DIE HARD; L.A.'S CRAZY RAIDERS FANS STILL MAKE SUNDAY JOURNEY.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

For three off-duty hospital workers clad in silver and black, Oct. 24 at the Oakland Raiders game began in a Burbank Airport terminal. In an otherwise empty bar. At 8:45 in the morning.

With the first beers of the day in front of them and an NFL pregame show on the television set overhead, Michael McConaghy of Eagle Rock, Frank Kleineisel of Chatsworth and Andy Rivera of Santa Clarita summoned the us-against-the-world bravado they would need to fit in with 45,000 fellow Raiders fans later in the day at the Oakland Coliseum.

``Refs don't like us - You've seen that. Other (teams') fans don't like us, so we stick together,'' said Rivera, a ``Raiders fan from birth'' and an X-ray technician by trade. ``Raiders fans can kick any other fans' (butts).''

Just look, baby: The Raiders may have abandoned Los Angeles five years ago but dozens, sometimes hundreds, of fans like these three have remained true to the black and silver and regularly fly to Oakland on Sundays to root for the home team.

Elsewhere in the terminal, social worker Bill Gould and computer graphics designer Juanita Jordan, both decked out in Raiders gear, waited for their plane to Oakland after being bumped from a crowded 7 a.m. flight.

And at a Southwest Airlines gate nearby, Mel Smith, a Glendale construction projects manager wearing a black Raiders jacket, marveled at how Raiders fans seem to take over the San Fernando Valley airport on Sundays.

``Just look at all the jerseys,'' Smith said.

Berta Crawley, a Southwest customer-service agent, said she recognizes the Raiders fans not only by their attire but by their unusually compact itineraries. Raiders fans fly up and back in a day; they do not check baggage.

Crawley estimates that among the passengers on the five Southwest flights leaving Burbank between 7 and 10:45 a.m. on Sundays, one-third are Raiders fans on a road trip. That would be more than 200 people.

Add in untold numbers from other airlines and other Southern California airports, and there's a sizeable Commitment to Excellence - and a definite Commitment to Frequent Flier Miles.

On Oct. 24, when the Raiders played the New York Jets, the high-flying fans ranged in intensity from La Canada banker John Burrows to Rancho Cucamonga construction worker Wayne Mabry.

Burrows is a former season-ticket holder who was making a rare trip north, lured by the chance to spend an afternoon with his son. ``I know it's unconventional for a banker to be a Raiders fan,'' said a joking Burrows, holding a gray and black sweat shirt under his arm.

Mabry, on the other hand, is the self-described ``ultimate fan,'' who shows up in his sideline seat in an intimidating costume of ``The Violator.''

``In 1991 I launched the character to try to - what's the word? - promote more crowd participation. The players were saying the crowd wasn't into the game,'' Mabry said.

The 43-year-old father of two missed only one home game when the Raiders were in Los Angeles and hasn't missed any since they returned to Oakland.

This season, Mabry has been driving to and from Oakland, getting home early Monday mornings, still in his costume.

``I haven't been able to get the lowest (air) fares,'' he said. Even The Violator has to watch his pennies. ``You should see the look I get at like 3 or 4 in the morning when I pop up in somebody's service station.''

For old L.A. Raiders fans who just can't let go, flying to games can get expensive.

``I'm spending $80 for (game) tickets, $70 for the flight. Then, hot dogs and a Coke,'' Ian Dealhoy, a London-born record-industry consultant from Altadena, said as he read an entertainment magazine while waiting for his flight. ``That's two bills right there.''

Throw in the cost of the short cab ride from the Oakland airport to the stadium - and the obligatory souvenirs - and the cost soars.

``You're spending $400 - for one day,'' said Gary Kash, a Tarzana television editor who wore a Charles Woodson jersey and held a silver and black construction helmet.

``It's, like, $237.50,'' said the pony-tailed McConaghy (not that he's counting).

Gould and Jordan said they plan only one or two such trips this year.

``That's all we can afford,'' Jordan said.

Dealhoy said that when friends suggest he's a fanatic for flying an hour to see the Raiders, he tells them about the New York resident he met who flies to Oakland for every game there.

``That's a little extreme,'' Dealhoy said. ``He must have had some money. And no life.''

Nobody ever accused Raiders fans of being normal.

``Raider fans aren't the nicest people in the world,'' Vince Colavitti, a Chatsworth recording engineer, said as we jetted up the state on a 9:40 a.m. Southwest flight. Fortunately, the dozens of Raiders fans on the plane couldn't hear him over the engine noise.

Colavitti said he and his brother Mike were going to the game with some Jets fans and ``I hope we'll be all right.'' He remembered seeing a Denver Broncos fan get ``pelted with mustard and stuff'' at a Raiders game at the Los Angeles Coliseum a few years ago.

As Colavitti spoke, a bellowing chorus of ``Let's go Raiders!'' went up from the back of the plane. A few minutes later, a flight attendant strolled up the aisle, offering ``peanuts for Raiders fans.''

If the airplane seemed like an unfriendly place for non-Raiders fans, Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland would be thoroughly intimidating.

There was a banner heralding one group of end-zone fans as the ``Skull Patrol,'' and another reading, ``Welcome to the Darkside.'' Fans watching their heroes warm up an hour before the game are serenaded by hard-edged Led Zeppelin and AC/DC songs. Behind one set of goalposts, effigies of an NFL referee and Jets star Keyshawn Johnson were being pummeled by Raiders zealots as kickoff neared.

Raiders management has struggled to sell the team's outlaw image to the Bay Area's upper crust. Many of the stadium's luxury boxes were empty Sunday.

But the real down-and-dirty fans were as enthusiastic as ever. Most wore the intimidating silver and black. The whole pre-game scene looked like Halloween come early.

Then the game started and things turned really ugly. The Raiders fell behind the Jets, a disappointing team this season, by a 20-3 score late in the third quarter. The fans quit booing the Jets and began booing Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon. A scuffle broke out in the ``Skull Patrol'' section and a young man was led away in handcuffs.

If the natives were restless, imagine how the fans who came all the way from Los Angeles felt.

``I don't know if I can speak for all of 'em,'' Mabry said on the phone the next day. ``But I got real irritated, for lack of a better term, whether it's lack of intensity or questionable play calling (that caused the Raiders to fall behind).''

Just about the time the traveling fans began to ponder a solemn trip home, the Raiders launched a stirring rally and won 24-23 when Gannon completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to James Jett with 26 seconds on the clock.

``We pulled that one out of the bag,'' a hoarse McConaghy said as he sank into a chair in the Oakland airport waiting area.

His friend Rivera appeared wiped out by the game. Or maybe by the beer.

The three men estimated they'd spent almost $100 on beer alone.

``It was great. It was worth it. I haven't seen a Raiders game like that in a long time,'' Rivera said.

The flight to Burbank was suitably boisterous. The pilot congratulated Raiders fans on their victory. In the back of the plane, the hospital workers' beer tab soared easily past the $100 mark.

As wheels touched tarmac at 8:45 p.m. - 12 hours after the first beers of the day - a familiar hoarse voice sang out: ``Touchdown!''

Fred Mesropi, who went to the game with Kash and Harry Arjabedian, fingered a plastic shopping bag full of Raiders shirts and hats - and a set of pompoms he bought for $5 from a Raiders cheerleader. He said the pompoms would go nicely with his girlfriend's Halloween costume. She's going as a Raiderette.

``It makes (the game) all the more enjoyable to make a trip out of it,'' Mesropi said. ``We're going home penniless, but it was worth it. We saved enough for the Burbank valet (parking) guy.''

And how about Juanita Jordan, who'd said one or two such trips would be ``all we can afford''?

``It was totally worth the expense,'' she said on the way home. ``I can't wait to do it again - next week.''

A SUNDAY IN THE LIFE OF A RAIDERS FAN

6 a.m. - Wake up. Neglect to shower or shave, so as to fit in with other Raiders fans. Put on silver and black jersey; silver and black face paint optional.

7:30 a.m. - Arrive at Burbank Airport. Park ($8 a day across the street, $24 a day in structure next to terminal).

7:35 a.m. - Buy newspaper to read about Raiders game on the plane.

8:10 a.m. - Take off for Oakland Airport. (Southwest Airlines offers five flights between 7 and 10:45 a.m. on Sundays; fares range from $106 to $178).

9:15 a.m. - Land in Oakland. Ignore Baggage Claim signs (who needs luggage for a 12-hour trip?) and follow Ground Transportation signs.

9:30 a.m. - Zip to Network Associates Coliseum in a taxi (less than $10 each way, plus tip) or on an Air BART shuttle bus ($2 each way).

9:45 a.m. - Take foot bridge into Coliseum parking lot.

9:46 a.m. - Crash first of several tailgate parties, consuming as much beer and food as you can get away with.

12:30 p.m. - Suddenly remember there's a game to go to; collect preordered tickets at will call window (tickets cost $41 to $81 each).

1:15-4 p.m. - The game.

4:30 p.m. - Bus or cab back to the airport.

4:45 p.m. - Early dinner at airport cafeteria while watching Raiders highlights on local TV.

6:45 p.m.-7:45 p.m. - Fly to Burbank.

8:30 p.m. - Home in time to watch Raiders highlights again on ESPN.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) Hard-core Oakland Raiders fan Wayne Mabry drove his car from his home in Rancho Cucamonga to see the Raiders play.

(2 -- color) Oakland Raiders fan Frank Kleineisel of Chatsworth raises his hands as he boards a Southwest Airlines 737 bound for Oakland with friends.

(3 -- color) A fan wearing the Raiders emblem cheers at Network Associates Coliseum during the Raiders game against the Jets on Sunday.

(4 -- color) From left, hard-core Raiders fans Frank Kleineisel of Chatsworth, Andy Rivera of Santa Clarita and Mike McConaghy of Eagle Rock drink beer at Burbank Airport.

(5 -- color) Raider wide receiver Tim Brown runs for a touchdown during the game against the Jets in Oakland on Sunday.

(6 -- color) A tired Frank Kleineisel sits in a chair at the Oakland airport while waiting for a plane to return him to Southern California.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box: A day in the life of a Raiders fan (see text)