A hard rain came down last night on the dreams of the Raider Nation faithful. If you saw it, then you know how bad it was. Tampa Bay showed up to play football, and Oakland's objective was never clearly manifest. Perhaps they'd heard about the free Gatorade, or maybe they wanted to enjoy the balmy 81-degree weather, but they certainly weren't there to win anything. You could see the Raiders offensive line idly standing around, confused and bewildered as the Tampa defense swarmed around them at will, sacking quarterback Rich Gannon repeatedly until he was a quivering, panicking buffoon: "We were just absolutely terrible—it was a nightmarish performance," he conceded after the game. Defensive star Sam Adams, who played like he'd been high on his namesake beverage, underscored Gannon's assessment: "I'm telling you, I am pissed off about this," Adams said. "It's lack of heart. We played like trash in the biggest game in our lives and we came out and got a thorough ass-whipping on defense."

The best offensive performance of the evening had to be that of the Raider Nation fans who turned out in force on the streets of Oakland last night to do a little "trashing" of their own.

Over 65 people were arrested amid the carnage that broke out all over International Boulevard and the surrounding area. Police spokeswoman Cynthia Perkins had the glum task of announcing that the department's 400 officers were helpless to prevent the orgy of looting, vandalism, car torchings, and violence that had frightened residents cowering behind their doors. Perhaps all of this had been inevitable.

At 38th and Foothill, Ricky Thompson said the rowdy fans "are hurting (from the game loss). That's why they're out here."

Darick Smith added: "They are just releasing tension. This is how it would have been had they won anyway."

Fires were set. Windows were smashed. A McDonald's was summarily looted and burned. Sections of the 50-block swath of destruction were labeled "lawless zones," into which not even emergency services were tolerated.

Another crowd set fires in International near 63rd Avenue. When fire trucks arrived, they were hit with rocks, bottles and debris. A convoy of Oakland police sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers struggled to seal the firefighters off from the crowd.

"It's how we do it out here," said 18-year-old "Opp," who gave no last name.

"You better take your s-- home—it's East Oakland."

Members of the crowd shouted: "It's town business, it's what we do!"

Meanwhile, Back at the Ivory Coast

A celebration occurred when the French finished brokering a peace agreement in that war-torn country. As it turned out, residents weren't very pleased with the terms of the accord, which gave control of the military and other power functions to a rebel faction that's been contesting rule in the Cote d'Ivoire. When news of the rebels' gains spread through the capitol, residents began burning tires and arming themselves.

Thousands—some waving sticks and clutching rocks—converged upon the embassy, setting fires outside. Men armed with machine guns took up position on the embassy roof. French military helicopters buzzed across the city with reinforcements.

Exactitude or Something

That's what Martha Stewart thinks is the reason why so many people are vocally resentful of her success and contemptuous of her persona. She's been the perfect little homemaker, and now she's polishing off the perfect public pout. "I've had a real long way up—along the way my heels being bitten at for various reasons, maybe perfectionism or exactitude or something. And now I've had a long way down." Here's a bit more from the interview she had with the New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin:

Perhaps the strangest moment in the interview came when Toobin admired the fancy silver chopsticks he and Stewart used to eat homemade Szechuan chicken at her Connecticut mansion.

"You know, in China they say, 'The thinner the chopsticks, the higher the social status.' Of course, I got the thinnest I could find," said Stewart, who was born Martha Kostyra and grew up in working-class Nutley, N.J. "That's why people hate me."

Sharpening the Knives

Tomorrow at 9 p.m. the President is going to deliver a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. I'll be tuning in to watch, but I'm expecting a very polished speech with each sentence carefully assembled by his speechwriters. That means we probably won't hear any classic Bush howlers. Or so I thought until I ran into this bon mot from a writer who explained that the speech has been crafted to be informative, but "will not be eye-popping revelatory." Ah, there's hope.

We liked this "pre-buttal" quip made today by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at the National Press Club.

"For two years, America has given the president the benefit of the doubt on his economic plan. Today, the American people have seen very few benefits and have a lot more doubt."

2:31:57 PM