You damn right we did! We fans of the Silver & Black came to our Oakland Coliseum on Sunday only to find ourselves outnumbered by a boisterous, yellow-towel toting fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Our first thought was "what the hell is going on here, did the NFL fly them in with Franco Harris to remind the Raiders of the Immaculate Deception?
But instead of hatin' on Steelers fans we welcomed their passion and commitment to their team. They're as loyal a fan base as Raider Nation. But it was hard watching all those yellow terrible towels being swung around in our house. It was even harder seeing our offense having to execute silent plays because of the disruptive noise the Steeler fans tried to impose. Just who the hell did they think they were and who's house did they think they were in? This isn't Denver or Santa Clara (49ers) for chrissakes, this is Oaktown, home of the Panthers, home of the Silver & Black.
So we did what any Raiders fan base would and should do; we shouted them down in the stands (verbally) and our team broke them down on the field (physically) as the Raiders overcame penalties, bad calls and the hard fought efforts of a championship caliber opponent. In the stands those terrible towels became nothing more than a "butt wipe" once the game clock struck 00:00.
The Raiders had to win this game for the fans. The team came to the stadium knowing they would be competing against a tough opponent. But we Raiders fans were caught totally off guard by the overflowing Steelers fan contingent. Dressed in their yellow and black, they were cheering and rooting and laughing it up as if the stadium belonged to them. And had the Steelers won it...……….I can't even think of what it would have felt like. Bottom line, nobody comes into our house like that and is allowed to walk out unbloodied and smiling, not even the towel toting Steelers fans.
Nope, Not Up In Here! You can say that Raider Nation saw the enemy Sunday and the enemy was ours. This from a famous quote of American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry after a stunning victory over British battleships.
Thank you Oakland Raiders for turning the Ben Rothlisberger led Pittsburgh Steelers away in defeat once again (Rothlisberger is 0-4 in Oakland). With a 2-10 record coming in, the Raiders didn't have much to play for other than pride. It turned out to be enough encouragement. So let this be a lesson to playoff bound teams and their fans; when visiting a team who has no chance of making the playoffs and nothing to prove, be careful not to awaken a sleeping panther lying in its lair, hungering for a juicy win and the pride that comes with it. Because nobody wants to be robbed of their gold by what they thought was a harmless pushover.
The Autumn Wind is Still a Raider!
Steelers 21
Raiders 24
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