Charles Woodson’s farewell game in Oakland Thursday throws yet one more weird layer onto an already bizarre Christmas Eve, which can only serve to confuse Raider fans who already fear they may be watching the final NFL game in Oakland.
The majority of Raider fans have been oddly muted about the possibility that their team might be spirited off to Los Angeles by the Davis family for the second time in 35 years. Some refuse to consider the possibility, just because they are fans and want what they want when they want it. Some are fatalistic about it. Some are unsure who to hate in this deal. Some think the Raiders will stay because they bank on the NFL either hating the Davises or not wanting to reward Mark Davis for having that haircut in public.
But unlike the San Diego Chargers fans, who turned their team’s final home game (a win over Miami) into a full-blown wake because they ARE pretty sure their team is leaving, and unlike the St. Louis fans, who still have hope but turned their final home game (a win over Tampa Bay) into a hate-fest aimed at owner Stan Kroenke, Raider fans haven’t had their turn at any of the potential enemies – Davis, Chargers owner Dean Spanos and the NFL owners, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the largely gormless Alameda County political class – and now they have to celebrate Woodson’s nonpareil career on top of that?
More to the point, though, how do they get Woodson to the torch plaza to light what might be the final flame at the Coliseum and back down to the field in time to armwrestle Keenan Allen for three hours? Ohh, the agonies of marketing.
[RELATED: Charles Woodson: Two football lives made an all-time great]
X X X
The NFL’s decision to put strings on a now-withdrawn $16 million contribution to a brain study at Boston University, however it chooses to spin it, is one more example of this basic truth: The money you take from any entity with a vested interest in a predetermined result in your work is just a loan you will pay back with massive interest.
X X X
Danny Snyder is now officially in love with both Kirk Cousins and the Federal circuit court judges who struck down as unconstitutional a law that was used to remove the Washington Football Playing Fellows official nickname. For the link-averse, the relevant paragraphs:
“The ruling, which came in a separate case filed by members of a band called The Slants who were refused a registration on their name on the grounds that it was offensive to Asian-Americans, declared the Lanham Act’s Section 2a to be an unconstitutional discrimination based on unpopular speech.
“Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities," the appeals court wrote. "But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech."
“The government cannot refuse to register disparaging marks because it disapproves of the expressive messages conveyed by the marks.”
Maybe he can show his appreciation by shipping them each a bottle of our last item.
X X X
Based on whom you believe, the Odell Beckham, Jr./Josh Norman/gay-slurs-and-baseball-bats story either provides Beckham an explanation for going what we used to call postal Sunday, or is a cheap excuse delivered two days late.
Frankly, I think the bat has been unnecessarily libeled.
X X X
We are about to find out just how important midweek preparation is for coaches, via Tania Ganguli of NFL.com, who Tweeted Monday morning:
“Bill O’Brien couldn’t watch film on the plane because he spilled a soda on his tablet. Had to wait to get back to Houston.”
That is a lost hour and 56 minutes, not counting airport-to-office drive time. This may explain why the hideous and quarterback-less Tennessee Titans opened at 41Ž2-point favorites Sunday. Next time, Billy, ask for the sippy cup. Your career may depend on it.
X X X
Adam Silver’s bonafides on legalizing gambling are clear, but the NBA’s various deals with the daily fantasy game industry make this passage from David Purdum’s ESPN story more of a puzzler than it might deserve to be.
“One of the reasons I’ve been pushing to legalize sports betting is not because that I'm necessarily an advocate of sports betting, it's because all the research shows that it's a multi-hundred-billion dollar business just in the United States right now. In terms of the integrity of the sports leagues, it's only bad news for us when it continues to remain underground . . . (to) the extent there are fantasy sites or flat-out betting sites, where consumers identify themselves by putting credit cards in and then can be tracked the same way the stock market can track buying and selling, then that's much healthier for the leagues.”
Somewhere, Tim Donaghy weeps – and then bets on how many tears he shed.
X X X
And finally, Empoli’s veteran striker Massimo Maccarone (36 years old, and still a starter in Serie A, so he is not to be mocked here) celebrated his two goals against Bologna Saturday in a way that only 36-year-old strikers should be allowed to do – by running over to the stands and taking a drag from a fan’s beer.
This should be allowed in all sports, based on age and experience. By that rule, Charles Woodson should celebrate any interception he gets Thursday night by running into the stands and handed a fluted glass of Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck champagne, named for the 2,000 bottles found in a 1916 shipwreck off the coast of Finland and running $275,000 a bottle. Of course, it being Oakland and all, he’ll probably have to “settle,” for a Drake’s Denogginizer double IPA.
