By Scary Barry Rodriguez April 11, 2011
(SAN FRANCISCO) - Much has been written about the Oakland Raiders and Peter Richmond adds to their legend in his entertaining " BADASSES " THE LEGEND OF SNAKE,FOO, DR.DEATH AND JOHN MADDEN'S OAKLAND RAIDERS. The book is devoted to the period in the seventies when the Oakland Raiders won six divisional titles and then a Superbowl in 1977. Half of the book describes the madcap partying of the Raiders at their old training camp located in Santa Rosa at the El Rancho Tropicana Hotel and various dives such as the Bamboo room,the Music Box, Melendy's and the Hilltopper. The partying was not restricted to training camp. It was a team who could ride out hangovers and still perform on the field !
Richmond liberally uses the term " badasses " or " badass " throughout the book to describe everything the Raiders were doing. Sometimes it is a bit much. I guess if you were a Raider player in the seventies you didn't merely take a dump , it had to be a " badass " dump or if you were driving a car you would be " badass " driving. I think you get the point ! In order to live up to this nonsense Richmond has to portray the Oakland Raiders as an outlaw football team.
It is a colorful story with a cast of characters such as Kenny " the Snake " Stabler, Phil Villiapiano " Foo ", Skip Thomas " Dr.Death " and many others. The emphasis is always on the unconventional nature of their players, coaches and the brilliance of everything they did. For fanatic Raider fans the book is equivalent to the dead sea scrolls. It lionizes the dominant players such as Kenny Stabler, Ray Guy, George Atkins, Fred Billetnickoff and others. After reading this book any outsider should think that the Oakland Raiders of the seventies walked on water. The later half of the book finally gets down to discussing crucial games that the Raiders played and the role of the players. Of course there is the obligatory detailing of the several times that the Raiders were wrongfully deprived of victory by NFL officials .
In all the book is a good read and invokes a longing for a more colorful time in the NFL , when players and coaches were allowed to have diverse personalities and even enjoy the game ! Terrell Owen's take on the NFL as the NO FUN LEAGUE is spot on . In today's billion dollar jock world there is no way the Oakland Raider " Badasses " of the seventies could have existed. The tight ass corporate owners and NFL are more concerned about spread sheets than pleasing fans.
Note: Be sure to stay tuned for more " badass " articles about " badasses " and anything else by Scary Barry Rodriguez the " Badass " of Sport's commentary !
BarryRodriguez(c)2011. All rights reserved.
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