Oakland Franchises: The Road To Success

This being my first article I believe that I would start by doing a rundown of the Warriors and Raiders.  However, for as big of a fan as I am of the A's it is still very tough to follow baseball but this is where I will start. 

For a team that is still clearly in the process rebuilding their roster they are actually doing quite well.  Braden for starters has been a very bright spot on this team by pitching a perfect game after being called out by A-Rod.  Eric Chavez on the other hand is at the end of that spectrum.  He is the last remaining peace of an Athletics team that is looking to the future and his back problems have seemed to limit his future and career in baseball.  It is sad to see his career end this way; in a constant battle with nagging injuries but there is a silver lining in this dark cloud as the Oakland Athletics are on the road back to the top of the AL West!

The Warriors are up next.  I look for the Warriors to be competitive this season but for there to be a similar ending to last season.  The sad thing about the Warriors is the lack of veteran leadership which left with Barron Davis and Steven Jackson.  Monta Ellis has struggled with his leadership as he has yet to mature in this league.  Stephen Curry on the other hand is a player that I see with a lot of upside.  He stepped into his expectations as a scorer and emerged as so much more.  His passing ability to find open guys really opens up the floor and I could see him eventually emerging as a veteran presence within a couple of years.  However, the jury is still out as to where the Warriors will rank after next season.  The two big questions are free agency and whether or not they can stay healthy.  The Warriors recently traded away their only pure starting SF for another guard and another big man.  It will be interesting to see if the Warrirors sign someone to fill that void (Quentin Richardson) or someone steps into that role (Kelenna Azubuike). The PF is also another interesting position to watch on the Warriors with the recent 1st round draft choice of Ekpe Udoh, the potential emergence of Brandon Wright,and with the starting position already in the hands of Anthony Randolph it will be interesting to see what becomes of this position.  All in all I expect the Warrirors to impress this season but my expectations are still not that high.

For the Raiders however, this is a much different story.  Like others I am impressed with the Raiders draft and their off-season as a whole.  The only thing that I still dislike a whole lot is the offensive line.  The O-line is terrible and it will take time for the young players who the Raiders recently drafted to develop and evolve into starters and potential stars.  Satele, Carlisle, and Barnes are three players that Raiders need to look at replacing.  The wide receiveing corps however is another story.  Some view the youth of Schillenz, Heywerd-Bey, and Murphy as a weakness but I view it as a strength.  All three receivers have a lot of potential upside and with the addition of Jason Campbell I could see them wrecking havoc this season.  Of course the havoc will not be as nearly as bad as what Brett Favre was able to accomplish with the Vikings but I still expect the Raiders' wide receivers to shut a lot of people up.  All in all I view the Raiders as being a year behind the 49ers this means that I fully expect the Raiders to have a lock down defense but a shakey offense as all of the new additions get their first year under their belt.  However, I only see both their offense and defense improving over the 8-8 prediction I have for them this season to the 11-5 prediction I have for them next season.

After some dark seasons I am truly glad with what I am seeing in Oakland sports. Pretty soon all of the Oakland Franchises will mature into consistent winners.  Bringing pride to not only Oakland but to the East Bay and to fans everywhere.