It’s Oakland Raiders; not L.A. Raiders. The former sounds right, perfect even while the latter, sounds just not quite right. Las Vegas Raiders sounds just….well, too awkward and hopefully it won’t come to that. Monday night brought the official return of a Los Angeles NFL team playing a regular season game.
Of course, the Rams-Niners contest was a NFL game in pooh emoji form. It was so awful that they let Chris Berman call it.
Chris Berman is every bit as detestable and in tolerable as Darren Rovell, but Berman just doesn’t understand his repulsiveness like Rovell does. We’re waiting for Berman to reach a level of self-awareness that allows him to make a Rovellian heel turn. In short the NFL return to L.A. reminded us of what happened when the league left the city of angels.
Tonight the NFL Network will profile, in depth what happened when the L.A. Raiders became the Oakland Raiders again and the L.A. Rams left to become the St. Louis Rams again.
The one-hour show hosted and narrated by actor William Fichtner tells the story of Christmas Eve in 1994 when the Rams and Raiders played their final games in Los Angeles. Featuring sitdown interviews with former Rams and Raiders players, Last Day in LA looks back at the events of that day, examines each team’s decision to relocate, and discusses the return of the Rams to Los Angeles.
Among the topics discussed in Last Day in LA are:
· The Rams and Raiders playing their final games in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve in 1994
· Leigh Steinberg’s plan to keep the Rams in Los Angeles
· Former Rams running back Jerome Bettis and former Raiders wide receiver Rocket Ismail on their assimilation to life under the bright lights of Hollywood as young stars in Los Angeles
· Former Raiders running back Marcus Allen and former Rams wide receiver Henry Ellard returning to face their old teams on Christmas Eve in 1994
· Former Rams offensive tackle Jackie Slater and former Raiders fullback Tom Rathman each returning to the sites of their old team facilities and discussing their decisions to retire or not retire following their final games in Los Angeles
· Al Davis’ desire in 1994 to relocate the Raiders to the Hollywood Park complex in Inglewood, current site of the Rams’ new stadium project
The Timeline from NFL Films premieres Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00 PM ET with Last Day in LA, reflecting on the final day in Los Angeles for the Rams and Raiders.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.