A new year. Utica. Snow! Lots of it! Cold! Very Cold! It's January! SHEESH! Can mean only one thing! THE PLAYOFFS! The Oakland Raiders have had a season harkening back to days of yore! A dominating offense with MVP Rich Gannon and the incomparable Jerry Rice(GOAT)((Greatest Of All Time)) and RAIDER LEGEND,Tim Brown. And a toughened defense led by hired mercenaries Rod Woodson and Bill Romanowski, looking born to wear the Silver and Black. We take the AFC West with glorious victories in December over the Broncos, Chargers and Chiefs and the new year brings round 2, NFL Playoffs: RAIDERS-JETS...January 12 at The Net!!! The Raider Nation in eager anticipation of what lies ahead.
Back home in good old Utica, I agonize at watching THE GAME on tv. The roar of the crowd and the manic Raider Nation foaming at the mouth brings tears to my eyes at kickoff. And that spirited Jet team led by Pennington were gamers for a half, but as the shadows crept in and Chad's uniform got dirtier......RRRAAAIIII--DDDDEEEERRRSSS rang out like Hell's Bells from the 64,000 strong. And suddenly, Oakland was hosting the AFL championship! Raiders-Titans January 19 at The Net and nothing was gonna keep me from being in California the next weekend!(or two!)
All week I was agog with excitement! We KNEW the bitter disappointment of the last two years would be salved with a resounding victory come Sunday and there again was no way I wouldn't be sitting in THE BLACK HOLE!!!!!
Enter my good friend EBay! Within 48 hours I found the elusive tickets and a few dollars later the mail came on a Thursday and therein lie the precious ducats! Section 107 11 rows up from that green grass which winessed 35 years of Raider cleats. Black silver! I am looking at 'em right now! What an indescribable feeling when they first became my prized possession! THE AFL CHAMPIONSHIP IN OAKLAND!!!!
And on that cold Saturday morning, me and Dickie bundled up and drove off to Albany to jet westward and be a part of Raider history! We got to our favorite?? Motel 6 midnight California time so obviously it had been a long day but come morning...OFF TO DENNY'S for those dynamic Grand Slam Sluggers! I couldn't wait to get to the stadium so with kickoff 4 hours hence, up 880 we drove to meet with Dave and the RAIDER NATION! After parking in some nook down the road, we walked to the stadium engulfed in a sea of black. Electricity filled the air and the closer to the Coliseum we got, it crackled with unbridled tension even more! Hints of Super Bowl dreams!
What a frenzy! A dream to be sitting in the Black Hole for the biggest Raider game in Oakland in 25 years! This wasn't like '01! The Raider Nation was going all out to guarantee a trip to San Diego next week! RRRRRAAAAIIII----DDDDEEERRRSSSS!!!! Without a doubt, I unleashed the greatest verbal torrent from deep within my soul! And when it seemed I could yell no longer.......I YELLED LOUDER! The Raiders score tds on their first two possessions! PANDEMONIUM! Incredibly, McNair holds the Titans together and late in the first half, Tennessee is actually leading! Then the Hell's Bells toll..... two turnovers....ten points....a Raider lead at halftime.... and the Coliseum darkness, swathed in Silver and Black, extinguishes those powder blue Titan uniforms and the manic crescendo rises to embrace the AFL champion OAKLAND RAIDERS! Whew! And I was there!
The greatest moment in my football viewing lifetime! THE RAIDERS! Up next....San Diego! Just a short drive down the California coast and SUPER BOWL 37. But first,