GREG PAPA was on Draymond Green the other day for having the gall to say that the Raiders scheduled move to Las Vegas was out of line. Green said the Raiders "are Oakland --and I'm standing up for the city of Oakland."Papa was talking on his radio show 95.7 FM The Game --he's also the play-by-play broadcaster for the Raiders (and is paid by the Raiders for his work on their broadcasts)
Green was incredulous that the Raiders would leave their hometown --"That would be like the Cowboys leaving Dallas and the Celtics leaving Boston."
He went further.
Papa patronizingly said "that's Draymond being 'Draymond--hey, they're moving." I'm paraphrasing because The Game doesn't archive all their hours but Papa's ripping went beyond mere criticism.
It bordered on Papa being a shill for the Raiders. I won't go that far but it was close.
In sports media Bay Area, Papa is considered a top-notch professional. And he is, I've been a supporter. But I heard Pop's poop on Green and it was way over the top. Arrogance would be the right term.
Did I mention that the Raiders PAY Papa? Oh, I did. I'm not saying Pop is a kiss-ass but he should have kept his mouth shut on Green's comments or at least acknowledge Draymond has a right to his opinion. And you know what? Green is 100% percent right and Papa gets a personal foul.
Draymond Green failed to mention that the Warriors are also moving out of Oakland.
ReplyDeleteIf the raiders were moving to candlestick people wouldn't be devastated.
DeleteOh my god, the humanity! The Warriors are moving a whopping 16 miles across the bay! This is a disservice to the Bay Area. (This is called sarcasm for the dumb people)
DeleteOh what Poopa said really reeks of being a shrill. He knows Marc Badain signs his pay check.
ReplyDeleteMedia credibility in not only sports but in the "real" world is going down the pooper every day. This is just a blatant example.
Well according to the Bay Area Sports Guy, 95.7 put out a memo to everyone working there that they would not be negative towards the Raiders organization as well as Oakland Mayor. So, that has more to do with it then JUST Papa being paid by the Raiders.
ReplyDeleteThought the same thing. It is an interesting memo. Papa just following managements orders.
DeleteGreg Papa is an overrated smarmy shithead. I can't understand why you think so highly of him.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. When Papa was ousted as the play-by-play man for the Warriors, there was no upheaval amongst the fans because Papa is an a-hole. The fact that a bigger
Deletea-hole, Fitz, stole his job, lent credence to the opinion that no one cared.
He should have not mentioned Green at all, but in doing so he exposed himself again. He has criticized, to a point, the team's play over the years, but he's never been critical of the organization. I'm sure Bill King privately ripped Al Davis for moving to LA, not sure Papa is doing any of that!
ReplyDeletePapa's good, but his arrogance rubs me the wrong way...
ReplyDeletePapa = Fitz, minus the fat face
ReplyDeleteYou mean the Charlie Brown face?
DeletePapa,Radnich and Kuiper and Krukow. Millions made for defending the status quo. All remind me of Sean Spicer like. "Giant's error?? No,that's missing the fantastic effort by Brandon to donate to kid for kars!" Same for the rest.
ReplyDeleteyeah heard that segment. also heard jt the brick today trying to blame oakland pols and city council for the raiders leaving. and trying to spin m. davis doing all he could to keep the team in oakland. jt and papa have a serious conflict of interest in this matter. aka-paychecks. this is a rare case of elected officials having concern for the greater good of the whole community rather than that of a pro sports franchise. the biggest mistake the city made in all this was letting the raiders come back in the first place. we'll be paying off that 83 mill debt for the next 10-20 years regardless. the city of st. louis owes 100 mill on their rams debt. not a raider hater either. went to games as a kid when the team played at frank youell field before the coliseum was built. but enough is enough. good bye and good riddance...
ReplyDeleteall the on air guys kiss the NFL's ass. even the guys who don't work for them like Grant Napear in Sacramento who works for CBS who has the NFL as a client. They all kiss the NFL ASS EVERY CHANCE THEY GET. EVERY ONE OF THEM.
ReplyDeleteAny reason why Papa won't be doing Giants pre/post game on NBC Sports Bay Area this season?
ReplyDeleteRich; a lot of smart people read your blog. Therefore; maybe someone can explain to me where the Raiders will get enough fans to fill the stadium in Las Vegas. I don't see it.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider myself all that smart, but I'll take a shot at it. The Raiders have a very wide fan base, probably only 3 or 4 teams have more fans nationwide. They'll drive from SoCal to spend the weekend in Vegas and see the team play. Don't sell Vegas itself too short, either. Especially in the beginning, there will be a bandwagon for the team in the new hometown.
DeleteGreg Papa:
ReplyDeleteSolid veteran announcer, interviewer, and studio host. But he does come across as being smug.
I wonder if Papa was still working for the Warriors if he would have ripped Green.
ReplyDelete10:43am, well, the Warriors were originally located in San Francisco when they came from Philadelphia to play on the West Coast. Then the fact that at least the Warriors are still in the same market. Oh yeah, and the fact that the Raiders already left once, and every year since they returned they continued to pay money to the NFL to maintain the LA market rights....oh, yeah, and the fact they never were interested in staying in Oakland as they have over the last two years tested the waters in San Antonio and Las Vegas, oh yeah, and the fact that the Raider relocation in 1995 is still costing the taxpayers of Alameda County a hefty sum, but besides all that, yeah you're right, the Warriors are also leaving Oakland.
ReplyDeletePapa is a shill. The worst kind. Hey Greg, perhaps you and the other scumbag Raider employees can reimburse the county of Alameda the money the taxpayers took on to refurbish the Coliseum for football in 1995 for the Raiders. Make it a cashiers check, and then go play at the Silver Bowl in Vegas. Don't let the door hit you guys on the way out of town.
ReplyDeleteJT the Brick is worse. I get it - he's on the payroll - but for a host who never seemed to have a problem calling out a player, a coach or an organization for obvious shortcomings - he'd always go silent when news of Raider calamities (Tom Cable fight/Jamarcus Russell/Lane Kiffin) came to light. And then once Al Davis "officially" threw Kiffin under the bus - JT couldn't have gone after him harder.
ReplyDeleteVery much agreed, but of course Draymond might be forgiven for not mentioning that the Raiders did this once before. He was only four and probably not much of a sporting fan when the team returned after its thirteen-year sojourn in Los Angeles.
ReplyDeletePapa is a hypocrite, kissing Green's ass on his show today, after calling him a babbler and uninteresting young man the other day.He's got no respect for the local fans ,who are crushed by the Raider's departure.He's a phony and an elitist, and overrated as a play by play guy.Understandable why he was fired by two teams in the market.
ReplyDeleteI dislike Fitz but I despise Papa. He defines the word smug and he's been a shill and a homer as far back as I can remember. You think he's bad with the Raiders? I remember when he did the A's games and he was even a bigger shill. Every player who had a good game was an MVP contender. His GSW post game shows with Saint and his constantly calling him "Saintly" annoys the crap out of me. I always hear how he has such a good reputation within the broadcasting community and I honestly just don't get it. His voice is like chalk on a blackboard.
ReplyDeleteMoney talks a lot in the case of both Oakland teams that are leaving by the end of the decade.
ReplyDeleteThe Davis Family have been thinking of Vegas for half a century.
The W's may be returning to SF, but Oakland will always be where the best basketball history and talent at levels are in the whole Bay.
Sorry that 95.7 has suddenly turned into Lockstep Larry as far as Raider criticism censorship goes.
Every casino will own at least one suite. They will all own hundreds of season tickets to be made available to their guests free of charge to high rollers and for sale to others. Visiting teams' fans will fly into Vegas in the same numbers as Raider fans because it's Vegas, baby. Besides, it's only 8 games. Vegas can use a stadium. What does the Bay Area need another big stadium for? Another run at the Summer Olympics?
ReplyDelete