I still hate the Raiders. You still hate the Raiders. Your next-door neighbor still hates the Raiders.

Every self-respecting Colorado resident still hates the Raiders.

But why? What’s to hate? The Raiders come into town on Sunday as losers. They have stumbled through seven straight seasons with 10 or more losses.

Sunday, in their 17-9 loss to previously winless San Francisco, Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell turned in a passer rating of 10.7. It was the lowest rating by a Raiders quarterback since Ken Stabler turned in a 9.9 rating against Cincinnati in 1975. Campbell didn’t complete a pass in the second and third quarters and he finished 8-of-21 for 83 yards with two interceptions.

It’s kind of pathetic. You’d think we would take pity on a franchise that’s been teetering for years. Yet the black and silver still makes our blood boil and our skin crawl.

Why?

Here’s my personal list of reasons:

When I was a kid growing up in Arvada, the Broncos were really bad, the Raiders were really good. In 1967, the Raiders beat the Broncos 51-0. The list of great Raiders who regularly rubbed salt in Denver’s wounds is a long one: Daryle Lamonica (the Mad Bomber), Fred Biletnikoff, Jack Tatum, Lester Hayes (and his Stickum), Ted Hendricks (The Mad Stork), Kenny Stabler (The Snake) and coach John Madden (Tommy Jackson called him “Fat Man), to name just a few.

The Raiders were not just good, they were cocky and therefore easy to hate. In 1973, Oakland came to Mile High Stadium for the first Monday Night Football game in Broncos history. It was a big deal and the stadium rocked like never before. My brother, Steve, and I created a banner out of an old bed sheet. We hung it off the deck in the west stands. It read: “Roses are red, violets are blue, if you’re for the Raiders the hell with you!” Very daring, very cutting edge for two teenagers. The fans in our section gave us a standing ovation.

Al Davis. I know he’s an historic figure in American sports. I know he now cuts a sad, pathetic figure. But really, the guy is a jerk. He used to sit in the press box in the old Mile High Stadium and spew profanities. Mike Shanahan once told me jaw-dropping stories (off the record) about how Davis cruelly mistreated people. I remember covering a Super Bowl at Reliant Stadium in Houston. I was getting into the huge press elevator when Davis and his entourage arrived. Al’s henchmen made me take the next elevator because “Mr. Davis isn’t sharing this elevator.”