OAKLAND, Calif. — The bus will pull up, past the Hell's Angels in the
parking lot. As the Rams pile off the bus, 50 to 100 Raiders fans will
finish their hot dogs, put down their beverages, and "greet" the Rams
with obscene words and gestures.
When the Rams walk on the field for pregame activities, it will be
Halloween in December. Painted faces, ornamental horns and spikes,
tattoos. ... And those are just the women. Fans from age 7 to 70 will
greet the visitors with what former Mizzou coach Dan Devine once called
"half of the peace sign." And one other thing, look out for the beer,
uh, "falling" from the stands.
Welcome to the stadium now known as McAfee Coliseum, home of the Oakland
Raiders. The silver-and-black's winning tradition is a mere memory these
days. The Raiders have enjoyed only four winning seasons, and earned
just three playoff berths since the end of the 1993 campaign. (Although
one of them resulted in a Super Bowl appearance.)
Even so, the only tradition still going strong is the wacky fans, in the
place known as the "Black Hole."
"I have some pretty funny stories from my younger years," Rams
linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski said.
Almost all of which, Kacvyenski added, are not suitable for publication
in a family newspaper.
"For a young player, I could see how it could be intimidating going in
there," Kacyvenski said.
One of those young players, Rams running back Steven Jackson, doesn't
plan on being intimidated. But he does plan on being prepared.
"I'm going to leave my helmet on on the sideline," Jackson said.
So he's heard about the beverage tossing?
"I did hear that story," Jackson said, laughing.
It is here that the Raiders and Rams — franchises that called Los
Angeles home as recently as 1994 — will attempt to salvage something
from highly disappointing seasons. At 5-8, the Rams have won only one
game since Oct. 8.
Win or lose, there's a good chance they will be eliminated from
contention for postseason play by Sunday night.
As for the Raiders, the only thing they're in contention for is the No.
1 overall pick in the 2007 draft. At 2-11, Oakland opened the season
with five straight losses, managed to beat visiting Arizona and
Pittsburgh in late October, and then proceeded to lose their next six.
Mr. Positive, Rams coach Scott Linehan, hasn't conceded anything
regarding postseason play.
"Until someone tells me any different, we're still playing for
everything," he said. "Stranger things happen and we're going to play it
out that way."
But even some of his remarks were tinged with realism as the practice
week progressed.
"It's very important for our team to improve this week and overcome a
tough game (against Chicago)," Linehan said. "We're finding out a lot
about ourselves. We're still finding out a lot about the players and
people within this organization, and how we're handling these tough
times. Because we see brighter days ahead."
If they haven't already, some Rams will play themselves off the roster
in the final three weeks. Others, such as center Brett Romberg and
linebacker-safety Jon Alston, are auditioning for the future.
At age 27, Romberg is expected to make his first NFL start Sunday, with
Richie Incognito sliding over from center to right guard in place of
injured Adam Timmerman.
Alston, a rookie from Stanford, hasn't played this season despite his
third-round draft status. Linehan may have him cover kicks against Oakland.
Auditions or not, this isn't an exhibition. Oakland will come after the
Rams with the No. 6-ranked defense in the NFL. Even through all the
losses, the Raiders' defense has kept them in most games. And if the
Rams get into predictable passing situations, Oakland defensive end
Derrick Burgess and defensive tackle Warren Sapp may add fresh bruises
to Marc Bulger's collection.
Beaten to a near pulp against Chicago, the Rams quarterback still had an
ugly bruise on his leg Friday.
The last time the Rams played Oakland marked Bulger's first start as an
NFL quarterback.
"It was the most nervous I've ever been for a game," Bulger said.
"Marshall (Faulk) was in the huddle, Isaac (Bruce) and Torry (Holt), all
those guys. It was still around the Greatest Show on Turf times. Kurt
(Warner) had just gotten hurt two weeks prior to that. I was just trying
to go in and fit in. It was just kind of weird being in that huddle with
those guys."
But there's no need to be nervous Sunday. And the only weird thing in
McAfee will be some of the fans. So as Raiders owner Al Davis used to
say, the only thing to do is: "Just win, baby."
