Louisiana Superdome Video Tour 9-11-2006

This amazing amateur video was taken as part of a tour to record the progress of the renovation of the Louisiana Superdome for this Monday September 21st game pitting the visiting Atlanta Falcons with the New Orleans Saints.

As the video shows, the "new" Superdome really is, all the way down to the new seats and redone luxury boxes and cleaned up and painted cooridors. The video shows it all and also gives one an idea of just how massive the Superdome complex really is.

Although beset with lawsuits over the roof, the path toward the reopening is ahead of schedule and the new facility will be a showcase of the rebirth of New Orleans.

Here's the video:

"Greatness Of The Raiders" May Cease This Season: Oakland Raiders Would Fall To Miami Dolphins As Team With Most Wins In NFL History

After this last and most disasterous loss to the Baltimore Ravens -- and the continued problems with the offense -- I decided to review the last Oakland Raiders press release and found this bit of information:

THE GREATNESS OF THE RAIDERS
The Raiders, who began play in the American Football League in 1960, enter their 47th year of professional
football competition in 2006, and 36th year as a member of the National Football League. For over five
decades -- the 1960s, '70s, '80s, ‘90s and the 2000s -- the Raiders have been the most dominant team in
professional football since Al Davis first pledged in 1963 to build the finest organization in pro sports.
Since 1963, when Al Davis first took over the failing Oakland franchise that had struggled to win only nine of 42
league games in the initial three seasons of the new American Football League, the Raiders have totally
dominated professional football in terms of consistent victory. During those decades of dominance in Oakland
and Los Angeles, the Raiders have won 385 league games and continue to stand atop the NFL for this period
with their winning percentage of .602.

TOP PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL RECORDS
(1963-2005)
TEAM WINNING %
1. OAKLAND RAIDERS .602
2. Miami Dolphins (since 1966) .599
3. Dallas Cowboys .592

So I did some calculations and determined that if the Raiders won 385 games and that was .602 of the total, then the full number of games in their history was 639.534 (Where there's half a game, I don't know. Maybe the "Heidi Game").

I then determined that if the Raiders lost just six (6) games, they would be at .596 and fall behind the Miami Dolphins for claim of best record in pro football. At of now, the Raiders have lost two of those six games. Still, if this happened, the Raiders total record would be 10 wins and 6 losses, certainly at or near what it takes to win the AFC West. But many in the media are picking the Silver and Black to not win one game, and there's nothing in their current statistical performance to show a reason to expect a rebound.

If the Raiders lose 10 total games -- 6 and 10 -- then they would not only fall below the Miami Dolphins for best overall record in NFL history, but be in a statiscal tie with the Dallas Cowboys at .592; one more game lost and they fall below the Cowboys.

I hate to say this, but this year -- unless the team and organization shows a remarkable turn around -- the "Greatness of The Raiders" will be over and a thing of the past. The PR department will have to eliminate this statistic from their record books they use to claim bragging rights over the NFL.

Moreover, the Raiders organization could not claim the "2000s" as a decade where they were a dominant organization because they lump their overall record into that claim. Since the overall record's in danger of dropping below that of the Dolphins, the claim to being the dominant organization of the opening decade of the 21st Century would be false by the end of this season if the team loses over five games.

But beyond that, this statistic sheds a light on how far the Oakland Raiders organization has fallen over the past three years alone. If legacy is important to the Raiders, then this should give cause for alarm bells to sound.

NFL CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

WWW.NFLMedia.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFLH- 1 9/18/06

NFL CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
TWO SPOTS TO AIR LIVE IN NFL STADIUMS AND ON SELECT TV STATIONS

Each year NFL teams celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with festivities across the country at their games.
This year 15 clubs have designated home games to commemorate the month with in-stadium entertainment
and activities to highlight the Latino culture and the contributions by Hispanics to the league.

Nationally, the NFL is launching a Spanish TV campaign with spots airing on Telemundo and ESPN Deportes,
as well as in NFL stadiums on jumbotrons during Hispanic Heritage Month. Additionally, the campaign will run
in print in USA Today and ESPN Deportes Magazine, as well as on radio.

The NFL’s new Spanish commercial titled, “Futbol /Football,” captures the excitement of NFL football creating
a contagious passion that will encourage Latinos to make the excitement of the game their very own.
The voiceover says: “The colors of your team. The passion for the game. The will to win,” while images of
fans cheering and current Latino NFL players in action are shown. The spot ends with “Celebrating Hispanic
Heritage Month.”

For the second year in a row, the NFL has teamed up with Pedro Resto to conceive and execute a spot
directed at the Latino community. “The overall commitment by the NFL and everyone involved to introduce
Latinos to the game of football is absolutely beautiful and a sign of great things to come for the Latino
community,” says Resto.

The NFL Creative Group collaborated with Resto previously for the NFL’s first-ever Spanish youth football
public service announcement. The PSA featured Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz and Chiefs TE Tony
Gonzalez. In a first for an NFL PSA, Spanish was spoken and viewers saw English subtitles. This spot will
continue to air this season on ESPN Deportes as well as on CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network with
English subtitles.

Through his newly formed production company, ProudFilms, Resto engaged the Yellow Butterfly Project to do
the creative work, Animal Sound for the original music and sound, and Moving Images for its post production
services.

Log on to www.NFLatino.com for real-time NFL and team news, fantasy football, schedules, scores, standings,
expert analysis and more in Spanish.
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