Forty-Niner and Raider Fans Are Ready For Some 2007 Football

8/20/07 By Barbara Mason of BASD

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Photos by Kym Fortino-BASD-Rdrive photographer

A sea of scarlet Red and Gold interspersed with Silver and Black converged upon Monster Park Saturday night as the San Francisco 49ers took on the Oakland Raiders in yet another battle of the bay.  The fact that once again this game was pre-season game did nothing to extinguish the enthusiasm of fans from both sides.  The parking lot was a delightful blend of Raider camps alongside 49er camps, with both sides getting along pretty darn well in comparison with year’s past.  There was of course the good-natured banter that goes along with this rivalry but that was as far as it went.

Both sides had optimistic predictions for their respective teams and told Bay Area Sports what it is that makes their team much improved this year.  Here’s what the fans had to say as we wandered through the maze of barbecues smoking up a storm with the feasts that only come along with football season. 

Ivan from Hayward has been waiting for this new season ever since the final seconds ticked away on the last game of the 2006 season.  The disappointment suffered by the fans in 2006 has been replaced with a renewed sense of hope and excitement intermingled with trepidation.  Ivan feels that this year will be vastly different from the one that ended just 7 months ago.  “It can’t be any worse,” he said referring to the past season.  “It’s going to be a lot better than last year.  They picked up a few players that can help out the offense and the defense is still the same.”  Despite the stalemate in regards to quarterback JaMarcus Russell, Ivan feels that the Raider’s have other options.  “I feel like we will be 8-8 at least.”

John from San Jose, a season ticket holder, took time from his tailgate activities to talk with us about his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers.  “I think they are going to the playoffs.  I don’t think we’ll go deep but we are going to the playoffs this year and we’ll win it next year,” was his prediction.  “We’ve got the quarterback, the defense, we’ve still have a great running back, we’ve got everything including coaching.  We’ve got three years of cohesiveness so I like that,” he said.

49er fan Nick who came from nearby South San Francisco felt that the off-season was really dragging by until draft day.  “It was very exciting because I saw the moves that Coach Nolan did and the 49er organization.  It made me real happy.  Then we had training camp and we still have one more on Monday.  It’s awesome.   We may have lost on Monday night but our team looked good.  The offense, Alex Smith, perfect, I mean I am really excited this year.”  In regard to the defense, Nick really liked the players that the team picked up and believes that San Francisco could have one of the best defenses in the NFC.  “I would like to say that we are going to be the Golden State Warriors of the NFL.  We are going to the second game of the playoffs, maybe further.  I am rolling with Nolan,” he said.

Raider fan Jose out of Brentwood is geared and ready for the season.  He feels that when the team signs Russell they will be fine although he does feel that in the event that doesn’t happen, the team has good backup in that position.  He likes the defense that brought so much to last year’s season.  “If the offense picks up, we should be fine,” he said.

Bethel Islands Donna feels that the 49ers are poised on the edge of a great year.  “Tight end Vernon Davis is going to be really good and the wide receivers too.  I see a better than five hundred record and I totally see the playoffs in their future.”

One of the 49ers younger fans, 10-year-old Raymond out of Stockton came to the game with his uncle.  “The Niners are going to the playoffs this season,” he said with a little prompting from his uncle.  He likes Alex Smith, “because you can’t get anyone better.  He is going to do way better this season,” he said.

We ran into a husband and wife duo that despite split loyalty were having a great time tailgating.  Roger is a devoted Raider fan and his wife is a die-hard 49er fan.

“I’ve been a Raider fan for about 35 years.  The Raiders will be lucky to do about 6-10.  I see improvement in the offense.  The wide receivers are going to be better and I think at quarterback if we get Dante Culpepper in there, I think that’s going to be a major improvement.  They will have a much improved year.”

Of course we needed to give equal time to the other half of this dynamic duo. “I see the 49ers going to the playoffs,” said Roger’s wife. “We were just one game shy of the playoffs last year.  We made a few coaching mistakes or we’ve would have been in the playoffs,” she said.  “This is our year.”  She predicts an impressive 10-6.

If these predictions hold true, it seems that the San Francisco 49ers are headed for an exciting year and that the Oakland Raiders will have a lot more to celebrate this year.  With two more pre-season games still in the wings, players will have a couple more chances to plead their case; several opportunities to show why they deserve to be a part of that final roster.  The trepidation felt in the Raider camp stems from last year’s performances, however one has to remember how close many of those games really were and that they could have very well gone the Raider’s way.  Oakland has to find a way to win those close ones.  This year’s team has the potential to turn those close games into victories, resulting in a vastly improved 2007 season.