Oakland Raiders: Why Am I a Fan?

This week, I got asked this question while visiting the local mall, in town:

"Why are you a Raider fan? They've sucked for the last five years!"

Well, it's a long story. One that goes beyond the team, but as well, the feeling of family.

For one, since I'm a history nut (if you haven't figured this out yet, go look up some of my past articles), it's always been a fun team to read about. I'd read about their glory years; read about guys like Lamonica, Branch, Stabler, and Hendricks. I'd read about guys like John Madden, Tom Flores, and even Jim Plunkett's miracle season.

For every bad year, things never stayed bad...it's probably the same for Cards' fans...after all, in the beginning it took them 27 years to reach the playoffs for the first time...they made it twice, and then another 25 years. Ye-ouch.

This person would say, "yeah, but right now you guys are horrible." I'd tell him that they're not that bad. To get a "horrible" ranking, you'd have to be the Rams, or the Chiefs. Heck, throw in the Lions and Browns...at least the Raiders aren't in the cellar.

Obviously, this character wasn't going to let me off that easily, when he said something about how his team, the Bucs, had wasted the Raiders in the Super Bowl in 2002. I held up my wedding ring, and asked him to count the stones...he smartly counted off three, and at that, I told him politely:

"My team has that many rings, in a span from 1976 to 1983. Your team, meanwhile, has only one. It has only been to one. Your team, in its history, hasn't made it to .400. Your team owns not only the record for losses in a single season, but also consecutive games, at 26. Your team also holds the record of 12 straight years of double-digit losses. "

At this, he looked a little shell shocked—this was normal—then I asked him:

"How many Buc fans have you seen around here?"

He looked around, and muttered something like two.

"Being a Raider fan, and a member of the Raider Nation, I have friends all over this country, this world. I have family that they couldn't build a stadium large enough to fill. We have a loyalty that transcends color, money, age, and even politics. And it doesn't matter if it's in Denver, Dallas, Detroit, or Dresden...If one Raider fan meets another, it's a family member that was seen, and reunited with. Does your fan base know what that's like?"

At this, this Bucs fan looked away. So I made a simple mention:

"Thick or thin, hell or high water, we stand behind our team. Loyalty to the Silver and Black, win lose or tie. This is why I'm a Raider Fan."

And I left him, and went on my way, to finish shopping.