Twenty minutes after all the players and coaches headed into the locker room, my section was scattered with a handful of us, sitting silently. We occasionally looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief. I watched how quickly the field crew removed the cameras, sideline equipment and signage. They worked almost as quickly as the Chargers, who removed all hope from our stands just an hour earlier.

Oakland vs San Diego, 28-18 LOSS

  • The walk across the overpass from BART to the Coliseum a maze of bodies, ticket scalpers and merchandise vendors. There wasn’t much chatter today, and the vibe was tense. A vendor on the right had a display of various Barack Obama pins. A passing fan asked, “Are you doing voter registrations? Can I vote for a new coach?” That got a lot of laughs.
  • The next sideshow was the idiot scalper of the day. He was wearing a makeshift sign around his neck advertising the section and seat numbers of the tickets he was scalping. One officer was trying to hold his camera steady, as he held in laughter, in order to take the scalpers photo. No doubt that picture will be making rounds on the Internet soon. The final stretch of the pass crosses over fan parking. The aroma of tailgating fare hit me head on, while Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot in Here” blasted from a party right below us.
  • When I got to my seat I noticed that in every cup holder there was a black pompom courtesy of “Viva Latina” day. Sometimes you have to wonder if the marketing department knows it’s market. Brenda K. Starr, of 80’s pop music “I Still Believe” fame, sang the National Anthem and did a wonderful job.
  • The Raiders run onto the field, and when typically only the Offense or defense heads to the Black Hole to be announced, the entire team lined up. Instead of any player being announced by name, they were announced as a unit; the specialists, the kickers, the OLine, WR’s, etc… QB’s were last. And not a single acknowledgment of Lane Kiffin or the coaching staff. I’m sure that was intentional as to not inspire a reaction from the fans.
  • One of the slogans this season is, “There is a little Raider in all of us, and on game day we let it out.” It seems as though a lot of us were letting it out in the parking lot because the stands were only about 60% full until deep into the first quarter. In hindsight, they should have come in on time, and left after the 3rd to continue the party. The game fell apart and they stopped serving beer.



By: Knup on Sep 29th, 2008
Tagged as: RaiderRefuge.com

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