Oakland Athletics

Boston's Dustin Pedroia won the AL MVP award Tuesday, becoming the first second baseman to earn the honor in nearly a half-century. Pedroia easily beat out Minnesota slugger Justin Morneau and added to his ever-expanding trophy case. The Red Sox star was the...

The Yankees are engaging in a monumental quest that had never been considered in all their years as baseball's baddest boys from the Bronx. The Babe, Iron Horse and Joltin' Joe never imagined this far-out mission. Neither did Yogi, Whitey nor the Mick. Ditto...

Matt Holliday is moving from the home run hitter's paradise of Coors Field to the power-sapping Coliseum, a place in which he has not set foot. The A's newest acquisition isn't worried about any drop-off in his totals, however. "I can't do much about where...

Lew Wolff, nutty as ever. He's...

From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan...

Major-league sources are saying the A's...

A's hitting coach may join Seattle's staff

Crosby in dark about future with A's

Relive Ellis' walk-off grand slam

When a team is flying high, the ranks of their fans swell to epic proportions. (See also 1990's Dallas Cowboys.) The new fans that arrive are often derided by the long time fans as "bandwagoners."  These long time fans are the ones who suffered through the down times, and can truly taste the joy of the winning seasons. There are some teams that do not know what it is like to have a true down cycle such as NCAA's University of Kentucky Wildcats in basketball (One losing season in the last several generations.) Other teams such as the Detroit Lions or Kansas City Royals (One world series appearance) don't have the history of up times to have acquired a bandwagon. 

When a team that has a history of domination, such as the Oakland Raiders falls on hard times, it takes its toll on the fan base. The Raider Nation is beyond frustrated with the current state of the team. In fact, they are ready to eat their own as Al Davis would likely finish in a daed heat in a popularity contest with Osama bin Ladin and LaDainian Tomlinson among Raider fans.

Other teams, such as the Chicago Cubs, have the fan base that have adopted a "lovable loser" mentality, as they seem to expect their beloved Cubbies to come up short. Their motto seems to be "wait 'till next year."

The Detroit Lions, who seem to be a lock to be the first overall pick in next year's NFL draft, don't have the lovable loser mentality, but their team has been a doormat for much of their existence. I was told by a co-worker who is a Lions fan that he is just frustrated with them.

Being a fan of a team means being a fanatic. During the down times, it gets more difficult to root for a team, especially when it becomes apparent that the team itself has given up. In baseball, teams announce that they are giving up when they trade away their better players at the trade deadline to get 'prospects.' As a follower of the Oakland A's, it was disheartening to see them trade away several of their best players in July, thus admitting that they weren't going back into the playoffs. I used to consider myself an A's fan, but in recent years I have drifted away from watching baseball, due to the A's inability to keep their star players.

Its not even about wins, but its about the appearance of being competitive. The A's letting go of all their top players once they become eligable for free agency has become something of a running joke. After a while, it was like rooting for a farm club for the large market teams, so I lost interest. The Oakland Raiders are down, and they don't look competitive this season. For that matter they haven't for the last several seasons, but the Raider in me just doesn't know how to quit. Besides, I write for the Raiders so I have been forced to watch some miserable football for the last few years.

Patrick A. Patterson covers the Oakland Raiders for TFDSsports.com and Examiner.com.  

Good day ladies and gents, It's the Sinister Denizen of the Darkside LDizzle here to bring you the news from around the sports world. As always, we bring it to you unfiltered and fair and balanced. That means equal opportunity offending with some less equal offending reserved for certain teams and individuals as I see fit. Tonight! Mormons hate gay people. Could you be next? Moron that later. Does Hockey still exist? We will check in with several historians to find out. Are the Raiders going to the Superbowl this year? And can Al Davis can afford all of the tickets? Can the Raiders reconstruct their 4th quarter preseason roster? Greyson Gunheim says "Yes". If my Viagra pen ran out of ink, would that be the definition of irony? THIS is The Not Necessarily Incorrect Daily Update News!

When I first heard that the Oakland Athletics had traded for Colorado's Matt Holliday, of course my first question was who did they have to give up?

"I like Gonzalez. I think he is a fine young player and will be a very strong player in Colorado. I do not think he has the type of tools you can build around, and subsequently is more Mike Cameron then Grady Sizemore. Again fine, but never a player you refuse to move for a first round draft pick.

"Smith is a useless chip in this deal. Beane would have given up 20 Smith's if thats what it took to make this deal, and he is completely justified in such. He's a mediocre inning eating pitcher. While he may stick in the bigs for a while, we're not talking a player who has much value. Consider that he would have a tough time cracking the A's rotation this year if they give Cahill a legitimate shot at the rotation.

"Street, again, not worth much. The market on closers is very weak. Look what the Nats got for Rauch (a better closer), the Diamondbacks for Valverde (a better closer), and the Astros for Lidge (a better closer). The fact is, the Rockies saw that two high draft picks were worth more then prospects for Fuentes (a better closer)."