Bay Area Sports Blog

On paper, the Oakland Raiders look like a team with little to no chance of making the playoffs this season. In the latest edition of the Madden video game, they could win the Super Bowl (if someone from the Madden Nation bus played as the Raiders against teams controlled by a thumb-less blind man). Really, you could do worse than playing as Oakland in Madden ‘10, particularly against a pass-happy opponent.

The top 10 rated players at each position were released Wednesday and Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was tied with Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and Albert Haynesworth for best overall rating (99) among defensive players. Asomugha was rated 99 in man coverage and 94 in zone coverage. Oakland’s offense doesn’t garner nearly the same respect from EA’s developers; Zach Miller, the eighth-best tight end, is the only other Raider to crack the top 10 at any position. Patrick Willis earned a 98 rating for the 49ers, while Frank Gore is ranked eighth among running backs. We’re excited to find out what Darrius Heyward-Bey’s speed is rated; 105 sounds about right.

Randy Johnson gets win No. 299 to help the Giants earn a three-game sweep of Atlanta and keep pace with San Diego. SFGate

Just tweet, baby. The Raiders have joined America’s fastest growing social networking site. We’re eagerly awaiting the inevitable back-and-forth between Al Davis and Lane Kiffin, and the day that Tom Cable mistakenly posts his team’s entire playbook, one twitpic at a time. NBC Bay Area

Oregonian reporter Paul Buker chatted with former NFL special teams coach Tony Avezzano, who had his best years in Dallas before joining Norv Turner’s staff in Oakland for two years. Avezzano had this to say about his time working under Al Davis:  “It was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had in coaching. There is no publication out there right now that could print how I would honestly describe my two years spent with the Raiders.” If there were such a publication — we’re all ears, Tony — we’re betting Avezzano’s description wouldn’t be, “It was f****** awesome!” This from a man who went 6-47-2 in five seasons as Oregon State’s head coach before finding success in the pros.  The Oregonian

Barry Zito heads one man’s list of the five most frustrating players for fantasy baseball players to own. The others are Travis Ishikawa, Aaron Rowand, Eugenio Velez, and Jonathan Sanchez. We kid. USA Today

If not for Zito, we would’ve never stumbled upon former major league catcher Brent Mayne’s blog. Mayne, who played one year in Oakland and two in San Francisco, saw a lot of things during his 15-year career, but a dugout-wide pukefest was not one of them. Mayne recounts a story from one of his son’s recent baseball games at which eight members of the opposing team vomited after a man walked by their dugout with a cigar. “They almost had to forfeit, I mean barfeit the game,” Mayne writes. You should really give the whole story a whirl, I mean hurl. Brent Mayne.com

It’s hard to believe in much of anything the Warriors say or do these days. Merc

Erik Bedard keeps the A’s in check, Russell Branyan goes deep in Mariners’ 6-1 win. Athletics Nation

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By Scott on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 5:56 am.
Tags: Golden State Warriors, Oakland A's, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants