Just Win Baby

I was watching the game the day they invented ‘The Holy Roller.’

I was crushed when they lost a playoff game on the play dubbed ‘The Immaculate Reception.’ (Or as I call it, ‘The Immaculate Deception’).

I celebrated when they finally broke through and won Super Bowl XI.

When I was a kid, the Oakland Raiders were my team.

Over the years, I’ve gotten away from die-hard fan status. They’re no longer one of the national teams that receive a ton of airtime. They’re located a million miles away on the West Coast. And now, I have an NFL team to root for located in my own state.

Still, the Rayduhs will always hold a special place in my heart. I guess that is one reason of many that I – like so many others - mourned the passing of their owner, Al Davis, this week.

I remember the day I first started rooting for them. Lots of folks in the family were Dallas Cowboys fans. I turned on the television one Sunday and the Raiders were playing at Kansas City. In wearing their road unies, the Raiders resembled the Cowboys – only they weren’t. So, with that child logic fueling my passion, I instantly picked an NFL team to root for.

It was tough sledding, though. In my neighborhood, you had Miami Dolphins fans; you had Minnesota Vikings fans; you had Washington Redskin fans; you had Pittsburgh Steelers fans – tons of those. And later, you had Denver Broncos fans.

But there were no other Oakland Raiders fans in Hidden Valley. I heard there MIGHT have been one over in Gulf Park, but I could never confirm that. Basically, it was just me.

So, you can imagine, all those losses to the Steelers took their toll in terms of teen taunting. My friend Ed, and I, talked about this recently. He was a devout Cowboys fan (actually, I kind of liked them, too, in those days, as a #2 team). So, he fully understood. He took his licks as well, though rooting for “America’s team” was a little more conventional than pulling for the Silver and Black.

Ed never owned an Oakland Raiders jersey like I did, though.

But, I stood proud. And finally I got the last laugh against all my neighborhood counterparts as the “Pride and Poise Boys” won three Super Bowls from 1977-1984.

To display my devotion, I:

• Wore a Raiders sweatshirt one year for my school picture (much to my mother’s chagrin)
• Had the Raiders as one of my teams on the metallic NFL football game (you know the one where the field vibrates and the players scatter helter skelter and sometimes lock arms)
• Even owned a Raiders bathrobe (though I am pretty sure I never wore that anywhere in public).

Christmas after Christmas would bring some other Oakland Raider trinket (except for the random year my mom bought me a Redskins jacket).

Those were the days.

The Raiders were full of grit. They weren’t glamorous. Coached by John Madden, they were full of bravado and flair. And in Davis’ own words, they’d “Just Win Baby.” He was the architect of it all, first serving as the Raiders coach and later the owner who assembled this band of admirable rogues.

I savored every win and my folks joined in the fun as fans as well.

Over the years, the Raiders have fallen on hard times. This year, they’re having somewhat of a renaissance. But the last decade has not been kind to Raider Nation.

Still, even though I am no longer a die-hard fan, I’ll always be for the Raiders. And when I heard of the passing of Davis this week after a lingering illness, I remembered a bunch of my childhood rooting triumphs (as well as some of the lowlights).

As an adult, I look back fondly on those childhood memories: the Monday Night games, the Super Bowl wins and some of the quirky heroes with quirkier nicknames like the Stork, the Snake and the Tuz. Even though my primary rooting interests now lie within our state borders as I’m firmly a Titans fan, I still like the Raiders. I guess it’s not surprising that I have seen the Titans play the Raiders more than any other NFL team.

When I see some of the costumed characters who show up to root for Oakland, I just smile and nod.

And this week, I tip my cap – a silver and black one, if I can find it – to the man who made it all possible with his Commitment to Excellence.

JG

(Source: youtube.com)

Originally posted 10/18/2011