FanPost

Firsthand Impressions of the Raiders/Vikings Preseason Game

Raider Nation,

This post has very little to do with the actual game play. Many of you have done a great job breaking down the Xs and Os, and I can't add anything to that discussion. I'm taking a different route.

Much like MAK, I'm trapped in the frozen tundra/land of the ice and snow. Opportunities to see the Raiders "live" are few and far between. Fortunately this preseason game provided that opportunity and I had to take it. Seeing it firsthand, here are my impressions.

New stadiums are expensive. The Metrodome is all but a distant memory, and as you might imagine the Vikings missed no opportunity to tell fans how great the new stadium will be. In the meantime, here we are outdoors in the Minnesota Golden Gophers college stadium. Kind of cool actually. The problem is this: $8.50 beers. Let me repeat that: $8.50 beers. If that does not shock you, I feel for you brother. To make matters worse, everything else followed suit. Like $8.00 for a brat, which it's safe to assume doesn't include the best parts of the pig/cow/horse. Fortunately we took out a second mortgage before attending. We'd planned to build a 2-stall garage, but I guess that dream will have to wait a bit. Just like you, I want the Raiders to stay in Oakland, and I want them to have a new stadium, but I don't want the faithful to have to choose between season tickets and Mom's operation.

Minnesota has some really, REALLY white fans. For the record, I am a full-blood honky. Having said that, I saw a significant number of the whitest people ever to grace God's green earth. I can at least rock a farmer's tan. We're talking people whose skin has never been kissed by the sun. At one point I thought I was in a nest of extras from the "Twilight" movies. Raider Nation is global and we travel well. However, I have to give props to the Vikings. Apparently a large portion of their fan base makes the trip from the Arctic Circle. Gotta respect that.

Autographs: WTF? I don't know what the hell I'm doing. But you knew that. It's a real possibility that this will be Charles "The Godfather" Woodson's last season (we sure as hell hope not). As I said, I never get to go to Raider games, and I knew this was my last, best shot to get his autograph. I freakin' KNEW I should have asked all of you for tips or at the very least to not waste my time. My wife is a Vikings fan - we're in counseling and trying to make it work, thank you. Our common ground is that she's a Michigan and therefore a Woodson fan, so I made it my mission to get his autograph on her Woodson jersey. Yeah, not so much.

The first thing that F'd me in the A is that we were supposed to be behind the Raiders bench. They somehow flipped the script and we were behind the Vikings bench. We got him to give us the cool-ass "whassup" sort of nod during warm ups. Okay, we're on his radar, how to parlay that into an autograph at some later point? Late in the game I decided to take my happy ass to the opposite side of the stadium and camp behind the Raiders bench. Jersey and Sharpie in hand, I yelled "C-Wood!" No dice. I then tried the brilliant tactic of yelling, "Charles!" Huh, thought that would work.

I may be the first to break this story: The NFL does not observe child labor laws. Two jokers wearing hats with the NFL shield, NFL polos, etc. were fiddling with camera equipment, cables and whatnot. Both looked like puberty was two or three years away. I yelled at them, "Hey, come over here!" My reasoning is come on, they work for the NFL, they have access to the sideline, maybe they can put in a word for me. Instead they scurried away as if talking to me for two more minutes would land them on one of those "Have you seen this child?" posters in Walmart.

Okay, what next? I made eye contact with a dude that was clearly on the Raiders staff. I drew his attention and he seemed to be headed my way with a fairly amiable look on his face. As soon as I produced the jersey and Sharpie his expression turned to one generally reserved for someone who's just smelled a fart in an elevator, then he veered off.

I did get on someone's radar, the problem is it wasn't C-Wood's. I'd call him a "man in black" except is was more of a pinstripe gray. "Sir, please clear the aisle." I don't know it for a fact but I'm guessing I had two or three red dots on my forehead from the snipers positioned just above the press box. I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't sat my happy ass down the next words would have been "take the shot."

Finally I asked one of the hard working dudes at the stadium for his advice and the best place to camp out if I wanted to meet the team as they left the stadium. "Gate C, no doubt." In hindsight, I don't think he was F'ing with me, I think it was more of a failure to communicate. I hustled down to Gate C and sure enough there was a crowd of people on either side of the security gates. I heard someone shout, "Here they come!" Turns out it was the pee-wee football players that provided the halftime entertainment. At that point I was this close to having one of them sign the jersey, but I knew my wife would never buy that Charles Woodson signs autographs with a Crayola. Maybe next time.

Raider Nation is the real deal. Okay, not exactly a news flash. Here's where I'm coming from. I've never been to a Raiders home game, and I may never make it there. I love this blog because I still get that sense of one nation. I'm happy to report I finally got to experience it in-person. Greetings and conversation from Raider Nation wherever I went, no lie. Hotel, tram, walk over, stadium, it was all good. I've told you about my ill-fated attempt to get an autograph and my journey from one side of the stadium to the other. Along the way I'm getting nods and fist-bumps. Finally make it over to the Raiders bench and off to the side a bunch of the Raider Nation are taking a group photo. A Raider brother looks up and says, "Get over here!" By the way, if you're reading this and you're the one who snapped the photo, the "red eye" function on your camera is working just fine. Unfortunately my eyes looked like two holes p***ed into a snowbank at that point.

Part of that photo op experience was meeting a Raider brother named Cory Keller, president of "One Nation B.C. Twin Cities, Minnesota." Visited with him briefly, good man. He explained what they try to do beyond just being fans, helping out in the community and working with kids. If I remember correctly he said there were even reps from the national chapter in the group. I'm looking at his business card right now: "One Love, One Nation, Raider Nation." On the back is the "Autumn Wind" mantra. Awesome.

That's it, Raider brothers and sisters. None of us knows what this season holds in store, good or bad, but I've never been more convinced that this is where I want to be. Keep the faith.

Raider Nation Forever.