RAIDERS BIG IN HISPANIC COMMUNITY.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

No wonder the Oakland Raiders are so big on second chances. It's hard to imagine anyone making better use of one than they have in courting the Hispanic community.

The Raiders became the first NFL team to operate a Spanish-language Web site and have long broadcast their games in Spanish. They celebrate Hispanic heritage month, honoring local heroes, and hold Football 101 classes in Spanish.

All of which have gone further than their first gesture.

After Oakland was awarded the last of eight spots in the inaugural American Football League in 1960, the team held a contest to determine its nickname, according to Jeff Miller in ``Going Long,'' his recently published oral history of the AFL.

As the story goes, one of the club's owners had the habit of addressing everyone as Senor. The partner, in the franchise's first demonstration of its determination to just win, baby, saw to it that the contest was fixed and a close friend's entry was chosen as the winner: the Oakland Senors.

The announcement was made at a cocktail party, complete with a mascot dressed in a sarape and a sombrero.

The other partners, quickly realizing the public-relations disaster on their hands, said adios to Senors. Soon, they were the Raiders.

Now, they are Latin America's Team.

The Raiders' relationship with the Hispanic community was forged when coach Tom Flores and quarterback Jim Plunkett - both with Hispanic roots - led them to a pair of Super Bowl titles in the early 1980s.

It has been cemented by the ideals that many in the Hispanic community hold dear: family ties, a blue-collar ethic, a maverick's independence and, of course, plenty of machismo.

``It's an attitude thing,'' said Alex Carranza, president of the South Bay Area Raiders Booster Club. ``We're rooting for somebody who has the same attitude we do - basically, that nothing was given to you, that you've got ... a swagger.''

Carranza's club often meets at Alfredo's Restaurant in Carson to watch the games on Sunday. Another popular gathering place is at Poncho's in Manhattan Beach.

Luis Molina, who grew up in the East Bay, was introduced to the Raiders by his father as a boy in the 1960s. He said it was easier to draw a connection with the team than with the 49ers.

``You either like Al Davis or you don't,'' said Molina, who works in the bilingual-education program at Cal State Hayward. ``But he understands the business, the pulse of the community. He hired Art Shell, the first black coach in the NFL. He hired Amy Trask, the first woman executive. I think people connect with that.

``People who have immigrated recently from Latin American countries - they want to learn English and assimilate but still keep a sense of their particular culture. When you have somebody like the Raiders talk to them through their Web site, through radio, it really says a lot to the Spanish-speaking community. It says we're here to serve you as well.''

Patty Herrera, who for the past year and a half has directed the team's Hispanic initiatives, said family matters with the club and in the Latino community.

``La Familia has always been No. 1,'' said Herrera, who also works as a Raiderette. ``If you look on the sidelines, you always see a lot of former players around - Raymond Chester, Willie Brown, Jim Otto, Jack Tatum. The Raiders have always been very family-oriented.''

In Los Angeles' heavily Hispanic pockets - say, East L.A., South Gate or Carson, for example - it's hard to go a city block without spotting some type of Raider paraphernalia.

Some gangs have co-opted Raider gear as their own. Carranza, the booster club president, said that's unfortunate and concedes too many Raider fans let their testosterone get the best of them. Still in the minds of many was an incident in Los Angeles where a Steelers fan was beaten so badly he ended up hospitalized.

``Gangs don't represent us,'' Carranza said. ``They don't know who the quarterback or wide receivers are. They just wear it for the colors.

``I'm sure we're never going to get rid of that (violence) aspect. Machismo is a word to throw around to show an image so people don't push us around. We have feelings, but we don't want people to let us know we have fear. Some people take it too far and that's why we have these fights.''