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Raiders game vs. 49ers ‘just like old times’ for East Oaklanders left behind

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OAKLAND, Calif. — AJ Cole misses the collegiate feel that football fostered at the Oakland Coliseum. Kolton Miller misses the “ride-or-die” fans who filled it to cheer for the Oakland Raiders. Maxx Crosby for sure misses them too, along with the city of Oakland altogether.

Chris Bibbens-Williams misses his mom. Every day. Especially this weekend.

“My first ever game was the Battle of the Bay,” said Bibbens-Williams, 37, an East Oakland native and educator at Unity Middle School, stationed in the Coliseum’s shadow. His mother, Renee, was a stadium worker and took him to the 1999 preseason edition. She died of heart failure at 54 in 2020, the year the Raiders relocated to Las Vegas.

“(I’ll) think about the memories,” the lifelong Raiders fan said. “It’ll be just like old times for a second.”

The Raiders are heading back to their old home this weekend for the 16th edition of the Battle of the Bay, their regular-season meeting with the rival San Francisco 49ers held once every four years.…

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