My fellow Raider Fans,

We stand looking back upon another season a Nation divided. A rift has formed between the Raider Faithful, with those who embrace a change of regime on one side, and those who crave continuity on the other. For some of us, an 8-8 season, and going undefeated in the AFC West was an acceptable outcome. For others, failure to make the playoffs is failure. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that Raider Fans all have one thing in common, a passion for our team.

In the coming days, our new Head Coach will be announced. No matter who is to be our new standard bearer one thing is certain, we will demand success.

Over the years Al Davis has selected coaches and players that made us cringe. To be fair, many of those men have won our hearts and minds, and live their lives adored by the faithful. Many have also drawn our utmost scorn. Yet again, the fate of our franchise rests in the aging hands of our patriarch, and yet again he has defied traditional logic. Now we wait with bated breath, some of us with hope, some with apathy, like a condemned man watches a phone on the eve of his execution. We speculate about who will lead us back to greatness, or who will tear us apart. I myself am too young to remember Madden as much more than a commentator and video game title, having heard only stories of his time in Oakland. I found myself angry, confused, and frequently drunk the year Chucky was sent to Tampa, only to have my hopes raised insanely high by Callahan before being violently shattered a year later. I didn't have a computer then, but wonder how those conversations went. Thus began the seemingly endless parade of jackassery we seemed to be pulling away from until just now.

So we wait again, hoping for one of those gems who surprise the world with their success, and vindicate Al Davis. We pray for a new Chosen One to lead us to the promised land, and pray harder for a former Chosen One, to take us there once more. One way or another, we know the ride should be a wild one, and we hope it stops short of the Bay. So please God, if you're listening, make sure Art Shell's number is no longer in service.