The AFC Northleading Cincinnati Bengals

With Michal Neuvirth in Washington, the Bears went with Braden Holtby in goal, and when the game became a shootout, a feeling of deja-vu from the Royals/Stingrays game would haunt us. Holtby has agility and decent reflexes, but has yet to look comfortable in the one-on-one situation. Holtby would once again lose the shootout, conceding a score to Chad Wiseman. He would have little help from his team-mates, who failed to connect on all five of their attempts against Dubnyk. The Bears may have dominated the game in regulation, but their failure to beat Dubnyk after 60 minutes was enough to give Springfield the confidence to take home the victory.Okay, so hands up all Bears fans that found themselves secretly rooting for Kip Brennan when he chose to drop the gloves with Hershey enforcer Brandon 'Sugar' Sudgen. Hmm, I found a good friend of mine who raised her hand at work (thanks Lorie), so I don't feel so bad now.

Those that know me, know that it takes me a while to warm to 'newbies' on the team. This year, I am struggling to care for the likes of Sugden, who brings mediocre hockey skills at best. However, I find it harder still right now to show any emotional attachment to Boyd Kane. Yes, he is a former Bear that has come back! Yes, he's already played a handful of games in a Capitals sweater this season! But there is something, just something, that irks me about him. Is it the whining that he was famous for last season when wearing a Phantoms sweater Is it the lack of ba......erm, courage when pushed into a corner I really don't know - but my lack of attachment will make it harder still for him to win me over. He must prove it on the ice, and the missed opportunity to win the game on Saturday night in front of the goal certainly did nothing to boost his worth. This article is also featured on Salutations From the Sin Bin. 1 pick and unlike prior years, no one was totally sure who they were going to take.The consensus was one of two players. There was "The Giant," a quarterback who possessed a cannon for a right arm, JaMarcus Russell. The other option was Calvin Johnson, widely considered the best athlete in the draft, although I think Adrian Peterson might have something to say about that.Anyone who watches football knows how the draft played out. The Raiders took the gifted but raw JaMarcus Russell.

Before JaMarcus officially became a Raider he held out for an extended period of time. He held out for one of the longest periods of time in the recent history of No. 1 contracts. He and his agent wanted to make sure he got the money he deserved after being selected No. 1 overall.If JaMarcus never plays another down, history will show he was paid handsomely. At the time he signed his contract it was the richest in the history of the NFL. At that point, just a few weeks into the season, he still had never played a down. On top of that, he had no off-season work out plan. He seemed to report with the idea that he was so naturally gifted, success was imminent. It was a can’t lose scenario. Since JaMarcus became the face of the franchise it seems all the Raiders have done is lose. But they also lost before JaMarcus came to the team, after all that’s how a team gains the No 1 overall pick, by losing.Oakland fans had been patient. They didn’t like losing, but were led to believe the Raiders had a stable of young superstars to turn the franchise around. JaMarcus, just by the nature of being the quarterback, was the leader.Along the way, someone forgot to tell JaMarcus when you play quarterback in the NFL you are the face of the franchise. The QB is the person people turn to in the time of need. When things aren’t going right the QB is the person that calms the waters and says, “I've got this, come with me and I will get us there.” The QB is the one who takes losing the hardest and takes responsibility for not doing enough. The QB is the person calling people out who aren’t delivering.In the case of the Raiders, JaMarcus Russell isn’t that person. He can’t call people out because he doesn’t seem to care. He doesn’t get upset when they lose and doesn’t seem to get excited when they win. He takes no responsibility for getting better. After all, he was the No. 1 pick and has all the talent. Nothing can possibly be his fault. It must be a receiver running the wrong route. It must be an offensive lineman not blocking properly. It must be the coaches calling the wrong plays. How could it possibly be his fault He’s too good to be accountable.Let me be clear, with the effort, work, and time matched with his natural talent; JaMarcus could be the QB the Raiders thought they drafted. The problem is he doesn’t want to put the XBOX paddle down, get off the couch, and put in the time to reach his potential.At the Denver game this year, the Raiders lost 23-3 at home. The first boos for Russell began to rain down. Louis Murphy turned toward the Black Hole and waived toward the ground asking the fans not to boo. It didn’t stop. It kept up for the next several home games. On Sunday Nov. 22,there was a new feeling in the air. During the week, leading up to the game it was announced that journeyman Bruce Gradkowski would now be the starting QB for the Raiders. JaMarcus was being benched for his poor play, lack of preparation, and overall attitude. The Cincinnati Bengals were coming to town. The AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals. The same Bengals who just beat the Super Bowl champion Steelers for the second time this year, and they did it in Steel Town. The general feel from the fans was hope. Hope that the Raiders would somehow just be competitive. On the first offensive possession the Bengals converted on a thirdand 23 and a third and 20. They went all the way down and punched it in the end zone for the first score. The air seemed to leave the stadium. The Bengals scored again on their secondpossession to make the score 14-0. It seemed as though another route was on. In the middle of the second quarter the Raiders got the ball on their own 29 yard line. Gradkowski dropped back on the first play, went through his reads and hit an open 25 yard pass to Schilens. It was a well executed play. He followed that up with a march down the field for a score.

Not a field goal from Janikowski from 50 yards away, but a touchdown to Zach Miller. He completed passes to Lawton, Miller, and Schilens on the drive. He also displayed pocket awareness and poise. The crowd was on its feet. Throughout the rest of the game the Raiders played hard, dominating the line of scrimmage and putting pressure on Carson Palmer. The Bengals got some things going but the Raider defense didn’t allow much.With 2:12 left, down by seven the Raiders got the ball back on their own 20. Based on the way the rest of the season has gone the pessimists in the crowd had little faith that the Raiders could tie the game.There was something in the air in the Black Hole, something different than recent games. Maybe it was the ghost of Marquis Cooper, personally I think it was a 6-foot-1 underrated QB out of Toledo.Gradkowski lead the Raiders on a game-tying drive that included converting a fourthand 10 among other passes to numerous wide receivers. The drive was capped off with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy. Janikowski officially tied the game when he drilled the PAT through the uprights. Overtime was a given at that point. There was a feeling though that the Raiders would pull through. Rookie tight end Myers out of Iowa helped to complete the comeback by stripping and recovering the ball on the ensuing kick off. It merely took a boot from the strong legged kicker from FloridaState to win the game.I haven’t seen the Black Hole that happy since Sunday, January 19, 2003. That was the day the Raiders beat the Titans to advance to Superbowl XXXVII. The year the Raiders went to the bowl they had another journeyman hard-working QB. His name was Rich Gannon. Is Bruce Gradkowski the next Gannon Most likely not. He is, however, the prescription for what’s been ailing the Raiders. There were no boos raining down on Sunday in Oakland.There was only praise, praise in the name of “Bruce…Bruce…Bruce!". 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ Today, the 400,000-strongsenior group RetireSafe called on Congress to help struggling seniors bylowering their taxes as part of the pending stimulus package. RetireSafePresident, Michelle Plasari, cited two onerous tax provisions that should bechanged now to help seniors and the economy."The Congress should start by repealing the federal taxes on Social Securitybenefits," Plasari stated. "Today's seniors are punished for doing the rightthing planning for retirement by a tax formula that forces them toinclude as much as 85 percent of their Social Security benefits in theirtaxable income each year." Federal law requires retired individuals with earned income of just $25,000and retired couples with income of $32,000 to include a portion of theirSocial Security benefits in determining their tax obligation."Current law is double taxing seniors. "In a time when survey after survey shows that older Americans are delayingretirement or returning to work just to make ends meet, allowing olderAmericans full access to their earned Social Security benefits is the best wayto stimulate the economy for them," said Plasari."On behalf of RetireSafe's supporters and millions of older Americans nowbeing ripped off by high taxes on their benefits, we urge Congress to repealor at least suspend all taxes on Social Security benefits and repeal or atleast suspend the Social Security Earnings Test on early retirees," Plasariconcluded.RetireSafe is a grassroots network of more than 400,000 older Americansnationwide dedicated to preserving and enhancing the options, benefits, andlives of older Americans.