Why I can't quit the Raiders

[haji81872]

This is the end of a great article written during the Covid era while a man was trying to replace sports with e-sports. I think his explanation of watching sport is on point and explains a lot. The collective memories through my life and experiences shared with all of you make it impossible to stop watching.

That, I think, is what sport is all about. If you follow a sport it becomes a thread which runs through your life and provides memories and narrative and meaning and context. Sport becomes a kind of companion, part of the richness and texture of lived experience. At the same time, you could argue that sport is the only thing on television that is real. The things you are watching happen are actually happening right now, as you watch. So much modern reality is mediated, packaged, predigested. This is obviously true for all forms of drama, but it is more subtly true of news and current affairs, where the effects can be more pernicious, because we’re seeing an image of the world which makes claim to be the real world. Sport isn’t like that. It is clearly artificial: it happens within a determined frame and a clear set of rules and in that sense is as mediated as human experience can be. But within that frame, when you’re watching live sport, you are watching reality as it really happens. It is perhaps the only completely, inarguably true thing you can see on TV. These events, which define the lives of the athletes taking part, are taking place while you watch.

You can have intense moments of feeling watching sport, just as you can have through reading or through drama or through art. The meanings it gives are both individual, because nobody else has seen exactly the things you’ve seen, and collective, because anyone with an interest in the sport has similar experiences, similar memories, and is connected to them, and to you, as a result. Esports give me none of that, which is the reason they can mean so much to people who play them, but nothing at all to me. And so although thinking about esports hasn’t made me get into esports – to be honest, if anything it has put me off – at least it’s made me realise where those thousands of hours have gone, and why. So thank you, esports. But also, respectfully, no thanks. I’m dancing with the one what brung me.

[pfish57]

At this point in my life the Raiders remind me of a very Ugly divorce where you lose everything;)

[rich72]

Its not the same as it used to be when I was younger, before the Internet. Everything is fake now, including people.

[ALLRAIDERWORLD21]

Its not the same as it used to be when I was younger, before the Internet. Everything is fake now, including people.

I remember going to my 1st raider game as a kid-- Kenny King ran what was then the longest run from scrimmage as a Raider, which I missed as I was the hot dog stand.. My bother was jumping up and down at his seat when I got back. I had to watch the highlight on MNF narrated by Howard Cosell but back then MNF football highlights were larger than life and no one compared to Howard Cosell's naration of football highlights, "They came out of the gate struuggling-- BUT THEN!"

[Xramfan]

When I was a kid I looked up to professional teams and athletes with awe and wonder. If any of my teams lost, I’d have to go for walks to settle down and if they won, I was walking on air.

Today I’m a grey beard and they all look like children to me and the cash flow is insane. When my teams win, cool. If my teams lose, oh well. My priorities have changed a great deal over the years

[RaiderandBulldog]

I’m a third generation fan so it’s in my blood.

I blame my late grandfather and LaMonica.

[nitroraider]

When I was a kid I looked up to professional teams and athletes with awe and wonder. If any of my teams lost, I’d have to go for walks to settle down and if they won, I was walking on air.

Today I’m a grey beard and they all look like children to me and the cash flow is insane. When my teams win, cool. If my teams lose, oh well. My priorities have changed a great deal over the years

So words have never been spoken...

[Reno Hightower]

Been behind this team far too long to give up on them now. That said, after what happened in 2017, my fervor is just a little short of indifference.

[SuperRaider]

The Raiders are like a guy soap opera; there drama and stories in the game….like a box sets that never ends… we are now on season 65 episode 9….

[Viper]

Its not the same as it used to be when I was younger, before the Internet. Everything is fake now, including people.

Totally can relate. Literally everything is about “clicks” on an article now. I mean, has any other franchise been in negative headlines more than the Raiders?
Antonio Brown showing up to training camp in a hot air balloon? Let’s not forget about the frozen feet - poor guy. Henry Ruggs incident, Chandler Jones mental breakdown, duis by various players….the list is long.
I understand other teams have issues and are sometimes in the headlines but if you’re constantly in them for negative stuff, the least you could do is have a winning season a bit more often than once or twice every few decades.

[DeathStar24]

I'm in too deep to back out. Aside from the Philadelphia Flyers, everyone I've come into contact with knows I'm a Raider fan.

I truly believe the team is cursed. It can never draft right. It can never make the right hire. As far I'm concerned I just wish before I pass away this team does at least find it's franchise QB. That's how low I've set the bar. I've come to grips with I'll never see a Super Bowl or any kind of long term success.

[Attyla]

I have avoided entering this thread for the last 24 hours because I wanted to carefully consider how to approach this.

Sport at its core is about watching great men do great things. Across sport today, I do not see that like when I was younger. The heroes are not as mythical, the great games are no where near on par with the glory days. Is it my age or is that the reality? It is hard for me to know. I think for me, I could quit today's sport without giving up my loyalties. But perhaps that is because the expectations have hit basement levels. If we were better, perhaps I would embrace it more. But I traveled to see the Browns beat my Raiders under Art Shell. I think, like many, I have just grown weary of expecting epically bad teams.

Perhaps nothing completely demonstrates how f[raiders_icon]cked up the NFL is than who they selected to do the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

[Viper]

I have avoided entering this thread for the last 24 hours because I wanted to carefully consider how to approach this.

Sport at its core is about watching great men do great things. Across sport today, I do not see that like when I was younger. The heroes are not as mythical, the great games are no where near on par with the glory days. Is it my age or is that the reality? It is hard for me to know. I think for me, I could quit today's sport without giving up my loyalties. But perhaps that is because the expectations have hit basement levels. If we were better, perhaps I would embrace it more. But I traveled to see the Browns beat my Raiders under Art Shell. I think, like many, I have just grown weary of expecting epically bad teams.

Perhaps nothing completely demonstrates how fcked up the NFL is than who they selected to do the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

Growing up it was always expected to win with the Raiders and the Athletics.

It’s not as mythical anymore, at least for me, because the days are long gone since I believed in Santa.

[Attyla]

Growing up it was always expected to win with the Raiders and the Athletics.

It’s not as mythical anymore, at least for me, because the days are long gone since I believed in Santa.

I mean, winning cures a lot of stuff. But even when we did lose, we were always fighting to the end. I see teams lose and just lay down, not even just the Raiders. It is different today, the money is off the charts so guys are protecting the money maker. And that is their bodies. There are so few that completely sell out for a chance at glory. It is why I admit I like Maxx's game. He got his payday and then turned around and went harder. Very few guys do that anymore. Montana has nerve damage in his face from the hits he took and he was a QB. They just pushed it to the limit back in the first couple decades of the Super Bowl era. That does not happen now.

[Oaktownonly]

Because of my fandom of the Raiders as a kid my favorite colors are silver and black. I would literally have to get rid of 90 to 95% of my wardrobe. Pretty silly reason I guess but it's the truth.