Eight weeks before the draft, the Raiders appear poised to select fomrer LSU QB JaMarcus Russell with he No. 1 overall pick. Bob Rosato/SI

OK, so two straight frustrating seasons have left Moss unhappy. The Raiders aren't too thrilled with him either, and he turned 30 three weeks ago. But here sits Oakland now, with the first pick in the draft, and with a quarterback they're gradually coming to like a lot, JaMarcus Russell, in their sights. Russell can stand at the 20-yard line on a windless day, take one step, and fling a spiral into the end zone 80 yards away. Why on God's green earth would they ever consider trading the guy who could make such beautiful music with Russell over the next two or three years?

There was a reason the Raiders traded for Moss, and that reason was to pair him with a quarterback with a great arm. Unless Moss has told Raiders brass, "I will not try if you keep me here'' (and I'm told he has not), it's foolish to entertain any offers for him. If Russell is playing by mid-October, Moss should have a 1,400-yard, 12-touchdown season.

8. I think the NFL rookie version of A-Rod and Jeter is JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn. Being around Russell at the combine, I got the feeling he won't be inviting Quinn to any of his pre-draft soirees. Seems he thinks Quinn was a bit stuck-up when they worked out in Tempe over the last couple of months. And Quinn doesn't know exactly what happened, but he saw he was scheduled to work alongside Russell when the two first got to Arizona, and the next day he saw Russell had been switched out of the group. Coincidence? Maybe. But they're not destined to be best buds.

9. I think this is one combine factoid left in my notebook from last weekend: Remember former SI investigative reporter Don Yaeger? His name came up when I was interviewing some of the top dogs at Athletes Performance Institute, the combine-prep center Quinn and Russell (and 28 other players) used to get tuned up for their NFL workouts this winter.

Seems API imported Yaeger to help with an underrated part of the combine process -- the 15-minute individual interviews players do with teams. Yaeger dug up dirt from these kids' MySpace pages, Googled their names and found out anything else he might find to try to trip up these kids. Delaware tight end Ben Patrick said, "He interrupted me in the middle of an answer I was giving and said: 'If you got drafted by the Cowboys, how would you like Terrell Owens as a teammate?' I had to think fast. I said, 'I don't really know, because I haven't met him, and I only judge people after I've met them.''' Good answer. NFL teams don't like rookie know-it-alls.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Brodeur for MVP.

b. I'm no NBA guy, but I find it compelling that Dallas started the season 0-4 and is 50-5 since.

c. Good luck whatever you do, Steve Rushin. It was an honor to share the masthead with you for 17 years.

d. Coffeenerdness: Shouldn't there be a law against people walking into a Starbucks, ordering a tall coffee ($1.53) and whipping out an AmEx gold card to pay for it? I witnessed this the other day. Hard to envision paying for a small coffee with one of the land's most prestigious pieces of plastic.

e. Ashamed to say it only took me nine years to see Saving Private Ryan. Memorable movie. Incredible job by Tom Hanks. That's the best I've seen him. And were you as stunned as I was to see Matt Damon show up two-thirds of the way through the movie as the title character?

f. I can hear it now: How can you praise Saving Private Ryan, with as gruesome a first half-hour as you could ever see in a movie, and rip The Departed for being too violent? Interesting question. My answer's simple. Ryan is a war movie, and you know going in that if D-Day is going to be realistically portrayed there's going to be some killing. But it was not gratuitous violence, which I felt riddled The Departed.

g. I see the Yankees are charging $190 for a hundred or so primo seats behind home plate. In spring training.

h. Want to know about the Matsuzaka fever gripping New England? Talked to my sister, who lives in Somers, Conn., last Friday, and she asked me, "Are you watching the game tonight?'' What game, I wondered? Silly me. Daisuke Matsuzaka's first couple of exhibition innings -- against Boston College, of all squads -- were going to be telecast live that night. I bet the movie theaters and bistros from Old Orchard Beach to New Britain were quiet Friday night.