Here's todays sports news...

Poor Cal-- so close yet so far. Our theory about what happened is that the idea of Cal having the #1 ranked team in the country was so crazy that even in this year (decade, actually) of sports craziness, the God of Sports deemed that just too crazy and set the upset in motion. Of course, we're also looking at the Rockies in the World Series, so whadda we know? Okay, before the Raiders recap,......

All this kafuffle over the Patriot's version of sex, lies, and videotape can only remind us of one thing-- the Greatness of the Raidahs. What other football team is so synonymous with cheating? It's part of their legend, their mystique, their je ne sais quoi. Hell, even Lisa Simpson even knows this. Or, as John Madden put it: "everybody says the Raiders cheat...OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?" ...

Exhibition football is back and ready to ruin our prime time lives. Hey, thanks, football. Tomorrow's a big one, so we thought we'd be helpful and give you one full day to make sure your DVR is set to record shows like Big Brother and CSI at their temporary graveyard-shift times. This is all on KPIX tomorrow (8/30), kids. If you're excited about the big game between the 49ers and the Chargers, that all......

This morning, ESPN's Len Pasquarelli is reporting that "sources" say that the 49ers' prized offensive coordinator Norv Turner will be the new coach of the San Diego Chargers, to which we say noooooo....

We told you, Colts vs. Bears in the Super Bowl. Man, we knew we should have gone to Vegas. Anyways, we're happy with the game, not necessarily because it'll be a good game, but because it's two of the original NFL teams with great traditions and great, traditional uniforms. How could you not love a game that harkens back to the 50's and 60's? ...

-Jeff Tedford gets a contract extension, Ray Ratto is already thinking he's gone. -Golden State is hoping to finally win a game in LA. -Nancy Gay isn't very impressed with the QB play this playoff season. Ira Miller, however, is loving the Brady/Manning matchup but not loving his Baltimore/Philly Superbowl prediction. And David Schoen dreads the thought of Peyton Manning winning. -The Giants have a new scoreboard. -Is James Lofton your new Raiders coach? Does......

After a weekend in which it felt like we watched about 100 hours of football, all we can say is Bill Belichick has some major cojones and one can only wonder what Marty Schottenheimer did in a past life to deserve everything that has happened to him in the playoffs. ...

-So we've already had our say about Art's canning, but what does everyone else say? Ray Ratto wishes whomever the next coach is good luck and Gwen Knapp thinks it should be the Mulleted One (as does Don Banks on CNNSI). Raiders Fan House runs down a list of candidates as does Inside Bay Area. In the national sites, Deadspin wonders if Al and Art are the new Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner and ESPN's Mark Kreidler thinks Al needs to get over himself and hire some big name guy. Over in San Jose, Mark Purdy picks Bill Cowher out of his ass as a potential replacement. ...

Okay, let's go into the wayback machine to look back at the big play in yesterday's Raiders/Chargers game. And yes it's another sports story but look at this as one more story of cruel injustice instead. Besides, this post is worth it just for the above video made before the game made by a Chargers fan to show just what he expects the Chargers to do to the Raiders. Anyways, the play was on fourth and inches and the Chargers made a thirteen-yard pass to Vincent Jackson. Even though he wasn't touched, Jackson got up and spinned the ball on the field. Because the whistle wasn't blown, the ball was still live and there was a scrum match to pick the ball up with the Raiders winning the scrum match. ...

Rams 20 49ers 17- At the end of the first half in the game against the Eagles a couple of months ago, Mike Nolan was faced with a decision on whether to go for it on fourth down and inches or kick a field goal. He went for the field goal and was criticized by some of the Faithful for doing so, mainly because they were convinced the Niners were on the verge of rallying and going for it might have swung Big Mo there way. In yesterday's game, Nolan was faced with a similiar decision, this time in the fourth quarter and ahead 14-13, and once again went for the field goal. This time, it might have cost them the game as they lost on a last minute TD. Bring on the controversy. It must be said too that a team that at one point was looking almost as bad as last year's travesty is now in a situation where there's huge debate over a coaching decision and whether or not it cost them a game. Why? Because when you get blown out a lot, it doesn't matter. These things matter now. ...

We can't really confess to have been paying a lot of attention to this game but we noticed this weird thing during the first half of the game where every time we looked up, the Niners were either scoring a TD or making a big play or even getting a safety. Then we'd look up at the score and notice that they were getting throttled by the Chargers. The game was 35-19 at half time and was pretty much doing what they will with the 49ers, but still, the Niners always seemed to be doing something big....

If you don't expect anything from life, you can't be disappointed. Monday at the Oakland Coliseum, the Raider Nation in attendance expected their Raiders to compete with the San Diego Chargers. The Nation assembled with facepaint and masks and bared teeth. Their songs of war echoed through the East Bay night air. You see, the Nation, they expected a battle. They got a slaughter. ...

Chargers 27 Raiders 0- Well, that didn't go well. It went so well, in fact, Aaron Brooks got himself already benched and we had him making it halfway through the season before getting benched. Typical Raiders-- all the hype, all the energy, all the excitement that was created before this game (the tailgaiting started early Monday morning) and they totally laid an egg. In sort-of Prime Time. Even more revealing, everybody in the world knew the Chargers were going to run the ball and everybody knows they weren't going to let Phillip Rivers throw the ball and yet the Raiders gave up 131 yards to Tomlinson. The countdown to the Randy Moss explosion begins now. ...

Happy Whatever-You-Want from all of us at American Football Spectacular! Let's have a look at the games on TV this wknd, shall we? San Diego Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs, Saturday, 12/24/2005, 10:00 AM PST Wild Card playoff football is nothing compared to the atmosphere for two teams clawing for that last playoff spot at the end of the regular season. Truly, when it is said that "this is what it's all about;" then......

Growing up, there's a time in everyone's life when they first discover that not everything is meant to work out and that things sometimes aren't happily ever after. It's that exact moment when you discover for the first time that the heart can be broken. On one wintery, cold day in January, we had that moment. For whatever reason, we grew up to be a Browns fan. Don't ask us how or why, we just were. When instead of throwing the ball away, Brian Sipe tried to force the ball to Ozzie Newsome in the end zone with time running out and wound up getting picked off by Mike Davis instead, our pour bleeding heart got broken for the first time. Even today, we get that icky, gut-wrenching feeling whenever we think about that day. Damn, you, Red Right 88. TV note of the week- the Rai-duhs game is blacked out due, once again, to not enough ticket sales. Good for the TV viewer, right? Nope. We're getting the god-awful Bengals/Lions snooze-fest for some unknown reason. Hopefully, the game will be over the end of the 1st quarter so they can switch to a good game. Also, instead of showing us the Colts/Chargers game, you know the one featuring the team shooting for NFL history and one of the few teams who can beat them, they're only showing us the Niners/Jags game. Looks like a good excuse to go bar-hopping all day if you ask us. ...

As we look ahead to week 14 of the 2005 NFL season we see a pretty dreadful slate of games featuring the hometown teams. So we tried to think of a compelling reason why you should watch the games this weekend instead of going out with your homies to see the "gay cowboy eating pudding movie" (you know you want to) and we actually were able to come up with a few things. The biggest,......

"Count it a blessing that you're such a failure, your second chance might never have come." -- from the song "Winners Never Quit" by Pedro The Lion Friends, as we've said before, these are indeed dark time for American Football in the Bay Area. As both of our professional football clubs' fortunes plummet, ever closer we are to the dreaded Double Blackout. Down into pro football's depths fall we -- much like Bill and......

In the most anticipated game of the season for Bay Area football fans, the Cal Bears manhandled the Stanford Cardinal, 41-6. J.J. Arrington put together yet another 100-yard game, but red-shirt freshman Marshawn Lynch stole the show, running for 122 yards -- including an electrifying 55-yard touchdown run -- and completing a 20-yard pass to for a score. Cal plays their makeup game on December 4th in Mississippi, but are otherwise at the mercy of......

The Niners scored yet another come from ahead loss on Sunday, even though they were the host and favorite to beat the struggling Carolina Panthers. Instead they squandered a 17-point lead, allowing the 30th-ranked Panthers offense to rack up 34 points in the second half to lose 37-27. Obviously a lost season, the 49ers will have to struggle if they want to win more games than the 1978 and 1979 clubs. They head to Tampa......

It's been so long since the Raiders had a chance to gloat, some thought they might have forgotten how. Well, no worries, they returned to their arrogant selves quickly enough after their 27-24 win over Carolina yesterday. "Not to knock the Panthers, but they're not really a good team," said cornerback Charles Woodson, displaying the self-effacing humility the Raiders are known for. They take a week off to prepare for redemption against the Chargers. Jerry......

Weekly wrapup of local football action....

Special Tuesday afternoon edition. It's an exciting time for football fans, as the NFL preseason was wrapped up and the college season got off and running. In case you were busy at the beach, out of town or catching up on chores, EssEffist will be here to second guess coaches and players at the beginning of each week with a wrap-up of the weekend in pigskin. The much-hyped Cal Bears opened the season strong, rolling over Air Force 56 to 14. They're currently ranked 13th in the coaches poll and some early season wins could get them into the top ten in short order. EssEffist would like to point out that if you have to lose a game, Cal, lose it early - it's the end of season polls that count. Stanford, currently unranked, trounced the hapless San Jose State Spartans 43 to 3. Ouch. Turns out the Spartans lost six players to Academic decertification just one day before the game. EssEffist didn't even know that the Spartans were good enough to bother cheating. The 49ers managed to preserve their win-free preseason by losing to the Chargers 31-15 at home. If the 49ers were to move to LA (and, presumably, change their name), now would sure be the time to do it. They might have sullied their record with a win if two of three touchdown passes would have counted - instead, all three were discounted due to penalties, and EssEffist thinks the receivers coach wishes he still had T.O. around to blame. They gear up for the Falcons next Sunday. The Raiders squeaked past the Rams 28-24 over in Oakland, finishing the meaningless games at three and one, with all three of their quarterbacks making appearances. It looks like the starting job will go to Rich Gannon next Sunday in Pittsburg even though Kerry Collins has looked strong as a field leader....