The Hater Nation Remembers

The clutch plays of Tim Brown.

We have been too harsh on Tim Brown. It is hard to talk bad about a future Hall of Fame receiver that led the league in receptions once, and never led the league in receiving yards or touchdowns. The dude was just that dominant.

But nobody could match Brown in the clutch. Brown was at his best when it mattered the most. When you think of Tim Brown, which clutch playoff moment do you think about? Do you think about his three career playoff touchdowns in 12 games? (Brown and the immortal Don Beebe are only 19 playoff touchdowns behind Jerry Rice.)

Maybe it was his 2 receptions for 17 yards in Buffalo�s 51-3 route of the Raiders. It was as if Brown had put the Raiders on his shoulders and led them to that field goal.

Brown was instrumental as the Raiders prevailed over the Dolphins, 27-0, in 2000. Yes , an actual Raiders playoff victory. It is hard to believe that he did not get the game ball in that one after making 2 receptions for 27 yards. (That is ten more yards than the game in Buffalo).

But my favorite Brown playoff moment was his lone reception, for nine yards, in a Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers. In the biggest game of Brown's career, he came up woefully short. Just as he always had during his NFL career.

The dude averaged less than 4 receptions for 48 yards in 12 postseason games. Brown topped more than 100 receiving yards only once during that stretch. Brown stepped it up a notch in a game against arguably the greatest defense in NFL history (2000 Baltimore Ravens). He had 5 receptions for 48 yards �and no touchdowns. When Brown was pitted one-on-one against the greatest defense he had ever seen, he pushed his total up from his average of 4 to 5. That is clutch. If that does not spell clutch to you, then you are just a hater that does not realize just how great the Raiders are.

Congratulations Tim Brown. It is no wonder you won that fist full of rings with the Raiders.

You can read about Tim Brown's credentials here, or his induction in the Hall of Average. Keep up the discussion in the Hater Nation Forums.

Where Are They Now: Cole Ford

The Hater Nation will take a look at some of the more prominent Raiders of the past and what they are up to today. The first in our series is former kicker Cole Ford.

Raiders career: Ford was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 1995 NFL Draft, but dropped because the club could recognize talent�or lack of. That did not stop the Raiders from picking up Ford, who had problems with his accuracy. Although that lack of accuracy would help save the lives of two well-known Las Vegas performers down the road. Cole was eventually released following the 1997 season when he made only 60 percent of his kicks and missed two extra points on the season.

The Aftermath: Ford (pictured above) fired shots into the home of Siegfried & Roy on September 21, 2004. Ford, unrecognizable by a long beard and hair, shouted obscenities outside of the house before firing and taking off in a white van. Ford was arrested 11 days later at a Las Vegas Kinkos and was charged with numerous felonies, including being a one-time Oakland Raider.

Ford was examined and told a psychiatrist that while watching Siegfried & Roy he realized, "What was wrong with the world was linked to the illusionists treatment, dominance and unhealthy intimacy" with their animals.

Ford, who wanted to plead guilty, was ruled to be incompetent to stand trial and sent to a mental facility. Ford said recently that Siegfried & Roy were "some of the most dangerous people in our country." He was critical of the NFL, "NFL players are in the environment of the Roman Coliseum. Sacrificing takes place. It�s possible that I didn�t want to become a successful athlete because then I would have been sacrificed."

Ford then said that Lou Diamond Phillips will one day rise up to be president.

When a doctor was asked how a young man could make such a tragic fall, the doctor said, "Dude, he hung out with Raiders fans for a number of years, that will drive anybody crazy."

Talk about the life and times of Cole Ford in the Hater Nation Forums. There is a "Carolina Panthers cheerleader update" in the forums (with pictures). Check it out.

Eko... Eko... Eko...

Okay, I need to get this off my chest right away: I want a Mr. Eko lunchbox, a Mr. Eko t-shirt, and Mr. Eko Underoos. I want a Mr. Eko & Locke spin-off where they kick ass and debate philosophy every week. If I was being given a $10 million bar mitzvah, I would want Mr. Eko to be at the top of the celebrity guest list. He's not only my favorite character on "Lost" right now, he's probably my favorite character on all of television. (It helps that Vic Mackey, Tommy Gavin, Al Swearengen and Paulie Walnuts are all on hiatus right now, but still.)

The Eko/Locke scenes were the highlight of an especially strong episode of "Lost." I bag on the show a lot for all the narrative foot-dragging, but for once, the writers didn't screw around with the audience. We finally know what Kate's crime was (not that it was a shock, but it was still well-played by the usually uneven Evangeline Lilly, and especially by the actor who played her adoptive dad), we know what was on at least one of the gaps in the Dharma film (though there could be others), Sawyer is finally conscious again, Jin finally got the damn handcuff off his wrist, Walt made another appearance (sort of), etc., etc., etc.

But best of all was Eko's Bible story to Locke (and if there were any doubt before over whether the guy used to be a priest, there shouldn't be now), and his later suggestion that John not confuse coincidence with fate. Someone's needed to tell our resident zealot that for at least half a season now.

Between that and "Veronica Mars," that was about as good a two hours of TV as you're gonna find, and since I'd already seen "Veronica" last week, I didn't have to tape one and watch the other.

Far too many highlights to list 'em all, so I'll give just a few: the Cordelia vs. Willow smackdown (though the best line in that scene -- and possibly the season -- was Logan's "Rode Hard, meet Put Away Wet."); Logan and Weevil doing the whole "48 Hours"-style "We'll team up, but only after we kick the crap out of each other" thing in the men's room; the (now former) vice-principal manipulating Veronica into doing his wetwork; and Trina Echolls showing actual emotion (her hug with Lunchlady Doris put almost as much dust in my eye as the Rose/Bernard hug last week on "Lost"). The alternate ending on AOL.com was an interesting little bonus feature, but I'm glad the real show didn't go in that direction. Without spoiling it (and, if you haven't seen it yet, the only change is in the last two minutes), it would paint Veronica and the show into an uncomfortable corner that would take weeks, at least, to get out of.

Finally, today's All TV column makes fun of Fox's usual switcheroo scheduling. NBC predictably followed that by moving "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" to Thursdays, while having back-to-back "Scrubs" episodes airing Tuesdays at 9, starting Jan. 3. (More details in tomorrow's column, or you can just read the press release here.) J.D. and Turk are back, baby! Is it time to do the Rerun dance?