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00:00Oakland was always the underdog.
00:07We're always the blue-collar city.
00:09We work hard, and they're hardly working.
00:12You'll come and play us in our stadium,
00:14but Oakland's not good enough to use it.
00:16State!
00:17Great town, great stadium, great crowd.
00:20Guys were fighting on the buses,
00:21we were fighting on the planes,
00:23fighting on the field.
00:24Those boys were working their heads out!
00:28If it hadn't been free agency,
00:30we'd have won every year.
00:31They'd hit you harder, they'd hit you later.
00:34It's like you might imagine
00:35someone's going to put you in with a motorcycle gang.
00:38In Oakland, they didn't care what you looked like
00:40or what you talked like.
00:42Play like hell.
00:44They saw us as rebels
00:46because we were always on the edge of something.
00:49We were the kind of like the stepchild of the Bay Area,
00:52but we won championships.
00:53We won championships.
00:58We don't win.
01:00There is no there, there
01:11was how Gertrude Stein, the writer,
01:14described her childhood home,
01:16Oakland, California.
01:18Oakland was a small city
01:19with a large inferiority complex.
01:21In the vibrant Bay Area of the 1960s,
01:25Oakland was a port town
01:26filled with shipyards, factories,
01:29and blue-collar workers.
01:31Oakland also had the misfortune
01:32of being the gritty, low-lying city
01:35directly across the Bay
01:36from San Francisco.
01:39San Francisco was Oz.
01:41It was the gleaming city to the west.
01:44It had beautiful bridges that connected to it.
01:46It was truly an international destination.
01:48To me, it was Paris, France.
01:50It was the most beautiful city in the world.
01:52It had TV shows named after it.
01:54Oakland is the largest container port in the world.
01:59San Francisco also dominated the Bay Area's sports landscape.
02:05San Francisco had the Giants and Willie Mays.
02:08Oakland didn't even have a baseball team.
02:11San Francisco had the 49ers of the grand old NFL.
02:15Oakland's franchise was the Raiders of the Ragtag AFL,
02:19a team that didn't even have its own stadium.
02:21Everything was, you know, like we were second citizens.
02:26You know, and, you know, Oakland and the AFL,
02:29and it's not Major League.
02:31It was Oakland against San Francisco.
02:33It was AFL against NFL.
02:35And we were just always fighting that, you know,
02:38hey, we're here too.
02:40We always looked at the second-class citizens over here
02:42compared to there.
02:43You know, they drank the wine, we drank the beer.
02:45Hoping to use sports to help change its second-class image,
02:52the city set about the construction
02:53of a $30 million state-of-the-art multi-sport stadium.
02:57It opened in September of 1966.
03:01When you put the Raiders in there
03:02and the Raider fans out of the tough blue-collar city of Oakland,
03:07there's some atmosphere.
03:08It's electric.
03:09It's exciting.
03:11You look up at the stands, you see, you know,
03:13black fans, white fans, working-class fans, bricklayers,
03:16people who go back in the city of Oakland,
03:18work all week so they can get a ticket
03:19to go to the football game.
03:20It was a sort of Hell's Angels feel about it.
03:23And they would treat you like them,
03:25but it was, they were great in that regard
03:28if they didn't scare the hell out of you to begin with.
03:32You know, there wasn't any special sessions.
03:34Everybody basically drank out of the same bottle,
03:37and, you know, and when they were done,
03:39they threw it at somebody.
03:40For the Raiders, the Oakland Coliseum was a smash hit,
03:45and the city's...
03:45Again, in 1968,
03:52Oakland lured the A's from Kansas City.
03:55That was probably, at the time,
03:58the height of city-dom,
03:59to have a Major League Baseball team
04:01and a Major League Football AFL franchise in your city.
04:05So it was an exciting time for the city of Oakland,
04:09and probably the glory days of Oakland.
04:15By the late 60s,
04:17America was looking at Oakland
04:18for reasons altogether apart from sports.
04:22The free speech movement
04:23had erupted next door in Berkeley.
04:25The summer of love had blossomed in San Francisco.
04:28And anti-war protests were in full swing.
04:30The Bay Area had become America's hotbed of politics.
04:35I don't think I realized at that time, maybe,
04:38just how big a part of what was going on nationally
04:41was happening right in my backyard.
04:43I didn't like the war.
04:46But the American was in that war.
04:49And I went along because the American was in that war.
04:52And I hated them damn protesters.
04:53And we'd get fights with the police and stuff.
04:56They used to go out in the street
04:57going toe-to-toe with them.
04:59And if they won,
05:00we got arrested for resisting arrest.
05:03And if we won and got away,
05:06that was the end of it.
05:08A couple of miles from the Hells Angels Clubhouse in Oakland,
05:12Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
05:13created the revolutionary Black Panther Party in 1966.
05:16The two greatest contributions to Oakland
05:21in terms of its name identification
05:24were the Raiders and the Black Panther Party.
05:26With all the Panther power,
05:28we will greet you.
05:31We will enalage you.
05:33We greet you only with the revolutionary favor of the people.
05:38We greet you with the gun.
05:40As a team,
05:41given the explosiveness of Berkeley,
05:44the city of Oakland,
05:46the Panthers,
05:46and all of the things around us,
05:48it was very easy for us to be identified
05:51with all of those elements.
05:53That was just what it was.
05:56White people were hippies
05:57and Blacks were militant
06:01or Black Panthers.
06:03In the late 60s,
06:04you're looking at a political scene
06:05that really is starting to become
06:07very noticeable.
06:09You look at all these things happening,
06:11and I think for me,
06:12it was just a lot coming at you.
06:17Yep.
06:18A 22-year-old pitcher from North Carolina
06:21named Jim Catfish Hunter
06:22pitched the city's first perfect game,
06:26a sign that the team's young talent
06:28was coming together.
06:31A lot of the guys on that ball club,
06:32we came up through the minor leagues together.
06:34You know, we were basically a family.
06:35The A's collection of budding stars
06:39included players like
06:41Burt Campanaris,
06:42Joe Rudy,
06:43Gene Tennis,
06:44and Vida Blue.
06:45Third baseman Sal Bando
06:47was the team captain.
06:49But everything seemed to swirl
06:50around a young slugger
06:51from outside Philadelphia.
06:53The straw that stirred the A's drink.
06:56Reginald Martinez-Jackson.
06:58He was our power hitter.
07:08He was our RBI guy,
07:09and if he needed a home run,
07:12he was usually the guy that provided it.
07:13He loved that red light on the camera
07:14when it popped on.
07:16He was at his best.
07:17It was the most interesting thing.
07:18Joe would hit a two-run home run,
07:20I'd make a game-winning catch,
07:21and Reggie gets the headlines the next day.
07:24A catfish pitch a two-hit shout-out,
07:25but Reggie gets the headlines, you know.
07:27He strikes out three times,
07:28he's the headline.
07:31In 1971,
07:33the Oakland A's won their first division title.
07:36But still,
07:37they were better known for how they dressed.
07:39Baseball teams were only supposed to come
07:41in white or gray,
07:42and definitely did not look like this.
07:45The team colors were
07:46Kelly Green,
07:48Fort Knox Gold,
07:49Wedding Gal White,
07:50and Vida Blue.
07:51I had the first year,
07:53we had solid green bottoms,
07:54but no one,
07:54we looked like the large green beans
07:56running around out there.
07:58There was very little dignity
07:59involved in the operation of the A's.
08:02They looked like weekend softball players
08:05that somehow got into major league uniforms.
08:08The first time you put them on,
08:09your feet look like they're twice as big as they are
08:11because you're just not used to seeing white shoes.
08:14You know, you thought,
08:15I'm not going to buy this white shoe thing,
08:16and then they got down there
08:17in that combination of green and gold and white.
08:20It's beautiful.
08:21The uniforms were the proud creation of one man,
08:25the A's owner,
08:26Charles Oscar Finley.
08:27New Charlie O.
08:29He looked like the Wizard of Oz,
08:31the guy behind the curtain.
08:34Raised in Gary, Indiana,
08:35Charlie Finley,
08:37a steel worker's son,
08:38was a self-made millionaire
08:39who bought the A's in 1961
08:42and then took Barnum-esque promotions to a new level.
08:47He was a gimmick man.
08:48He felt that that entertained the fans
08:50and the fans needed to be entertained.
08:52Like by the enormous mule
08:53that he named after himself,
08:55Charlie O.,
08:56who appeared at all A's functions,
08:58even the ones that were indoors.
09:00He would take the mule right into the lobby of the hotel
09:02and have that mule eat oats
09:04out of a sterling silver bowl.
09:06And Charlie would always tell the hotel people,
09:08don't worry,
09:09this mule's house is broken.
09:10Well, he wasn't.
09:11And in New York,
09:12he chose that moment to prove it.
09:14The thing about the Bay Area
09:16is that we're somehow cooler
09:18than the rest of the country.
09:20And, you know,
09:21the donkey and the white shoes
09:23and the rabbit popping up behind home
09:25play with a bucket of balls.
09:27It all seemed really sort of
09:29Iowa County fair to us.
09:31At least the mule kept his job.
09:36Finley's humans didn't fare so well.
09:39Over the course of the day,
09:42he went through a dozen managers,
09:44eight publicity men,
09:46seven farm directors,
09:47and four general managers.
09:50Until he finally settled
09:51on the one man he wouldn't fire.
09:53Himself.
09:55He was the first to do a lot of things.
09:57Because of Charlie Finley,
09:59the World Series games are at night.
10:01The All-Star game moved tonight.
10:04The designated hitter.
10:05He even tried the designated runner.
10:07It was knowledgeable.
10:08Very knowledgeable.
10:10Is that really a good thing, though?
10:11Not to the extent that he could run
10:13a ball club on the field,
10:14but he could certainly run it
10:15via telephone
10:16and from the general manager spot
10:18and the owner spot.
10:19And he lets you know that, too.
10:21As much of a meddler as Finley was,
10:24he was instinctively brilliant at one thing.
10:26He had a sense of talent
10:28that I've never seen before or since.
10:31He could look into your soul
10:33and see whether you were a winner.
10:34I mean, you might be hitting 310,
10:35but he knew that you wouldn't win,
10:37that you wouldn't hit 310 when it counted.
10:39In the summer of 72,
10:48the Finley's A's were steamrolling
10:50the Western Division.
10:52While 60 miles north of Oakland,
10:54the Raiders were reporting to camp
10:56in Santa Rosa.
11:00It was a wild scene every summer
11:02when the Raiders came to town,
11:03filled with hippies,
11:04Hells Angels,
11:05and football players
11:06looking for a good time.
11:07Everybody in town
11:08was very, very friendly to us.
11:10They were very happy.
11:11I recognize that voice anywhere.
11:13We were there.
11:14We had some great bars
11:15to go to after practice
11:17that made us feel very comfortable,
11:18but we all needed
11:19to replenish our fluids every day.
11:21We had a couple of guys,
11:22our two Germans,
11:23Jim Otto and Gus Otto,
11:26where they were up
11:26in the three-pitcher category,
11:28which is a gallon
11:28and a half of liquid.
11:30The team headquartered
11:32at a motel
11:32called El Rancho Tropicana,
11:34which the Raiders
11:35turned into the NFL's
11:36best frat house.
11:37filled with guns,
11:40booze,
11:40and motorcycles.
11:43God,
11:44I don't want to go
11:44to training camp.
11:45It's so hard.
11:47I couldn't wait
11:47to get out the door
11:48because it was a ball.
11:49Your first experience
11:50then with the Oakland Raiders
11:51was,
11:52it's like you might imagine
11:53someone's going to put you
11:54in with a motorcycle gang.
11:56The guys are big,
11:57tough,
11:58you know,
11:58and they don't like
11:59rookies very much.
12:00I can remember
12:01the first time
12:01I lined up at tight end,
12:03I blocked down
12:04on Ben Davidson,
12:04and as I always do,
12:06I held him a little bit.
12:07Ben picked me up,
12:08threw me down
12:08on my back,
12:09and whispered my,
12:10I'll kill you
12:11if you ever do that again.
12:13The Raiders
12:14seemed to spring hole
12:15from one man's
12:16mysterious personality.
12:17He was the anti-Finley,
12:20dressed in black
12:21with a pompadour.
12:22He was consumed
12:23by the game of football.
12:25Al Davis.
12:26Al Davis
12:26was the NFL's
12:28middle finger.
12:29He always looked to me
12:30to be a Las Vegas
12:33car dealer or something,
12:34or a casino owner.
12:36You know,
12:36he had a black
12:38Cadillac Fleetwood brawn
12:40with black tinted windows
12:41and no license plates.
12:43He really doesn't care
12:44if you like him.
12:45He really doesn't care
12:46if you respect him.
12:48The only thing
12:49he wants you to do
12:50is fear.
12:51The owl always
12:51kind of carried a chip
12:52on his shoulder.
12:54About what?
12:55Who knows?
12:55One day,
12:56in preparation,
12:58for playing the Chargers,
12:59he walked by me
13:00and whispered
13:00under his breath
13:01that I'm laughing
13:01at you in San Diego.
13:03So I said,
13:04you can't use
13:05child psychology on me.
13:06I'm a grown man.
13:07And that night,
13:08laying in bed,
13:08I'm looking up
13:09at the ceiling,
13:10thinking,
13:10you're laughing at me
13:11in San Diego.
13:12He was sort of
13:13that personification
13:14of openers.
13:15He says,
13:15okay, fine.
13:15You don't think much of us.
13:17You don't like us.
13:18Well,
13:18we're not only going to prove
13:19that we're smarter than you,
13:20we'll do anything
13:21to prove that we're smarter than you.
13:24Davis had been raised
13:25in Brooklyn
13:25and his street smarts
13:27mixed well
13:27with the rebellious
13:28new spirit
13:29of the 60s.
13:31First as head coach,
13:32then as managing
13:33general partner,
13:34Davis built the Raiders
13:35into the most intimidating
13:36team in sports.
13:37They had their black jerseys,
13:39they had the pirate logo,
13:41the skull and crossbones
13:42on their helmet.
13:44They'd hit you harder,
13:45they'd hit you later,
13:47and they would wear you down
13:49by their sheer mean-spirited
13:51persistence.
13:52The Raiders were the perfect
13:53football team
13:55for the people
13:56who felt
13:57that it was an
13:58us-against-them situation.
14:00It was Al Davis
14:01and
14:01it was his team,
14:03it was the coaches,
14:05it was the players
14:05against the rest of the world.
14:06On our itinerary.
14:11Most teams would say,
14:13game,
14:14one o'clock kickoff,
14:15guess what ours said,
14:17go to war.
14:22That was about the time
14:24that NFL films
14:25and John Facinda
14:26and all that stuff
14:26had a half hour
14:27every weekend.
14:33The Raiders
14:34came out
14:35at the second half
14:36like men possessed.
14:38A Kansas City offense
14:39suddenly found itself
14:41flounder,
14:44unable to put together
14:45so much as a
14:46good combination
14:47for a first half.
14:49In the meantime,
14:50the Raider defense
14:52was swarming maniac.
14:53You know,
14:54that kind of stuff
14:54just made us feel wonder.
14:581969,
14:59Davis Gamble.
15:00Promoting a young,
15:01unknown Raider defensive
15:02assistant to head coach.
15:04John Madden.
15:05His name
15:05was John Madden.
15:08Madden was essentially
15:09nobody.
15:11And he was just
15:11this assistant
15:13in size 48 pants.
15:15Madden looked like
15:16a refugee
15:18from the bowling alley.
15:19He had a shirt
15:21tailed out,
15:21he sort of stomped,
15:22he was big.
15:23He had that
15:24kind of like
15:24shirt with a tie
15:25that was always
15:26flowing around.
15:27He always wore
15:28his credentials,
15:29you know,
15:29over his tie.
15:30So that was
15:31flying around.
15:32He was always like
15:32his shirt was
15:33coming untucked.
15:34And he was so,
15:34he was always like
15:35yelling at the thing
15:36and pointing.
15:37In those days,
15:38that was
15:39when a lot of guys
15:42were,
15:42you know,
15:43you can't have
15:44any facial hair.
15:45You have to wear
15:47a white shirt
15:49and necktie
15:49on a road trip.
15:51And those things
15:52weren't important to me.
15:54I mean,
15:54I didn't care.
15:55Those things
15:56had nothing
15:56to do with
15:57winning or losing.
15:58So I only had
16:00three rules.
16:02They had to be
16:02on time.
16:04They had to pay
16:05attention.
16:06And then the third
16:07thing was play like
16:08hell when I tell you
16:09to.
16:10Davidson Madden
16:11welcomed to Oakland
16:11players that other
16:12teams thought of
16:13as troublemakers.
16:15Castoffs who
16:15otherwise had no
16:16place in the NFL's
16:17polite society.
16:19And if you are
16:22a Raider,
16:23you soon enough
16:24had a nickname.
16:25The Soul Patrol
16:26was an
16:26final shot.
16:27They treated
16:28him like a man.
16:30They let him run.
16:32You weren't there
16:33because you were
16:34a Boy Scout.
16:35You weren't there
16:35on Sunday afternoon
16:36because you cut
16:37your hair.
16:38You were there
16:38on Sunday afternoon
16:39because you're
16:39the best player
16:40the Raiders could
16:40find at that
16:40point in time
16:41to put out
16:41in the field.
16:42Everybody goes
16:43to Oakland.
16:44You can get
16:44anything you want
16:44in this town.
16:45Anything.
16:47You know,
16:47it's always there.
16:49And they let
16:50you breathe here.
16:51And they let
16:52you breathe.
16:53Yep.
16:53By the fall
16:59of 72,
17:00both of the
17:01city's teams
17:01were seen
17:02as scruffy
17:02outsiders.
17:03And as the Oakland
17:04A's rolled
17:05to their first
17:05World Series,
17:06another Finley
17:07gimmick caught
17:07on.
17:09He offered
17:10his players
17:10extra cash
17:11if they would
17:11grow mustaches.
17:13The press
17:13gave the A's
17:14a new nickname,
17:15the Mustache Gang.
17:16And for
17:19Raleigh Fingers,
17:20who rescued
17:21a failing career
17:21by going
17:22to the bullpen,
17:23his handlebar
17:24became his
17:25calling card.
17:26300 bucks,
17:27that's a weak
17:27salary,
17:28so guys would
17:29grow a mustache
17:29on just about
17:30any part of
17:30their body
17:31for 300 bucks.
17:32This was
17:32in the 70s
17:33and hair
17:33dictated
17:35where you stood
17:35in the political
17:36and sociological
17:37spectrum.
17:38And so
17:38it was like
17:39a bunch of
17:40hippies were
17:40playing baseball.
17:41Only in Oakland,
17:42man,
17:42beards,
17:43mustaches,
17:43no other team
17:44had that.
17:45The Yankees
17:46had to almost
17:47be like Marines
17:48to play ball.
17:48These guys had
17:49you know,
17:50I mean,
17:50what a team.
17:50Think about it.
17:54Rudy not running,
17:55base hit,
17:55flip the extra bases
17:56to left center field.
17:58Here comes Jackson,
17:59down to the third base.
18:00I didn't know
18:01this.
18:05Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:08The A's entered
18:08the World Series
18:09as decided underdogs.
18:11Never saw
18:12Reggie Jackson
18:13run and dive
18:14like that.
18:16to Cincinnati
18:17and its
18:17big red machine
18:18was the hairs
18:20versus the squares.
18:22Everybody thought
18:23the big red machine
18:24was just going to
18:25walk all over us.
18:26There was no chance
18:27for the A's
18:28and they would get swept
18:29and that would be bad,
18:30but it would be a good run.
18:30We got there at least.
18:32I think we were
18:32surprised.
18:33Pete Rose
18:34was no square.
18:36It surprises anybody
18:37when we took
18:37the first two games
18:38and we're heading
18:39back to Oakland
18:39with a 2-0 lead.
18:41I mean,
18:41it really just,
18:42you know,
18:43hey,
18:43maybe we are this good.
18:44The World Series
18:49went seven games
18:50with six of them
18:51decided by one run.
18:53The tightest series
18:54in nearly 50 years.
18:56At last,
18:57Oakland had its
18:58first baseball championship
18:59and perhaps more importantly,
19:02it had something
19:03to support.
19:05Yep.
19:09Anytime you live
19:10in the shadow
19:11of cosmopolitan
19:12San Francisco...
19:12San Fran
19:13wouldn't win one
19:14until 2010
19:16and the A's
19:18already had
19:18two more titles
19:19in a row.
19:22When you get one up
19:23on them,
19:23you're happy.
19:25You're happy.
19:26And when the A's
19:26were whipping
19:27everybody's butt,
19:29man,
19:29it was a happy time.
19:33It was status
19:34for the first time.
19:35It's like,
19:36lo and behold,
19:37where Oakland
19:38is mainstream now
19:39somehow.
19:40We're not just,
19:41you know,
19:41Bakersfield West.
19:43We're bigger than that.
19:43I remember,
19:45I remember
19:45the A's,
19:47the A's won
19:48the World Series
19:48and they asked me
19:50if they could
19:52parade the A's donkey
19:53around the field
19:54before the game.
19:55And I exploded.
19:56I went nuts.
19:57There's no way
19:58we don't give a damn
20:00about the A's
20:00or their donkey
20:01or Charlie Finley.
20:03And, you know,
20:03I mean,
20:04we didn't,
20:04you know,
20:04we were just glad
20:05we were proud of them.
20:06We were proud,
20:06you know,
20:07to be from Oakland.
20:07But at that time,
20:09we weren't gonna let,
20:11you know,
20:11the donkey parade
20:12around the doggone field
20:14before a football game.
20:16Huh.
20:20Madden and the Raiders
20:21were all business.
20:22And in past interference calls,
20:24you know,
20:24that had gone against
20:25the Raider defense
20:26says now,
20:27that's karma.
20:28We've earned a spot now.
20:33With only 22 seconds
20:35left in the game,
20:37Pittsburgh faced
20:38a desperation
20:38fourth and ten
20:39from their own 40.
20:40It was the last play
20:42of the game.
20:43So we're talking
20:44about finality,
20:45finality,
20:45finality.
20:46I mean,
20:46once,
20:47once it's over,
20:48back at the slow motion,
20:50it looked like
20:50it took forever.
20:51It didn't.
20:51It was so quick.
20:53And his pass is
20:55welcome
20:56I was covering
21:03Franco Harris
21:03on the play.
21:06Franco,
21:06I think they called
21:07for him
21:08to block.
21:09Terry Bradshaw
21:10gets flushed
21:11out of the pocket.
21:12Franco just starts
21:13jogging down the field.
21:14Jack Tatum,
21:15all he had to do
21:16was just knock
21:17the ball down.
21:17The game's over with.
21:18He drills him
21:19in the back.
21:20The ball bounces off
21:21Fuqua's shoulder.
21:21I'm running there.
21:22The ball goes
21:23right straight
21:24over my head.
21:25I turn
21:25and there's
21:26Mr. Jogger
21:26going down the field
21:28over there
21:28and here it comes.
21:30And I said,
21:31no!
21:32In those days
21:32you couldn't have
21:33a double touch.
21:34You know,
21:35if the ball
21:35hit Frenchy Fuqua
21:37then it would be
21:40illegal
21:40for Franco Harris
21:41to catch it.
21:42I just remember
21:43being in the room
21:44and my cousin
21:44said,
21:45they're going to
21:46screw us.
21:47You know it's
21:47an incomplete pass
21:48and you know
21:49they're not going
21:49to call it
21:50an incomplete pass
21:51because the people
21:52in Pittsburgh
21:52will burn down
21:53the stadium.
21:54So I ran
21:54out in the field
21:55and the officials
21:56were huddling there
21:57and they said,
21:58get off the field.
22:00We don't know
22:00what happened.
22:01I said,
22:01I know you don't
22:01know what happened.
22:02I'm going to
22:02tell you what happened.
22:04And they said,
22:04get off.
22:05One of the officials
22:06at the end
22:06of that play
22:07called security
22:08and he said,
22:09you know how many
22:10guys you got
22:10on here today?
22:13And they said,
22:14oh,
22:14we're a little
22:14shorthanded.
22:15So I said,
22:16well,
22:16in that case
22:17that baby's
22:17a touchdown.
22:18The innaculate
22:19reception
22:19was for me
22:22as a sports fan
22:23the worst moment
22:25of my life.
22:27We went to
22:28Pittsburgh
22:28and we beat
22:29them and they
22:31took it away.
22:32In other words,
22:32we got shafted.
22:34We just had this
22:35feeling that the
22:36league was always
22:37watching us a little
22:38bit closer than the
22:40other teams.
22:41I actually thought
22:42that the NFL
22:43had a vendetta
22:44against the
22:45Oakland Raiders.
22:47Everybody's fan
22:47of the Oakland Raiders
22:48knows where they
22:48were when John F.
22:49Kennedy was shot
22:50and they know
22:50what they were doing
22:51and where they were,
22:52what house they
22:52were sitting in
22:53when Franco Harris
22:54caught the immaculate
22:55reception there
22:56in Pittsburgh.
22:57We just saw
23:22Nixon.
23:22I don't know
23:23what he has to do
23:24about
23:24with
23:26Oakland
23:27but it was
23:28Tatum's fault
23:29for the immaculate
23:30reception.
23:33Had he just
23:34hit
23:36Frenchy Fuqua
23:37normally,
23:39the ball
23:40wouldn't have
23:40gone to Harris.
23:46Only a month
23:47after the
23:47immaculate reception,
23:48the Watergate
23:49burglars went on
23:50trial,
23:51marking the beginning
23:51of the end
23:52of the presidency.
23:53Because people
23:54have got to know
23:55whether or not
23:56their presidents
23:56are crook.
23:57Well, I'm not a crook.
24:00Later the same month,
24:02the Paris Peace Accords
24:03were signed,
24:04marking the beginning
24:04of the end
24:05of the Vietnam War.
24:07For Bay Area leaders
24:08of the peace movement,
24:09it was an enormously
24:09important moment.
24:10in many ways,
24:12the best parts
24:13of the 60s took place
24:15beginning in January
24:17of 73
24:18because there
24:19was not just
24:21the bonding
24:22of all the people
24:23who were united
24:25against injustice
24:26and war
24:27and oppression
24:28and all of those things.
24:30There was also
24:30a great sense
24:31of celebration.
24:32There was a real
24:33sense that,
24:34hey,
24:35we,
24:36by bitching
24:37and complaining
24:37and getting
24:38in the way
24:38of things,
24:39we thought
24:39we were accomplishing.
24:41We were changing
24:42society.
24:44The A's also
24:45should have been
24:45celebrating in the
24:46wake of their
24:46series triumph,
24:48but Finley's team
24:49was too busy
24:49fighting.
24:50The world champions
24:51were one of the
24:52lowest paid teams
24:53in professional baseball.
24:55He tried to get
24:56by as cheap
24:57as he could
24:57and that was the way
24:58Charlie Finley was.
24:59After the 72 World Series
25:01I'm making $29,000
25:02if he'd have said,
25:03here, Raleigh,
25:03here's a $15,000 raise,
25:05you did a great job,
25:06I'd have signed it
25:07in a heartbeat.
25:08But to send you
25:09a $1,000 raise
25:10and kind of slap you
25:11in the face,
25:12that just turned me
25:13completely off
25:13to Charlie Finley
25:14and it turned
25:14everybody off.
25:15One common goal
25:16we had was to
25:17prove to him
25:18that we were
25:19worth of the money
25:20that we were making.
25:21My job was easier
25:22because usually
25:24there'll be some
25:25disgruntled guy
25:26that doesn't like
25:28the manager.
25:29But I was just
25:31like one of the players
25:31because they all
25:32hated Charlie.
25:34In a self-conscious
25:35city itching for respect,
25:36it bothered Oakland
25:37that Finley
25:38was an absentee owner.
25:40The citizenry
25:40appreciated that
25:41Al Davis lived
25:42in Oakland
25:42while Finley
25:43operated out of
25:44his office in Chicago
25:45or his farm
25:46in Indiana.
25:48There was no connect
25:49between Finley
25:49and the community
25:50in part because
25:50he lived in Illinois
25:51or Indiana
25:53wherever the hell
25:53he lived.
25:54Who cares?
25:55Incredibly,
25:57Finley chose a child
25:58to be his eyes
25:58and ears
25:59back in Oakland.
26:01Hell,
26:01our chief executive,
26:03the guy that ran
26:03our team
26:04that communicated
26:06to Charlie Finley
26:07who was a top man
26:07there was a 13-year-old
26:09kid.
26:09I nicknamed him
26:10Hammer
26:10because he looked
26:12like Hank Aaron.
26:13M.C. Hammer.
26:15Charlie said,
26:15I'm getting you
26:16a new hat.
26:16I don't want you
26:17to have a hat
26:17that says AIDS on it.
26:18I'm getting you
26:19a hat that says
26:19EXVP.
26:20That's the
26:21executive vice president.
26:22You're running
26:22to join around here.
26:23He also was
26:24an informant,
26:25a clubhouse informant
26:26for Charlie
26:26and he got
26:28the nickname
26:28Pipeline.
26:29Every time I come
26:30down to the clubhouse,
26:31Raleigh,
26:32Charlie got a kick
26:33out of it.
26:35So one day
26:35he called me
26:36before the game
26:37and he said,
26:37I want to tell you
26:38that you've got
26:38a new broadcast
26:39partner today.
26:40He said,
26:40Hammer's going
26:41to come over
26:42and do an inning.
26:44I said,
26:45a play-by-play
26:45you're talking about?
26:46He said,
26:47yeah,
26:47play-by-play,
26:48you've been doing
26:48it for me
26:48every day
26:49on the phone.
26:49He can do it.
26:50Welcome to
26:52Station WCOF.
26:54It's me,
26:54the Lil' Hammer.
26:55Lovely Oakland Coliseum.
26:57Fighters on the mound.
26:58Looks in.
26:59Kicks and throws.
27:00Low and outside.
27:01All one.
27:02And the phone rang
27:03in my boots
27:03and I figured,
27:04well, Charlie,
27:04you're Charlie
27:05telling me how great he is.
27:06Well, he wasn't.
27:07It was
27:07the general manager
27:09of KNBR,
27:10Bill Dwyer.
27:11And he said,
27:12what in the world
27:12is going on there?
27:13Get that kid
27:14off the air.
27:15Wherever he was,
27:16Finley was a
27:17constant meddler
27:18in Oakland.
27:19A control freak,
27:20addicted to the telephone.
27:22One time I went down
27:23to the dugout
27:23to get a drink
27:24and the phone rang
27:24and I picked up the phone
27:25and said,
27:25hello, Charlie.
27:27And the other guy
27:28in the voice said,
27:28who's this?
27:29This is Fingers.
27:29He says,
27:29well, this is Charlie.
27:31Don't you ever pick up
27:32the phone again like that.
27:33I says,
27:33well, here's Dick.
27:33As soon as that game
27:34was over
27:35and we had to go up
27:36those stairs
27:36up to the clubhouse,
27:37my phone was ringing.
27:38Say we won 4-2,
27:40I'd expect,
27:41you know,
27:41a nice going,
27:42Dick, good game.
27:42He'd say,
27:42well, if you did this
27:43in the third inning,
27:44you'd have won 6-2.
27:45Sparked by their hatred
27:48for Finley,
27:49the A's dominated
27:50baseball in 1973.
27:52They won their division
27:54by six games
27:54and returned to the World Series
27:56to face the New York Mets.
27:57They're heading fourth
27:58and playing center field,
27:59number nine,
28:00Reggie Jackson.
28:02But somehow,
28:03the egomaniacal Finley
28:04took the spotlight
28:05from his players.
28:07In the second game
28:07of the series,
28:09the A's second baseman,
28:10Mike Andrews,
28:11made two errors
28:11in an extra inning loss.
28:13After the game,
28:15Finley kicked him
28:16off the team.
28:18This is the crappiest thing
28:19he's ever done.
28:20Here it is,
28:20right in front of your faces.
28:22Well, then,
28:23you are the asshole
28:23we all thought you were.
28:25And here's the proof
28:26that everybody else
28:26in America can see.
28:28It's such a black eye
28:30on what happened.
28:32But that team responded
28:33by going the next day
28:34in New York
28:35to practice
28:36at Shea Stadium
28:37with Mike Andrews' number
28:39on armbands
28:40around their arm.
28:41The commissioner stepped in.
28:43and forced him
28:44to bring Andrews back.
28:48Wow.
28:53Everybody said
28:54I could say stadium,
28:55I think,
28:56except Charlie.
29:02They got him!
29:03They got him!
29:04They got him!
29:04They got him!
29:07Poor little Mike Andrews.
29:09It's a scapegoat.
29:10We thought it was a case
29:12of Finley,
29:12a bully,
29:13picking on somebody
29:13who couldn't fight back.
29:15And to see Mike Andrews
29:16be reinstated at that time,
29:17we just thought,
29:18got it,
29:18Finley got what he deserves.
29:21All the while,
29:22the A's were locked
29:23in another tight
29:24World Series.
29:26For the seventh game,
29:27Reggie Jackson
29:28led the team
29:28onto the field.
29:29and we went out
29:31and Matt Black
29:33was pitching,
29:34lefty,
29:35tough.
29:36You know,
29:36we got him,
29:37and he messed around
29:38and hung me a breaking ball.
29:40And I dropped
29:41a suit
29:41and they're on it.
29:47It's gold!
29:48They had a good day.
29:50Took the trophy home.
29:51We won!
29:52Yeah,
29:52took on the gold.
29:57Back-to-back championships.
30:00No team had done that
30:01since the Mantle Maris Yankees
30:02of a decade earlier.
30:04And again,
30:04thanks again
30:05for an outstanding performance,
30:07not only during the year,
30:08but the World Series.
30:09Thank you very much.
30:10Thank you very much.
30:11I appreciate it.
30:12We're going to go home.
30:13Yes, sir.
30:13But Finley's outrageous behavior
30:18tarnished the title.
30:20Oh,
30:21man,
30:21Charlie,
30:21he shouldn't have
30:22kicked up his heels
30:23and wanted to be
30:24the whole show
30:24right in the middle
30:26of a beautiful World Series.
30:28Those boys
30:28were working
30:29their guttow for him.
30:31Maybe some of you
30:32might like to see me sell it,
30:34but the team
30:35is not for sale.
30:37Charlie O
30:38drove more of a wedge
30:39between himself
30:40and his players
30:40by handing out
30:41championship rings
30:42that were made
30:43with cheap imitations
30:44and stones.
30:47Catfish Hunter
30:48angrily called them
30:49horse meat.
30:54Charlie's got his name
30:55all over this ring,
30:56but he also has
30:57an inscription,
30:57a motto that he stood by.
30:59S plus S
31:01equals S,
31:04which is
31:04sweat plus sacrifice
31:06equals success.
31:08Now,
31:09equals success.
31:11Now,
31:11we all thought
31:12it meant
31:12shit plus shit
31:13equals more shit.
31:18Incredible.
31:31As much as
31:32Finley's players
31:33had come to
31:33despise him,
31:35virtually all
31:36of the Raiders
31:37felt a deep affection
31:38for Davis.
31:38Yes, sir.
31:39Everything was just
31:40a little cut above,
31:43but in order to earn
31:45that little cut above,
31:46you had to win,
31:48because that's what
31:48it was all about,
31:49winning.
31:50In 1973,
31:52Ken Stabler
31:52came into his own.
31:54Left-handed quarterbacks
31:55were suspects,
31:56and Davis preferred
31:57bomb throwers,
31:58but the snake,
31:59pinpoint accurate,
32:01was Madden's choice.
32:03He had a great mind.
32:03In those days,
32:04the quarterback
32:05used to call
32:06his own plays,
32:07and he was
32:07a real field general,
32:08and as well as
32:09he did the mechanics
32:10of throwing the ball,
32:12and he was
32:12a great play caller.
32:13When you saw
32:14Stabler step in the
32:14huddle,
32:15late in the game,
32:15fourth quarter,
32:17post-game,
32:19he'll get it done.
32:20Stabler's favorite
32:21target was a future
32:23Hall of Fame receiver
32:24and the undisputed
32:25master in the
32:26artful use of stick-em,
32:28the slow-footed,
32:29quick-thinking
32:30Fred Bolitnikoff.
32:32What was amazing
32:33to see was when
32:34he would shake off
32:35a tackle and then
32:36actually get some
32:37more yardage.
32:37He was the hands,
32:38you know,
32:39to see him run
32:40with the legs,
32:40you know,
32:41it was like,
32:41watch,
32:42in the slow motion,
32:43he'd always like
32:44take off,
32:44run,
32:44and then he'd fold up
32:45right about the time
32:46he was going to get hit.
32:48Off the field,
32:49Bolitnikoff and Stabler
32:50were leaders
32:51of the senior board,
32:53a team name
32:53for veterans
32:54who made
32:54late-night rounds.
32:56He had this quote
32:57that I read,
32:57he said,
32:58you can study
32:58your playbook
32:59just as well
32:59by the light
33:00of a jukebox
33:01as you can
33:02at a desk,
33:03and I thought,
33:03he said,
33:04he's the quote
33:06from Kenny Stabler,
33:08how much sleep
33:11do you need
33:11to go play
33:12three hours?
33:14Coolest guy.
33:16He'd be 10 times
33:16more drunk than we were,
33:17he'd be out there
33:18playing football,
33:18we couldn't even
33:18get out of bed
33:19before every morning,
33:20you know?
33:20If you go out there
33:21and you win,
33:22then what does
33:24it matter,
33:24you know,
33:25what those
33:25earlier eight hours
33:26were all about?
33:27Some players
33:28don't respond well
33:29to being,
33:30you know,
33:31controlled.
33:32So what Al did
33:32is he would bring
33:33them in,
33:34and the control
33:35that was exerted
33:36on those players
33:37was peer pressure.
33:39Okay,
33:39these guys wanted
33:40to belong
33:41to this Oakland
33:42Raider football team,
33:43this bunch of
33:44renegade guys
33:45that didn't follow
33:46a whole bunch
33:47of rules,
33:47but they followed
33:48some very strict rules
33:50on the football field.
33:51Play your ass off,
33:52you play when you're hurt,
33:53you don't let
33:54the other guy down,
33:55okay,
33:55and you never give up.
33:57Yep.
33:58Over time,
33:59the Raiders gained
34:00a reputation
34:00for being a dirty team.
34:02They led the league
34:03in penalty yardage
34:04and suspicion.
34:05We always
34:07assume the role
34:08of the villain
34:08no matter who we play
34:09because of all
34:10the bad press we get.
34:12Davis and his henchmen
34:13were accused
34:13of everything
34:14from spying
34:14to inflating balls
34:16with helium
34:16to help their punter
34:17Ray Guy,
34:18to drenching the field
34:19in water
34:20to slow down
34:20opposing teams.
34:25You couldn't fight it,
34:27so I just said,
34:29yeah, we do.
34:29I remember once
34:30we're playing Kansas City
34:31and I told Hank Strand
34:33before the game,
34:34I said,
34:34hey, Hank,
34:34the field's really
34:35wet.
34:35I told the guys
34:36just to water it
34:38for three hours
34:39and I said,
34:40you know what
34:40the guys did?
34:41They went on a lunch break.
34:42I said,
34:43so they watered
34:44for like eight hours.
34:45They never turned
34:45the water off
34:46and I said,
34:47so I'm sorry.
34:49We didn't water anything.
34:50The A's went to spring
34:55training in 1974
34:57looking for their third
34:58straight championship.
35:00But Finley did not
35:00care about history.
35:02Dick Williams had already
35:03quit in disgust,
35:04so Charlie O.
35:05recycled Alvin Dark,
35:07a manager he'd fired
35:08once before.
35:09Yes, he was fired.
35:12Yes, he expects to be fired
35:15again someday.
35:17Charlie O.
35:17spent the rest of the winter
35:18at arbitration hearings,
35:20battering the very players
35:21who'd won him championships.
35:23And he goes,
35:25Mr. Arbitrator,
35:27balls go by him
35:28on the left.
35:29Balls go by him
35:30on the right.
35:31Balls go through his legs.
35:33Now my wife is sitting
35:34next to me
35:34and she sees the veins
35:35in my neck starting
35:36and I mean,
35:38I could feel myself
35:39going across the table
35:40grabbing him
35:42and strangling him.
35:43Charlie O.
35:44said, oh yeah,
35:45he did lead the league
35:46at home runs,
35:47but he only drove in
35:48109 runs
35:49and in leading the league
35:50he only hit 36.
35:51He said,
35:51he's a superstar.
35:53And he should hit 30.
35:55And he should drive in 100.
35:57So really,
35:59he only hit 6 homers
36:00and he only drove in 9.
36:02I just don't know
36:03what to do.
36:05He missed time
36:06with 162 game schedule.
36:09He played 159.
36:11There were 3 days
36:12when we didn't have anyone
36:14to, you know,
36:16of his caliber
36:16to put in a game
36:18when he was not on the job.
36:20The year before,
36:21he led the All-Star
36:22in votes
36:23and this year
36:25he just made
36:26the first team.
36:27He just got on the team,
36:30the starting team.
36:31But the year before
36:32he was the biggest star.
36:34He slipped.
36:36And when you got that,
36:37listen to him,
36:37you go on and say,
36:38man,
36:38I must have been horse shit.
36:40got it, man.
36:45And that'll do it.
36:47Even in the face
36:48of Finley's
36:49unrelenting interference,
36:51the A's were able
36:51to keep on winning.
36:53But clubhouse tensions
36:54were building.
36:54How could there be
36:57this much turmoil
36:57in a clubhouse
36:58and everybody
36:59hating the owner
37:00and everything else
37:01and these guys
37:01are still winning.
37:02Well, we just had
37:02a bunch of talent
37:03on that ball club
37:04and that's why we won.
37:06The A's were a team
37:07of strong personalities
37:08that sometimes collided.
37:10Jackson catcher Ray Fossey
37:11and outfielder Billy North
37:13had all been involved
37:14in intramural incidents
37:15that ranged from
37:16wrestling matches
37:17to fist fights.
37:19In 1974,
37:20on the eve of their
37:21third straight series appearance,
37:23a nasty brawl erupted
37:24between Blue Moon Odom
37:25and Raleigh Fingers.
37:28So,
37:29John Blue Moon Odom,
37:31he was obviously
37:32a fiery guy,
37:33take no crap type of guy,
37:35but, you know,
37:35great guy.
37:36But he was also known
37:37as the men among the men.
37:40The scuttlebutt was,
37:41Raleigh says,
37:43I don't know how your wife
37:44can take that thing.
37:45What?
37:45I heard after that,
37:46you know,
37:47what do you mean
37:47how come my wife,
37:48you know,
37:48and boom.
37:51You know,
37:51I was having some
37:52marital problems
37:52and he said something to me,
37:53I said something to him,
37:54next thing you know,
37:55you know,
37:56and that's just the way
37:58it was with our ball club.
38:00There was something
38:01about the Oakland clubhouse
38:02that you were a family
38:05that fought
38:05and on the field
38:08we were tough.
38:10We were a tough band
38:11of really good players
38:12that were a great team.
38:14And beat up
38:16and go!
38:17Come on!
38:18Despite their two championships,
38:27the A's headed into
38:28the 1974 World Series
38:30against the Los Angeles Dodgers
38:31as underappreciated
38:33and undervalued underdogs.
38:35losing to the Oakland A's.
38:38Oh, because Los Angeles
38:39is big market
38:40and they're
38:41small Oakland.
38:44Well,
38:45they still won that series.
38:49Hey.
38:50It's like being won over
38:52by a Volkswagen.
38:54And now there's
38:55a strong Volkswagen.
38:56And the Volkswagen
38:57plowed through the Dodgers
38:59in five games
38:59for their third straight
39:01series title,
39:01a feat that hadn't
39:03been accomplished
39:04since the Yankees
39:05of the early 50s.
39:06The one's back delivery
39:08and he accidentally
39:09hit the left field line.
39:11If we were playing
39:12in New York,
39:13they would be calling us
39:14the greatest team
39:16in baseball history.
39:18We weren't going to lose.
39:19You had to beat us.
39:20We really couldn't lose.
39:22You know,
39:22we could be beat,
39:24but you had to
39:24break us up to beat us.
39:26Their attitude, man.
39:28I don't give a damn.
39:30You know,
39:30I'm here just to win
39:31the end of the game
39:31and kick ass.
39:32Every year that I was
39:33in high school,
39:35the Oakland A's
39:35were in the World Series
39:36in October.
39:37That's pretty cool stuff.
39:39When they went
39:40back to back to back,
39:41you almost felt like
39:42they put pressure on us.
39:44The baseball team
39:44is winning.
39:45The baseball team
39:46is good.
39:46The baseball team
39:47is world champions.
39:49We're the football team.
39:50We got to,
39:51you know,
39:51we need to do the same thing.
39:56The team in pro football
39:57through the mid-70s,
39:59the Raiders couldn't
40:00get to the Super Bowl.
40:01The AFC was loaded,
40:03forcing Oakland
40:04to compete against
40:04some of the finest teams
40:05in NFL history.
40:07In 1973,
40:09the Raiders beat the Steelers,
40:10only to lose to the Dolphins
40:12in the AFC championship game.
40:14The next year,
40:15the Raiders triumphed
40:16over the Dolphins
40:16in the closing seconds,
40:18but lost to the Steelers.
40:20Once again,
40:21a game shy
40:21of the Super Bowl.
40:22It seemed like
40:23we beat the Sniper.
40:30six times
40:32between the stretch
40:33that they show
40:34on the screen,
40:3568 to 75,
40:38the Raiders
40:38were a game away
40:39from the Super Bowl
40:40and lost to
40:42the eventual
40:43Super Bowl champions.
40:44out of Kansas City
40:48and Miami
40:49and the Steelers
40:50would beat us
40:50and we'd beat
40:51the snot out
40:52of the Steelers
40:52and Miami
40:53and Kansas City
40:54would beat us.
40:55We just didn't know
40:55what we had to do.
40:57I mean,
40:57we knew
40:58going into training camp
40:59we had the team,
41:00we had the ability
41:01and we could
41:02get to
41:03that last game.
41:04But we,
41:05for some reason,
41:05the luck
41:07was always against us.
41:08When the Raiders
41:08played
41:09on Sunday
41:10our neighborhood
41:13for the most part
41:14kind of came
41:16to a stop.
41:18The game
41:18took precedence
41:19and if they lost
41:21it was like
41:22a cast of Paul
41:23over the neighborhood.
41:24You start to hear
41:25that good football team
41:26can't win the big one.
41:34Before the 1975 season
41:36Finley spit into
41:37baseball's changing face
41:39and allowed
41:40Catfish Hunter
41:41to leave via
41:41free agency.
41:43He was determined
41:44not to pay
41:45higher salaries.
41:46He even expressed
41:48it as hammered
41:49the game
41:50was getting away
41:50from me.
41:51You know,
41:51where they're going
41:52with this game
41:53is not the place
41:54for a businessman
41:54like me.
41:56Seven more
41:56of his players
41:57would be free agents
41:58after the 76 season
41:59and since Finley
42:00had no intention
42:01of paying them
42:02he started dealing
42:03them,
42:04sending Ken Holtzman
42:05and Reggie Jackson
42:05to Baltimore.
42:06I was devastated
42:10because I knew
42:11nothing but
42:11Oakland A's.
42:12I sat around
42:13with Dave Duncan
42:13and cried.
42:15On what became
42:16known as the
42:16Tuesday Night Massacre
42:17Finley sold Joe Rudy
42:20and Raleigh Fingers
42:21to the Red Sox
42:21and Vida Blue
42:23to the Yankees.
42:24I don't regret it
42:25that I didn't show
42:26more.
42:28Commissioner
42:28Bowie Kuhn
42:29voided the deal.
42:31Disallowance
42:32of the assignment
42:33of the...
42:34Finley called
42:35Kuhn a village idiot.
42:37To New York.
42:38He filed a
42:39$10 million
42:39lawsuit against him
42:40and refused
42:42to put Blue
42:43Fingers
42:43or Rudy
42:44back in the
42:44liner.
42:46Is that
42:47Mr. Finley?
42:48The divisional title
42:49for the first time
42:50in six years
42:51and the Mustache
42:52Boys run
42:53had ended.
42:54The end of the 76
42:55season was probably
42:56the low point
42:58of my career.
42:59I think a lot
42:59of guys felt that
43:00way.
43:01Because now
43:01I just wanted to
43:01leave.
43:02We loved living
43:02in Oakland.
43:03And so we had
43:03all given him
43:04offers to try
43:05to sign.
43:06And he didn't
43:06even return
43:08our offers.
43:08I think he could
43:09sign most of us
43:09for less than
43:10any of us got.
43:22You know what
43:23was weird?
43:24Pitching against
43:25those guys.
43:27Pitching to Reggie
43:27when it was
43:28with the Orioles.
43:29Pitching to Bando
43:30when he was
43:30with Milwaukee.
43:32Pitching to Gino
43:33when he was
43:33with San Diego.
43:34Something was
43:35wrong with that
43:35pitching.
43:36I kept telling
43:37myself,
43:38don't say
43:39anything negative
43:40about Finley.
43:41Don't say
43:42anything negative
43:43about Oakland.
43:44I mean,
43:44I just didn't
43:45want to do
43:45that.
43:46And so,
43:47one of the
43:48questions at
43:49the press
43:49conference is,
43:50how does it
43:52feel to leave
43:53Oakland?
43:55And I wasn't
43:56thinking,
43:56and the first
43:56thing out of
43:57my mouth was,
43:59how do you
43:59think the
43:59passengers felt
44:01on the
44:01Titanic?
44:03Same.
44:04The city's
44:06hopes rested
44:06with the
44:07Raiders.
44:08And they
44:08won the
44:08Super Bowl.
44:09They had
44:09made the
44:09playoffs nine
44:10times in
44:10ten years,
44:11but they
44:12still had no
44:12championship to
44:13show for it.
44:1476, we
44:16were focused.
44:17I'll never
44:17forget Madden
44:18in his first
44:18talk in
44:20training camp,
44:21and he said,
44:22guys, we're
44:23going back to
44:23the cover three,
44:24cover two, and
44:25cover six.
44:26Three basic
44:27coverages.
44:28They're going to
44:28know what we're
44:29going to do.
44:29I don't care.
44:31We're going to be
44:31that much better
44:32than them.
44:32We're going to
44:33tell them what
44:33we're going to
44:33do, and I
44:34don't care.
44:35We're going to
44:35beat them.
44:36The first game
44:37was against the
44:37hated Steelers,
44:39and it set the
44:39tone for the
44:40season to come.
44:41The Soul Patrol
44:42met Lynn Swan,
44:43Pittsburgh's great
44:44wide receiver,
44:45and knocked him
44:46down and out.
44:47He came across
44:48the middle, and I
44:49jumped at him,
44:50and I thought,
44:51here it is.
44:52After the game,
44:53Steelers coach
44:54Chuck Knoll accused
44:55Atkinson of being
44:56part of a criminal
44:56element.
44:59When Knoll drops
45:00that in, okay,
45:01now it's a holy
45:03war, and if it
45:05changed the dynamic
45:06between the two
45:07cities, it only
45:08made an unfriendly
45:09situation worse.
45:11Lynn Swan
45:12shouldn't have
45:13cried like he did
45:14because this is
45:14football.
45:15This is for men,
45:16you know, and
45:17not for babies.
45:19The Raiders went
45:2013-1 in 19...
45:24...and clinched
45:25their ninth
45:26Western Division
45:26championship in 10
45:27years.
45:29They squeaked by
45:29the Patriots in the
45:30divisional playoff
45:31and then awaited
45:32their opponent in the
45:33AFC championship
45:35game.
45:37I said, give us
45:37the Steelers, you
45:38know, we can take
45:38the Steelers, and it
45:40was our turn.
45:41It was the Steelers,
45:43the fifth straight
45:44year that Oakland and
45:44Pittsburgh would meet
45:45in the playoffs, and
45:47it was the Raiders'
45:47turn, 24-7, and on
45:50to the Super Bowl.
45:51I mean, the Steelers
45:53were the hurdle, and
45:55once they cleared
45:56that, this is
45:57inevitable.
45:58The Vikings have no
46:00chance to win this
46:00game.
46:01We're going to hit
46:02them with a bag of
46:02chisels, and we're
46:03going to walk over
46:03their dead bodies, and
46:05that's it.
46:07That's exactly what
46:09they did.
46:12From the Rose Bowl
46:13Stadium in Pasadena,
46:14California, it is
46:15Super Bowl XI.
46:17I remember the night
46:18before the game, in
46:21my hotel, I was
46:22sitting in my hotel, and
46:23I was talking to Al
46:24Davis on the phone, and
46:25I said, we're ready,
46:27we're going to kill
46:27these guys.
46:28I said, no, don't
46:29say that, don't say
46:30that.
46:31And I don't think I
46:32ever said that before.
46:34I mean, I don't think
46:34it was, because I was
46:35never, I mean, I
46:37always felt we were
46:38going to win, but I
46:38never said it, you
46:40know, I said it.
46:42So it was just the
46:43confidence that, you
46:45know, we'd waited so
46:46doggone long to get
46:47there.
46:49I just felt this is it.
46:50I mean, there's no way
46:51we're going to be
46:51denied.
46:53John's pregame speech
46:54was probably the
46:55shortest one I ever
46:56heard him get.
46:57John just looked
46:58around the room.
47:00He said, gentlemen,
47:01this will be the
47:03single biggest event
47:05in your life.
47:07Only if you win.
47:09It's gone.
47:10The other team came
47:11back, and they looked
47:11like a bunch of
47:12jock lettermen with
47:13their crew cut hair
47:14cuts and doing a
47:16da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
47:18And the Raiders come
47:19out, man, I mean,
47:20they looked like they
47:20had a three-day hang
47:22over it.
47:23The whiskers are all
47:24out.
47:24He's going down to
47:32middle, and White
47:32makes the catch.
47:33He is three, but
47:34holds on to the
47:35football, losing to
47:36Hillman.
47:37Chief slip flying one
47:38way, Hillman the
47:39other.
47:40Oh, he's a lead
47:41up.
47:41They hit the Jack
47:43Tatum and Skip
47:45Thomas, delivered to
47:47Sammy White, letting
47:48me know from that
47:49point on, this is our
47:51game.
47:51Hand off to
47:52Vanazak, he powers
47:53over, touchdown
47:54Raiders.
47:54Yes, sir.
47:57Now it's first and
47:59goal, and the power
48:00formation is in.
48:01Bankston on the right
48:01side is a wingback,
48:02Stabler back to pass,
48:03quick run to the
48:04end zone, Kasper,
48:04touchdown Raiders.
48:06Why?
48:07Why?
48:07Yasha Heifetz never
48:09played a violin with
48:10more dexterity than
48:11Kenny Stabler is
48:12playing the Minnesota
48:13Viking defense.
48:15The Super Bowl was
48:16in Pasadena.
48:18The nearest Vikings
48:19defender to Kasper
48:23was somewhere down
48:24in Los Angeles or
48:27San Diego.
48:32And he locks and
48:34throws, intercepted
48:35by the ultimate
48:35Raiders, the 30, 40,
48:3750, all-man party.
48:39He's going all the
48:41way.
48:42Once Willie scored
48:43that, then the
48:43celebration started,
48:45and we knew, you
48:46know, it's all over.
48:47I mean, without the
48:48dogs and calling the
48:49fire, the hunt's
48:50over.
48:52In the Rose Bowl, the
48:53Raiders crushed the
48:54Vikings, 32 to 14.
48:57For an owner, a coach,
48:59and a team who had
49:00always battled negative
49:01images of their city
49:03and of themselves,
49:05receiving the NFL's
49:06symbol of victory was
49:07nearly as sweet as the
49:08victory itself.
49:10Well, I hugged in the
49:11locker room five minutes
49:13after the game, and I
49:15said, we finally did it,
49:17and his reply was, can we
49:18do it again?
49:18It was the single biggest
49:24event in my life, and I'm
49:26talking about marriages, I'm
49:27talking about babies, and I
49:29love my kids, I love my
49:30wives, I love my mother, I
49:33love my father, and as far
49:34as an event, winning that
49:36Super Bowl was huge.
49:38San Francisco basically
49:39tried to ignore that Oakland
49:43existed, which of course
49:44made Oakland nuts.
49:45And so, with the football
49:48team, they had something
49:50San Francisco didn't have,
49:53which was a champion with
49:55an identity, with a, you
49:57know, that fit Oakland's
49:58entire personality.
50:00That's when they could
50:00really stick it in their
50:01eye and say, you know, not
50:03only are we your equal, we're
50:04your better, and this is
50:06what proves it.
50:07You go around the world
50:08and you say the word
50:09Oakland, the next word is,
50:12oh, you mean where the
50:13Raiders play?
50:14I said, yes, exactly, that's
50:15exactly where they play.
50:16I've never seen an NFL
50:18game, never seen a game of
50:20American football wear Raiders
50:23apparel, because of those
50:25guys, guys like Ice Cube
50:28and the N.W.A.
50:31Where Oakland is, it's where
50:33the Raiders play.
50:34I think we liked wearing
50:35that hat.
50:36I think we liked wearing
50:37those colors, and we liked
50:39being from Oakland, the
50:40other town across the bay,
50:41from the city.
50:42You know, we liked that
50:44little area and that little
50:4555,000-seat stadium, all
50:47those blue-collar crazies in
50:49there.
50:49Everything fit, the type of
50:51player, the colors we wore,
50:52the style of play, the fans,
50:54how we were hard to beat in
50:57there.
50:58If it hadn't been free
50:59agency, we'd have won every
51:01year.
51:01We'd have won until 1980.
51:03Won until we retired.
51:06Nobody would have beat us.
51:07The Raiders are an example
51:12of what we really are.
51:13We like what we see out
51:14there.
51:15The rebellion, the militant
51:18attitude of the Bay Area,
51:20Oakland, East Bay, the Black
51:22Panther movement, the
51:24protests at Berkeley.
51:26If you look at our football
51:27team and our baseball team,
51:29the Raiders, the Fight
51:30Natives, our teams reflect
51:33our community.
51:34They saw us as rebels.
51:36They saw us as mavericks
51:37because we were always on
51:39the edge of something.
51:40They saw us as going
51:41against the grain, and
51:42that's what they were
51:43doing.
51:43The whole atmosphere was
51:45electric.
51:45It was alive.
51:46The war had ended as far
51:48as we were concerned.
51:49We were going to party,
51:49and we did.
51:51They reminded us that by
51:53winning and winning and
51:54winning, we had won.
51:56Just because we were in
51:57an isolated corner of the
51:59country, in the Bay Area,
52:01didn't mean that we weren't
52:02strong and didn't mean that
52:04we didn't have power.
52:07You have to know what
52:09Oakland is and what
52:10Oakland was.
52:11It was kind of downtrodden.
52:13It was the underdog, and
52:16we were all the underdogs.
52:17They used to laugh at
52:18Charlie Finley.
52:20They made fun of us in
52:22the American football.
52:23They didn't win
52:24champions.
52:24They don't make fun of you
52:25anymore.
52:25I think some of them want
52:28to jump in the bandwagon.
52:30Bring on New York.
52:32Bring on L.A.
52:33Bring on Chicago.
52:34San Francisco, please.
52:35Don't even think about it.
52:36But it was a sense that we
52:38might not be huge.
52:41We might not be giant.
52:42We're mighty.
52:43For a rebellious city that
52:49had always been seen as
52:50second class, it was a
52:52remarkable time.
52:56The often wild, sometimes
52:58frightening, infrequently
52:59joyful years that helped
53:00shape a nation had been
53:02fueled by the East Bay's
53:04energy.
53:04And the success of the
53:08rebels of Oakland was proof
53:10positive to those in the
53:11city that they did not
53:12always have to live in
53:14someone else's shadow.
53:16The spotlight could and
53:18did shine on them.
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