Probably only Raiduh fan can appreciate this

[poptart]

2005 Raiders training camp

Press Democrat beat reporter Phil Barber writes from Raiders training camp in Napa.

Friday, August 19, 2005


I miss Phillip Buchanon.

The limousines and industrial-strength necklaces? He could never match his idol, Deion Sanders, in that regard. The shaky pass coverage? Nah, we’ll probably get some of that from Nnamdi Asomugha and Fabian Washington this season.

It’s the quotes we’ll miss. No one can match the man called Showtime (primarily, by himself) when it comes to unique vocabulary and tortured syntax. Now, I realize we’re treading dangerous ground here. Buchanon is from a poor area of Fort Myers, Fla. Holding him to the king’s English (or even the governor’s) would be elitist, or worse.

But Buchanon goes beyond the normal athlete-speak. In fact, with a little more national attention, he could become a modern-day, African-American Yogi Berra. Here are a few of his gems from Thursday in Houston, where he was the darling of the Raiders’ beat writers until the Randy Moss thing, uh, caught fire.

On playing for the Texans: “I’m out here, I’m with Houston now, and I’m taking it stride for stride.”

On reuniting with his former teammates: “I talked to everybody, except a couple guys I didn’t talk to.”

On teammates not backing him up in Oakland: “When good things are going good, everybody’s with you.”

On Saturday’s game against the Raiders: “It’s a game that’s gonna help us get to the playoffs, but it doesn’t help us get IN the playoffs.”

At least Buchanon has a sense of history. He took a moment to compare his current coach, the Texans’ Dom Capers, with Raiders coach Norv Turner, saying, “Dom’s a little bit different coach than Norm.”

[Aaron in Tucson]

I read somewhere that P-Buch was saying how his Mama used to always say that when somebody does or says something to you, deep down they really mean the opposite.

“That’s how I have to look at the Raiders situation, like they let me go because they really wanted to keep me.” (Paraphrasing)

He comes by it honestly.

Go Raiders!

[The Assassin]

Rickey Henderson called he wants his lingo back.



On the lighter side its good to see Buchanon took full advantage of the opportunity of higher learning while at Miami.

[Jeff 2K5]

The "U" does not produce guys with bad character or criminal behavior.

Sincerely,

Ray Lewis
Michael Irvin
Sean Taylor
Kellen Winslow
Jeremy Shockey
and countless others