I totally can’t relate to the 2010 Superbowl. Truth is, I totally couldn’t relate to the Superbowls of the past years. Year after year, my interest in the NFL waned. It was once a passion. Now it’s simply the past.

I suppose if this were horse-racing and you kept betting on wrong horses, horses who always ended up dead last, and kept at it for several years, you’d eventually run out of interest that compels and money to burn. I thought the Oakland Raiders rumbled on the field like the legendary thoroughbred Man ‘O War. Actually, the Raiders once did. But not anymore. They haven’t had a decent gallop in a while. A long while.

When Tampa Bay clobbered the Raiders in the 2003 Superbowl, I thought it was a bump in the road, a hiccup in the Raiders’ return to prominence. Only it wasn’t a hiccup. It was more like the fading scream from someone free-falling from the top of a 200-story building.

I really should’ve called it quits after the 2002 “Snow Bowl” playoff game between the Raiders and the Patriots. The Raiders lost that game because of a controversial call. Oakland sacked New England QB Tom Brady and recovered the fumble with less than two minutes left in the game. The Raiders were up by three. They just needed to hold on to the ball. Then, the officials changed the call, ruled it an incomplete pass instead, gave the ball back to New England and the history of these two teams changed forever. The Patriots tied the game to force OT. The Patriots won the game in OT. They beat the Steelers in the AFC title game. Then, they beat the Rams in the Superbowl. The Patriots subsequently built a dynasty. The Raiders thereafter became synonymous with despair.

I remember following the Raiders religiously in the 80’s when they were still the L.A. Raiders. Well, they were originally the Oakland Raiders then they moved to Los Angeles, one of many bizarre moves by enigmatic owner Al Davis. I would watch their home games on FEN on weekday mornings before leaving for school. And in those days, the Raiders were staples on Monday Night Football. Oh, were they cool back then. Nobody said badass better than silver and black. They piled up the most penalties, had the most miserable home stadium - the 2000-year old Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - and had the most racially diverse collection of deranged fans who dressed as Darth Vader, Pinhead from Hellraiser or Ax and Smash of wrestling tag-team Demolition.

Cheering for them in the 80’s and 90’s really felt like cheering for the Pirates of the Caribbean. They were outlaws who made their own rules, has-beens given new life, renegades who united the Raider nation. Some of them, though, were simply outstanding football players. Tim Brown. Howie Long. Jim Plunkett. Lester Hayes. Marcus Allen. Bo Jackson (yes that Bo Jackson who also played baseball for the Kansas City Royals and turned Nike Cross-Training into a way of life). At one point former 49ers and Hall-of-Famers Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott joined the Raiders in the twilight of their careers.

The Radier motto is Commitment to Excellence. Well, was Commitment to Excellence. Raiders fans like me are, thus, pirates lost at sea. We wander aimlessly. We hear of recent Superbowl victories like rumors of a near island. I realize I permanently bet on the wrong horse. I hopped on board the wrong ship. I cheered for quarterbacks like Jay Schroeder, Jeff Hostetler and Rich Gannon. They were more courageous than talented, more experienced than young. They were the complete opposite of golden boys like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.

I suppose that’s what cheering for the Raiders is about. To love the Raiders is to go against the flow. To be a Raiders fan is to ditch the bandwagon. It’s the year of the Saints and another ho-hum season for the Raiders. This is the price I have to pay. Everybody loves a winner. I selected to cheer for the silver and black instead. MH