Ultimate Windsor Raider fan already living for next season

‘Raider Mike’ has traded in mascot costume for more time
with friends and family at the game
by Nathan Wright, Staff Writer
Raider fans in Windsor may not think they know Mike Umphenour,
but chances are they’ve seen him on television. Windsor resident
Umphenour is none other than Dark Raider, the retired Oakland
Raider unofficial mascot who has been featured on television, film
and in newspapers since the late 1970s.
The man who friends call “Raider Mike” represents a group of
diehard Oakland Raider fans who have spent the last 35 years
living, and dying, with their football team.
The Dark Raider mascot costume was born on a Halloween night in
the late 1970s when a trick-or-treater showed up on the Umphenour
family doorstep as Darth Vader, the black chromed, half man-half
machine villain of the Star Wars trilogy.
With nothing more than a slight inkling of the future, Umphenour
borrowed a Darth Vader mask from a neighbor and took it to a Raider
game against the San Diego Chargers. Sometime during the game, he
put on the mask, walked down to the sidelines, and “confronted” the
San Diego chicken. Umphenour said that gestures were traded, fun
was had, and Dark Raider was born.
Dark Raider began going to every Raider game, and the costume
took form with a cape, a sword and a shield inscribed with the word
“defense.”
“I’d do the whole north parking lot before the game,” said
Umphenour. “During the game I’d roam the entire stadium. I didn’t
even know the score sometimes. I was so into it.”
As Dark Raider became a familiar part of the Oakland Coliseum,
he found himself thrust into the media spotlight. Photographers for
the Oakland Tribune caught him in photos, NFL films used him in
Raider footage, and fans began asking for autographs.
Life was good for Umphenour until the 1981 season when team
owner Al Davis moved the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles. He can
still remember where he was when he heard the news, sitting in a
Volkswagen in San Rafael while his friend Rocky was in a UPS
office.
“It was like a divorce,” he said.
Umphenour did what any loyal fan would do when his team moved.
He bought a satellite dish, and continued watching silver and black
football. For 14 years he watched the Raiders play for another
city, until 1995 when the team moved back to Oakland. Umphenour
bought season tickets, and Dark Raider pulled his helmet and cape
out of storage and returned to the Oakland Coliseum.
But shortly after the Raiders returned, Dark Raider retired. “I
wanted to be with everybody, to see the game,” explained Umphenour.
“My wife goes, my daughter goes, my granddaughter goes.” The
costume is now in pieces, some of it destroyed by a dog. He’s
thinking of putting together the suit again in the future, but he’s
content for now to enjoy tailgate parties and to sit in the stands
as a regular fan.
For Mike and his wife Maureen, Raider games are a full weekend
event. He begins preparing for Sunday games on Friday night by
preparing food. He was a butcher before he retired, owning Petaluma
Meats and Deli. The deli didn’t have a menu on the wall because
Raider pictures, newspaper clippings and memorabilia took up all of
the available space.
On Saturday, Umphenour gets his rest. “I don’t go anywhere, I
don’t do anything, I rest,” he said. He goes to bed early, and the
Sunday Raider experience begins at 4:30 the next morning. After
gathering the food, and loading up the silver and black PT Cruiser,
Mike and Maureen leave their Windsor home at 6 a.m. to head for the
Coliseum. At 7:30 a.m. they arrive a few blocks from the stadium
where they meet 20 to 30 friends, who all caravan to the parking
lot together.
At 8 a.m. the parking lot opens, and the tailgating begins.
Umphenour’s Raider group owns three tents. They have televisions in
their cars, and they have enough barbeques to prepare a feast. The
group hangs out until noon. Then they pack up and head to their
seats.
“It’s a project,” he said. “It takes a lot of work and
effort.”
Games typically end between 4 and 4:30 p.m., and the Umphenours
arrive home around 6 p.m. “We go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” said
Maureen. If the Raiders win, Mike will sit and watch the
highlights. If they lose, he leaves the television off.
During away games, they tailgate in their two-car garage, which
houses wall-to-wall Raider memorabilia, and no cars. Two barbeques
and a big-screen television entertain 10 to 20 tailgaters on
weekends when the Raiders travel. Umphenour cooks breakfast, lunch
or dinner for his guests.
The Raiders may have gone a “brutal” 4-12 this season, but that
didn’t stop the faithful Windsor fans from throwing a party every
weekend. Umphenour is already looking forward to next year.
“We count the weeks,” he said.