National Football League

Fight has gone out of rivalry;RAIDERS 2-3 AT 49ERS 0-5

Published Oct. 17, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

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Mike Singletary would like to say he hates the Raiders and gets all worked up for the Bay Area rivalry, but at 0-5, he's got his own problems.

"Just win," the 49ers coach said about today's 12th running of the Battle of the Bay, with the teams meeting this time at Candlestick Park.

Welcome to the rivalry that no longer is. Howie Long no longer chases 49ers offensive-line coaches after the game. Jeff Garcia doesn't give the bird to the Black Hole. No one has to worry about Charles Haley thrashing the postgame locker room in disgust.

Maybe the cross-bay fire has been dashed by a combined record of 2-8 this season. Perhaps bragging rights aren't much to brag about when the 49ers and Raiders have combined for 14 non-winning seasons over the past seven years.

The Raiders are 31-86 since 2002, only marginally worse than the 49ers' 40-77 mark. If one beats the other today, is the accomplishment really what it used to be when both franchises were piling up Lombardi Trophies 49ers 5, Raiders 3?

"I don't think it's the same," 49ers running backs coach Tom Rathman said. He's been on both sides of the rivalry, as both a player and a coach, and he can remember when the 49ers hated the Raiders and the feeling was mutual.

"Organization-wise, and with the fans, it still is. But when you talk about the players coming in new every year, a lot of them weren't here when the success was here. They just don't know what it is right now."

Oh sure, some Niners players are still trying to get into the angry spirit of the week. Week 7 at Carolina, this isn't.

Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who played at Ohio State, compared 49ers-Raiders to Ohio State-Michigan, though he's been with the 49ers since April and has only experienced the exhibition-season version of the series.

Quarterback Alex Smith said, "There's definitely a rivalry feel." Wide receiver Josh Morgan said he could picture a reporter in a Raider uniform at that very moment. But, perhaps left tackle Barry Sims captured it best when he said the Battle of the Bay is more about the fan base. Some of his closest friends still play for the Raiders, so how can he hate them Sunday?

"It's a rivalry, but it's more for the fans than it is for us," said Sims, who played for Oakland in the past three games in this series. "We're not looking at it from the fan's point of view, 'Oh, it's the Battle of the Bay.' They're a good opponent that just happens to be right next to us."

Sims knows how the fans' blood boils over this game. He signed with the 49ers three seasons ago. He remembers being called a traitor and "other stuff" the first time he returned to the Coliseum in red and gold.

Never mind that the 49ers and Raiders play once every four years on average. At least on the Oakland side, this rivalry trumps twice-a-year division rivals like San Diego, Denver and San Diego.

"I remember when they would flash scores on the board," Sims said of his Raiders days. "They would go through the AFC West scores, and then the 49ers' score would go up, and that would get the loudest out of the fans."

So, sit back and enjoy. If fans are lucky, maybe the 49ers and Raiders will brawl between plays, just for old time's sake.

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