Advertisement

Raider Nation -- change the colors to black and blue?

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Some NFL teams might figure that a Top 10 list of greatest games would be sufficient.

Not the Oakland Raiders.

Their list of ‘Greatest Moments’ includes 27 games. The Raiders Hall of Fame includes such NFL stars as John Madden, Gene Upshaw, Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen. And there are plenty of silver-and-black memories from Super Bowls XI, XV and XVIII.

The problem facing Raiders fans is that most of the franchise’s storied successes are old news. The last big game of those 27 was played on Jan. 19, 2003, when the Raiders beat the Titans 42-24 in the AFC championship game. Which makes it even harder for Raider Nation to stomach what has been going on of late -- including Lane Kiffin, DeAngelo Hall and a 2-6 record.

Advertisement

Judging from comments that Raiders fans are lodging with the Fabulous Forum, there is one reason for the Raiders slide -- the eighth man named to the Raiders Hall of Fame.

That would be majority owner Al Davis.

Deeraiderette put it this way in a recent comment on the Fabulous Forum:

Ok. Callin’ out to all my Silver n Black faithful. Let’s get together a collection and buy the damn team ourselves, make Al walk the plank! Who’s with me?! I’m puttin’ in the money I’ll save by taking people off my xmas list that I realize I don’t like much anyway! lol AL MUST GO, AL MUST GO...

A frustrated fan named Frank also wants Davis to go away:

The best thing that could happen to the Raiders is if Big Al sells the team and gets out of football altogether, he is an embarassment to the team and the league. He reminds me of Monty Burns on the Simpsons, a power mongering decrepit old geezer with more money than brains

Then there’s Robert:

The NFL should have a rule that owners cannot actually run the football teams. this is what happens when a big ego gets old and senile. jerry jones, never a great gm, is going there too and will be a full-blown al davis type in eight years.

Word that the Raiders might look into signing Michael Vick prompted another round

of Davis-bashing, including this promise from a long-time fan named Wesley:

I run a business with local sales reps that buy Raider tickets for the entertainment of my clients. If the Raiders sign Vick, I will disallow that practice for as long as Vick and whoever signs him are part of that team. This is not the start of a public boycott or anything like that but if I promise you that I will not allow a single penny of money I control to be spent on the Raiders as long as Vick is part of that team. No debate. That’s it.

Advertisement

Tammy summed things up in succinct fashion:

Wow...maybe instead of firing coaches and players, Al Davis should just fire himself.

The ill will extends to the far-flung reaches of Raider Nation, including western Tennessee, where long-time Raiders fan Ron Bennett lives.

I have been an Oakland Raider fan since 1972. I have seen the good times and the bad times for my Raider team, as have many Raider fans. We are ‘beyond frustration’ with the team’s losses, and being the ‘laughing stock’ of the NFL. My wife and I drive 2 1/2 hours to Nashville when the Raiders are playing the Titans, and we are tired of returning home as losers.

As a headline writer at the Los Angeles Times recently put it, ‘Just wince, baby!’

-- Greg Johnson

Advertisement