Minicamp could help Raiders picks beat heat

What had been a relatively quiet and tranquil spring – by Raiders standards – erupted in a firestorm of criticism and scorn aimed at Silver and Blackdom two weekends ago. Darrius Heyward-Bey? Mike Mitchell? Oakland's first two draft choices, a sprinter masquerading as an honorable-mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference wide receiver and a no-name safety playing in the obscurity of Ohio University, according to the critics, should be on full display this weekend at the Raiders' compound in Alameda. The team holds its mandatory three-day minicamp consisting of five two-hour practices beginning today, and the two rookies, and every other player on the roster, are expected to participate. "You know," coach Tom Cable recently said on KHTK (1140 AM), "everybody's going to question you. But the minute (Heyward-Bey and Mitchell) start making plays, they're going to say, 'Man, those guys were geniuses, and they were right all along.'...