During the Oakland Raiders' current streak of 11 blacked-out home games in which the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum was nowhere near sold out, many of the games haven't really mattered in the divisional and conference standings. The Raiders were out of the running almost the whole 2009 season.
That changes for this Sunday's home game against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Raiders currently red hot and the Chiefs unexpectedly atop the AFC West at 5-2. The second-place Raiders would be a half-game out of first place in the division with a win Sunday, and right in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt going into the latter half of the season.
Raiders rookie linebacker Rolando McClain wants to see the magnitude of the Oakland home crowd match the magnitude of the game. He is refusing interviews until the Coliseum finally sells out for a Raiders home game.
"If the fans come out and we can sell out a damn game, I’ll talk to the media," McClain told Comcast Sportsnet. "Until then…I’ll need full fan support."
The game is not currently sold out, and would need to be sold out by 1 p.m. PDT Thursday to be broadcast locally on television.
McClain has surely done his part this season to provide thrills for home fans attending Raiders games. The Raiders are 3-1 at home thus far in McClain's rookie season, and McClain is the third-leading tackler on the Raiders' defense.
Plus McClain occasionally provides highly-entertaining body slams of opposing teams' players.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who refuses to talk to the media until Oakland can "elect a damn mayor".
