Review Of Badasses

I just finished reading Peter Richmond's Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders. This is the story of the Oakland Raiders in the 1970's and the book culminates with the Oakland Raiders finally winning the Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings in 1978.

First of all, I have always hated the Oakland Raiders. I thought they played dirty, were a bunch of cheap shot artists, and every call seemed to go their way. I am sure that author Peter Richmond and every Raider fan of that era would disagree with me as he points out with the "Immaculate Reception" that happened at the end of a Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would have to counter that with the "Holy Roller" at the end of a San Diego Chargers game in 1978.

The Oakland Raiders were a team full of characters in the 1970's. Ken Stabler, Fred Biletnikoff, Marv Hubbard, Pete Banaszak, Phil Villapiano, the Soul Patrol Defensive Backfield, and later John Matuszak and Ted Hendricks. This cast of characters was hand picked and assembled by Al Davis and coached by John Madden. They partied hard off the field and played even harder on the field. John Madden allowed them to be characters as long as they showed up to play on Sundays.

Badasses is not going to make me like Al Davis, John Madden, or the Oakland Raiders any more but it was still a good sports read and well researched. I did find it interesting that several of the players declined to be interviewed for the book and others delighted in retelling their stories. It is all about molding all of the characters and personalities into a championship winning team. After several close calls they did manage to win it all in 1978.

Roger Goodell And The NFL

Roger Goodell has come under fire in recent weeks for his handling of the Ray Rice situation and other situations that have come up. Roger Goodell is tasked with one job and that is protecting the interests of the NFL and those interests are primarily those of the team owners in the NFL. It is in the best interests of the NFL to put their best players on the field. Some of those best players are Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Robert Hardy, and any of the others that have been in trouble lately. Roger Goodell tried sweeping the Ray Rice situation under the rug and he got busted. The Minnesota Vikings tried downplaying the Adrian Peterson situation and only sitting him out one game. Peterson is the Vikings best player. The NFL received so much public opposition to everything that was going on, they suggested to the Vikings that they need to suspend him indefinitely. The same thing with the Carolina Panthers and Robert Hardy. Hardy had already been convicted of a crime committed against his then girlfriend but the Panthers did not do anything until public opinion went against them. I think the NFL should have been proactive and took immediate action. The players in question should have been suspended until the outcome of their situation was settled. Same thing for the owners. They should be suspended from all team activities until the outcome of their situation is settled. The players and owners are partners in the NFL and should be held to the same societal standards of good behavior.

Keith Olberman Speaks Out

Sportscaster Keith Olbermann refused to join the Derek Jeter glory fest that has been on going this season by saying yesterday that he believed Derek Jeter was overrated and did not believe he was one of the top ten New York Yankees of all time. Olbermann went on to say in his "rant" that Jeter was a bad defensive player and inferred that he did not believe that Jeter deserved all of the retirement "festivities" he was getting in New York or in any other city. I have always believed that Derek Jeter was overrated. He always had great hitters batting in front of him and behind him and he always got quality pitches to hit. He played Shortstop for the New York Yankees, played on a couple of World Series Champions, and his career numbers rank among the best of all time. How can anyone say he is overrated? He is overrated for all of the reasons I listed above.