dukeya!

My father-in-law took me to the Raider game today. It was the first time for both of us. The weather was gorgeous, and the intensity was everything we'd ever heard. I've been to other NFL games, and this was nothing like any of them. Even the bass and tunes booming from mega sound system did not seem likely to be played in any other stadium. Snoop was probably the most mainstream.

I thought I loved the Raiders since I was a kid in LA, but true Raiders fans are crazy. There were lots of Steeler fans too, so some jabbing was to be expected. But most of the wrestling, beating and antics in the Colliseum corridors were between friends or just random people trying to psyche each other up even more. Crazy.

Suffice it to say we survived the Black Hole and had a super-fun time with Raider Nation. Best of all, the Raiders won a nail-biter. Even though Oakland had what would normally be a pretty good lead most of the game, everyone could feel Pittsburg was more in control. Raiders ended with less than 100 yards offense, but their defense had 5 sacks and 4 interceptions with two returned for touchdowns (one for a full 100 yards). In the last 4 minutes of the game, the silver and black D stopped Big Ben, Parker and Ward at least 7 times at the goal line to keep the Steelers from tying. My voice is hoarse. You had to be there. Raiders 20, Steelers 13.

Quite a contrast from yesterday when Cindy and I took the kids to see Mickey on ice. That was fun too.

/d