Post by TheShadow on Feb 19, 2006 11:09:01 GMT -5
nl.newsbank.com/
Published on August 13, 1995
© 1995- The Press Democrat
BYLINE: Rich Rupprecht
Staff Writer
COLUMN: Rich Rupprecht
Judging from arms, backs and legs exposed at the Raiders/Rams game Saturday at the Coliseum, the loneliest place Saturday afternoon must have been East Bay tattoo parlors. Most of their prospective customers were at the game.
True to their reputation, the Raiders fans were loud and obnoxious. They pelted with garbage a guy wearing a Steve Young jersey, which was sort of ironic, considering the Raiders offense Saturday mirrored the 49ers short passing game. They did the same to a man in a Rams jersey, but the bigger shock was there being a Rams fan.
The Raiders' Oakland homecoming was almost more event than game. The fans held as many interviews as the players.
They gathered in the Coliseum parking lot four hours before the game, tailgating and setting up souvenir and memorabilia displays to the team that fled to Los Angeles 13 years ago.
Gary Nelson of San Jose constructed a small shrine for deceased Raiders lineman John Matuszak in the trunk of his car. Nelson said Matuszak, along with linebacker Ted Hendricks, used to visit Raiders fans as they tail-gated before games in Oakland.
Although there were about 1,000 empty seats, the fans generated enough noise to make the players aware of their presence. Special teams players frequently waved their arms, soliciting the crowd to increase the volume.
Some of the players said the amount of noise was enough to affect the Rams' ability to hear offensive signals. Not bad for a meaningless exhibition game.
``I think it helped us a lot,'' said Raiders linebacker Mike Jones. ``It pumped us up and we fed off it. I could feel the intensity from the fans. I could feel the mystique of the Oakland Raiders.''
That was more than just mystique felt by a poor soul who wound up with an extra-point try that went into the stands. At least 20 young men dived onto a pile for the football. Security guards stayed away.
It was almost more event than football game. The latest Oakland Raiders come equipped with their own band and some lounge singer-type with a microphone who incites the crowd to chant dee-fence way too much.
The rock music played on the sound system before the game could have been heard in Berkeley. Suffice it to say, you probably won't hear ``Welcome to the Jungle'' by Guns 'N Roses at the next 49ers game.
At least half the crowd seemed too young to remember much about the Kenny Stabler-Jim Otto-Willie Brown Raiders. That could be because tickets for the two Raiders exhibition games were not part of the season-ticket package. A lot of fans at this game will not be back for regular season games. Not unless they rob a bank.
One exception to that was 32-year-old Joel Clark of Berkeley. Clark, wearing a No. 81 Cliff Branch jersey, admitted to sinking ``almost everything I own'' into nine season-tickets. Counting personal seat licenses that comes out to about $24,000, all of which is due this year.
Tony Pendleton, 56, of Rodeo, wore a Raiders eye patch, a sort of test for the cataract surgery he'll have on Monday. ``To me this is something that goes beyond being a football fan,'' he said. ``The Raiders gets in your blood. I'm not a rowdy person, I'm a Raiders fan.''
A good portion of the Raiders fans Saturday seemed a cross between John Kruk and Drew Barrymore. Bandanas, black T-shirts (when any shirts were worn at all) and pirate flags were everywhere.
Fittingly the field grew hazy in the third quarter, a sort of Southern California smog tribute caused by a fire in a garbage dumpster.
While the fans were loud at times, they also slipped out of Raiders mode long enough to do The Wave in the second quarter, an act which would have been booed and all but ignored during their first stay in Oakland.
Still, the Raiders players seemed as impressed by the fans vocal and visual support as by their own performance.
Asked to come up with a difference between playing in Oakland and Los Angeles, Raiders tight end Kevin Smith, son of former Raiders running back Charlie Smith, said: ``Just fans running to our buses as we entered the stadium. It was about what I thought it would be. I think it (noise) helped our special teams and our defense.''
Raiders tackle Robert Jenkins, a 10-year veteran who played in a Raiders exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum six years ago and who grew up in the Bay Area when the Raiders were still in Oakland, described Saturday as ``a very special day.''
``What's great is that 12th man,'' Jenkins said of the Raiders' fans. ``That's great when the fans are hammering on the opposing team by screaming. I expect it to be like it was 14 years ago, a raucous crowd, diehard Oakland Raiders fans.''
The Raiders' experience comes complete with its seamy side. Throughout the game Raiders propaganda was displayed on the scoreboard, such as ``Professional Sports Winningest Team'' and ``The Team for All Decades,'' including selective graphics to explain those titles.
Also a strange press release circulated Saturday, revealing that because of a delay in stadium construction until January, an extra 3,000 season-tickets are now available.
And in true Raider fashion the official attendance figure given was 50,000. I'm sure Al Davis counted each one.
OK, so the Raiders are back, it will cost you a small fortune to see them play and the players are sweet on the new fans.
Now if the Raiders can just win games when it counts, Davis' Commitment to Commuting this season will be a great success.