Browns v. Raiders

I know that my pal Vinny's a little conflicted about this game. Though he's a die-hard Browns fan, he has fond memories of the Raiders we grew up watching in the 1970s. I guess I'm a little conflicted too, because my Dad always loved the Raiders, and I grew up watching him cheer for them.

There was a lot to cheer about back then. Think about it, was there ever a more consistently exciting team than those Raiders? Every game was a high scoring, hard hitting, three hour commercial for the NFL. Those teams had some unforgettable players. Thirty years later, the names still effortlessly come to mind-- Stabler, Branch, Biletnikoff, Hubbard, Caspar, Shell, Upshaw, Hendricks, Blanda, Tatum, Hayes, Matuszek. Even before the Snake showed up, the Raiders had Daryl Lamonica (a.k.a. the Mad Bomber) heaving the ball to Warren Wells. Hell, with Ray Guy, the Raiders even made punting exciting! Remember Curt Gowdy and Al Derogatis of NBC, who seemed permanently camped out in Oakland for the weekly 4:00 p.m. game? Remember Howard Cosell's weekly intonation of "The Oak-land Al-a-me-da Coun-ty Col-i-ss-eum" during Monday Night's halftime highlights?

Anyway, back to tomorrow's game. On paper, the Browns match up pretty well against Oakland. The Raiders can pass, but they can't run. The Browns defend the pass pretty well, but can't stop the run. On the other side of the ball, the Raiders are as bad as the Browns against the run, while the Browns have Rueben Droughns and an offensive line that's looked better each week. If the Browns can run the ball on offense and get pressure on Collins, I think they've got a shot to win. (Another thing in the plus column for the Browns is the possibility that the Raiders may have decided to pack it in after the loss to the dreadful Jets.)

This would be a nice win to get, because that stadium is no bargain to play in, no matter how bad the Raiders are. I'm going with the Browns, 17-13.