As a little kid, I wasn't exposed to any sports 'cause my father had no interest whatsoever. So it was many years before I could grasp the concept of baseball or football. My first memories of football are when me and Dicky were working in Ronnie Stamboly's grocery store on Sunset ave somewhere in '64-'65. Ronnie would have football on the tv on Sunday afternoon and I do recall that imfamous Giant-Redskin game with a score of 72-48! Most points ever scored in an NFL game. Now our tv only got one channel and I don't think the AFL was big yet on NBC (our only channel).

But finally I do remember watching and becoming a Buffalo Bills fan in 1965. What an exciting game with colorful characters! Big Daddy Lipscomb Wahoo Macdaniel Babe Parilli Gino Cappeletti Lance Alworth The Mad Bomber Ben Davidson and of course Joe Willie Namath!!!! The old AFL. I loved it! The Bills won the AFL championship two years running in '64 and '65 and the growing league was stirring up a storm in the NFL, taking the rookies out of college in a salary war. That could not go on and in 1966 the history of football changed forever with the merger of the two leagues into one NFL. I was unhappy about this 'cause I thought the AFL sacrificed a lot. Oh well.... there was something about Joe Willie I did not like. He was a big-mouthed braggart rookie with a crew- cut! HAHA And that stuck in my craw until that fateful day when a silver and black clad ruffian with an enormous handlebar mustache and an 83 on his back CRUSHED him!!!! WOW!!!! I was impressed!!! HAHAHA Of course he was an OAKLAND RAIDER!!! Poor Joe struggled up, his helmet kinda missing and his jaw broken! How sad! Joe couldn't talk after they wired his jaw shut! HAHA

From then on, my football passions had been stoked! And those Raider teams were incredible! That 13-1 '67 team led by Darryl Lamonica,The Snake teams of the '70s with Bilitnikof and the Assassin, Jim Plunkett and Marcus Allen in the early '80s and the struggling elevens led by losers like Jeff George and Todd Marinavich. And what a cast of characters! DR.DEATH THE ASSASSIN THE STORK THE MAD BOMBER FRED BILITNIKOF LYLE ALZADO JOHN MATUSAK OTIS SISTRUNK BEN DAVIDSON JOHN MADDEN AL DAVIS And even the games are a part of football lore! THE HEIDI GAME THE HOLY ROLLER THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION THE SEA OF HANDS THE GHOST TO THE POST AND THOSE THREE SUPER BOWL VICTORIES

And that mystique! Now about Raider legend in the NFL. The city of Oakland! It was a sad day even for us Uticans when we moved to Los Angeles. The remnants of great Oakland teams got another Super Bowl but I think the glitz of Hollywood brought the team down and it took years and a move back to Oakland to recover. From '95-'00, the team struggled and at times embarrassed the hell out of us, re: Jeff George, but a definite reawakening in 2000 led by John Gruden Tyrone Wheatley Tim Brown Charles Woodson Darrel Russell Greg Biekert Rich Gannon Steve Wis nieski Barrett Robbins Lincoln Kennedy James Jett Eric Allen 911 Shawn Lechler and The Polish Cannon-and back in the AFC championship. All though they were beaten soundly, the new season starts next week!

Ya know, most of my favorites were implanted in my brain cells in the '60s. My fave teams and bands and stuff. And as the years have passed, I find the enthusiasm waning. Not because they are losers or whatever. The Knicks died in the early '70s, the Mets bit the dust in the late '80s, the Rangers finally bored me to tears in 2000, U2 lost it after 13 years and even the venerable WHO!!!!! Now who cares. Even Marvel Comics which were a mainstay for 35 years....BUT through it all the one passion that has never faded was of THE SILVER AND BLACK! Even if they lose, Opening Day is met with fervor and anticipation! And hey, kick-off is in 6 days!!!! SEE YA IN OAKTOWN!!

I will come back to this page and add some little things later, but now I want to dedicate it to the Davidson Bros. of Oakland California! Bill and Dave. I met them opening day weekend of 2000 in Oakland and they have become true friends to me and my brother. A Raider fan will always be a Raider friend forever. PEACE