Denver ? After coaching the Raiders for a little over a year and against them for the bulk of his pro career, Mike Shanahan never has stopped picking up little nuances that make the trips to Oakland easier.

“I learned it’s better to hang out around the 10-yard line instead of the end zone during warmups,” he said. “That way you don’t get hit by the batteries.”

Yes, it’s “Raiders Week” in Denver, that twice-annual rite of passage that allows the Broncos and their fans to work themselves into a lather about the team they love to hate the most.

“I remember when I first got here, a lot of people came up to me and said, ‘We don’t care if you win any game, as long as you beat the Raiders,'” linebacker Al Wilson said.

Of course, lines like that are uttered all over the league, anywhere a long-standing rivalry exists.

Just last summer, when Lovie Smith was hired as coach of the Chicago Bears, he said one of his main priorities would be to start beating the Packers again (he already has once this year). Before Steve Spurrier began his failed two-year tenure with the Redskins, he said beating Dallas would be at the top of his list (he went 1-3).

In Denver, though, it never really needed to be said — not since the Broncos found success in 1977 and turned this into a rivalry, and especially not since Shanahan became the head coach 10 years ago.

Al Davis hired and fired Shanahan in 1988-89, and the firing left some lingering bitterness. Most notably, Davis still owed Shanahan $250,000 on his contract, but refused to pay it — even after an arbitrator ruled in Shanahan’s favor.

“I guess you could say I’m not on his Christmas card list,” Shanahan said, repeating a statement he has made many times when asked about his relationship with the colorful Raiders owner.

Of course, Shanahan came back to Denver as an assistant after his firing. Then, after leaving again for a few more years, he came back to the Broncos again as the head coach and led them to two Super Bowl victories.

Did he learn from his travails in Oakland, where he went 10-12 over one-plus seasons, including 2-1 against the Broncos? Of course.

“No matter what profession you are in, you always think when you get older you get a little bit more mature,” Shanahan said. “You learn from the mistakes that you make, and you are always trying to learn. When you get in that position where you have some authority, you are always hoping that you make the right decision, and you learn from your mistakes.”

The anger has been brewing pretty much since the Broncos got good. That was 1977 — Denver’s first Super Bowl season — and it became clear the season could be pretty special on a sunny October day in Oakland, when the Broncos defeated the Raiders, 30-7.

Joe Rizzo intercepted Ken Stabler three times. Kicker Jim Turner caught a long touchdown pass from holder Norris Weese on a fake field goal. With the rout on, Tom Jackson yelled at Raiders coach John Madden, “It’s over, fat man.”