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| Steve Barty sports his Raiders gear at the Independence Day fancy dress party. | |
Hi to all my Transatlantic Raider Cousins over the pond and fellow supporters around the world! My name is Steve Barty and I live in Manchester, England. I have been a Raiders Fan ever since we moved to Santa Clara, Calif., in the mid-1970s for four years (my dad's job brought us over the water). Upon watching this strange new sport at the age of nine, I was introduced to a whole new ball game, literally.
Soon I was a Raiders fan, drawn to the allure of the local team, the men in Silver and Black, sporting a pirate patch on their helmets. There wasn't another team even comparable to the Raiders in my nine-year-old eyes, and there still isn't now at 43! The most winningest team ever then topped it with Superbowl XI. Two years later it was time to return home to England and alas, no coverage of the NFL until 1983, albeit a few hours on late night/early morning Sunday terrestrial television. Still, my deprivation period didn't last too long, thanks to technology progressing to the World Wide Web and satellite channels.
Bringing the story up to date is the photograph of me in my Raiders gear at our local pub's Independence Day fancy dress party night this year. A great time was had by all. I feel obliged to mention that I won the fancy dress competition!
Looking to the future I am anticipating a great season for us and one day will make the trip back across the pond to catch a game live. I have promised myself, however, that it will coincide with the year the greatest quarterback ever, Kenny Stabler, takes his rightful place in the Hall of Fame. Keep those votes going, I'm not getting any younger and neither is the Snake!
Steve will receive a 3'x5' Raiders logo flag and a photo of and autographed by Hall of Famer Willie Brown.
