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Once upon a time, the American League baseball franchise based in the nation’s capital was so bad, so hopeless, so unwaveringly incompetent that in 1904 sportswriter Charley Dryden was moved to compose a searing motto that was decades ahead of its time.
“Washington: First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.”
They say it was the first incidence of trolling in professional sports.
Now the NFL franchise that currently resides in Oakland is mired in the kind of ignominy that defined the Senators.
And when we say “ignominy” we mean:
An enterprising website calling itself vividseats.com has endeavored, using “proprietary sales data” that surveys NFL ticket sales and social media intelligence, to identify the favorite team in every county in these here United States.
The map indicates that the 49ers are the favorite team in every Bay Area county except Napa — where the Raiders curry favor, most likely a result of having held training camp there for more than 20 years.
That’s a sobering turn of events for a sports franchise that ruled the Bay Area’s roost for most of the ’60s and ’70s. But this is what happens when you pack up your team and bug out to Southern California for 13 years, then return with 20 nonwinning records in 24 seasons.
But hey, the Raiders only have one season left to play in the Bay. Then it’s off to Clark County, where the Silver and Black ranks:
Sixth. Behind Arizona, Dallas, the L.A. Chargers, the L.A. Rams and the 49ers.
Hey, don’t blame the messenger.
According to the map, the Rams are the most popular NFL team in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. Adjacent Nye County goes to the Packers. Equally adjacent Lincoln County is partial to the 49ers — as is Esmerelda, Churchill, Washoe, Lander and Pershing counties.
Rumored but not confirmed: The Raiders also rank below the team of Siegfried and Roy, who haven’t worked in 15 years.
To be fair, the Raiders are No. 1 in White Pine County (pop. 9,592) in northeast Nevada. Raiders fans there planning on watching their heroes at the Davis Dome are looking at a 450-mile round trip.
Where have you gone Charley Dryden? Raider nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Wait for it … Woo woo woo.
