Records don’t mean a thing when it comes to the Broncos / Raiders rivalry.
“The Raiders could go winless for a decade and it would still be just as gratifying to watch them suffer as it was back in the late 1970’s.”
Read More …
It’s never more obvious that the sports media has effectively severed its self from the fans of Denver than when members state that there is no longer a rivalry between the Broncos and the Raiders just because the Raiders have been awful for so long. The talking heads will often say that it’s the Patriots we now love most to hate. But Broncos fans know this is utter bullshit. We hate the Raiders far more than we hate any other team – especially one from outside our division – and that will never, ever change.
The Raiders could go winless for a decade and it would still be just as gratifying to watch them suffer as it was back in the late 1970’s.
We don’t just hate the Raiders. We hate their fans. The mere sight of a tattooed black-clad half-wit strolling through the isles of Wal Mart (probably shoplifting) induces a seething sense of bile among Broncos fans. We despise those grubby people. We loathe the faux bad-boy image that Al Davis nurtured and that those horrible fans embrace. We know that for Raiders fans that wear the silver and blech that the murderous vibe they portray means far more than what their football team does on the playing field. The Raiders record doesn’t matter to them. That’s why it doesn’t matter to us either.
They call themselves things like “Raider Greg” and “Raider Dan” because they derive their individuality from commonality. Like inner city gang bangers they want to be a part of something greater than themselves. But they’re unable to contribute anything of use to society, so instead they identify with a helmeted skull. This is especially true of Raiders fans outside of Oakland, so many of whom latched on more because of the NWAs than the Lester Hayes. Most Raider “fans” care little about the quality of the Raiders because they don’t really even watch football.
There is enough historical bad blood between the Broncos and the Raiders to span generations. It’s true that the two teams have not played each other in an important game in many years. But that simply does not matter. This is what the blowhards in the media fail to understand. The Broncos and Raiders are oil and water, yin and yang, good and evil. They’re polar opposites.
We are yet to see a Broncos fan sporting a “Patriot hater” tee shirt or a die-cut sticker on a pickup truck featuring Calvin peeing on a Colts logo. There’s only room for a single public enemy number one around here. It’s the Raiders. So save us the diatribe, Mr. Denver Sports media. Get it through your thick non-native skull: the Broncos / Raiders rivalry is alive and quite well.
When the Broncos play the Raiders at Mile High next Monday night the score will probably be lopsided in Denver’s favor. The Broncos are a far, far better team. But watching them score their 49th point will feel every bit as good as watching them score their first. We will still chuckle with every error their rookie QB makes, every dropped pass from their pathetic wideouts and every ineffectual trot by their running backs. We will take great pleasure in watching the Raiders fail because, unlike those people on the radio and on TV, we get it.
