(Part 2) Top products from r/oaklandraiders

I've actually read two books in the past couple of months. "Badasses" by Peter Richmond:

https://www.amazon.com/Badasses-Legend-Maddens-Oakland-Raiders/dp/0061834319

and "Just Win, Baby: Al Davis and His Raiders" by Glenn Dickey:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0151465800/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and I also have on my shelf 'Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis' by Mark Ribowsky. I have not started this one yet:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0026025000/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

Badasses covers the team mostly through John Madden's years up through 1976 and a few words through the '78 season, I believe. It was actually a really good book if you want to know more about how the Raiders established themselves and finally broke through after losing the eventual champions for so many years. I loved it. Absolutely one of the best football books I've ever read and a key to understanding the establishment of what it meant to 'be a Raider'. It was published in 2013, so it's certainly a bit more recent than either Al Davis biography.


Dickey's book is centered strictly around Al Davis with plenty of anecdotes, mostly from the viewpoint of an old beat writer. It felt a little light at times but makes for a great continuation from what 'Badasses' established. From memory, it really focuses on the more high profile incidents involving Davis including the feud with Rozelle around the Raider's move to LA and it does a GREAT job of highlighting the negotiations between Davis and Oakland and Davis and LA. You have to keep in mind that the Raiders wouldn't return to Oakland until 1995 and this book was published in 1991.


I believe Richmond cited Ribowsky's book quite a bit in 'Badasses'. As mentioned, I haven't read it yet, but it looks a bit more dense than Dickey's book. It seems like it was released at the same time as Dickey's book and perhaps was a bit of competition between book companies based on the fact they were both released about the same time.


As far as being 'hit' pieces, 'Badasses certainly isn't, as it is centered around the team more than Davis himself. Dickey's book was fair enough and reads like an Oakland beat writer wrote it. Nothing that really made me stop and think, 'Well, that was a unnecessarily harsh.'

Minimalist Wallets (sometimes also called "Slim Wallets" - but they're not always the same thing) are even better.

You can hold ALL your needed cards and even some cash (if you actually still carry cash around..) and it takes up way less space - you can literally just fit them in either your front pocket, or better yet, the small extra front pocket present on almost all pants (the one that we never seem to actually make use of, despite it being there).

The Radix One is one that's a really great one, very slick, modern, sleek and easy to use (here's a non-affiliate link to it on Amazon) - I have nothing to do with them, it's just a nice wallet. I've never had a single issue with any cash I may put in it (ex: going to an event) falling out - the tension and friction from the band holds it in just fine.

Get one and never look back. Seriously. You'll wonder why you lugged around a bulky, clunky wallet all those years. It also has the bonus feature of being way less likely to be pick-pocketed since 1) pick-pocketers generally aim for traditional wallets, which are generally in your back pocket, and 2) somehow managing to pull these minimalist wallets out of your small front pocket without you noticing would be much harder to do (they'd have to get right in front of you, generally lift your shirt up a bit, and pull it out of a front pocket which has a higher tension band/seam going into it).

You'll also stop fading and wearing down your pants where your old wallets used to be.

Do You Love Football?: Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep

Just ordered a copy.

Heres a good one:
Americas Game the Super bowl Champs 1976 Oakland Raiders

http://www.amazon.com/NFL-Americas-Game-RAIDERS-Super/dp/B001CRD5SY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1456790507&sr=8-2&keywords=americas+game+1976+raiders

The entire game is on this Raider complete history DVD and a great watch. I highly recommend it.

This is pretty good and written by Howie Long:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-For-Dummies-4E-Howie-Long/dp/1118012615

I wish he would of issued a statement as to why he took Umcka. Did he take it as cold medicine like it's sold by Nature's Way on Amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Umcka-Original-Alcohol/dp/B00185OHAK

Or did he take it consistently when he wasn't even sick knowing it would give him some sort of advantage?

If the latter -- you gotta be real careful with that shit or things like this can happen.

Ha! This is totally the band! I just found the the CD on Amazon. I remember this tracklist like it was yesterday. Thank you so much!

Thanks!

I found it on amazon in case anyone else is looking for it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607301229/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A31Q3R4VEAJYPZ

What's been the hardest for me to accept throughout all this is that the rich minority just got fucking richer again, and the poor got screwed in the process, like always.

Just like with the corporate and political corruption we read about every day, today, the cold calculating scam artist got what he wanted. The SB Champion Patriots got what they wanted. And our team, who seemed very accommodating and supportive throughout this entire process, was duped and screwed. And there will be no repercussions.

I don't care about the 5th rd pick; we signed several undrafted FA's. The 3rd is a bit harder to swallow.

But what hurts the most is that in this world, being a heartless scumbag will get you success, money, and probably superbowl rings. Whereas people who aren't total assholes, like Gruden - who probably won't press charges for wiretapping - get stabbed in the back. Psychopaths climb the ladders of our society with ease. Such is the world we live in, and today was yet another reminder. That's the hardest part for me to get over, especially with all these celebrities celebrating AB's "mastermind genius chess finesse" on his instagram posts. Mack's trade was arguably a win for everyone involved. This is only a win for AB and the Pats.

In case anybody else needs one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00064CED6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_s_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1473628206&sr=1-3&pi=SX200_QL40

It's on Amazon

Start here

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Like-John-Howard-Griffin/dp/0451234219

https://www.amazon.com/Youre-Okay-Its-Just-Bruise/dp/0312136277

I have some Raider mugs I use constantly. Also look into the new book Badasses.

https://www.amazon.com/RN4Life-Raiders-Patches-Anniversary-Embroidered/dp/B07TXSZPKS

And more.

Most here will encourage watching some vids. That's cool and worthwhile effort, but let me say that I really think you should start with 2 books :

• Bad Asses
  
• John Madden : A Biography
  
  ---
  
  Here is an excerpt from Madden : https://www.reddit.com/r/oaklandraiders/comments/3wbnia/how_john_madden_influenced_cbss_football_coverage/
  
  and another :
  
  https://www.reddit.com/r/oaklandraiders/comments/3dnrpn/john_madden_said_that_game_was_the_most_proud/
  
  And here is one for Bad Asses :
  
  https://www.reddit.com/r/oaklandraiders/comments/3nac0n/gerald_irons_recalls_how_he_learned_the_raider/
  
  
  

If you want a very basic intro to the game (what position groups do, zone vs man), check out Pat Kirwan's book Take Your Eye Off the Ball

If you're interested in certain schemes that dominated football, how they evolved, how they are used today, and an overall history of the game check out Chris B Brown's Blog and his two books

If you're interested in specific parts of a scheme, say fronts, coverages, run blocking techniques, etc. check out Matt Bowen's NFL 101 Series. Unfortunately these aren't well organized but I learned a ton reading his articles

I also second /r/footballstrategy, specifically the wiki. Grizzfan has put an insane amount of work to that sub, tons of knowledge dumped into that page.