Projo Pats Blog

BY JIM DONALDSON
Journal Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- Decided to delay, for 24 hours, what will be my fourth cross-country flight in 11 days, and spend a day enjoying the lovely sights and culinary delights of my favorite city in the U.S. of A. -- San Francisco.

Was amused at breakfast this morning (took a cable car from the Embarcadero up Nob Hill, then walked down toward Union Square to have Swedish pancakes and sausage at Sears) to see this headline on the San Francisco Chronicle's story of Sunday's Raiders game: Team Sees Promise Despite Final Score.

Wow.

Have things gotten so bad in Raiderland that they see a silver (and black, presumably) lining after a game in which they were routed, 49-26, after falling behind, 21-0, in the first quarter; a game in which they allowed the Patriots to rush for 277 yards -- their highest total since 1985; a game in which New England scored touchdowns on its first five possessions, including a 95-yard kickoff return; a game in which the Raiders even had an extra point blocked?

Apparently so.

"There's a lot of good out there," the Chronicle quoted Oakland's interim coach, Tom Cable, as saying.

"Now, we just got our tailed kicked," he continued. "I'm not trying to get around that. But the fact of the matter is the quarterback (JaMarcus Russell) had another week of progress. Offensively, we moved a step closer in terms of a unit."

The fact of the matter is that the Raiders, for many years one of the most powerful -- and most feared -- teams in the NFL, now are 3-11, marking the sixth consecutive season in which they've lost at least 11 games.

And to think that the Raiders' motto remains "commitment to excellence."

Anyone who believes that's still the case ought to be committed.

Or has had one too many Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista Cafe, a favorite haunt of the late, legendary Chronicle columnist Stanton Delaplane, who more than 50 years ago introduced the drink (smooth Irish whiskey swirling to the taste buds through hot coffee and cool, freshly-whipped cream) to the proprietors of this wonderfully atmospheric bar at the foot of Hyde Street, across from the cable-car turntable at the end of the Powell and Hyde line, and with a view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Stopped in there Sunday night, in the company of Patriots beat writers Shalize Manza Young of the Journal and Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe, following a delightful dinner in North Beach, where the veal was tender and the owner's own, Sonoma-grown Barolo was superb, and will be back there again tonight, after having the Petrale Sole at the Tadich Grill, which has only been in business in this town for 158 years.

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