Few Witnesses to Raider Win

These people do not deserve the greatness of the Raiders, the magic that is Al Davis, the good guy dressed all in white, overcoming suffocating apathy in the Network Associates Coliseum on Sunday to smite the testy Chargers.

It is not easy to keep your concentration and giggle at the same time while playing the Chargers. Others have failed.

The National Football League, the evil menace that it is, had thrown the toughest schedule available at the Raiders to start the season, and then showing no mercy, delivered a massive letdown in the form of the Chargers on a November Sunday that would leave one team still battling for a division title at 5-4, and the other bagging the equipment at 4-5.

Does it get any bigger than this? And yet, with world domination at stake and Oakland ultimately posting a workmanlike 28-9 victory--the Raiders were only able to sell 43,353 tickets--the smallest paid attendance anywhere in the NFL this year.

At one point there appeared to be more sea gulls circling the upper deck than fans in the stands, and for the 20th consecutive home game, the Raiders were unable to sell out, forcing the game to be blacked out on local television.

So where do these warriors draw their strength?

From Los Angeles, of course, where the masses now congregate each Sunday before their television sets--admit it--while waiting for the next promising press release from Nate “Nostradamus” Holden, predicting the return of the Silver and Black.

Ask yourself this, is there any other reason why the Raiders would have more wins than losses at this point in the season with the retread likes of Rich Gannon and Tyrone Wheatley?

Los Angeles is motivating the Raiders to lofty heights, an organization now pointing to January, trying to earn a Super Bowl invite and a Sacramento Superior Court victory in the “City of Oakland et al vs. the Oakland Raiders et al,” which will free it to go elsewhere--and you know where elsewhere is.

It’s obvious now they can’t stay in Oakland and prosper. They were playing an archrival and couldn’t muster a quorum even with the tease that defensive back Charles Woodson would pull a Deion Sanders and also play wide receiver.

And keep in mind the NFL no longer announces “no-shows,” so the announced crowd of 43,353 faithful supporters also included those who stayed home rather than risk the chance of being mugged.

“We had to have that football game,” Raider Coach Jon Gruden said. “And to start the second half of our football season with a victory is huge.”

It’s tough to win at home, all right, the Raiders now standing just 17-20 since coming to this morgue by mistake in 1995. But then that’s another court case to be heard in Los Angeles in June, and by then, who knows, it might come on their home turf.

“Being that I’m from Southern Cal I wouldn’t mind going back home. That would be nice,” said Raider safety Eric Turner, the former UCLA player undoubtedly speaking on behalf of his teammates.

There remain bombers on alert, of course, at the first sign of the Raiders moving back, but the way the Raiders have been playing of late they might return as champions after knocking off the Rams in the Super Bowl.

The Rams and Lions were the early success stories in the NFL, but the Raiders have played just as well, although not showing it in the standings. Each of their first eight games had been decided by seven points or less, a stressful journey that now has them playing four consecutive games against AFC West opponents.

It helps to start that marathon with a rest break. The Chargers have not scored a point in the first quarter of their last eight games, a touchdown in the first half of their last four games and have not scored more than one touchdown on offense in 29 of their last 41 games.

You need one of those games that you can win with one hand tied behind your back, or in this case with Gannon playing with a cast on his left wrist.

“The [broken wrist] has to bother him, if not physically, then definitely mentally because you have to be thinking about protecting yourself,” Raider wide receiver Tim Brown said.

The only way Gannon was going to hurt his wrist against the Chargers was high-fiving Wheatley after touchdown catches. Gannon connected with him for a 26-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and another for seven yards in the third quarter. He also threw two touchdown passes to tight end Rickey Dudley.

That’s four touchdown passes for Gannon, and wow what a Super Bowl that would be, Gannon versus Kurt Warner.

Woodson came on, caught a pass for 19 yards and looked good as a decoy to make it a satisfying affair for the locals.

The Chargers fought back, of course, but just between themselves. San Diego safety Michael Dumas, who seemed to be beaten on every Gannon touchdown pass, had to be restrained by linebacker Junior Seau from going after Jim Harbaugh, his own quarterback, at the start of the fourth quarter.

“The frustration started last week,” Seau said. “Obviously when you have high hopes and expectations you’re going to find guys snapping here and there. And what we need to do is control that. We did it last year.”

The Chargers have experience losing, but the Raiders are in unchartered territory, running the ball effectively with 173 yards and throwing for another 254, while shutting down the opposition.

These are not the Raiders of Los Angeles-old, but they could be had, and the fact is they will be doing serious battle in the courtrooms in January and then again in June. It’s something to consider. . .

On the bright side, both the Chargers and the Raiders left Los Angeles, but it’s not like there’s any chance Ryan Leaf will be moving into your neighborhood.