Exploring Raider History: A Fans Perspective

Summary

In this episode of the Silver and Black Radio podcast, host Raider Wil and his crew discuss their favorite Raiders moments, personal Mount Rushmore of players, and the significance of watch parties. They also delve into the current state of the Raiders, debating whether the team is a contender this season, and share upcoming events within the Raiders community.

Takeaways

The podcast features a lively discussion among Raiders fans.
Each participant shares their personal Mount Rushmore of Raiders players.
Favorite moments in Raiders history are highlighted, showcasing the team's impact on fans.
The importance of community and camaraderie in Raiders watch parties is emphasized.
The group debates the Raiders' potential as contenders for the upcoming season.
Fans express excitement and optimism for the team's future.
Community events and engagement are crucial for building the Raiders fanbase.
The podcast fosters a sense of belonging among Raiders fans.
Personal relationships with players enhance the fan experience.
The discussion reflects the passion and loyalty of Raiders Nation.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Raiders Podcast Crew
02:49 Personal Mount Rushmore of Raiders Players
06:09 Favorite Raiders Moments in History
12:00 The Importance of Watch Parties and Community
24:37 Raider Nation: A Family Bond
25:11 Building the Black Hole Club
27:22 The Unique Community of Raiders Fans
30:13 Creating a Supportive Atmosphere
33:08 Are the Raiders Contenders This Year?
39:02 The Road to Becoming Contenders
41:46 Upcoming Events and Community Engagement

Transcript

Raider Wil (00:01.729)
And welcome back to the Silver and Black Radio podcast. I'm your host, Raider Willin on today's episode. We will be talking favorite Raiders moments. We will be talking the teams Mount Rushmore. The moment they became a Raiders fan, Raiders tailgates and a whole lot more. And today with my crew, I got the OGs back.

baby representing TBH Spokett, the heavyweight champion of the world, Tony B.

Tony Bova (00:46.512)
Hey, what's happening y'all? Pleasure, pleasure to be back. Let's go.

Raider Wil (00:53.461)
Now I got my girl representing the Big D. The tamer of the shit show. The circus-ole ringleader. Lady Val!

Val (01:09.425)
you

Raider Wil (01:15.091)
hahahaha

Val (01:18.128)
What's up?

Raider Wil (01:19.649)
Matty B (01:27.291)
clap.

Raider Wil (01:28.799)
Yeah, now, representing TBH West Co. and the co-captain of this ship, Maddie B!

Matty B (01:40.919)
What's up, fam?

Matty B (01:47.584)
That was a long one.

Raider Wil (01:47.973)
And baby. Yo and guys we are excited to have you guys back. It's been a while since we've been back together. I'll be like I know the summer is long in the offseason has its ups and its downs. A lot of stuff going on. Lady Val Tony B always busy. You know they got. Lady Val is now part of the Plano Fire Department. I mean like I think.

Tony Bova (01:56.822)
.

Val (02:15.12)
No, I'm part of the Plano Fire Rescue Associates. It's a non-profit organization that supports and helps out Plano Fire Rescue.

Raider Wil (02:18.803)
Associates.

Raider Wil (02:24.137)
Yeah, So she does a lot of stuff with the fire department now. And our boy Tony B's up there all running and chugging and doing everything. He got an event coming up. I mean, like big time things going on in Spokane.

Tony Bova (02:38.191)
man. Big time, man, we're doing a lot. I mean, we're grinding. We're ready for football to be back. Let's go.

Raider Wil (02:49.481)
Yes, sir. And Matty B and myself have been grinding, putting our nose to the grindstone. We're doing a lot of different stuff. TBH West Co is on the map, baby. And we are kind of doing a lot of different things. And we are now getting ready to go to New England. But guys, for today's show, I wanted to start with a unique question, right? We all said, hey, Mount Rushmore, everybody selects their best players. All right, Tony, go ahead. Go ahead, Tony. Go ahead.

Val (03:16.942)
hahahahah

Tony Bova (03:18.275)
No!

Raider Wil (03:18.815)
No, you already showed it. You already showed it.

Tony Bova (03:20.941)
Hey, we're gonna talk about Russ more. Go let me go first. I'll go first on Mount Russ more

Raider Wil (03:25.031)
OK. So we're going to talk, hey, our personal Mount Rushmore, so of the Raiders, OK, this isn't, you know, any standard or anything like that. This is our personal Mount Rushmore. So Tony B, go ahead, brother.

Tony Bova (03:43.33)
Well, my first one is gonna be Charles Woodson. Not just because it's the official bourbon of the black hole, by the way. Bottle just came in today. The way he played, the way he changed offensive schemes to throw the other way. He put people on, it was just great. I just like the way he locked down the whole sides of the field.

Changed the whole game. Could play offensive if he needed to. But I liked him. Jim Otto would be my second. You want to talk a Raider, that man was the definition of a true diehard Raider. Lived it on and off the field. I mean, played her, never came off, was just a man.

I'd say Marcus Allen. He was the first player that I went wow to when I was a young kid.

And I'm gonna throw a little bit of a monkey wrench in it and I'm gonna go way off spectrum with my fourth and go Bo Jackson. Yeah, I know that's a reach. I know, I could tell. But just the way he was a mad, crazy athlete just was nuts. So like I'd say Marcus, Bo, Gimano, Charles Woodson.

Raider Wil (05:28.033)
Those are definitely some top quality players there, my brother. Yo, Matty B, give me your Mount Rushmore of Raiders players.

Matty B (05:40.355)
Hmm. Well, my first one is The one that made me a Raider fan and that's that's Tim Brown man. Mr. Raider, bro, like that guy Like I said, I started watching football because of that guy. So You definitely got to be up there man. Probably one of my all-time favorite receivers. He made it he made the Raider way in my opinion Number two

Go Tony, but one now with Charles Woodson. They Charles Woodson's up there too. You know, he's another one of those players that I got, I got the privilege to watch growing up. And when I played football, I wanted to be just like him when I played football. So blocking that corner down. then you can't, you gotta, you gotta go with the snake on the third one. You know, you gotta have the guy that won the original, it's the first Superbowl for us, you know, just.

all around badass, you know, everything about him, the swagger, the gameplay, the lefty, you know, everything about him was just top notch Raider.

Then I gotta go with Howie long man. You know, probably one of the best defensive ends to to play the game dude and he you know he's we're we're privileged to have him as a Raider you know like.

I love seeing him on TV and knowing that that dude played for us and everybody knows his name. So, you know, how we long and what's that for.

Matty B (07:14.485)
Alright and then number five man, you gotta give it up to the Maverick bro. Gotta go with Al Davis even though he didn't play football but the man is the reason why we have the Raiders today so give it to the Raiders Al Davis.

Raider Wil (07:30.198)
That's going to be an honorable mention. There's only four on Mount Rushmore, but honorable mention big Al baby.

Matty B (07:36.43)
okay, yeah, yeah. There's five now.

Raider Wil (07:47.233)
Alright Lady Val, let us know who your Mount Rushmore is.

Val (07:53.518)
Um, well, a specific player did exactly reel me in. It was the team in general that, and I want to bet the Raiders against the Titans. So I was like, yep, this is it. Um, but I started Charles Wilson, of course I cried at his last game, like when I was watching it and he was like, I'm already here at one more time, you know, and I cried.

And then I followed Carr a lot. I liked him. I liked him. And then I did like Jacob. But then I seen a different side. So it kind of pushed me. as a whole, I don't know. As a whole, I liked them.

Some of the families of some of these players are really sweet. And so it's a nice connection to make. It's it's Raider Nation from now. But I really like Max Crosby too. And I was very heartbroken when we for a laugh because I really, really, really, really liked Run For Two. And of course you already know I like Madison. Madison was like...

Tony Bova (09:07.66)
you

Val (09:16.075)
He made me, while I started paying more attention to medicine, I started paying attention to like the other positions and I'm like, why are you all laughing at me?

Raider Wil (09:16.169)
No, absolutely.

Raider Wil (09:26.177)
But you know what? And Val, I want you to let our listeners know like how long you've been watching football. Like when did you start watching?

Matty B (09:26.739)
Yeah, bye bye.

Tony Bova (09:37.995)
Okay.

Val (09:40.076)
I don't remember. I was right before we moved to New York when we lived on Camp Hettleton.

Val (09:52.299)
2005

Raider Wil (09:55.009)
So, and I mean, like that just really like, it's really interesting because the dynamic goes to show like, you know, Val is on the younger side being Raiders fan. She's like, you know, and that's why I liked the difference in your Mount Rushmore from Tony because Tony's era is totally different, you know, and he's, he's been watching it and your era is totally different. You brought up totally different names. Matt brought totally different names because we all came up in different eras, right?

Tony Bova (10:18.504)
Okay.

Raider Wil (10:24.619)
which makes it super unique. And I mean, like, really appreciate the insight that she brought in on that because it just shows, you know, that, you know what the younger versions of Raiders fans are going to have those legends like we did, like that, you know, like how we long Marcus Allen guys that made an impact like that, that are going to last for generations.

Tony Bova (10:43.114)
So, thank

Raider Wil (10:50.623)
And that is something that's really cool, even though we haven't had a lot of success now guys, you know, I, I will do my Mount Rushmore. All right. I guess I haven't done one. Go ahead, Val.

Val (11:03.941)
I know there's only four, but I also like Orin O'Neill, because now the more I get to talk to him and know his side, it's really nice. And I watch back and like, okay. But that's it.

Raider Wil (11:16.289)
Well, and that's the unique part of personal relationships, right? If you have personal relationships with these players, it really shows you who they are on the personable side and who they are as people. For me, my top. Top Raiders like top Raiders player that I've enjoyed the most, especially watching. I'm going to say. It's going to be Charles Woodson.

Charles Woodson has been an impactful player for me a majority of my life. He was in there and he was like, hey, at the prime of me watching football, Charles Woodson was there and he was a writer and he excelled. Tim Brown, another guy that really, really like played at a really high level, really nice guy, good person, does a lot of things for his community.

Tony Bova (11:58.475)
Okay.

Raider Wil (12:12.927)
Here's a name that you guys probably wouldn't have thought of, Napoleon Kaufman.

Val (12:20.904)
He didn't play long, right?

Raider Wil (12:23.423)
No, he actually became a preacher. think he only played six seasons, but he averaged five yards of carry.

Val (12:29.653)
So I'm gonna send you a picture this weekend, I'm pretty sure I had long time ago I picked up a pennant and I'm pretty sure that's him. Cause I was like, I've never heard of this guy. But I'll send you a picture cause I'm pretty sure that's who I have. It's old, but it's in good condition.

Tony Bova (12:29.834)
So, we're going to go ahead and started.

Raider Wil (12:40.809)
Yeah, that might be.

Raider Wil (12:50.273)
And then the last guy I'm to put up there for me is going to be Marcus Allen and it's for the exact reason that Tony said. Marcus Allen had a big Super Bowl run, but at the same time I'm like that guy did so many things and he was able to do so many things at a high level that I really, really did enjoy watching Marcus Allen and that for me.

And for us, guys is going to be our mountain rush more. What I want you guys to do is go down below, comment, let us know what you guys think and who's on your Mount Rushmore. Now, guys, I got another question for you guys. Question two here. Your favorite moment in Raiders history. Are you?

Tony Bova (13:25.737)
So

Raider Wil (13:46.705)
Like you remember and you're like dude that was just the time that I was like that made me Into a Raiders fan or that really had a big impact for me. I'm gonna start with Maddie B. Go ahead

Tony Bova (13:53.001)
.

Matty B (13:59.962)
Man, I want, like I said, it's a back in the day when I first started, I had an uncle that was a Raiders fan and that's the first, first game I remember like actually like watching football that I can remember was actually a Raiders Bronco game. And that was a wild card game back in 93. And that was the game that the Raiders beat the Broncos 42 24. And I remember that cause that was just like, I was blown away by how, how bad they beat the Broncos. And from that point on, I was like Broncos suck like.

I didn't want to be a Bronco fan after that. So the Raiders were it because, my uncle was a Raider fan. And at that point I was like, this is my team. ever since, man, I've been a Raider fan. So that's, that's my moment.

Raider Wil (14:30.913)
I'm

Raider Wil (14:44.349)
Alright, Tony B.

Tony Bova (14:48.021)
F.

One and an honorable mention. I'll start with the start with the honorable mention. Josh Jacobs run in Seattle when he broke the long touchdown run to put the game away and win. When I'm sitting in the front row and he's running right at us like it was and to watch the crowd go nuts because three quarters were Raider fans and the quietness from Seattle.

It hushed the city. people were just quiet everywhere you walked. They weren't talking. They were mad. You were raided out. It was all great. But number one moment was 83 Super Bowl, Marcus Allen's 70 plus yard touchdown run. I'm walking by the TV. I'm five years old. And I remember I stopped and turned and looked at the TV at that exact moment.

So you can honestly, can honestly tell you that that's the exact moment. So if you look at the time, the date, the year, you can look at the exact moment where I went, that's cool shit. like that is, I was like, whoa, what was that? And my mom was like, that son is Marcus Allen. And from then on, it was all, yeah, that's all I knew. So yeah, Marcus Allen, 70 plus yard touchdown run.

Super Bowl I want to say 1883 I think it was maybe something like that, but it was 83 Super Bowl win against against the commanders or the the Redskins

Raider Wil (16:25.845)
Yeah, 83.

Raider Wil (16:29.953)
Yeah. Yeah. 83, 84 season. Yeah, it would be like an 84 because that's when the Super Bowl is, but same shit. Go ahead. Now let us know that moment that you were like, yes, that's my squad.

Tony Bova (16:39.418)
Right,

Val (16:51.49)
Well, when we were in NOLA, that has been my absolute favorite moment in

Raider Wil (16:55.541)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Val (17:07.409)
is at the game afterwards. I mean, cause you know, I used to like volunteer at Crab Trees youth camp. Like our club used to help them out. And that was really cool. Cause we got to like go up close and meet the players. mean, I met Vaughn Miller one time. That dude's tall. And like, that's really cool. And it was like, you know, we're the Raiders. We even went clubbing before together.

But my favorite moment, like all time, has definitely been after the NOLA game when I got my sweaty towel that's now all off the school.

Raider Wil (17:45.697)
Well, I'll be like that is post game I mean like but that is a unique moment when you get a player's item and especially a player that you've been you know chasing after all game long to try to get a signature to like get him to send you a little something. That was definitely unique. So for me, alright, I'm gonna have to go with two because one I didn't watch live. Okay.

Val (18:01.074)
I know.

Raider Wil (18:13.089)
The one that I didn't watch live, I was still in the womb was the Marcus Allen run. That Marcus Allen run is just incredible. I'd be like, he sheer poetry. I mean, it's one man parting a sea of red and making it happen. And for me, I really, to have that type of athleticism,

In those times, especially with people using PEDs rampantly, you know, and all this other stuff, and Marcus Allen has never been associated with

And his athletic ability just he's just so head and shoulders above people. He runs all the way to the left, turns back around, spins around, finds the hole, cuts up, separates from the defense. mean, incredible run, right? So that's that's really a moment for me that I've watched in replay.

And I've watched since I was a kid because my dad was a big Raiders fan. So my dad was like, you got to be like Mark Sala. You had to run. You got to run like that. So I was like, OK, like, you know, so I'd be watching him watching the tape. But really a unique moment for me that I got to watch on TV was. Bo Jackson.

when he went against Seattle.

Raider Wil (19:54.213)
and he ran into the tunnel. I mean like...

Tony Bova (19:55.875)
The tunnel road.

Raider Wil (20:02.881)
To see a man that big, that fast, that physical, just put somebody down and then outrun DBs?

Yo, those two moments for me were nuts. I'd like, again, when I lived two are the second one I only watched on replay. So Tony, I'm jealous of that, that you got to live that. Now, that hit a unique thing, all right? I want you guys to tell me, all right, as a Raiders fan, you know, we're getting into the season.

We're going to start all, you know, going to our clubs and going to our groups and going to our watch parties and doing our thing. And, you know, I want to know what is it that makes the watch party that you go to? And I want to know where it's at. Tell me where it's at. So unique. And why you enjoy going to these watch parties and what is it that makes it? Like a great atmosphere and something that.

Continues to make you go. So I'm gonna start with Val on this because Val is a very avid clubber So Val tell us Where you're planning on going this year and what makes it so unique and what you enjoy the most

Val (21:14.371)
Woo hoo!

Val (21:32.752)
So I'm part of DFW Raiders for Life. Actually when I joined the club, it's because I met Tim Brown and got a picture with him and his autograph. My club obviously was doing an event with him. So when I joined, everybody was really cool. Everybody was real family. Everybody's like close knit. know, there's no like, there's no drama.

Literally everybody's just all about Raiders. We're wearing, everybody has like decals, mean, selling stuff. I mean, it's just truly like Raider heaven. And I love that I've become close and I have these really great relationships with all these different people and I'm still continuing to meet different people and other fans that are moving into the area.

We just moved to Shaker Tens last season.

Yeah, love. Yeah, it was. I feel like we've, I'm like, wait, hold on. We've, I feel like we've been there for a hot minute, but I feel like we just, so we're at Shaker Tones.

Raider Wil (22:39.593)
Yeah, what the?

Raider Wil (22:45.301)
You've been there for like two years. We've been on the show for two years.

Val (22:50.585)
years already.

Raider Wil (22:52.683)
Yeah.

Val (22:54.63)
Dang, that's a long time. Dang, okay, so we've been there, okay, so we've been there for a couple years. But we're at Shaker Tins now, Midtown Dallas, we're at the Galleria Mall. They section it off. It's a bar, but it's family friendly. They actually put a little rope out so that we get our tables. We have half the freaking bar area. There's couches, there's TVs, Raiders on every TV.

Tony Bova (22:58.084)
That's crazy.

Val (23:24.429)
I mean, it's just, y'all know Raider Nation, like the community is just, is wild. It's great. And just having people that you call your family, you know?

And like, I, you know, I, I straight a little bit. I was, you know, I went to a black hole for a little bit. guess technically I still am a member because lifetime member when I bought it, um, literally, um, being able to see the other different clubs and do different, um, events, like it was, it was really cool. And then I got to meet people like, well, like if it was never, if I had never joined the black hole Dallas chapter,

Raider Wil (23:48.322)
As your life member for life. Member for life.

Val (24:07.909)
Oh, I've never met Will and Maddie B and Tony and Gunny whenever he pops up, you know, and Alan. Actually, I knew Alan before, before the goal, but you know, it just, and now like we have like these lifelong relationships and I can't wait for more friendships and family that I know I'm going to meet and be able to connect with. We all, we all talk Raiders.

Tony Bova (24:16.227)
Who's that dude?

Raider Wil (24:18.219)
Yeah.

Val (24:37.413)
We're all family no matter what throughout the year. We don't judge each other because we're talking Raiders or repping Raiders or you know, it's life. Raider Nation is life.

Raider Wil (24:44.661)
Yeah, absolutely.

Raider Wil (24:50.035)
Yeah. Absolutely. No, it's alright, sis. You got to say what you got to say. Maddie. You go ahead, sis.

Matty B (24:50.138)
All right.

Val (24:52.248)
Sorry, I talked too much.

Raider Wil (25:04.935)
Maddie V.

Tony Bova (25:06.851)
Thank you.

Raider Wil (25:09.321)
Let us know, bro.

Matty B (25:11.016)
Oh man, I have to agree with Val, man. I think joining this, joining our club and actually like, okay, so let me start this over. Me and Will, we were, I met Will through another group that was actually a Raider group. And then we kind of kicked it off from there, you know? So at that point it was kind of, the group was kind of just at a stall and me Will were like,

Well, it didn't seem like a real group. It just seemed like a bunch of people getting together and hanging out in the garage and things like that. And then me and Will started talking. We were like, man, let's just, let's, let's get a club going. Let's start one. Let's, let's see about taking over. You know, let's, get this club rolling, you know? And so we, uh, we ended up getting, getting the name of the club from the people. And then there was a big fallout between a bunch of the people that were there and Will and I and a couple other guys. So.

We ended up becoming black hole at that point. We went, we Cisco at a Denver game. And at that point, like, I think everything for us pretty much changed. Once we became that, once we became members of the black hole, um, the, jail gates, man, were just there. changed the, the, the view, the way you receive the game, the way you watch the game changed, where you go and who you hang out with. I mean, it just makes everything 10 times, 10 times better. So.

Tony Bova (26:34.05)
Thank you.

Matty B (26:39.719)
I just, I like the atmosphere we have with our people. We're not a very big club. We probably only got about maybe 12 people total in our club, but those 12 people go hard. You know, like 90 % of them show up almost every Sunday, even when me and Will aren't there and we're traveling, they're there, man. And they're always sending us pictures of the group. You know, it's like one big family. So every Sunday, every Thursday, every Monday,

Tony Bova (26:52.002)
Thank

Matty B (27:07.988)
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever day we're Count on every one of them being there, man, because they bring great food. They bring great atmosphere and I wouldn't change it for the world, man. I love it. So shout out to Westco.

Tony Bova (27:22.207)
you

Raider Wil (27:23.841)
my God. Hey, it's kind of hard because I just Matt just went kind of like so took all my thunder. Now honestly man Matt Matt's right. But hey you guys hold on. I'm actually going to grab something from one of our club members and I'm going to tell you guys we are super lucky man as a club that we have.

Val (27:34.22)
Yeah.

Val (27:37.86)
Thunder.

Matty B (27:39.561)
They me.

Raider Wil (27:54.177)
Shoot, nevermind, I'm not gonna grab it, I guess. But we're super lucky, man. As a club, we have some unique people. I'm like, we have Max, who started Silver and Black Coffee. I know that Bova has had some of the coffee. Oh, there we go. Silver and Black Coffee. Let's give our boy Max a little shout out here. He started on his own coffee line. you see that? And you guys can...

See the logo there. Yeah. Hey, you know, he started his own coffee company and he's been doing great. And I mean, like, where he's an entrepreneur and a great guy always there to help you out when you need something. We have Pops, have Diane, you know, great couple. We call them Gemma or we call mom or Diane mom because she's everybody's mom.

Tony Bova (28:24.755)
Stand by, keep it with me at all times just in case.

Raider Wil (28:54.325)
Making sure that we're all good, making sure that everybody's okay, stuff like that. You know, we have Stacy, we have, yeah, yeah. You have just a great group of people, right? I'm like, and I could go on and on and we have Shorty. We have just a very unique and eclectic group. And it's really cool because the Raiders is what's bringing us together, right? Like out of all the things in the world, it's the Raiders. So.

Matty B (29:01.822)
speediness.

Raider Wil (29:23.297)
That's what makes it so unique. We're in Grand Junction, Colorado, guys. We're in Podoc, Colorado, and there's still 12, 14 of us that try to get together. Alfredo gets with us whenever he can. He's super busy all the time. But I'd be like, it's a great, unique experience. We're usually at the Eagles 595 or we're usually barbecuing at somebody's house or we're traveling. We're actually traveling quite frequently now to go to different places.

Tony Bova (29:27.424)
.

Raider Wil (29:53.365)
You know, it's it. no doubt. You know, we're out here representing Roland hard, baby Roland hard. So all right, guys. Yeah. So let's get down to the nitty gritty, guys. I want to know this. Go ahead, Tony B.

Val (29:53.794)
Travel Brigade!

Matty B (30:03.248)
Yes, sir.

Tony Bova (30:13.339)
I didn't get to talk about my chapter.

Raider Wil (30:17.025)
My bad Tony, please. Go ahead Tony.

Val (30:18.631)
Get him, Tony. Get him.

Tony Bova (30:21.215)
Right? I'm like, hey man, what's happening with Spokane? No, no. Right? No, no. The one thing that works for us and I hope works for everybody else is we do not make it about the club. We make it about the family atmosphere where we can gather together. We leave everything at the door, any political beliefs.

Raider Wil (30:25.831)
Okay, okay, take it over, take it over, Tony, take it over.

Tony Bova (30:50.94)
Any, you know, anything is never talked about. We talk about Raider football on Sundays and we said all that other nonsense now. We meet and we get, deep. We're very supportive. And it's nothing but love. Like that's what makes it great is being that we don't make it about having to make like money on our raffles. We don't make it money on this.

You know, this or that we make it about coming together and by doing that reaching out to West Coast or or or, you know, let's say like Portland or Seattle or whatnot. We come together to strengthen each other and give tips to each other so I can take back wisdom from Will and be like, how am I going to convert that to Spokane when we were without a venue?

I'm reaching out to different chapter presidents and they're like, hey, check this place out. You gotta check the VFW. You gotta check out this place. They were very supportive in helping that transition. And now we're transitioning back to our original establishment. But that's a long story for a different day.

Tony Bova (32:07.079)
It's one love. mean, it's like you can walk into anything. I can walk into Westco and I'll guarantee you it feels like I've been there every fucking like I'm there every Sunday. You know what mean? I can walk into Love Lock, Nevada. I can go down to Los Angeles. I can go over to Germany, wherever. And I walk into a Raider Bar and I guarantee you it's going to be smiles, handshakes, high fives, hugs.

and Raiders screaming all day, I'm done. So like, okay, I love it. I just love it. Good shit.

Raider Wil (32:44.899)
Nice. Hey, that's what it's all about.

Tony Bova (32:47.081)
Damn, you don't know.

Raider Wil (32:50.059)
So guys, we've talked about our locations. We've talked about moments that made you guys into Raiders fans. Now, I wanna know if you guys think the Raiders are contenders.

Are we going to be a middle of the road? Or are we pretenders?

For this question, I'm going to start with my boy, Tony B.

Tony Bova (33:24.137)
Hell yeah, let's go. fucking all day contenders, baby. Fuck that dumb shit. I ain't here for no second place. I ain't waiting for no third place. I'm all about the first place. Let's take that shit all the way. Like, this is the time of the year that you should be hype for a good ass season. Like, you shouldn't be sitting here. I think they reported today, rookies and undrafted free agents and whatnot. I think they reported today. Everybody else reports a couple days. This is the time to be hype, like.

Cause guess what? Right now we're tied for first. You know, we ain't, this is when the passion, this is when all the, when we come together, like this is the best time to come together is cause we have, you know, everybody says the saying is, there's always next year, right? This is that fucking year. This is that year. Like I'm ready to go. I think definitely, definitely contenders, you know, maybe not divisional champs.

but we're getting a wild card. We're in a strong, strong division, but we're gonna be surprised. You look at a lot of the talking heads on ESPN, and a lot of them, surprisingly to others, but not to us, say that their Raiders will be the sleeper of the year. I mean, but we ain't sleeping on them, because we already know. So, by the way, Gentie Rookie of the Year, book it.

Raider Wil (34:52.938)
Okay.

I'm going to follow up with Ladybell looks kind of a little bit of antsy over there.

Val (35:02.463)
It's been like this lately, I'm sorry.

Raider Wil (35:06.842)
All right, go ahead. No, let us know. Let us know. Are we for real? Are we middle of the road? Or are we just pretending this year?

Val (35:14.193)
listen, no, I think we're going to see a big difference. I think we're going to see the leaders put in some work. I mean,

y'all should be scared is all I'm saying, you know, I think it's, it's, it's kind of hard to really put your finger on it. What you think because one it's the Raiders, but then you've got Pete Carroll and that kind of makes your wills turn, you know, and

You know, and then you have Gruden and then it's like, but I think we're, I think we're gonna do really good. I am pumped. I'm counting down every day. I'm telling everybody how many days are left except for today, cause I was doing a car wash for all Simon's Association today at work. And so yeah, I'm like super, super freaking pumped about it. I think we're gonna, I think we're gonna show out this year. I think we're gonna do really well, but we'll see. We'll see.

We're gonna do better than the cowboy, that's for sure.

Raider Wil (36:21.665)
Maddie B.

Tony Bova (36:23.25)
But yeah

Matty B (36:28.507)
Man, I was around this time last year, I did the same shit like, we're gonna be weird contenders, everything's looking great, but.

Val (36:38.95)
Okay.

Matty B (36:41.063)
so many years man that we've said this and done that and it's the same thing. So I'm, I'm not putting all my chips in the bag, but I have a feeling we're going to be better than we were last year. Contenders. I would love to see a turnaround like the commanders. think that would be dope. mean, just to turn around and have a season like that would be awesome for us, man. I have faith in Carol. I have faith in the team.

I think we'll turn it around. Do I think we're going to come out? think we're going to come out and surprise a lot of people. But we're going to be fighting at that end. I think it's just going to come down to the last couple of games like it does every year, whether or not we're going to be in this by the end of the year. So let's see how tough these guys play. Let's see if Pete Carroll can rally these guys up. I'm not going to say we're a pretender or a contender. I'm going to say that we're a surprise. So.

Val (37:42.076)
You know we're gonna put some work in, Maddie B. Come on now.

Matty B (37:42.659)
That's where I think we can make the playoffs, but I think everybody has to be all in on this. Like it can't just be a couple handful of guys and the coach. It's got to be the whole damn team. So I mean, if we really want to push it and have a season turnaround, we got to all be in.

Raider Wil (37:42.721)
Okay.

Val (37:52.902)
Yeah.

Raider Wil (38:03.967)
absolutely.

Tony Bova (38:04.125)
And if you're talking about building a culture, like getting a culture built, that's what they did and they brought in the right people, they brought in the right players, they did an overreach in the draft, they got the systematic fits that they needed in place and an organization that is on the same page. They're not somebody else's guys.

Val (38:04.317)
Show that, show that.

Matty B (38:25.989)
Which is what which is exactly why I think which is exactly why I have faith in this team and I think we can do we can do promising things but I can't go out there and say that we're a contender because I gotta see what these guys can put on the field. I said the same thing last year. I thought we were contenders but man we felt flat on our face when we walked out that door so. You know we got like I said I want to see I want to see these first couple games by week five. We should know who we are. We should know exactly who we are by 5 so.

Val (38:52.795)
Yeah, for sure.

Matty B (38:55.958)
After week five, we'll know if we're pretenders or pretenders.

Raider Wil (38:56.417)
Agreed.

Raider Wil (39:02.827)
I All right. Shoot, Matty B. You guys are firing on all cylinders over here, taking everybody's like thunder and fire and everything. I'm over here feeling like a toothless tiger. All right, man, check this out.

Matty B (39:15.877)
I'll let you go first next time. I'll let you go first next time, Will.

Raider Wil (39:20.679)
Nah, check this out fellas. Alright. We are not a contender this year, but we're not a pretender this year. We are a team on the road to becoming a contender. We have a solid coaching staff. We had a solid draft the previous year. If we have another solid draft this year.

Val (39:21.312)
Right.

Raider Wil (39:51.357)
Next year I will 100 % expect to be a playoff team. But this year I expect to be about at 8 and 9 or 8 and 9 to 9 and 18. The reasons are OK, that's going to double our wins. Which for us is fantastic, but I don't see 8 or 9 wins getting us into the playoffs. Not in the Western Division or not in our division and they have see West.

Okay, I just don't see it.

Raider Wil (40:25.533)
It's going to be a tough and I mean like in the whole AFC in our division, everything is going to be a 10 win team has to make it. You have, think you have to win 10 games and I just don't see 10 games that we're going to win this year. Now, like I said, eight and nine. Yeah, and that's going to be a great season. But I guarantee you.

Tony Bova (40:45.308)
.

Raider Wil (40:53.025)
There's going to be a lot of pressure on these receivers. There's going to be a lot of pressure on these young men, which then it's going to make it a double edged sword. A lot of the guys are not going to be able to make it, but I don't want to hear that these guys are bust unless they come out and show in year two that they're not successful. We have to be patient with these young men. We have to be patient with our players, but that's what I think. So guys.

I think we've made it to the end here for our first comeback show of the season. You know, I hope to see you guys more often now that the season is about to start. You know, Tony Bo, Tony Bova, I want you to let our people know about your event because I know that you got an event coming up, so let them know.

Val (41:28.038)
I'm gonna move on.

Tony Bova (41:33.32)
Thursdays.

Tony Bova (41:46.617)
is ninth in Spokane Valley. I'm opposed to all the flyers and whatnot. We got the sixth annual Northwest Blackout.

Tony Bova (41:58.191)
We do a rotation of, cause we have three chapters that are within the greater Pacific Northwest. So without having to try to yearly come back and do an event to where we're battling for people, hey, come to ours, no, come to ours, no, come to ours. We decided to reach out and one would host and then we would rotate it and the next chapter would host. And this year it falls on Spokane. So we're doing goodie bags for the kids.

We have.

some of the, Smith housing barbecue sauce was donated from a TBH, Iowa. we, got a lot of patches from, baby D and, down in a TBH. I'm drawing a blank San Antonio. Yeah. All right. I was like, man, I know it was like Texas somewhere, but, big shout out to them for, they donated a lot of patches and stickers we got, we got, we're trying to go.

Raider Wil (42:48.831)
San Antonio.

Tony Bova (43:01.86)
Quality quality over quantity for our raffles. We're having side a by tens. We're gonna have You know modello merchandise we're gonna have TBH it's gonna be a great time, but it's just a nice little Semi-regional gonna expand out. We got delayed a little bit on some paperwork issues With our with our park so we were gonna have it earlier in the year But now it's like two days after the season opening preseason game in Seattle

So like if people are coming up to Seattle for the game for whatever reason, extend it out a little bit, travel over to the east side of the state, extend your weekend out, come over Saturday and I'll post all the address and everything on the flyer and we'll get it cracking. It's gonna be a good time. Oh, and lots of TBH labeled, Woodson's Whiskey on deck. Let's go.

Raider Wil (43:49.693)
Yes, sir.

Raider Wil (43:56.829)
Yes sir, Lady Val, you got any events that you need to let us know about?

Val (43:57.691)
Let's go.

Val (44:03.031)
No, no, not at all, you know.

Raider Wil (44:07.411)
All right, Matty B, you got anything?

Matty B (44:11.65)
man, just I'm ready for season opener, man. I'm just down to be going to see the first game of the season, man. So hopefully we know what the Rhode Island is that the is that the chapter that's putting it out there? So New England, yep, so I'm going out there and hitting that place up. So West Co be at. Yep.

Val (44:15.092)
huh.

Tony Bova (44:19.929)
That's gonna be amazing.

Raider Wil (44:26.591)
No, New England. New England. My boy Jeff.

Raider Wil (44:34.365)
All you can eat lobster. You can eat lobster by her. We come. She said all you can eat lobster day. So check it out guys. It's this Sunday, July the 19th. Make sure that if you are in Central Valley, you go down and check out TBH Central Valley. They are doing a backpack drive. They're handing out backpacks.

Matty B (44:40.722)
Yeah, baby.

Tony Bova (44:41.187)
Hell yeah, guys!

Matty B (44:47.376)
Mm, mm.

Raider Wil (45:02.945)
and make sure that you link it with them in their page. I know that TBH New England is having a barbecue here. I think either this weekend or next weekend, make sure that you link up with their page. If you are in Massachusetts now, if you are in Denver, August 2nd, there is a barbecue going down, baby. Make sure that if you are in the mile high city, you come out because TBH Westco.

TBH Denver and TBH Cheyenne will be blocking out. The mile high city. Then you got Tony Bova's event again. You know that's going to be two days after the Seattle game. Make sure that you extend your holiday weekend out there. If you make it up, make sure you hit up our boy Tony B and. Home opener for. TB.

Tony Bova (45:40.601)
Thank you.

Tony Bova (45:48.194)
See

Tony Bova (45:55.703)
You know

Raider Wil (46:01.825)
H is going down, baby. We are going to be rocking and rolling and having a lot of fun. Guys, make sure that if you guys are a member, you guys enter the sweepstakes to see if you guys can't get a free ticket to the game. Ever know. So until next time, it's all about one nation. It's all about one team. It's all about the rain.

Tony Bova (46:05.1)
Man, I can't wait!

Matty B (46:30.492)
Ready?

Tony Bova (46:30.582)
greater

Raider Wil (46:31.105)
Later!