Broncos vs. Raiders.

The benefit of being a Bronco fan in California is that despite being outside of the TV market and forced to watch every game of the Chargers, 49ers, and Raiders, is that you are guaranteed at least a few Bronco games on TV because of the divisions doing home and away with each other every year. At least you're not completely out of the possibility of viewing your team without signing up for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket (although, given the stupidity of Charter in allowing both Fox and CBS to be spotty here at any given time, that satellite still looks very attractive.

There are good odds that Jake the Fake and the Broncos' D will put this game out of reach enough in the first half to make it worth my time to take my Sunday nap early and watch the Sunday night game on NBC (the nap is necessary for the day job), but I look forward to these games nonetheless, despite the commitment to excrement Oakland has displayed all too recently, rendering the rivalry as something less than an actual contest.

How does an L.A. native become a Bronco fan, though? You could probably blame the Raiders for that too. I'm old enough to remember L.A. having two teams, and watching them on TV with my dad every weekend. He was a Rams guy; I attached myself to the Raiders because silver and black looked more vicious and appealing than blue and yellow. If you've never been to Southern California, you'll still see plenty of Raider fans in the Los Angeles County area -- the Rams played in Anaheim; they were the O.C. team. It's the same divide that splits Dodger and Angel fans to this day.

Al Davis moved the team to L.A. the year I was born, and moved them back two years after I left for Denver. I rooted for the Raiders in Bronco territory for two years when they stayed in L.A., but I couldn't do it when he left. Your first franchise cheating on you as a fan is the hardest, and as I spent more time in Denver, I drifted towards their franchises, because Denver is a four-sport supporting city now -- those teams will NEVER move.

And I hate Al Davis for it. He's a smarmy, old fuck who thinks he knows best -- forcing his team to draft shitty quarterbacks and underachieving wide receivers in the hope of a pass-happy offense, when the AFC is all about the running game, especially the West Division -- please see LaDanian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, and the Denver Tailback Factory. Meanwhile, while it kind of hurts to see my native city without an NFL team, L.A. denizens have gotten along fine without it -- Charger games are still on TV and having a team in the Rose Bowl or Coliseum would only increase the traffic headache. Plus, there is USC, run by a former Rams coach.

But still: fuck Al Davis for deserting L.A. He's getting what he deserves.

(Note: please don't take this to excuse Georgia Frontandrear either -- she's just as much on the ownership shit list for taking the Rams to St. L., too -- possibly more so, because she decided then to put money into the team and get a Super Bowl.)