Written by Aaron Rognstad / Tracy Press: Raider Nation — friendlier than advertised!
I must admit, I am not a Raider fan.
In fact, having spent the past 20 years in Colorado, I rooted for the
Broncos and watched them win back-to-back Super Bowls in the late ’90s
under John Elway’s great arm. Regardless, I always wanted to see how the
“dark side” did things in Oakland. I wanted to see if the rumors were
true of Bronco fans getting beat up, the mayhem in the parking lot and
the infamous Raider Nation that the late Hunter S. Thompson once called
“beyond a doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs
and wackos ever assembled.”
So I decided to visit Brian and Christine Palmer’s booster club tailgate
party before the Raiders home opener against Denver on Monday, before
attending the game. The Tracy couple started the club called the Rowdy &
Rabid Raider Rooter Rumpus Room Regulars (say that five times fast in
1997 after coming to Raider games for many years prior. The following is
a timeline of my experience:
4 p.m.: After hearing annoying long drawn out chants of RAAAAIDERS for a
half hour on BART, I arrived at McAfee Coliseum to behold the sight of
50,000 tailgating Raiders fans on a beautiful late-summer afternoon with
temperatures in the mid-70s and a sunny blue sky. I feel like I’m about
to enter a prison as I walk through the barbed-wire fence entrance to
the stadium and I hear one guy comment about someone wearing a Bronco
jersey saying, “I’ve been to Iraq three times — nothing scares me — but
I’d be scared if I was that guy.”
Are my preconceived notions true? Do Raiders fans really mob Bronco fans
here? I figured I would soon find out.
4:15 p.m.: After receiving my press pass, I walked into the parking lot
and see four Bronco fans standing uncomfortably close to a few police
officers across the street from the massive looming tailgate before
them. After asking them what it’s like to be surrounded by so many
Raiders fans going absolutely berserk, Lawrence Martinez from New Mexico
says, “It’s crazy. At first, I was freaking out because of everyone
yelling at us.”
4:45 p.m.: After wandering in an endless sea of silver and black, I
finally come across Brian, who spots me — I guess — by my
professional-looking appearance, which stands out amongst a sea of fans
in sports regalia. We introduce and, right away, I know I’m dealing with
a true Raiders fan, and not someone who just wants to start trouble and
taunt Broncos fans.
Brian has been to every single Oakland Raiders home game since 1966,
with the exception of one last year when he was in the hospital. His
booster club has as many as 75 fans who come from all over the Bay Area
and Central Valley. Some come as far as Hawaii for big games.
“To us, it’s all about camaraderie and hangin’ out with friends,” he
said. “We call this day our New Year, because it’s a fresh start for a
season.”
When asked about the bad rap Raiders fans have received over the ages
and if he’s ever seen violence, he said a few can damage the reputation
of the whole.
“If you can’t come here and let the opposing team’s fans have a good
time, then that’s not right,” he said. “When you get 75,000 people
together for something like this, you’re going to have a few bad apples.”
Brian, who has let fans of the opposing team party at his tailgate in
the past, explained “We try to be inclusive. It’s about a football game.
It’s about fun.”
Brian admits to seeing some crime in the past, and fellow booster member
Steve MacLeod from Oakdale said he saw some fans trying to steal a car
during the tailgate last season, but the violence and roughness has
calmed down over the past few years.
“The first couple years after they came back, there was definitely a
rough element to this place,” MacLeod said, referring to the team’s
return to Oakland in 1995 after a 12-year hiatus in Los Angeles. “But
once all the fans from LA stopped coming up here and causing all sorts
of trouble, things have calmed down a bit.”
5:35 p.m.: I spot someone looking like they’re straight out of
Hellraiser III off to my left, putting on what looks like shoulder pads
adorned with skulls and chains. I find out his name is Alejandro Diaz
from Columbia, who now lives in Ontario in Southern California. He has
been driving up to Raiders games for five years with his wife and sits
in the infamous “Black Hole” in the east end zone where Raider fans
dress like it’s Halloween.
“We’re going to run all over them (the Broncos),” Diaz says in a heavy
accent. “Final score, 17-7.”
How far off Mr. Diaz was.
6 p.m.: I meet up with the guys from Slackenloader, a Tracy-based
heavy-metal band that recently played the Tracy Dry Bean Festival on
Saturday and has played outside of McAfee for the past six years, and
chat with them on everything from rowdy fans to Black Sabbath. Metal and
Raiders football kind of go hand in hand. They’re both dark and sinister
— in a fun way.
7:35 p.m.: I’m in the press box eating bad popcorn and drinking way too
much Dr. Pepper, and the Broncos draw first blood on a 27-yard Jay
Cutler touchdown pass. The sold-out crowd, packed all the way up to
Mount Davis — a particularly steep section of nose-bleed seats in the
stadium — is silenced.
8:31 p.m.: It’s halftime and the Raiders have a big fat doughnuts on the
scoreboard compared to the Broncos’ 17 points. They can’t seem to get
the running game going that every fan and local sports columnist has
hyped over the past few weeks, and the wide receivers can’t catch, and
their offensive line folds like a cheap card table.
9:15 p.m.: The Broncos drive 92 yards in five plays in two minutes, one
second, to go up 24-0. Looks like the Raiders will be going 19 and 62
since their Super Bowl loss in 2003.
9:55 p.m.: “There’s no life in this team right now,” says a KRON-4
sports reporter to his colleague. “It’s gonna be a long season.”
His colleague turns to him and says: “I can’t remember a beating like
this on national TV in some time. We gotta watch this all season?”
The Broncos are up 35-7.
10:19 p.m.: It’s the two-minute warning, and more than half the stadium
has cleared to escape the horror they have witnessed. The Raiders are on
their 4-yard line about to score, but it doesn’t matter — the damage has
been done. The Broncos have put up 41 points and have completely
dominated the night.
10:30 p.m.: As I file out of the stadium toward BART, the Raiders
faithful are still yelling that RAAAIDERS chant.
My preconceived notions of the Raider Nation are dispelled. All the
violence I thought I was going to see never happened. Broncos fans were
harassed, but it was with tasteful respect — for the most part.
It’s booster clubs like the Rowdy & Rabid Raider Rooter Rumpus Room
Regulars that help keep this friendly spirit alive and kicking.
And I’ll support that kind of sportsmanship any day.
