Thursday, October 22, 2009

A day with the OTHER Raiders

Today we were in the bay area so we thought it would be appropriate to pay a visit to the "other" Raiders... You know, Oakland. Yes - the original silver and black, home to Al Davis, 3 super bowl titles, and of course, the scariest fanbase outside of San Quentin.





The Swarco Raiders Tirol - my Austrian team - have had a partnership now with Oakland for a few years, and this past season Chrisitie hosted a tv show called Beyond the Field which aired on raiders.com. It was a huge success, and was perhaps the most visible sign of the tremendous teamwork between the two swashbuckling franchises - who coincidently began working together when the Swarco Raiders inquired about purchasing an inflatable helmet.





We were welcomed to the HQ of Raider Nation by Jerry Knaak, who oversees the Internet operations of the club. He is a Rochester native who has been with the club for many years, and if I repeated half of his stories I may be checking my blindsided for Terry Tate. Jerry was the one responsible for putting all the Swarco Raider stories and video on the web, in conjunction with Sebastian Stolz in Germany, and it was great to be able to say thank you in person. He also claims to be the biggest North American Swarco fan - which I believe after his frequent references to Flo Grein, Blitzy, and Santos.





Jerry gave us a full tour of the Raider studios, including a visit to the set of their 2 weekly TV shows. It is quite a setup - and very convenient.





Of course, what's a trip without shopping? Here Christie displays an outfit for a future Raiders cheerleader. (rumor mill - do not read anything in to this! Lol). It was a fun visit and I must say I was very impressed with the organization.


Posted from my iPhone

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