Other Your USA/NFL Trip in Pictures

[mcgarnacle]

hi all,
some of you may know me as a NYJ fan who comes in every now again for a bit of banter on all things NFL, but mostly for venting of frustration of the Jets franchise.

Well, I was over in the States in the last 6 weeks and managed to get see one of the matches in the 1st week of pre-season as i've never seen NFL football live.

So I hopped on BART from downtown San Francisco and ventured across to the east bay to the Oakland Coliseum and watched the new look Raiders take on the NFL's perenial mediocrators in the Arizona Cardinals.

It was a great experience......enriched more so by the Raider Nation. It's well-known that Raiders fans are one of the most vocal, feral, and optimistic of NFLs supporters. The 'black hole' down at the southern endzone was in full voice, every supporter was decked out in some sort of black raiders merchandise, and the chant of "Raiders, Raiders, Raiders" by many fans leaving the stadium after the win was something i've never experienced in Australian sport.......and it was only pre-season!!! A decent rock up 1st up of 30,000 fans willing to put the 2006 2-14 record behind them may have been the spur for this, a good outing for Dante Culpepper may have also lifted spirits, but we know the Raiders are a proud franchise who always expect to win.

I was hoping to also get to the niners/Broncos match at Candlestick Point on monday, but it is harder to access without a car (even though it was closer to my lodging) and i had also mismanaged my time during the day. niners fans are supposedly a little more reserved in their support for their team anyway. I could see this myself with Raiders logos emblazoned on many vehicles in the Bay Area (from San Jose all the way to Napa). Niners supporters are a little more refined. It'll be interesting how niners support in SF will react with the possible move out of the city limits to Santa Clara (near San Jose). What they lose in the city, they'll pick up in the South Bay I guess.

I did venture out to Candlestick point earlier in my trip and the exterior of the stadium did look quite weathered, there was a howling breeze off the bay which contributes to cold swirling breeze inside the arena affecting play, and the arena itself is unusual for football considering it was originally a purpose-built baseball stadium for the SF Giants who've now moved closer to downtown.

I really would have liked to have hung around this weekend for the battle of the bay at Candlestick Point.

Overall, a great night.

 

[manureid]

Re: football.....LIVE

Nice one. Raiders fans are a rare breed, no doubt!!

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: football.....LIVE

Great experiences there mcgarnacle. Great post too. Northern California is an awesome place. Maybe if you took some pics you could post some up here? Like just the sights and sounds of your travels.

 

[mcgarnacle]

Re: football.....LIVE

thanks g.g.

no luck with posting pics though. posting rules prevent me from doing so. shame as there are a few pics which you'd enjoy.....being a part of the raider nation and all.

 

[usalion]

Re: football.....LIVE

thanks g.g.

no luck with posting pics though. posting rules prevent me from doing so. shame as there are a few pics which you'd enjoy.....being a part of the raider nation and all.

Don't know about the BF posting rules as such....but you could go to a photo posting site, such as www.photobucket.com and put your pictures there- then put the link in this thread...a great way to share your experience.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: football.....LIVE

usalion is right in that sense. photos can still be linked and displayed. cant imagine BF itself has any rules forbidding photos of travel pictures.

but, if youre just reluctant to, mcgarnacle, i can respect that too.

 

[mcgarnacle]

Re: football.....LIVE

hi guys,
thanks for the tip. i really am uneducated when comes to computers and the like, but i'm pretty quick to catch on once i'm pointed in the right direction.

thanks to you also woody. i was uploading the full-sized pics and wondering why it was taking such a long time when i noticed your msg in my inbox. I duly read it, and re-sized the pics using canon's zoom browser ex. hopefully it works.

so here we go. just a few pics from the game. i have plenty more from my motorcycle ride around california, and expeditions to philly (they've got quite a sports complex), nyc and boston. but i'll have to leave those for another time.

1 - Entry into the Coliseum - they're proud of both they're championship winning teams in Oakland.........ahhhh, though lets not talk about the GS Warriors who play next door in the Oracle Arena

2 - A huddle........

3 - a play

4 - a wide shot with the infamous 'black hole' to the left of picture. the southern endzone is where the most rampant, feral, die hard of raiders fans call home during matches.

5 - the sunset. i was sitting way up in 'Mt Davis' - term coined by Oakland's hard-core Athletics fans - the highest point in the coliseum which allowed me to get a couple of good shots like this and the next. In order to get the Raiders back to Oakland, Sir Al demanded that Alameda county make some 'improvements' to the coliseum. The adding of Mt Davis effectively changed the look of the ground from that of a baseball arena to a football stadium. The Athletics never sell tix to this area of the ground during the season and will only do so if they end up making another world series (which this year they aint!) so they have the seats covered with a green tarp with 'Athletics' written across it.

 

[mcgarnacle]

Re: football.....LIVE

6 - i love this pic......no not the car park or the interstate 880.........in the background is the outline of the San Francisco skyline and the bay bridge which takes you to the east bay and oakland.

7 - restart and view of the western side seating of the arena. as you can see, the baseball foul lines are a mile from the seating. the coliseum has the largest distance from foul line to seating of any of the current MLB fields so many foul hits are usually caught for outs in this stadium. its in great contrast to many of the other baseball fields where the fans are closer to the action - caught a Yankees match in the Bronx and this was a great experience. the SF Giants new field in SoMa is a great ballpark too....much better than the old field they shared with the niners at Candlestick point, both in terms of access and atmosphere. The Oakland Coliseum is also the only football/baseball stadium where football fans on the 50-yard line are behind home plate for baseball.

8 - scrimmage

9 - ....again

10 - another play

 

[mcgarnacle]

Re: football.....LIVE

11 - a day at the football isn't complete without a bit of a perve........the blonde in the centre was HOT, HOT, HOT!!!! and i'm not usually a fan of the fairer variety!!

12 - end game

13 - the final score records the event

14 - a shot of the arena from the 'higher' priced seats

15 - just one of the many raiders fans that get right into the ocassion

hope you enjoyed those. i prolly resized them a bit too small but i'll learn next time.

i'd like to get back over there in december/january........i'm sure a regular season....or even possibly post-season match (!!!!) will be quite an experience amongst the raider nation.
m

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: football.....LIVE

Awesome. Thanks mcgarnacle. Really appreciated you showing those pics.

That shot of the San Francisico skyline and Bay Bridge was very cool.

 

[manureid]

Re: football.....LIVE

Excellent stuff. Agreed on the SF skyline..

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: football.....LIVE

Oh and that blondie is worthy of gg's salivation.

Tho, in that pic they all look like toy figurines.

 

[neddy36]

Re: football.....LIVE

Great photos. I wish I checked this thread earlier. A mate of mine just left for the US yesterday. Its his first time OS and he is mad Raiders fan and he will be going to the Detroit at Oakland game. I told him he had to get pictures with the locals. He would have loved these picture as it would have given him a good idea in what to expect.

 

[mcgarnacle]

Re: football.....LIVE

Thanks.

As I said, I was way up in Mt Davis so i had to use a bit of the digital zoom on top of the optical zoom on my camera with some of those shots. A great experience all round.

 

[Aussie Joe]

Re: football.....LIVE

I was hoping to also get to the niners/Broncos match at Candlestick Point on monday, but it is harder to access without a car (even though it was closer to my lodging) .

Dude, you should of taken Muni (bus service). It takes you from downtown right to the stadium.

 

[Aussie Joe]

Re: football.....LIVE

Awesome. Thanks mcgarnacle. Really appreciated you showing those pics.

That shot of the San Francisico skyline and Bay Bridge was very cool.

Yes, the best thing about Oakland is that you can see San Francisco from there

 

[usalion]

Re: football.....LIVE

Dude, you should of taken Muni (bus service). It takes you from downtown right to the stadium.

I remember years ago (late 80s/early 90s) getting busses from the central part of Frisco to Candlestick....

Good photos- nice use of the zoom on the cheerleaders....

 

[Woodson]

Re: football.....LIVE

Thanx fot that mcgarnacle. That last Sunset pic is an absolute ripper. Super shots...although the speed shutter let you down on the chearleaders.

I had a friend that happen to go watch the Bills @ Raiders many years ago (early 90's) and he wasn't a NFL fan at all but he said the experience was f' ken AWESOME even though he got 'heckled a few times' as he learned that you ought to NOT wear a "Bulldogs top" (he wasn't aware the colours of the Bills)... anyway, consider he saw the game in LA, he can count himself lucky.


I've been to 2 MLB games. O'Shea Stadium & Diamondbacks Dome. That's all I got. No NFL opportunities during my '99 tour. Just the freaks in SF.

 

[Roll Tide]

Is anyone going to a game this season?

Well, the opening Saturday of football season is less than 80 hours away. How many games (if any) do you plan on attending this year?

I have tickets to all 7 of Bama's home games. I'm also planning to attend either the 1-AA title game in Chattanooga, TN or the D2 title game in Florence, AL. Those title game tickets are a good value and easy to get.

Share your plans for this football season here.

 

[Lenny Briscoe]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

my plans - watching games i have burnt from torrents.

unfortunately, last season was my pinnacle going to two games at the LA Coliseum to see USC beat Washington and Arizona State. can't see that happening again for a few years

 

[camsmith]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

Next season... im determined to go.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

My mates going to see NYG v Patriots (jealous) and NYG@ Buffalo.

 

[Sven]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

It looks like I'm off to the States on a business trip in three weeks time (Portsmouth, Rhode Island) and I'm hoping to catch the Bills @ Patriots game week 3.

 

[Aussie Joe]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

Yeah, I am sure I will get to a couple of Niner games.

 

[juddy_Like]

Re: Is anyone going to a game this season?

My mates going to see NYG v Patriots (jealous) and NYG@ Buffalo.

Yeah well the Pats to be pansied. Brady to throw 3 intercepts i reckon.
As for the Bills... They should worry about who to select with pick 1.