Football's Blackest Hole
Football's Blackest Hole

Author: Craig Parker

Publisher: Frog Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781583940921

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TAKE THIS SUPER BOWL AND SHOVE IT. At least that's what Oakland Raiders' fan Craig Parker thinks. A card-carrying member of Raider Nation, Parker adds a new chapter to the written history of the Silver and Black. Writing from the too often dismissed perspective of the dedicated fan, Parker gives voice to the hopes, fears, prejudices, and fantasies of not only the usual suspects in the Black Hole, but also of the ordinary folks at home on the couch. Against the backdrop of the nearly triumphant 2002 season, Parker gloats over victories, agonizes over defeats, and exchanges insults with opposing fans (The Denver Donkies?). He recounts in detail the greatest wins in Raider history, and provides imaginative but sincere excuses for the biggest losses (The "Immaculate Deception"). Ever the paranoiac, he explains Raider Mystique and the rule changes adopted by the NFL to counter it. Boston Heraldsportswriter George Kimball states: "Parker, in any case, writes very well, has a sharp eye for detail, and remembers more than just about any sportswriter I could name." From Parker's viewpoint, Raiders football is not just a game; it's a way of life. Family loyalty is the cardinal virtue: respect Al Davis, love all current Raiders, and honor the memory of the past. Parker maintains an edgy but positive attitude throughout the book. He extols the Raiders' dedication to excellence, their emphasis on teamwork, and their amazing ability to overcome adversity brought on (mostly) by forces outside the organization. In Parker's world, even in defeat, the Raiders honor the game of football and their dedicated followers. This book is a must read for Raider fans, as well as other football fans seeking comfort in numbers. It justifies being a fan. It reminds us of our darkest thoughts, our wildest fantasies. It brings back the glorious past, and it raises our hopes for the future.

Better to Reign in Hell
Better to Reign in Hell

Author: Jim Miller

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2011-10-25

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 159558787X

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The silver-and-black-clad Oakland Raiders fans are the most notorious in American professional sports, with a mythic reputation for cursing, drinking, brawling, and generally wreaking mayhem. The devotion of the team's multiracial, largely blue-collar supporters runs deep, creating a profound sense of community. As Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew reveal in this hair-raising and entertaining new book, the self-described Raider Nation, smitten with its outlaw mystique, provides a gritty alternative to California's sunshine-and-granola image. Over the course of the harrowing 2003 season, Miller and Mayhew explored the reality behind the myth and interviewed legions of rabid Raiders fans—from suburban families to bikers—while attending games in the “Black Hole” (the rowdiest section in Oakland's stadium), frequenting sports bars, and crashing tailgate parties. Featuring the extraordinary photography of Joseph A. Blum, Better to Reign in Hell is both a rollicking tale of obsessive fandom and a fascinating study of the intersection of class, race, gender, and community in professional sports.

The Raiders Encyclopedia
The Raiders Encyclopedia

Author: Richard J. Shmelter

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 0786484675

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This is the definitive reference work on the NFL's Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. Part I is a season-by-season review, covering each game and player from every campaign. Part II includes a complete all-time roster of players and coaches, with biographical information, along with information on all draft picks, schedules, and individual awards and honors. Part III covers the characters, from executives to cheerleaders, who made the Raiders one of the most colorful organizations in professional sports, and details the franchise's historic stadiums and uniforms.

Football
Football

Author: Graeme Dobson

Publisher: Boolarong Press

Published: 2024-02-26

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 1922643998

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TRACING FOOTBALL’S FAMILY TREE Week in, week out, hundreds of thousands of people enthusiastically risk life, limb and dignity just to play some kind of football; blissfully unaware that they’re playing a game that’s at least as old as the Pyramids and Stonehenge. Graeme Dobson takes the reader on a romp through 5,000 years of extraordinary history as he traces the family tree of all the modern football codes. He identifies a startling array of ancestors, from English school boys all the way back, through Vikings, Greeks and a host of other players, to an ancient Chinese warlord. Along the way he introduces huge professional football leagues, complete with female players and fan clubs that existed 1,000 years ago. Like in any family tree, there are bizarre black sheep and myths to investigate—like, ‘were the first games played with the heads of executed criminals?’ ‘Was soccer invented by the English?’ ‘Did rugby originate when Web Ellis picked the ball up and ran with it during a soccer match?’ ‘Which came first—Australian or Gaelic football?’ and ‘Could a mob of Kiwis really be responsible for rugby league in Australia?’ The answers are both intriguing and unexpected.

Down the Darkest Hole
Down the Darkest Hole

Author: Dakota Kirkpatrick

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2017-04-09

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 1365846563

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Down the darkest hole is a series of two stories taking groups of friends into unspeakable horrors. In Haddix you will dive deep into the heart of an abandoned asylum. Those Below the Pines will show you that the cold is the least of your worries.

College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era
College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era

Author: Kurt Edward Kemper

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2023-12-11

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0252047281

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The Cold War era spawned a host of anxieties in American society, and in response, Americans sought cultural institutions that reinforced their sense of national identity and held at bay their nagging insecurities. They saw football as a broad, though varied, embodiment of national values. College teams in particular were thought to exemplify the essence of America: strong men committed to hard work, teamwork, and overcoming pain. Toughness and defiance were primary virtues, and many found in the game an idealized American identity. In this book, Kurt Kemper charts the steadily increasing investment of American national ideals in the presentation and interpretation of college football, beginning with a survey of the college game during World War II. From the Army-Navy game immediately before Pearl Harbor, through the gradual expansion of bowl games and television coverage, to the public debates over racially integrated teams, college football became ever more a playing field for competing national ideals. Americans utilized football as a cultural mechanism to magnify American distinctiveness in the face of Soviet gains, and they positioned the game as a cultural force that embodied toughness, discipline, self-deprivation, and other values deemed crucial to confront the Soviet challenge. Americans applied the game in broad strokes to define an American way of life. They debated and interpreted issues such as segregation, free speech, and the role of the academy in the Cold War. College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era offers a bold new contribution to our understanding of Americans' assumptions and uncertainties regarding the Cold War.

Birth of the New NFL
Birth of the New NFL

Author: Larry Felser

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2008-09-16

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1599217627

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The year 1966 marked the birth of the National Football League as we know it, when owners in the NFL and the upstart American Football League agreed to an unprecedented merger, to take place at the start of the 1970 season. They also agreed to play, beginning at the end of the ’66 season, a game between each league’s champion—a game that came to be called The Super Bowl. The Birth of the New NFLtells the story of that historic season, leading to the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It also tells the off-the-field story, the one between warring owners and cities—a story often more brutal than the one on the field. Larry Felser has interviewed the leading men of the day, from Al Davis and Jack Kemp, to Wellington Mara, Art Modell, Lamar Hunt, Gene Upshaw, Dan Rooney, and many others. He presents the struggles of top teams for the chance to represent their respective leagues in the biggest game ever, while also offering a behind-closed-doors view of the wheeling and dealing it took to reach the agreement.

Australia's Blackest Sporting Moments
Australia's Blackest Sporting Moments

Author: Stephen Hagan

Publisher: Ngalga Warralu Publishing Pty Ltd

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1921212004

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In this collection of incidents of racism in Australian sports, the author is honest in his condemnation of the offenders, sporting administrators and government officials who continue to deny that there is a problem of racism in sport.

Roar
Roar

Author: Samantha Lane

Publisher: Penguin Group Australia

Published: 2018-01-29

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 0143788752

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‘When a football ground was electrified on that unforgettable February evening, feelings did not need words. They had a sound unlike anything anyone had ever heard: an almighty, heartfelt roar.’ The inaugural season of the AFL Women’s league was a game changer for Australian sport and for Australia culturally. When women joined the nation’s biggest and most popular sporting code as players, it gave them licence to become legitimate football heroes. It was personal, political, proud and powerful. With unique insights from award-winning journalist Samantha Lane, including previously untold details behind AFLW’s birth, ROAR tells the remarkable tales of a group of trailblazers. These are intimate stories from a band of pioneers who now have a league of their own. From Daisy Pearce, AFLW’s original poster-player, to Craig Starcevich, the Collingwood premiership footballer who found football happiness where he least expected it, and superstars including Tayla Harris and history-making coach Bec Goddard, ROAR is a groundbreaking book to inspire, illuminate and celebrate the leading lights of AFLW.