The Raider is an Autumn Wind

Hey friends. I appoligize for not getting an entry up last week.

I am a Raiders fan. I'm pretty sure if you really looked at my blood closely it would be silver and black. I have been a Raiders fan since I was in junior high. I have seen some great teams. There were teams in the early 90's that I really thought would go to the Super Bowl. The late 90's were really tough to take as a fan but then they got Rich Gannon and Chucky. Those were great years. When they finally made it to the Super Bowl I truly thought I had died and gone to heaven. Even with the Super Bowl loss times were great. Players have come and gone but through it all there has been one constant. Al Davis.

I don't know what I'm supposed to think of Al Davis. He's my team's owner. For better or for worse he's the face of my team. Am I supposed to love him or hate him. He has done a lot of great things for the league and for my Raiders. On the other hand he has done a few questionable things.

Moved the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles.
Moved the Raiders back to Oakland.
Threatened to move the Raiders back to Los Angeles.
Hired Art Shell than fired Art Shell than hired Art Shell than fired Art Shell
More bad free agent signings than I can mention.

I'm torn as to how I'm supposed to feel about him. He gives out horrendous amounts of money to bad free agents and I want to jump ship to another team. He trades away John Gruden and I want to cry. But than something strange happens. I watch a game and I see him in his white jump suit http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/magazine/new/al_davis_a.jpg I hear him talk at a press conference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3XAohGHEv8. I am hooked. He is so different than the other owners in professional sports. He keeps things interesting. He makes me believe that this really will be the year they win the Super Bowl. I start to believe that he will get the team back to the top. Al Davis has this way of pulling me in. I should give up on him but I just can't.

I can't give up on him. I feel invested in him. When the Raiders win the Super Bowl and I truly believe they will in my life time, I can't wait to see the commissionair hand Al Davis the trophy. I want to be able to say I never gave up on him. Bad move, year after year I stuck by him.

Just Win Baby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKbYjyKOoR4

I love this game

"This is so boring. How can you spend 3 hours watching this?" Words that cut me every time I hear them. See I love baseball and even though I may be in the minority my love will never change. I believe it's the greatest sports in the world. I hear others say it's boring. The games are too long. Nothing exciting ever happens. Call me crazy but I love the game.

I'm not sure at what point I became so interested in baseball. Probably when I was very young. I remember being young and going to visit my grandma. I would sit in front of the TV for three hours rooting on the Minnesota Twins with her. She would get so excited when they won. It was hard for me not to get excited when I saw her joy this simple sport brought her. I never had time to think the game was boring. I would keep stats of my favorite players through out the game. I hated missing Twins games because I didn't want to miss any exciting plays. I knew my grandma was watching and it pained me to know I wasn't seeing what she was. Maybe I only got into the game because of my grandma but I will never forget those moments spent with her.

Those young memories have given way to some many more memories for me. Watching our small market semi-pro team through the wall in the outfield. Rooting on my Angels when they got to the World Series but only being able to watch game 7 on a small black and white TV that didn't have reception. Going to Milwaukee Brewer games with friends. Cheering the home runs and screaming at the painful plays. Memories that when I close my eyes I can immediately be taken back to these places.

One of the reasons I love baseball so much is that the game has no clock to determine when the game ends. Unlike other major sports the game is slow enough to enjoy while having a conversation with the person sitting next to you. The feeling when you walk out of a tunnel and see the green grass and the blue sky. The wonderful sounds that you get to hear at a game. The vendors selling beer and peanuts. Fans cheering for their teams or heckling opposing players. The sight of the pitcher throwing a 95 mile an hour fast ball and the sound of the ball hitting the catchers mitt. That is why I love baseball so much. It's so much more than the action of the game. It's the sights and the sounds. The passion of watching a game with a friend or with a loving grandmother.

I love watching baseball. I will admit that it may not be the fastest action of any sport but I don't need that. As baseball season begins again I will again cherish the opportunity the go to a game. The opportunity to sit for 3 hours either in my living room or hopefully a beautiful stadium. I will again be taken back to my grandmas living room. I will again cherish her and the beautiful game that she introduced me too. Go Twins.