Hi there my fello creatures of the night!
Just dropping in to catch another line. It's been about a week since I last posted anything, and due to the fact that I was very upset at what had happened to a few friends of mine I wasn't really in the mood to write another blog... but now I am.
Today's blog is about something different, some of you might like it, some of you may not...
Oh yes, I almost forgot... this is a message to the guy I am going to kill pretty soon: "I guess that's what they mean by poetic justice! I though you said it couldn't be done? Praise the Lord, I hail from Schwarzenegger's school of thought, and the words 'impossible' and 'I can't' are not in my dictionary... Stick it up your ass man!"
Well now on to the topic at hand. There's no denying this has been a very strange NFL season. I've been watching football since 1994 and I have never seen a season with such a high playing level, such a balanced talent base and such equality between teams. No matter what happens, any team can beat any team, there are no dominating teams anymore and pretty much every team can still make the playoffs (except the Lions, Bengals, Chiefs - even though they are much better than their record indicates - and a couple more), a few "new" offensive techniques, particularly the wildcat (a variation of the vere) are being used on a regular basis, the teams set to go to the Super Bowl since the preseason are now fighting for a Wild Card Spot (do the Patriots, Cowboys and Chargers ring a bell?), Dan Marino's "unbeatable" single season passing yard record of 5105 yars is about to get squashed by two quarterbacks, and the list goes on and one.
But one thing definetely hasn't changed... and that's the fact that the Oakland Raiders are still the same mediocre team they have been for the last couple of seasons and are still fighting to make their high paying roster win football games... Which brings me to the topic at hand.
The Oakland Raiders have always been one of the great franchises in the history of professional football and sports. While the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are known for their devoted fanatics, the Cowboys for their large, out of Dallas fanbase, the Steelers for their still devoted 1970's fans, the Raiders hail from a great tradition of winning as well as possibly THE MOST devoted fanbase in all of professional football: the so-called "Raider Nation".
The Raider Nation is a term used to define the large, devoted fans of the Oakland Raiders. Not only do they dress in jerseys for the game, but many carry pirate like banners and dress up in very elaborate costumes for the games and cheer their team on with an almost psycopathic love (no matter how bad they might be doing). Don't believe me? Check out the picture of the VIOLATOR, possibly the world's best known raider fan or go to Oakland and attend a home game sitting in the so-called "black hole", in sectinos 104,105, 106 and 107 of the Oakland Coliseum.
The Raiders, giving justice to their name, are a sports franchise of magical tradition that skyrocketed to fame during the 1970's, when they won two superbowls under John Madden and were hosts to possibly one of the toughest players in the history of the game. Names like Jack Tatum, George Atkinson, Lyle Alzado, Ken Stabler ring bells not only of victory, but bells of immortality, roughness and of the seeds that sparked the golden age of the raider nation.
They are and have always been the tough guys of the NFL, wearing a black uniform with death painted on their helmet, killing their oponents both on the football field and on the scoreboard (if you don't believe watch a video of the Oakland-Minnesota SuperBowl) and becoming one of the most well known and respected franchises of the NFL.
Such is the fame of the Oakland Raiders that Steve Sabol, the CEO of NFL films and one the best known names in Football, wrote them a poem titled the Autumn wind, a poem that, in a much simpler and more effective way than this blog, describes who the Oakland Raiders are.
Read it... not only is it the anthem of the Raiders' franchise, but a symbol of who they are, and in a nutshell, the essence of the team.
Notice the powerful words and the imagery (yes I know it's not Shakespeare, but it still serves its purpose - and if I hear a word about how ignorant I am because I analyze football poems instead of the great epic writings I will hunt you down and kill you!... and I will take my time!)
The Autumn Wind
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
With his silver hat about his head
And a bristly black moustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quak
eAs he robs them of their gold
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you round and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won
Want to see it in video? Narrated by non other than John Facenda, the voice of God? Log on to:
That is all,
I hope it wasn't too disappointing,
I'll see you in the future,
"I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."
Happy Hunting,
The WikiVampire
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