A Silver Lining and Black Quarterback

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By: Nathaniel Gordon

E-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com


Please help me observe a moment of silence for Elton Brand's career....

Thank you.

It's difficult to imagine, much less believe, that after all these seasons of almost iron man like service that Elton Brand would succumb to an Achilles injury. Mr. 20-10 as I like to call him, Brand has been a faithful servant to the Clipper fan base for the last several years and before that was the clear superstar on a horrid Chicago Bulls team. With Brand's injury it appears that the drafting of Al Thorton was sheer genius. You have to admit that it must of been really hard for Clippers GM Elgin Baylor to pass up on hometown star and USC product Nick Young, I was screaming Young's name from the top of the Alps on draft night. Also even though they are different players from different times, Thronton eerily reminds me of Danny Manning (we all know how that went.) Taking the best player on the board isn't always as easy as it looks, however Baylor came through and it will pay dividends. Although Brand's injury isn't career ending it is still very serious and possibly career threatening depending on how he... heals... okay I'll do it - depending on how he HEELS (that was terrible, I should be shot in my writing hand for that.) and rehabs over the next few months. It is very possible that Brand will only be a shell of his once dominating presence on the boards and his mid-range jumper and first step will most likely be off. With all those inhibitions stated I can only hope that Brand will come back 100% and I wish him a speedy and full recovery.

I'll save the full obituary of Elton's Career for his retirement due to injury press conference in a few months...

While I'm waiting for poor Elton to hang up the Nike Air's I've had a chance to catch up with the Oakland Raiders Pre-Season workouts. There is this new quarterback in town with a killer arm. This strapping (no not a gun, complimenting his size) intelligent Black kid is poised to win a few games this season in Oakland if he can get his stuff straight and have a strong pre-season. For those of you not already aware I'm talking about Daunte Culpepper not JaMarcus Russell. JaMarcus is in the middle of a holdout in which the Raiders are trying to low ball him contractually when it comes to contract assurances, however the sides are moving closer and Russell should be in camp middle or late next week. In the meantime Culpepper is busy showing Lane Kiffin and the Raider Coaching Staff why he's still a top notch NFL quarterback. His addition is been called an act of desperation by his critics, but there is much bigger Silver Lining here then a Black Cloud (I swear these Sunday Puns are KILLING me, but I digress.) Culpepper has all the physical gifts that Russell has and the experience in the league to help the team be somewhat competitive while still teaching the young pup the ropes as he becomes acclimated to the NFL.

Culpepper was shaky at best in his 4 games with Miami, however let's put that stint into perspective. Culpepper, desperate to not slide into injured quarterback oblivion, clearly forced himself to play well before he was ready. It was the sports equivalent to trying to have sex the night after you throw your back out; getting back to business feels great but your clearly not yourself and when it comes time to perform your flat on your back. Culpepper knows what it feels like to be flat on his back, he was sacked 21 times in 4 games last year! Only Andrew Walter took more of a beating, (23 sacks in weeks 4 and 5 combined, 12 in week 4 and 11 in week 5) looking like a tackling bag instead of a quarterback. I won't even mention Aaron what's-his-face, that guy was a worse pick up then Kerry Collins, Jeff George (the 1st time) and Vince Evans combined. At least Culpepper gives us a former MVP candidate, it's the most excited I've been by a candidate since Trung Candidate came in the league and flamed out like an actress that hits her prime at 18... I know... I'm thinking Lohan too. Although with a little bad luck and a lot of cocaine we could be talking Dakota Fanning in a few years.

The Culpepper situation in Oakland can best be summed up in this scene from last weeks Entourage:

Turtle: "You can give me the whole thing Drama, I can't do this."

Drama (grabbing a life size bunny suit from the back of the car): "Give me your suit Turtle I'm going in."

Turtle: "What are you doing drama?"

Drama: "If I'm dropping 5 Gs on this shit I'm getting some pussy!"

That's how I feel about the Raiders picking up Culpepper, we are investing all this money and time in Russell, if he won't come into camp we better get something for our efforts and Daunte
Culpepper will suffice. Moreover, I try to fit my favorite show into each and every blog in some way and this seemed to match up the best. Especially since last weeks episode pretty much blew chunks, I don't care about Ari's kid and where he goes to school, nor do I care about a human side to Ari's character. I care about as much as you care about reading this shit in a sports blog - but it's my blog so get yourself sorted out. Anyway things are looking up in Oakland while they're looking down in Clippers Camp, and no matter which side of the coin your on always know that their is a silver lining in every black situation.

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