A Silver & Black Badge of Honor

The Oakland Raiders are on the clock.

For those of you who have no idea what that means…ask someone who does. I don’t have the time.

For years, my obsession with the National Football League kept me cheering on Sundays for those swashbuckling Silver and Black Pirates by the Bay…the Oakland Raiders.

Over the decades, they won Superbowls, and became the winningest team in professional sports. I wore my Raiders jacket with pride…a silver and black badge of honor.

I have been to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, as well as the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I will be attending the NFL Draft in New York City for the 2nd year in a row.

The worst team gets to pick the first player, and the best team picks last. The NFL truly does consist of 32 owners who live like republicans but run the league like socialists. It works…the only example in history of socialism succeeding.

Anyway, the Raiders went 2-14 last year…earning them the worst record in the league, and the # 1 pick in the draft. They will most likely pick Jamarcus Russell, with Brady Quinn a possibility. Either way, the Oakland Raiders are on the clock.

I bring this up because while 50% of marriages end in divorce, sports is more serious. It commands a fierce loyalty. Let’s be honest. When a man is watching the woman he cares about sleeping, he is really thinking about raiding her fridge and watching ESPN. Sports loyalties run deep.

I have always been faithful to my football team. I have not abandoned them when the going got tough. I am unhappy about things hitting the skids, but every relationship has it’s rough spots.

I have met the Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, ESPN analyst Chris Berman, and many Raider greats. I have seen the heights of Superbowls and the depths of despair, mainly the 2006 season.

The late great Jonh Facenda put it best when he said…

“The Autumn wind is a Pirate…blustering in from sea…

With a rollicking song, he sweeps along…swaggering boisterously…

His face is weather beaten…he wears a hooded sash…

A silver hat about his head…and a bristling black mustache…

He growls as he storms the country…a villain big and bold…

The trees all shake, and quiver and quake…as he robs them of their gold…

The Autumn wind is a Raider…pillaging just for fun…

He’ll knock you down, and all around…and laugh when he’s conquered and won.”

As I get ready to go to the NFL Draft, I make sure to bring my Raiders jacket. Like my team, it has some cuts and scrapes on it, but the patch on the front shines bright. When I was 5 years old, I saw the logo, and knew who I was.

I am a Raider. In good times and bad…I wear a Silver and Black badge of honor.

eric

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