Raiders’ loyal fans won’t be deterred
The Raiders and Chargers have been rivals since the American Football League opened for business in 1960. It often seemed inconceivable that either team would leave its cherished haunts in Oakland and San Diego, but behold the regrettable landscape with the NFL season opening on Sunday: the Raiders in limbo, three seasons away from a move to Las Vegas, and the Chargers playing in a 30,000-seat soccer stadium until their new L.A. stadium is ready.
The edge in coolness: Raiders, by a mile.
For all the bluster and bitterness over the Raiders’ decision to leave, there will be few signs of boycott when the team opens its home schedule a week from Sunday against the Jets. The entire season is sold out at the Coliseum, with its football capacity around 55,000. Never discount the fans’ unrest — and make no mistake, they should be furious — but the Raiders are still here, with an eye toward going deep into the playoffs, and the Coliseum is one of the few NFL venues in which attending the game (tailgating, spectator garb, that pure sense of uninterrupted loyalty) is a superior experience to watching the team on television.
Perhaps you’re recoiling in disgust. Maybe you wouldn’t think of exposing yourself or your family to the bawdy, risque carnival of a Raiders home Sunday. But this is a very distinctive fan base, reaching far and wide. Unlike Levi’s Stadium, with its horrible traffic, sun-tormented seating sections and utter lack of character, the Coliseum is a powerful, undeniable draw.
So who is embracing the vagabond Chargers? Anyone? The Raiders still have a fiercely devoted fan base in Los Angeles, but it will take some time for the Chargers to catch on. They couldn’t sell out their preseason home games at the StubHub Center in Carson (some 20 miles outside of downtown Los Angeles). There is little evidence that scorned San Diegans — who still can’t believe their team has vanished — will be making the trip north. As former Chargers great Dan Fouts told KNX radio, it’s “embarrassing” that an NFL team would play in such a tiny stadium until 2020, when both the Rams and Chargers move to the stadium being constructed in Inglewood.
The Chargers tried this once before, launching their maiden season as the Los Angeles Chargers. They were a 10-4 playoff team in 1960, coached by Sid Gillman with a dynamic offense led by Jack Kemp and Paul Lowe, but they averaged about 12,000 fans at the Coliseum. They knew their fate was sealed when they had a December Saturday to themselves, drew only 9,928 for Denver, and the Rams lured some 75,000 for the Colts the following day. By the fall of 1961, the team was in San Diego — a fine location then, and absolutely where the team should be now.
Getting right to the point in a KNBR interview, former Raiders executive Amy Trask said it’s “intellectually dishonest” for NFL owners to spurn Colin Kaepernick for “football reasons.” If you don’t like his politics, don’t hide behind your cowardly paranoia, just say so. On the field, there to be room for a strong-armed quarterback who runs out of trouble far more effectively than some of the stiffs getting backup (or even starting) jobs ... Exposing itself as a league completely out of touch with reality, the NFL handed down 30 “excessive celebration” penalties last year — but things have improved on that front. It’s not allowable to insult the opposition, but it’s now OK to use the football as a prop (such as dunking it over the goalposts) or to unveil a choreographed dance with teammates. “These things bring people closer, every ethnicity, just by having fun,” Carolina wide receiver Devin Funchess told SI.com. “It shouldn’t be where they’re controlling happiness. That’s not what you should do in football, or any game.” ... Would love to see the 49ers christen the season with a surprising win Sunday — while Carolina rookie Christian McCaffrey runs wild at the scene of his greatest Stanford performance (461 allpurpose yards against USC in the 2015 Pac-12 title game at Levi’s) ... More interesting than the average placekicker: Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, who claims to have hit from 79 yards in practice and wants the opportunity to try a 70-yarder for real, and the Chargers’ Younghoe Koo ,a spectacularly athletic Korean immigrant who has won the job. Call up his name and “insane trick shot” on YouTube for a definitive look.
Why did Jerry West leave the Warriors? He wasn’t eager to do so, and seemed disheartened to be heading south to join the Clippers’ organization, even though he clearly had fulfilled his role in helping Golden State build a powerhouse. Distinguished writer Jack McCallum had a year’s access to West in preparation for his soon-to-be-released book, “Golden Days,” offering West as the link between the Lakers’ championship team of 1971-72 and last year’s Warriors, and he offers some insight. “Since West was a consultant, a hired gun, if you want to look at it coldly, primary owner Joe Lacob thought it justified to adjust his compensation downward,” writes McCallum. “Exact figures are hard to come by, but the best estimate is that West was asked to take what one source called a ‘material’ pay cut to about $1 million. The best guess on ‘material’ is about 50 percent, meaning that West was making about $2 million.” Neither man would comment on the numbers ... This column generally has no interest in basketball shoes — who’s wearing what, how the kids are influenced, whatever. Means absolutely nothing when players actually take the court. Interesting, though, that with Kevin Durant enlisted by Nike and Stephen Curry representing Under Armour, Durant irritated the Curry camp by telling the Bill Simmons podcast, “Nobody wants to play in Under Armours. I’m sorry. The top kids don’t because they all play Nike.” These guys genuinely like each other and it’s certainly no big deal, but we’d ask this of Durant: Was that really necessary?