ALAMEDA - It's a week away. And Michael Bush is excited.
"I'm ready," Bush said. "I can officially say I'm in the NFL."
Bush's Raider career has been filled with a few ups and a lot of downs.
There was the disappointment in 2007 when he thought he'd be added to the active roster after spending much of the season on the physically unable to perform list.
And even after an impressive preseason there was a very brief discussion of Bush playing fullback.
That won't happen.
Bush was almost in tears when he made his preseason debut. He doesn't expect the season opener to be as emotional.
"I think I've got it all out the way now," Bush said.
Bush will be what Zack Crockett was for so many years. Bush is going to be the hammer around the goal line.
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The business of making predictions isn't easy.
In today's newspaper, my predictions for the 2008 season are there for all to mock.
The toughest call for me in the AFC was whether to make Houston instead of New York a Wildcard playoff team.
But I opted not to go with the Texans because they have yet to prove they can consistently run the ball in the regular season.
I know it's easy to predict the Patriots to win the AFC, but the Colts and Chargers have serious injury concerns.
In the NFC, the Cowboys are an easy pick because they have the most talent.
The last time I picked the Super Bowl winner correctly was when the Colts won.
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For those that are curious, here's what I think the Raiders can do this season.
An 8-8 record is a possibility for a few reasons:
1. Darren McFadden will win at least two games with his athletic ability.
2. The defense will be better.
3. Without injuries, the Raiders are now talented enough to be able to beat the worst teams in the league, and upset a good team or two.
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A computer error somehow prevented my blog from Saturday from posting. I wrote it up and even checked and it appeared to be posted on Saturday.
It wasn't until I received an email that I saw it wasn't posted
My apologies. I hope you were able to see the story about the cuts that posted a few hours after my blog was supposed to be posted.
--Jason Jones
@Nyx.CommentBody@