The Raider Nation Looks at the Bright Side

A Raider Fan's Best List for Participating in Sports

In times of economic challenges, the best pastime to have is sports, especially NFL football.

A love for sports can ease the stresses and duress of being in the American economy. You line up the chairs, turn on the big screen television, computer, or go to a sports bar. You wait patiently for an Oakland Raider game to begin.

Then you think, what might be the benefits of engaging in a good sport? Here is a list of 10 reasons, in my opinion.

1. You can lose weight, yipping and yelling, jumping and stretching as you watch the Oakland Raiders.

2. You exercise your mind, thinking of what you would do if you were the Raider coach.

3. You slow down, sit down, and enjoy quality time with family and friends.

4. You debate and speculate, using statistics and other information, trying to predict who is the best team.

5. You become attentive to details, watching the good and bad moves of each player, and conjecturing that if he had done "this" then "that" would have happened.

6. If you actually attend the game in the stadium, you have a chance to see old friends, and compare how you are aging with how they are aging.

7. You get a chance to see young people with their new styles: tattoos, mohawks, baggy pants, earrings in their eyebrows, noses, tongue, lip and other places.

8. You remember when you were young, and you say, "Look at them strutting their stuff, in my day I could have shown them how to strut."

9. You have a chance to eat junk food like nachos, popcorn, hot dogs and more...

10. Whether the Oakland Raiders win or lose, it is a good thing to be in the crowd, cheering them on, or staring at your television or computer screen, yelling, screaming, and even "cussing", but actually having a good time remembering that you are alive, and well and healthy enough to even pay attention to NFL football.

What are your reasons for participating or being a sports fan?