
jsl@princeton.UUCP (Jong Lee) (01/13/86)
> up to their reputation. They couldn't beat the Patriots on their own field > so Matt Millen decided to beat up on New England GM Pat Sullivan. Howie > Long (quickly losing his popularity in his home state of Massachusetts) had > called Sullivan a "wimp", "spineless", and a "classless slob". But it was > the Raiders Millen who showed his lack of class by beating on Sullivan with > his helmet after the game. I think if any team in the NFL characterizes > "classless", it is now and always has been the Oakland/LA Radiers. Great > > Jim McCollum > decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-latour!jmccollum > E-Net: latour::jmccollum > Internet: mccollum at TOPS20.DEC.COM I do not think Millen's actions were the most appropriate, but how would you react if you had just played a very emotional game (of anything) and a guy (especially one you dislike/despise) comes up to you and starts taunting you. And more about the "classiness of the Patriots".... what about the Pats defensive player (not sure exactly what his position is) who came up to the Dolphin's kicker after he had missed a field goal attempt and starts rubbing it in. He must be related to Sullivan... or the Pats have adopted a new motto: "Just rub it in!" Somehow, the Raider's "Just win" sounds a little better. jsl *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***