Oakland Raiders: The Addiction Of Loss, The Recovery Of Win

Post-game Note: There was dramatic improvement. An indication that the patterns will be changed, soon. JR's ratio was consistent and far better in this game. Keep the faith, Raider Nation.

Addictions can sap the life out of a man, his family and his friends. Addictions can sap life out of life. An addiction to losing can sap the energy and life out of a team of talented professional football players such as the Oakland Raiders.

Dealing with the reality of a situation is what I believe in. After looking at the data for the past five years, I saw a losing pattern between Oakland and San Diego.

That "addictive" pattern needs to be broken today.

Why am I calling it addictive? It keeps recurring. It is probably affecting the self-image of the players when they see the facts. It's "messing with" the spirit of the Raider Nation.

The Oakland Raiders can break that addiction to losing by changing their reactions and strategies, and move toward recovery, starting immediately.

I know that some folks out there do not want to hear the truth. Knowing the truth, however, can set you on a new course, a new path, and new trend toward recovery from whatever is sapping the life out of the team, and the Raider Nation.

Having started my teaching career in Harlem, I once taught people who had a heroine addiction. One of them was named Lewis Louis. He had been addicted to heroine for a very long time. Lewis wanted to get rid of his addiction. During the years he sought recovery, the research was not fully complete on methadone.

The tragedy: he became addicted to methadone. He died. Yet, Lewis was one of the most gifted students I had taught during those years between 1968 and 1971.

His addictive, losing behavior of drug use cut his life short and truncated his opportunity to use his gifts. Lewis never received his A in the math class. He died before the semester was complete.

Let's just say that Lewis stayed in "a state of losing" too long. If only he had broken the pattern earlier, then his story would have ended differently.

Now to apply this type of thinking to the Oakland Raiders. The "losing pattern and addictive behavior of falling into a losing state" must end. It can not go on too long.

As far as I am concerned, we hit rock bottom a few days ago. It's time to get up off the ground, clean up our act, and start a recovery stage in the history of the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders need to wash the stench of losses off their muscular, strong bodies; shrub up and down with an anointing of recovery, stop wallowing on the ground level of the statistics, rise up, clean up, straighten up and fly right.

A senior gentleman who would have been 86 years old this year would say, "Down it and get from 'round it."

So, put down the losing behaviors and get from 'round the losing streak, and move to recovery, from this moment on.