Ticket Apps Attract Fans In Oakland

The gates of the Oakland Coliseum were pulled up at dawn. Raiders fans waited all day at the mercy of brisk sea breezes and a late-afternoon sun that gave faces and necks a toasty glow.

But the hundreds who turned out for the chance to pick up application forms to a season ticket lottery weren’t too put out by the delay. After all, they’ve already waited 13 years.

“This is like a dream come true,” said Sharon Curtis as she sat in the sun on a beach chair in the parking lot. “I am so excited.”

High spirits generated by last week’s announcement that Raiders general managing partner Al Davis is bringing the team back home from Los Angeles did not appear to have abated.

“Top of the world, Ma!” an exuberant Rob Howard declared, briefly leaping atop a concrete barrier to convey his feelings.

Howard, dressed all in black, said he never wavered in his loyalty to the team who played their first 22 seasons here.

“My cradle was silver and black and my coffin will be, too,” he said.

What Howard and others were waiting for were application forms to get into the lottery for personal seat licenses, 10-year contracts that give holders the right to buy season tickets.

There was no particular advantage to being first in line, forms were handed out to everyone. In fact, applications for the licenses, which cost between $250 and $4,000, could be obtained by phone. The applications will be drawn at random.

But for diehard Raiders fans, the transaction was too important to delegate.

“I just want it in my hand,” said Gary Grandy of Lodi, who arrived at 6:30 a.m. and waited until after 4 p.m., when the applications finally were doled out.