Post by TheShadow on Apr 5, 2008 8:50:02 GMT -5
mvn.com
By Patrick Patterson
They are out there and have been riding high these last few years. You know who they are. They are the Raider Haters. Those people who are passionately obsessed with hating the Oakland Raiders. Some of them root for rival teams, whilst others don’t have a team they like, they just hate the Raiders. Many of them seem to be more obsessed with hating the Raiders than supporting their own team. Its kind of sad, really to have that much negativity to burn. Where does this phenomenon come from? There is no team that is as passionately and universally hated by its non-fans as the Silver and Black.
I think that the roots of the Raider Hater movement rest in the salad days of the Raiders. Once upon a time the Raiders not only beat their opposition, they dominated. The Raiders Stormed their way through the league, winning for decades. They were a team that everyone feared playing. From that domination, hatred arose.
Al Davis has been the sole figure at the top of the Raiders for decades. Davis has run the Raiders with an us against them attitude. In Al’s world view it is the Raiders and everyone else is the enemy. He goes after his enemies real and perceived with a take no prisoners approach. From that animosity, hatred arose.
Back when there were only three networks, and national TV games were rare. There were two teams that got the most national attention. The Dallas Cowboys who were “America’s Team” and the Oakland Raiders. The Cowboys were the good guys with the star on their helmets. They were clean cut, and had a wholesome All-American image. (This was long before Michael Irvin came along.) The Raiders on the other hand relished in their bad guy image. Their mascot was a pirate. They were clad in black. They let their hair grow long and looked more like the Oakland Chapter of the Hell’s Angels than an NFL team. they were the team that loved to be hated. From that bad guy image, hatred arose.
Now, with the Raiders in the worst slump in their history, everyone is piling on. A perfect example is my MVN colleague Ryan Brown who writes on the Chiefs site. He has a nearly pathological hatred towards the Raiders, so much so that its rare that one of his posts go by that don’t have a pot-shot at the Silver and Black. Its like the school yard bully is down, so everyone is getting their shots in. The haters have come out of the woodwork like cockroaches to laugh and point at the big bad Raiders while they are down. Well, guess what haters, the Raiders will be back on top where they belong.
By Patrick Patterson
They are out there and have been riding high these last few years. You know who they are. They are the Raider Haters. Those people who are passionately obsessed with hating the Oakland Raiders. Some of them root for rival teams, whilst others don’t have a team they like, they just hate the Raiders. Many of them seem to be more obsessed with hating the Raiders than supporting their own team. Its kind of sad, really to have that much negativity to burn. Where does this phenomenon come from? There is no team that is as passionately and universally hated by its non-fans as the Silver and Black.
I think that the roots of the Raider Hater movement rest in the salad days of the Raiders. Once upon a time the Raiders not only beat their opposition, they dominated. The Raiders Stormed their way through the league, winning for decades. They were a team that everyone feared playing. From that domination, hatred arose.
Al Davis has been the sole figure at the top of the Raiders for decades. Davis has run the Raiders with an us against them attitude. In Al’s world view it is the Raiders and everyone else is the enemy. He goes after his enemies real and perceived with a take no prisoners approach. From that animosity, hatred arose.
Back when there were only three networks, and national TV games were rare. There were two teams that got the most national attention. The Dallas Cowboys who were “America’s Team” and the Oakland Raiders. The Cowboys were the good guys with the star on their helmets. They were clean cut, and had a wholesome All-American image. (This was long before Michael Irvin came along.) The Raiders on the other hand relished in their bad guy image. Their mascot was a pirate. They were clad in black. They let their hair grow long and looked more like the Oakland Chapter of the Hell’s Angels than an NFL team. they were the team that loved to be hated. From that bad guy image, hatred arose.
Now, with the Raiders in the worst slump in their history, everyone is piling on. A perfect example is my MVN colleague Ryan Brown who writes on the Chiefs site. He has a nearly pathological hatred towards the Raiders, so much so that its rare that one of his posts go by that don’t have a pot-shot at the Silver and Black. Its like the school yard bully is down, so everyone is getting their shots in. The haters have come out of the woodwork like cockroaches to laugh and point at the big bad Raiders while they are down. Well, guess what haters, the Raiders will be back on top where they belong.