In a better world, the Raiders would remain in Oakland, that other city by the bay. In the world we live in, the Raiders are headed to Las Vegas, the American update of the gloriously wicked Old Testament town of Gomorrah.
The NFL has a loyalty problem, and it's a big one. Citizens of San Diego supported their Chargers with devotion, and a steady flow of cash, since 1961. Those citizens were rewarded with the sight of moving trucks. The Chargers are departing for Los Angeles.
Now, the Raiders are abandoning Oakland to play near The Strip in a $1.9 billion stadium funded in part by $750 million lifted from taxes on hotel visitors. Those one-armed bandits won't be the only subtle robbers in Vegas.
Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders, did not inherit his father's genius for football strategy. Al Davis directed the Raiders to three Super Bowl victories, but he transcended football. He towered as a genuine American original, a greasy-haired product of Brooklyn who turned rebellion into a stupendously popular and profitable brand.
But Mark did inherit Al's gift for fleecing municipalities. In 1982, Al fled Oakland for a better deal in Los Angeles before returning to Oakland in 1995 after city leaders offered $220 in stadium improvements and incentives, better described as legal bribes. Oakland taxpayers are still paying the bill.
Al died in 2011, leaving Mark to follow family tradition. Mark is yanking the Raiders again, following the money while proudly displaying the chasm where his heart should reside.
Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf sent hand-delivered letters Monday morning to each NFL owner before the Raiders vote at Phoenix's elegant Biltmore Hotel.
"The NFL is more than a business," Schaaf wrote. "You have an obligation to recognize that professional football teams are the lifeblood, culture and identity of the places where they play."
Schaaf, born in Oakland in 1965, wrote pure truth. Imagine Colorado without your Broncos. Imagine the tears in the eyes of your parents, your children, your sisters and brothers if the Broncos departed for, say, Portland.
Imagine that, truly and deeply, and you dwell in the broken hearts of the residents in Greater Oakland.
Owners chose between dividing $375 million in relocation fees or showing care for those good people of Greater Oakland.
Big surprise.
The vote was virtually unanimous. The owners voted 31-1, with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross delivering the lone righteous no vote, to collectively spit in the faces of Oakland's loyal fans. The owners had no shame. They did, however, add to their personal mountains of money.
It will be a long goodbye. The Raiders are bound by lease to play in Oakland Coliseum for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and might remain in their creaky home through 2019. The Vegas stadium is not scheduled to open until 2020.
A trip to Oakland Coliseum is like no other journey in sport. The scene includes, of course, a legion of over-the-top face-painted goofs who appear to have wandered out of one of those alien-infested "Star Wars" bars.
But the visit is about more than just weird. The pregame parking lots are filled with a true representation of Oakland. The rich savor vintage wine beside a luxury car while the not-so-rich guzzle bad beer a few yards away beside a junker. The mixture offers the most diverse and inviting scene in pro football. Trust me on that one. I've enjoyed and endured almost the entire tour of NFL stadiums.
The Raiders roam, more than any other NFL team, to every corner of America. Their outlaw spirit inspires many, even while it irritates many more.
Last week, I was walking on a sunny, windy day through Walsenburg's business district. Remember, I was walking in Colorado, where the Broncos rank as a secular religion.
I passed an old bar with a massive front window filled with neon signs advertising beers. In the middle of the glittering beer proclamations, there was a neon pirate with a patch over his right eye. Yes, the Raiders insignia had, once again, invaded Bronco-land.
The Raiders defiant and bizarre spirit wanders everywhere.
But the Raiders should dwell, now and forever, in Oakland.
