Game #46- Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders vs Detroit Lions
December 18th, 2011
O-Co Coliseum

Wow, I am back to the Oakland Coliseum with my college buddy Greg Kopotic. The first time I was here was for a San Jose Quakes soccer game and now I am back for the Raiders. Raiders fans are "different" bunch. Yes there were the guys dressed in skeleton masks, spiked shoulder pads, painted silver and black faces, but the truly scary fans were just about everyone else. Not scary as in behavior, in fact they were surprisingly friendly. Actually the more I think about it, it felt safer at the Raiders game than at some of the Charger games (mainly because the fan base in SD is half and half at each game causing a lot of fights). The scary was the women with big 1990's "gansta" bangs and black lipstick/eyeliner. The dudes wore shirts that said "If you don't bleed silver and black take your bitch ass home"...interesting. At this point in the year the AFC west is still up in the air even at week 14. The Bronco's were losing and if the Raiders win today they will be tied for the lead (Raiders started to make a big push after long time owner Al David died in October) All was going well for the home team, they were leading the entire game with Carson Palmer at the helm. When Darrius Heyward-Bey caught a 43 yard pass for a TD, doing a Coliseum leap into the stands, I thought the game was over. But there was one person on the field that decided to take things into his own hands, that was Megatron Calvin Johnson. He had one of the best games ever for a wide receiver with 9 receptions for 214 yards and two touchdowns, his final score just 39 seconds left in the game to give the Lions a late 1 point lead. But the Raiders have a not so secret weapon in Sebastian Janikowski. The huge 6'2" Polish placekicker and crush the ball, so when the Raiders lined up for a final 65 yard field goal for the win they really had a chance to steal the lead and game back. But second year Ndamukong Suh had different ideas and blocked the kick preserving the Lions 28-27 win.

As for a couple of fun take aways. The dude in front of us that was going bald, but tried to cover up the bald spot with a mohawk...nice effort. The Lions fan that was doing the robot everytime Megatron caught the ball as well as the Raiders fans who also did the same dance when Oakland made any play...hilarious. But the highlight was the group of about 200 teenagers who started a flashmob to Missy Elliot.