2011 Season - Week 5

He was the Owner of the Oakland Raiders and as such the NFLs most litigious owner. In the 1980s he sued the NFL for not allowing him to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles then sued them again in the 1990s for trying to stop him from moving the team back to Oakland! In the 2000’s he then sued Oakland Council for breach of agreements specific to their returned. He also had a stubborn streak which saw him lose key players when they questioned him (Marcus Allen being the most famous) and oversaw his team too closely (alienating Jon Gruden). This was caused by his unstoppable desire to win (which also made him too quick to fire coaches as success dried up). He was a Coach of the Raiders when the American Football League was launched in 1960 and took over ownership of the team and employed John Madden as the coach. The Raiders won 3 Superbowls by 1983 and had been in the AFC Title game 11 times in the previous 16 years. He coined the phrases “Commitment To Excellence” & “Just Win Baby” and by the mid ‘80s the Raider Media Guide boasted they were “the winningest professional franchise in America”. Then Chief and Mark started supporting them and it all went a bit downhill. However Al’s greatest contribution had nothing to do with the Raiders. By the mid 1960s he had become Commissioner of the AFL and it was his aggressive stewardship signing top college recruits that caused the National Football League to merge with the AFL with the to create the modern day NFL we know. Al Davis died on Saturday aged 82, the owner of the Oakland Raiders & a huge influence on the NFL we love today. BUMS Players Hall of Fame Only a few votes in so far so the shortlist of nominees for the 2011 Hall of Fame is attached again. As always select your favourite five players (in order) and get them back to me by Sunday October 30th, which is Trading Day 1. The four highest scorers will be inducted. Do it now, you know it makes sense. BUMS on Seats. While Chief is in New Zealand doing a reccie for Sports Bars in Auckland and Taupo (for when the Wellington Windy BUMS re-locate) I believe Johnnie and H are hosting games. Let them know if you want to attend any games.