Apparently, the defense is ahead of the offense at this stage of the offseason. Multiple sources report that the Raiders offense fumbled the ball six times in one day of camp. Considering the Raiders have been close to the bottom of the league in forcing fumbles the past few years, this is either a very good or very bad omen.

In a move that Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles could see coming a mile away, LaMont Jordan has been released according to the NFL Network. After signing his big contract in 2005, Jordan could not finish a season and averaged 3.8 yards a carry each of his three seasons in Oakland. To say that he was disappointing would be an understatement.

The reports out of training camp are aglow that the Oakland Raiders are off to a good start. Everyone not named LaMont Jordan has reported to camp and is working. The players coming off of injuries are on the mend. Lane Kiffin is now in his element getting the team ready to play some football. This Oakland Raider team looks on paper to be much improved from the previous incarnations. Its easy to look at the schedule and think of the possibility of playoffs. However, the specter of all the offseason drama lingers. The pieces are in place to have a good team, but it is also a chemistry experiment, and if it goes off the rails it will be ugly.

Training camp opened today, if this was baseball, it would be time for a long winded essay by George Will as read by Bob Costas about hope springing eternal and all those other cliches that are part of Americana. This is football, however, and instead of waxing poetically about new beginnings the Raider Nation is preparing their spikes and face paint to get hyped. So far, there is good news in that there have been no holdouts, and the only no-show is LaMont Jordan who is on the slow boat to anywhere else. Kiffin spoke to the media today and the overall feeling is that the Raiders are going to be ready to have a much better season than the last several.

On Friday, August 15th the 66th Mob is going to be sponsoring a fund raiser for "Autism Speaks" at Sidelines Bar and Grill in Modesto, CA. That will be the day that Jarrod Cooper and the rest of the Raiders' special teams will be sticking it to Chris Carr and the Tennessee Titans. It will be a chance to help a great cause and watch the Raiders tune up for the regular season.

First off, I would like to apologize to you all for my own absence from TFDS. I have been dealing with some major stuff in my personal life, and haven't really been able to focus. Rather than pound something out tonight, expect me to resume tomorrow, here that loved and hated denizen of the Dark Side, L-Dizzle, with his very own power rankings.

This has been a tumultuous offseason for the Raider Nation. First there was the ongoing saga of whether or not Al Davis and Lane Kiffin were playing a game of dare to see whether Kiffin would quit, be fired, or coach for the 2008 season. Nnamdi Asomugha was given the franchise tag, and then free agents were signed fast and furious to huge contracts. Meanwhile, there was not motion on locking down Asomugha long term. Chronic malcontent Jerry Porter was jettisoned, but fellow chronic malcontent LaMont Jordan remains. What the duce is going on inside that building on Harbor Bay Parkway?

The Raider Nation has been wringing their hands for months, since Nnamdi Asomugha was given an "exclusive rights" tag by the Oakland Raiders. The speculation has been rampant around the media and blogosphere on when and how much the Asomugha deal would ultimately be worth. Within 21 hours of this writing, or midnight eastern time, we will know the answer to whether or not Aso gets his long term deal. My guess is that he and Al Davis will come to a deal.

As the camp battles series winds towards its close, its time to look at the one area that will make the difference between making the team and flipping burgers at the local In & Out, which is special teams. The Oakland Raiders have a couple of top flight kickers in Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski. Additionally, the Raiders have a trio of top flight players for special teams coverage in the "Bermuda Triangle" of Jarrod Cooper, Isaiah Ekejiuba, and Ricky Brown. Beyond that, there are wide open opportunities for many of the fringe players to make the team as part of this unit.

The Oakland Raiders recently began notifying season ticket holders that a previously ignored city ordinance banning "Amplified Music" was going to be enforced this season. This has caused much consternation among the citizens of the Raider Nation as both DJs and bands like Raiderhed are as much a part of the fabric of the pregame tailgate scene as tri-tip and beer.

The camp battles saga comes to the last of the positional breakdowns tonight with a discussion of the safety position. There will be a look at special teams, followed by an overall wrap, but this is the last of the positional breakdowns. The Raider Nation ran Stewart Schweigert out on a rail after last season, so the player that the Nation blamed for everything from the Raiders' porous run defense to the fact that gas is now 4.39 a gallon, has gone to Washington. The Raiders brought in Gibril Wilson from the New York Giants and that move is expected to allow Michael Huff to play more in space, which is what is believed to be his strength. Beyond those two, the safety picture is much more cloudy. Special teams standout Jarrod Cooper is expected to make the team, but who else?

In the ongoing saga of the Oakland Raiders trying to get something more than a six pack of Icehouse in return for LaMont Jordan, there are reports that he has a visit coming up with the Detroit Lions. The old saying is that something goes in like a lion and comes out like a lamb. That would be true for Jordan's tenure in Oakland which can be best described as disappointing, so it would be ironic if he went out to become a Lion.

I was just about to continue my camp battles series, when I saw that both Jerry McDonald and Jason Jones had already done write ups on the safety position which was next on my docket, rather than compete with their takes, tonight I'm going to spin you around all the Raider News updates for today.

Just another late night covering the Oakland Raiders and all the Raider News thats fit to find. The truth is there is not really much news out there right now. The camp battles series here at TFDS is nearly complete, and the precamp doldrums are fully here. Here are some random thoughts on the Oakland Raiders News and various other goings on around the NFL.

Our readers have spoken. It was a very close race between two deserving candidates in Kenny "The Snake" Stabler and Ray Guy. It was neck and neck for a long time, but Guy started pulling away there at the end. After we get Guy enshrined this year, we can come together once again for the Snake next year. Now that the voting is over, its time for the Raider Nation to speak loud and proud on behalf of Ray Guy.