SAN DIEGO – The schedule shows the Raiders have three games remaining in this latest lost cause of another maddeningly frustrating season – home against New England. Home against Houston. At Tampa Bay.
In reality, the Raiders' season is already over.
Witness the carefree attitude so prevalent in the visitors' locker room at Qualcomm Stadium … after their latest prime-time blowout loss.
Take in the surprising buoyancy bouncing off the walls … after Oakland was on the business end of a 34-7 beatdown administered by its nemesis Thursday night.
Listen to the slow-burning Nnamdi Asomugha, who seethes as he dresses at his locker when asked if enough of his teammates are similarly frustrated … following the San Diego Chargers' 11th consecutive victory in the series.
"I don't know," the Raiders' defensive captain said. "You're hearing a lot of laughing … a lot of the same thing after every game. I can't go to each person. I know there are certain guys that are frustrated after every game, like (Derrick) Burgess, Gibril (Wilson) … Tommy Kelly. There's guys that are frustrated every game, (but) I can't pinpoint every single guy and get in their face and say, 'You guys aren't frustrated enough, and we got to do better.' "
What we do know is this – since Oakland's epic 25-24 victory in the Denver snow on Nov. 28, 2004, the Raiders are 0-10 in nationally televised prime-time games.
It's a streak in which the Raiders have been humiliated by a combined 279-122, losing by an average score of 28-12. It gets worse. In their last five such games under the bright lights, the Raiders have been outscored 131-24.
"It doesn't matter if we're playing in front of two people or on TV," left guard Robert Gallery said, spitting a wad of chewing tobacco into a cup in therapeutic disgust. "We're not executing; we're not getting the job done."
It doesn't get much more embarrassing than that. And you thought Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, et al. were the only Not Ready For Prime Time Players.
"We wonder why we don't get prime-time games, and this is why," Asomugha said, calling out teammates. "You just wonder how many people care and how many people are upset."
So please, you suit-wearing sadists in the NFL's Park Avenue offices, resist the temptation to continually embarrass Al Davis and the Raider Nation by putting them on prime time. Keep Silver and Blackdom off national airwaves until it's respectable again.
True, it will be a while, but think of the kids. You haven't had a team in the nation's second-largest media market since 1994, when the Raiders and Rams skipped Los Angeles, and the league is no worse for it.
And while you're at it, no more games that require wearing "Captain EO"-inspired glasses to get the full 3-D effect like an old-school View-Master toy. At least none featuring Oakland because, truth be told, the Raiders these days are as tough to look at as the onetime King of Pop.
And while both have seen better days – Michael Jackson made "Thriller," and Oakland used to win Super Bowls – the Raiders are the ones moonwalking off the stage when the lights are brightest, and with three games left.
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
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