One of my plans for this website/blog, besides sharing my personal opinions on Chicago sports, is to hear from other die-hard fans. I want to hear from die hard fans, not only from Chicago, but from all over. We’ll hear from one of them today.
His name is Raider Al. I worked with him when I lived out in Los Angeles, and soon discovered, that we share the same sickness. We are die hard fans. This stuff consumes us. There is no team that he loves more than the Raiders… did you already figure that out? His week, like many of ours with the Bears, starts off with the Raiders. A win means a good week; a loss means a bad one. He’s had a lot of bad weeks lately. Without further delay, let’s hear a little bit of Al:
As a man of 50 years now, I can honestly say the Texan game was pretty embarrassing. I have always said that I have been an Oakland Raiders fan since I was born, though my first game recollection was in 1972. Through the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s, and even into the early 2000′s the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders had success with many outcomes ending in the Playoffs and 3 Super Bowl Victories. Throughout the past 12 years, I have depended upon the Raiders past successes to carry me through this trying time.
In my many years as a Raiders fan, I have seen very good coaches come and go, and I have seen not so good coaches shove this team into a dungeon of despair. Ownership made poor decisions on coaches, players, and a great many other things, but through it all I remain a faithful fan. It’s definitely very hard to swallow. Often, I think of how a fan of the New Orleans Saints or Seattle Seahawks or Tampa Bay Buccaneers must have felt for all those years without a Super Bowl, yet now they have one.
Then I think about the Green Bay Packers who went on one of the longest droughts between Super Bowl wins (29 years between 1967 and 1996), or the Chicago Bears who won their first Super Bowl in 1985 and had to wait 21 years before they got back to the big game (lost to the Indianapolis Colts in 2006). Then there’s America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, who haven’t been to a Super Bowl since 1995. The Pittsburgh Steelers went on a 16 year drought between 1979 and 1995 (lost to the Dallas Cowboys), and then another 10 year drought before their next Super Bowl victory in 2005.
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Basically, this all adds up to the fact that it’s very difficult to put a group of players, coaches, and staff members together to form a winning organization. That’s why the best teams each year are represented in one of the biggest games of the year. Quite frankly, in today’s day and age it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past as much as what you do in the present. Winning football games is the only thing that will stop all the negativity.
Do you feel the pain? Can you relate? I can. He mentions how long we waited since 1985 before we got to the Super Bowl. We all know that we lost that Super Bowl, so now it stands 29 years since out last Super Bowl victory: our ONLY Super Bowl victory. Hey, at least the Raiders got 3 Super Bowl titles!
It’s been too long for the Bears, and Raiders. How about that Super Bowl? Raider Al accompanied us to the Bears Raiders game in Oakland 7 years ago. That made my top 10 list of best games that I attended. We ALL had a great time regardless of the outcome; we didn’t give Al too much crap… from what I can remember.
At the end of the day, I respect the die-hard. I can relate to the die-hard. The true fans are those that stick with their teams through thick and thin. They stick with their teams through the down years, cheering just as hard. This is what makes the winning that eventually comes… eventually comes, that much sweeter.
I can relate to the die hard, but it’s hard for me to sympathize. Remember, I’m a Cubs fan. I’m not sure any team in any sport can top the pain we’ve been through. I know it will all be worth it when that day comes. And I know it will be worth it for Raider Al when that day comes again for the Raiders. I’ll be rooting for you Al… unless it’s against the Bears. We’re going to that game if it ever happens! Until then, keep your head up, and keep remembering the good times, until those good times come again. Remember, any win any week is a good time. You should have some of those this year… right?
blogger's wife
wow ” the dungeon of despair” that’s a trademark line….. Al, thanks for sharing your thoughts. As a die-hard’s wife, I understand your pain, but as a women, I guess I will NEVER understand the torment all you die-hards put yourselves through. Did you get your t.v repaired yet????
nostradummass
Raider Al has suffered through a few bad YEARS recently.
BTW, What are the chances that Raider Al’s earliest Raider memory was of a pass deflecting off Jack Tatum right to Franco Harris about ten yards away and Franco Harris running it into the end zone to win a playoff game (the so-called Immaculate Reception)?
But the Raiders have won three super bowls and appeared in on just some 12 years ago. The Raiders have a higher share of Super Bowl Wins and Super Bowl appearances than average, so why should we show Raiders fans any empathy?
So, if you really want to experience pain….
You need to find a long-suffering LIONS fan.
The Lions have never WON a Super Bowl.
The Lions have never LOST a Super Bowl.
So, the Lions never even PLAYED in a Super Bowl.
The Lions have not played in the NFC Championship game since, well before I can remember (and I am older than Raider Al).
The Lions have not won a playoff game in a while (can’t remember if they won a game a couple of years ago, but if they did not, then they probably haven’t won a playoff game since Barry Sanders played [BTW, is he still alive?] or perhaps since Alex Karras [RIP] played for them before he became famous as an announcer on Monday Night Football and for punching a horse in the face.)
The Lions ONLY, yes ONLY, connection to the Super Bowl is that they got to HOST one.
And if you are a Lions fan, doesn’t that sound just grand to you??
And if you want to really wallow, the Lions play in a city that lost close to half of its population in the years since the first Super Bowl–no other major (and probably no minor) American city can even come close to that remarkable achievement.
And, just in case you were wondering whether I might be a Lions fan, I am not and never have been a Lions fan (except when they played the Vikings or maybe the Packers), though Alex Karras was pretty funny and a really good player–except when he stood aside laughing at Tom Dempsey as Dempsey kicked a 63 yard field goal to, what else, prevent the Lions from getting into the playoffs.