Miami Road Trip Rally Party Souvenirs ON SALE!

Hello, Road Trip Rallyers!

We say, "Thank You!!", again for making the 2017 Road Trip Rally Party such a great time for all! There was Fun, Food, and making lots of new Friends! It's so nice to be able to to travel to a place, even if you're on the airplane by yourself, and have an entire hotel full of people ready to share the experience with you!

Those are memories that we all will be able to share. Special times with special people...Raider Nation (and guest Dolphins fans who liked being at a GREAT party) all joining together!

Everyone who signed up for one-or-more of our scheduled activities received an Official Souvenir Pin and Patch. We are happy to report that we have more Pins and Patches available!

The Patch and the Pin! Add To Your Collection!

If you'd like an extra Pin to adorn your favorite cap, or to display in your favorite travel trophy case, then click on the photo here so that you may easily get one sent to you! We are offering for sale BOTH the Pin and the Patch together for only $5.00!  Yes, this custom pin that features the absolutely beautiful image of everyone's inspiration, the renowned Skull Lady! And along with the Patch that can be added to your favorite gear, you can wear these proudly and let people know that you TRAVEL to Raiders games! A total of only $5.00 gets you both of these collectible items!

And yes: we are working on next year's 2018 Road Trip Rally Party as we speak today! There has been such wonderful feedback from each of you, as well as the tremendously favorable response from our vendors there in Florida. There's a LOT of momentum to sweep our group into next year's Rally... we will have a really, really good time!  :-)  Stay tuned!

Yours,
Afro

The Miami 2017 Road Trip Rally Party...Sign up NOW!

Hello, Road Trippers!

I want to remind you: THERE'S JUST ONE MORE WEEK TO SIGN UP FOR THE 2017 ROAD TRIP RALLY PARTY!

Please read on for info on what this event is, as well as how you can sign up. 

**Our deadline for sign-ups is Thursday, October 5th, 2017**

We don't want anyone to be disappointed. Please be sure to reserve your spot now!

Definitely, we have found a good range of activities for you to do, all to give you a good feel for the local vibe there!

I should mention that our discounted tickets to the football game, Raiders vs Dolphins, are sold out. 

**November 2nd -thru- November 5th, 2017 is when it all happens!**

Our Hotel, the Margaritaville Resort, is right on the beach! And all of our plans for you are within a short walk or a 2-minute Lyft/Uber ride away. Hey, we even have big tour buses available to bring you to the Raiders vs Dolphins game on Sunday!

Check out the infographic here for details. Clicking it will link you directly to our website where you may purchase tickets for these events. Raider Nation from all across the country have attended our annual Road Trips for the past several years, and you are certainly welcome to come join in with us!

Come join in! We will all have a great time together!

** (NOTE: The Bus-To-Game transportation is currently sold out) 

Our hotel, "The Margaritaville Resort", is located right there on the beach in Hollywood, Florida. And it is pretty AWESOME!

This resort hotel will also serve as our group's gathering place where we will have buses set up to take you our scheduled events, and also to the game at the Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium. 

This resort hotel is in a beautiful location and just mere STEPS AWAY from the beach! Also, a host of restaurants and bars are nearby along the Boardwalk. 

To reserve a room:


Call Margaritaville's Reservation Center: call (954)-874-4444 to make your reservation. You will have to reference Road Trip Rally or RAL1103 to obtain our Road Trip Rally Party group rate. 

Margaritaville Resort, our amazing host...and it's right on the beach!

There's LOTS of night life in our hotel's area, as well as the dazzling Hollywood Blvd nearby where you can find sizzling hot dance shows and great food. We worked with both Convention Bureaus of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami to put this package together for you all. You will not be disappointed!  :-)

Raider Nation...your Florida vacation awaits! Let's show them how it is when Raider Nation fills up every restaurant in town and shakes more booty in the dance clubs than they've ever seen before!


We are also doing a day trip to the beautiful BAHAMAS on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017. If you can believe it, there's a Raider Nation member who lives on the island there who is ready to host us and show us a great time!

For those who would like to sign up for the BAHAMAS DAY TRIP on Thursday, November 2nd, the Tour Operator is handling the ticketing for this. 

The high-speed boat will take us to FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMAS ISLAND.

The High-Speed Ferry gets us to the Bahamas in style!

===============================================
TO SIGN UP FOR OUR BAHAMAS DAY TRIP:

• Contact CINDY at (800)991-0623, extension 101. Be sure to tell her that you want to be on the ROAD TRIP RALLY PARTY's boat on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017.
• The price is $132.76 (one hundred & thirty-two dollars & seventy-six cents) per person, which includes all port fees & taxes.
• You may upgrade to a first-class seat if you wish. Cindy will let you know the price to do this.
• Cindy will ask you for your Passport number because...

       ...this is an INTERNATIONAL boat trip. You are traveling to another country. You will need a valid passport , one that does not expire within the 6 months of our trip (before June 2018.)

• U.S. CITIZENS: You may use an original copy of your birth certificate (no photo copies) along with a valid government I.D. If you do this, you will need to present both of these documents together...one without the other will prevent you from boarding the boat.
• NON-U.S. CITIZENS: You may be required to use the passport of your home country and/or a visa. Cindy can let you know; you will not be allowed to board the boat in Florida if you do not have the correct documentation/permission to re-enter the United States.

• The Bahamas Ferry is a high-speed boat that will get us there in about 2.5 hours (photo above)...we have to show up at the Ft. Lauderdale terminal at 6am for passport processing.

• The boat departs at 8:00am and returns to the U.S. at 11:00pm.

Raider Nation...international !!
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Lots of things to do on the island. This promises to be a really cool thing that we can do together.  :-)

See you in November! And thanks!!

~Afro

Raiders Season Ticket Members Get An Official Conference Call

Any questions? Any answers?

Well, the Oakland Raiders are inviting the former, and in return they promise the latter. 

The Oakland Raiders are calling YOU tomorrow!

An email to season ticket holders arrived late last week to announce a team conference call. Here is what it said:

"(name), got questions? We've got answers.

It has been an exciting off-season so far, and it's time to share our enthusiasm with our loyal fans. Included as a benefit in your Season Ticket Member package,we will be hosting a post-draft conference call with General Manager Reggie McKenzie and Head Coach Jack Del Rio.

The exclusive Season Ticket Member conference call is scheduled forTuesday, May 16, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. PST.

As a Season Ticket Member, you have the unique opportunity to interact by asking questions and receiving insight into our plans for the 2017 season.

For your convenience, you will receive a phone call next Tuesday evening from (this phone number)

When you answer the phone, stay on the line and you will be instantly connected to the conference call.
We look forward to your participation as we prepare for another great season of Raiders football.

Thanks and Go Raiders!"

Questions on the team's prospects for the upcoming season? Questions on hiring a new Offensive Coordinator after the guy who who had brought Carr to MVP levels in 2016 was let go?

Answers on making sure a new Carr contract will not "Flacco" the team's future prospects?
Answers on what priority (if any) the current long-term season ticket holders will have in choosing the best seats in the new Stadium over the residents of Las Vegas?

This type of customer outreach by the Oakland Raiders is to be commended, certainly. We can hope that the information given is truly informative and candid...for example, it might not be helpful to hear the generic statement, "We're just concentrating on what happens on the field", when a season ticket holder on this conference call asks about the Vegas move. 

Tickets cost too much money, and with the expensive expectation from everyone in Nevada that Oakland folks will travel to Vegas for 3-day weekends eight times every year to support that stadium's financing, it would be considered a personal dereliction to not ask these questions at tomorrow's Raiders conference call. 

You can be a true fan without being a rah-rah. Oakland Raiders fans are respected nationwide for our knowledge, and our knowledge about football goes beyond what happens on the field.

Here's to tomorrow's call. 

Yours,
Afro

The Denver Broncos Put The Hammer On Their Season Ticket Holders

 Hello, Readers!

 As you all know, it isn't much of a road game if we can't get tickets to watch that game.

 The Denver Broncos seem to have an answer for all the visiting fans looking to watch their own favorite team play the Broncos. Here's what they are doing!

 We work with the Ticket Offices of the Oakland Raiders' opponents to secure group seating for everyone in our Road Trip Rally Party. Depending on that team's number of season ticket holders, we are sometimes able to secure field-level seats. And at other times, we are able to get 2nd-Deck Club seats for everyone.

 On those road games where the opposing team's Ticket Office does not offer group seats, we have encouraged everyone to find the best seats possible via the online ticket services, such as Stubhub, VividSeats, etc. We identify an area of the stadium where we'd like everyone to sit, and then we turn that area into our very-own Raider Nation group seating!

On-site cash transactions aren't done anymore; it's all online now.

                                                       
 The point being: these online ticket services can be vital to our Road Trip plans.

 Online ticket services allow season ticket holders to sell seats to games that they are unable to attend themselves. This is great for the seller, because they otherwise would have to eat the cost of that ticket (NFL teams do not re-purchase unwanted tickets from season ticket holders), and that could be a complete waste of money for people.

 Please read here on how the Broncos have decided to deal with their season ticket holders who choose to sell their tickets online rather than attend games.


    Yours,
              Afro

Hi, Road Troopers!

We're at the Miami Airport. Not much time to write, so please accept this "video edition" of our Road Trip Rally Party blog!

Enjoy!

~Ken

Yes, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale is ON! - The Road Trip Rally Party Blog!

Hello, Readers!

We've been here in Florida this past week! We're looking at many of the offerings that the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale regions offer, from restaurants to hotels, from tours to hot dance clubs (keyword: "HOT"), to the amazing beaches that stretch across the coastline, we came here to see how all of it can help make our Road Trip Rally Party event a a great time for everyone!

We met with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau on Thursday, in quite possibly the most beautiful office perched on the 27th Floor of one of the stunning skyscrapers in the city! A view of the Bay, the River, and the Ocean, all greeted us as we sat in their big conference room to discuss our plans with the very-capable Sales Representatives who met with us.

We gave them our Power Point illustrated handouts, containing an outline of our event's history and people, as well as a list of activities and services that the City of Miami can help us to secure for our event.

A very nice meeting; you can be sure that the Convention Bureau is working to help everyone see all the wonderful things that a vacation in Miami offers!

We contacted the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau to gather information about the offerings there. Ft. Lauderdale is north of Miami, and the Convention Bureau there also manages the vibrant city of Hollywood, Florida. We dicussed options for our event there, as these cities are located closer (geographically) to the Miami Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium.                                                        

(yes, that's my thumb)

So, what did we find in Miami and Hollywood, you ask? We'll summarize our experience in this way:

• Little Havana, a historic district in Miami, has lots of things for us to do.
• Winwood, a new arts & restaurants district in Miami, has lots of things of things for us to do.
• Miami Beach, the city across Biscayne Bay from the city of Miami, has lots of things for us to do.
• South Beach, a district in the City of Miami Beach, has lots of things for us to do.
• Hollywood Blvd, the main strip in the City of Hollywood, has lots of things for us to do.
• Hollywood Beach, the beach in the City of Of Hollywood, has lots of things for us to do.

Nakita and I are putting this all this together to construct a wonderful package of lodging, activities, and FUN for you all! We will have it all ready for you in a few weeks from now. The entire region will be represented, and you will see just how great the cities of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Hollywood are! 

So, we do another round of interviews and follow-ups today. We'll get started at 9am, and we'll continue to go all-out for you on this last day!

Thanks, Road Trippers! This is shaping up to be A BLAST!!

                                                                (kids dig road trips)

Yours,

Afro

The Raiders Select A Sensation, Or A Distraction?

Hi, all!

How is everyone? Did you watch yesterday's 1st Round of the NFL Draft?

We can discuss later how the Chicago Bears made the 49ers' neophyte rookie GM look like a Hall Of Fame negotiator. For now, here are some thoughts on the Raiders' pick: Gareon Conley of Ohio State University.

Gareon Conley of Ohio State University, selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.

An extremely talented player, Conley has 1st Round skills. He also has baggage, and it's not clear if the Raiders, a team with a lot of distracting things surrounding them already, can deal with even more distractions that a high-profile rookie brings into the building. This is not to say the allegations are true; rather, the Raiders have a lot on their plate right now with:

•  the move to Las Vegas, 
• dealing with a home crowd season ticket base that has not given assurances it will support the Raiders during the 2-3 year lame-duck period, and 
• the players being questioned by reporters constantly about how relocation will affect them and their families. 

Someone coming on board bringing his own "extra" for constant scrutiny and post-game questions, that probably isn't a good thing for the Raiders to have to add onto their list.

Secondly, there seems to be this soft spot for defensive-back players who are in risk of falling out of the first round due to their personal situations. DJ Hayden was one whose near-death injury in college gave teams pause to select him, yet the Raiders did anyway.

Hayden rarely played up to his draft position in his years with the team.

"Rescuing" players may sometimes be a bad idea. Some folks say it's not a risk, as they tout the investigative skill of professional NFL Security personnel to find out hidden things about players. But these are also the same professional security people who couldn't find the Ray Rice Elevator Video...something the TMZ television show was able to find quite easily.

Anyway, here is an opinion of the NFL draft (this far) from the Sporting News:

Today, the 2nd Round of the NFL Draft begins. Let us see how other needs of the Raiders are addressed.

Yours,
Afro

We're On A Road Trip...To Plan The Road Trip! - Road Trip Rally Party Blog!

Hi, all!

Nakita and I are in Miami, Florida! Enjoying the sunny skies, the great food, the cool people, we're here to do some first-hand evaluation of the recommendations for vendors and activities for our upcoming Road Trip Rally in November.

 We flew in yesterday, and our Raider Nation friend Tone', who lives in Hollywood, took us around the Hollywood Strip, and to the Hollywood Beach last night to check out the some prospects that she knows personally. We did a few hours of walking and popping into the venues, and it's interesting to note: for a Wednesday night, that entire strip was ALIVE!

 Live music, dancing, the business owners all around were definitely having a good night. Tone' said that when the weekend comes, the whole space will be a sea of humanity out having fun!

 Our first meeting today is with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. A few months ago, the nice folks there gave us a list of recommended venues to host our event. We'll meet with them to see what our possibilities are.

 Anyway, here are pictures and videos of what we did last night. We'll check out the South Beach recommendations later this afternoon. And you can best believe, the two of us will go all-in to do follow-up visits EVERY NIGHT this weekend!

btw, I'm a whiz at Connect Four! Let's play! 😊  

Yours,
           Afro

TV Networks Deciding If Raiders Will Be Vegas' Home Team - The Road Trip Rally Party Blog!

Hello, Readers!

 The NFL designates a geographic area surrounding a team's home as the Primary Market for that team. This means that, for example, the Denver Broncos will have its games broadcast in the Denver TV market with no opposing game being broadcast in competition for viewers.

NFL Teams are assigned to cities (markets) beyond a team's own home city.

 You won't find the Broncos game on the city's CBS station while simultaneously there is a Cowboys game being shown on the Fox station. The Broncos get that all to themselves.

 Then there is what the NFL calls the Secondary Market. This means that, say in another city in another state, the market there is also designated as belonging to the Broncos. Those folks would be unable to watch the Cowboys on Fox because the Broncos are considered to be "their team" as if they all lived in Denver, too.

 With that in mind, the NFL has not decided if Las Vegas will be considered a Secondary Market for the Raiders. As of this linked Five-ThirtyEight.com story that uses the 2015 season to demonstrate the NFL's rule on this, it was the Dallas Cowboys who were shown most to Las Vegas viewers, followed by the New York Giants.

  Will the new folks in Las Vegas be allowed to start building an attachment to the Raiders? Will the NFL, or the Cowboys, insist that the Vegas market should keep showing other NFL teams until the Raiders actually move there? Well, here's what the NFL has to say about it as of now.

  What do you think? Should Oakland Raiders games start showing up in Las Vegas? Should Cowboys games in Vegas be done away with so that there's no TV competition against the Raiders' broadcasts?

  Thanks,
               Afro

Schedule Makers Treated Them Like A Dog?!! The Road Trip Rally Party Blog!

Hello, all!

There's been a great deal of scrutiny directed toward the 2017 NFL Schedule. ESPN wrote about it, and it's definitely causing some discussion. Some things that are brought up:

• The NFL was really smarting over the poor play of many teams featured on big night games
• The NFL is now showcasing teams that were good in 2016, going all-in with them 
• Two teams that are perennial losers, Jacksonville and Cleveland, get no national games at all, not even Thursday Night Football.

Eleven games with only 6 of the opponents having a winning record. Then comes five consecutive games vs powerhouses.

 And your Oakland Raiders? Well, the league believes that they are worthy to be showcased nation-wide this year for an astounding FIVE GAMES! Sunday Night Football (3 times), Monday Night Football on Christmas Day, and Thursday Night Football. 

 There have been many years in recent history where the Raiders did not get a single nation-wide game. But now, the NFL is with the Raiders. The tide has turned, definitely!

  Another gift to the Tennessee Titans' ownership, as well. With Raider Nation making Nashville a favorite destination (and buying-up otherwise unwanted tickets to Titans games), the NFL schedulers put that game in Nashville for the 3rd-consecutive year. 

  Raider Nation, take a bow! No doubt, you are a shot-in-the-arm to help cure the ticket sales problems of that team! The hotels and restaurants in Nashville, and the taxpayers who may be saddled with that stadium's construction debt in the face of unwanted PSL's collecting dust on the shelves, they all say in advance, "Thank you, Raider Nation!!"  :-) 

 Anyway, the NFL's schedule makers have decided that the Raiders should bunch up all their tough opponents together. Check out the graphic; there will be a length of games, if the opponents' 2016 prowess holds up, that will present quite a challenge to the Raiders. Hopefully, the Raiders will show these perennial playoff teams that they, too, belong in that elite status and have every intention to stay there.

 Our Road Trip Rally Party will be at the Raiders vs Dolphins game, the 9th game of the season. A bye week follows, and then this big five consecutive-game stretch of powerful opponents. We will have an enjoyable time in Miami at the Rally, recharged and re-energized to cheer on the Raiders when play resumes. 

 As you all know, we had considered going to Philadelphia for our 2017 Road Trip Rally Party. The schedule shows that this game is on Christmas Day, a big holiday certainly. We've done a Rally during the Thanksgiving weekend back in 2014, and there's no doubt all of you could make a "Raider Nation Christmas in Philly" work out really well. But for this year, we're onward to Miami!

(we will certainly call the Philadelphia Convention Bureau to thank them for all the work they done on our behalf)

Finally, we should mention: the opponents, with the exception of 2 AFC teams who finished their division standings in the same position as the Raiders did, are all pre-selected years in advance. There was no conspiracy with this schedule...
 "other than perhaps moving the Patriots game away from Oakland so that Tom Brady will not have to risk false starts and bad snaps and other personal mishaps caused by the intensity that only the Raider Nation can bring down on his head but Tom Brady got rescued from having to face all of that because his owner gets his way even when it hurts the integrity of this game like asking one of the Raiders to drop a pass on purpose"  (but I digress) ...to pile onto the Raiders' schedule with all these teams who had winning records in 2016. It just works out that way sometimes that the other divisions are playing really good when the rotation happens to bring them your way.

Anyway, please be sure to read the ESPN article linked above. And thanks so much for your time here right now!

Yours,

Afro

The Stadium Leaders Say, "Let's Deal With This Fog." Here's Today's Road Trip Rally Party Blog!

Hello,

  There's lots going on with the Las Vegas Raiders (will one ever get used to saying that?) this week. On Thursday, April 21st, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority will meet with the Raiders' executive brass to begin hammering out all the details required to get the new stadium going.

  The vote of the NFL owners that took place, that vote simply said, "Yes, Mark Davis, you can move your team." NOW comes the hard part: convincing the city & state leaders what a fair arrangement for all the details will be.

  A short article. Please feel free to read and become..."enlightened."

     Thanks,

                  Afro