Al Davis' death has brought out quite a bit of emotion, not only from the Raiders players, employees, fans and NFL hierarchy, but from media members themselves. Even from those who had frosty relationships with Davis, if any, but respected the man for what he did and his legacy, which will forever be ingrained in the mindset.
In addition, I know a lot of media people in this area who, like me, grew up in the Eastbay in the 70's and have a fond remembrance for Davis and what he stood for and how he interacted. Like John Madden said, he wasn't for everybody.
I often tell people I wish I was born in the 40's or the 50's. It was my kind of style. My kind of culture and my kind of feeling, the vibe, the food, the 'tude, the music, dress, outfit, I could go on and on.
I didn't know Al Davis, although I was able to mingle in his party every now and then with my media pass and he happened to attend the Jewish temple in Oakland I attended. He was very private and kept to himself. When he did talk, it was mostly at the Raiders' offices and after the game. He could be very charming and cunning, as you have read, and yes, he was there to help you, at any cost, if you were lucky enough to be in his inner circle.
Al Davis was one of a kind. He did things that, yes, of course, pissed me off to the extreme. He took our, (my), beloved Raiders out of Oakland and moved them to Los Angeles. I was so bummed. What a damn carpetbagger!
Then, out of the blue, they came back, as did Al, "Mister Davis."
I wish I could have had about twenty minutes with Al before he had passed. I would have loved to engage him and tell him a few things, and yes, listen back. For all his flaws, Mr. Davis was a good man. I'm pretty sure of that.
I would have told him how he and the "Raiduhs!" defined my life growing up in Oakland in the 70's. And that how without Mr. Davis, there'd have been no Oakland A's, or Warriors or Bill Graham having his rock concerts, The "Day on the Greens" at the Oakland Coliseum. As much as the Raiders were Oakland, Oakland was equally "The Raiders."
Mr. Davis, I miss you.
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The Raiders brought pride to all of us in the Eastbay. RIP, Al.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Rich! I was lucky enough to get to know Al Davis very well in his later years. He was so friendly and welcoming that he didn't mind me calling him from time to time at his office at Raider headquarters during the off season when things weren't quite so hectic. We'd end talking for an hour or so about history, politics, and whatever else was on his mind. Very few times would we discuss football, as I figured he was engrossed enough with that. He was very well read, well educated and had strong opinions
ReplyDeleteand appreciations for many things, including jazz and art and American history.
Mr Davis also loved to joust about topics with me, as he appreciated a strong viewpoint, even if it was at odds with his own. He was very enthusiastic about people speaking out if they had a strong foundation on which to base their opinion. Mr Davis once told me surprisingly, that
"you know, sometimes I wonder if I missed some of the better things in life by getting so involved with football." But he also admitted that his love affair with the game and the men who played it was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, with the possible exception of his wife Carole and his son Mark.
People also should realize that Al Davis took care of at least 50 indigent NFL players who needed help in their late years, but never asked anyone to mention it. He was very loyal to people who were around the Raider organization, and if he liked you, he would extend every consideration and courtesy in your direction at any time.
I hope the Raiders will return to the playoffs this year as a tribute to this visionary, this giant who helped make pro football what it is today. All you young people who love fantasy leagues and like to talk NFL, you all owe a debt of gratitude to Al Davis, who more than any other figure in football history, helped shape
the NFL into the super league it now is today.
Rest in Peace Mr Davis...you will never be forgotten by any of us who have been lucky to have followed your team for so many years!
People will always remember you as the " greatest 'Raiduh' of all time!
This really is a sports blog.
ReplyDeleteTo 6:27pm. Wow what a great posting about Mr. Davis. Very revealing, did not know about his love of jazz,but it figures he was a softie when it came to old Raiders down on their luck. RIP.
ReplyDeleteJust Soul, Baby! So Rich, the classic Coliseum concerts from the likes of James Brown in 1968, the Isleys in 1969, and Marvin Gaye in 1974 all happened because Mr. Raidahs had some of his own rhythm & blues?
ReplyDeleteThen again, all those Stones concerts and the Led Zeppelin fiasco in 1977 were also all because of Al? Would've loved to have heard Mr. Davis' opinion of one Mr. Charles O. Finley! And since the late Franklin Mieuli (still, of course, the only NBA Championship owner in Oakland's Warriors history) also owned a piece of the 49ers, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Davis & Mieuli got together for a meeting, lunch, or dinner.
Good post, Rich!
If they have a link listen to at least the first part of Greg Papa being on John Lund's show on 95.7 yesterday. For the record, I like listening to 95.7 more than you, though Lund is quite often a bore even when he has a good co-host. Papa drew back the curtain a bit on Al and reviewed the weekends events. Powerful stuff. He called Al "not only the owner of the Oakland Raiders, but Al WAS the Oakland Raiders."
ReplyDeleteGood reflections on Al, Rich.
ReplyDeleteBut I always alternately cringed and crack-up whenever I hear/see people say they wish they grew up in the 40's & 50's, etc.
I am a black man. And I sure as hell am glad that I didn't grow up then--for all the obvious reasons.
Totally understand how 7:31am feels about growing up in an earlier time. One of the few good things about today is that race issues, (although still very much out there) are not as big a problem for African-American folks as they were in an earlier era when institutionalized and legal racism was a part of our culture.
ReplyDeleteStill, I completely sympathize with Rich's wishes that he had been born earlier. One great thing about being a kid and then a teenager in the 1960s was that people were a lot more civil to each other and also lot more well read. And we didn't have a nation of attention deficeit people who were constantly distracted by texting, twittering, and facebooking. For some reason, young people today seem to find this a better way to communicate with each other than having actual face to face conversations, a situation that absolutely confounds me!
Also in those days, TV wasn't so all
pervasive, with no 24 hour news cycle, and every game wasn;t shown on the boob tube. You actually had to listen to the radio and read the newspapers (what a novel idea!) to keep up with matters.
And music? Don't even get me started. IN the 60s we had great rock, great jazz, and innovative artists who set the tone for the decade. Thank god we didn't have rap, hip hip, or techno pop, vapid styles of expression that feature little use of instruments, melodies, or relevant subject matter. The fact that these genre of music still exist today is a clear indication of just how 'dumbed down' our country's young people have been conditioned by the mass media.
And of course, 'reality TV' also wasn';t even on the radar. The best reality TV is live sports, which is unscripted and spontaneous, not edited by cretins who delight in exposing the tawdry and squalid qualities of the dysfunctional nit wits who are on shows such as 'Survivor.'
We also had many politicians who had some integrity and actually cared about doing some good for their country, and most weren't the tools of our corporate culture which has pretty much hijacked our country.
Yes, there are plenty of good things about today
(more awareness about the fragility of the environment, better understanding on how to treat mental illness, better opportunities for women and minorities more advanced medical procedures), but these positives are unfortunately being outpaced by all the negative things that currently malign the country andfor that matter, the world today in the 21st century. Greed, stupidity, and corporate cretins are causing our downfall, and we all our responsible for being asleep at the wheel while this was happening.
We actually wish you were born in the 40's as well, Rich. Then maybe we wouldn't have to read about how crappy you think today's world is all the time... and what that has to do with Al Davis, nobody knows.
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