Get the tuck out

The NFL rule that made Al Davis scream at the top of his lungs, "Mother tucker… MOTHER TUCKER!!!" is no more.

Ok, it's doubtful Davis ever yelled those words, but there is no doubt the "Tuck Rule," as it came to be known, played a significant role in NFL history, most notably on a snow-covered field in Foxboro, Mass., during the 2002 AFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots.

You know what happened, so there's no need to go over the details.

If Davis were still with us, he'd be elated, but probably still cursing, to know NFL owners, at their annual meeting in Phoenix, voted 29-1 Wednesday to eliminate the controversial and, if you ask me, stupid rule. Apparently 29 NFL owners also deemed the rule stupid, for lack of (read: laziness of trying to find) a better word.

The Redskins, for this reason, and the Patriots, understandably, abstained from voting. The Pittsburgh Steelers voted to keep the "Tuck Rule." Why, Steelers? Why?

Meanwhile, the Raiders official Twitter feed needed only 17 characters, well shy of the 140 limit, to express the team's sentiments:

Adios, Tuck Rule.
— OAKLAND RAIDERS (@RAIDERS) March 20, 2013

It was only five days ago, when speculation was the "Tuck Rule" was in danger of extinction, that the tweeting Raiders had this to say:

Tuck Rule? It’s been 11 years, 1 month and 23 days…but who’s counting? twitter.com/RAIDERS/status…
— OAKLAND RAIDERS (@RAIDERS) March 14, 2013

Raider Nation Finds Odd Way to Prep For Chargers

In case you didn't notice the Oakland Raiders have played in two consecutive road games in which the contests were delayed by Mother Nature. First, a lightning storm halted the Raiders' game in Denver by 24 minutes, and couple of weeks ago Lane Kiffin and his Black and Silver crew had its kickoff in Miami pushed back a half an hour by more charges of lightning. (The photo placement above is to visually illustrate the rainfall before the Raiders game in Miami and not just a gratuitous posting of a picture featuring a hot, wet NFL cheerleader.) This week, the Raiders are guaranteed to see lightning again, but this time it will be on the helmets (and pants) of the San Diego Super Chargers. There is a very slim chance, however, the Raiders will face a third consecutive weather delay. Forecast for San Diego Sunday call for mostly sunny skies. What else would expect from Sunny San Diego?