COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Pacific Ocean can be seen in the distance, Huntington Beach Pier is a short walk away and bars and restaurants crowd the city square. Flying high above one such establishment is a half-Raiders, half-Dodgers flag.
Killarney's Irish Pub on Sunday afternoons during the NFL season is packed with fans wearing silver and black. An emcee takes over the microphone, the Raiders' theme song “The Autumn Wind" is played and all 15 TVs inside and the four outside are tuned to Las Vegas games. “I'd say the environment here is pretty special,” Killarney's general manager Clay Dale said.
“Pun intended, it's a very intoxicating environment.” The Rams and Chargers call the Los Angeles area home, but the Raiders maintain a massive presence in Southern California. And the Raiders have returned to SoCal — for the next two weeks, anyway.
They have taken over the Chargers' former training camp home in Costa Mesa, about a 20-minute drive from Killarney's. But the Raiders, who played in Los Angeles from 1982-94 in between stints in Oakland, can't tap into their Southern California fan base to generate in-person excitement as their players begin preseason practices Wednesday. Because the Rams and Chargers claim the area as their marketing territory, the Raiders will hit the fields in front of media and some VIPs rather than the general public.
Raiders owner Mark Davis shrugged that off, saying the bigger point was being able to bond as a team, and that the c.