Hell with the Lid Off: Inside the Fierce Rivalry between the 1970s Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers Kindle Edition

The Oakland Raiders versus the Pittsburgh Steelers between 1972 and 1977 was perhaps the greatest… heated… hated… and respected… rivalry not only in the history of football… but perhaps all of sports. On December 23, 1972… the greatest… most infamous… play… in the history of football… there’s no arguing that… THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION… OR IMMACULATE DECEPTION… depending which color you carried in addition to black… is how you will define it till you go to your grave… and probably… even after the last shovel of dirt is thrown upon your remains.Co-authors… Ed Gruver and Jim Campbell… along with a wonderful forward by former Steeler Andy Russell… make a game attempt to share a time period of a rivalry… that could only have been created in heaven… but it certainly was played in hell! There are portions of the book that rise to the level of excellence… and unfortunately numerous areas that are lacking… and from a reader’s perspective… were ill conceived.“From 1972 to 1977 the Steelers and Raiders played ten times; five of those games were in the postseason, and three straight decided the AFC Championship and the eventual Super Bowl champion. Their games became so vicious, so violent, that the league was forced to adopt rule changes to stop the strangleholds that dominating defenses were putting on the offenses of their day.”** “AN ASTOUNDING TWENTY-SIX FUTURE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMERS WERE IN OR INVOLVED IN THE PITTSBURGH-OAKLAND TURF WARS IN THE SEVENTIES”. Let that number sink in for a moment! TWENTY SIX HALL OF FAMERS IN THOSE GAMES ALONE!The authors… though they have a more historical linkage to Pittsburgh… do such a fair portrayal of the good… the bad… the ugly… the historical birth… and creation of both all-time juggernauts… they should be complimented for this alone. From the background of the Steelers founder (The Chief) Art Rooney Sr. ... to the life of Raider… coach… general manager… owner… “Al” Davis… is expertly written with the detail of a fine-toothed comb. The changing of cultures that took both teams from losers to iconic champions… is not portrayed through shortcuts. The decision on what type of players to draft… what type of players to trade for… what type of **CULTURE** the teams would be based on… is both educational… and illuminating. So many classic names from both sides… are laid out in such exquisite lifetime detail… that you will know what made Tatum… Tatum… and Lambert… Lambert. I could go on and on… with Stabler… and Mean Joe… but suffice to say they’re all here.There are a number of things… that scuffs up the aforementioned literary luster… of this long awaited tale… first there are countless typos. It seems utterly incomprehensible that a potential first class book like this could have so many typos. (where were the editors?). No book could be given a five-star-rating with such a malady. Secondly… the way in which the book utilized two authors… seems like an ill-conceived game plan. After author Gruver just spent numerous detailed pages describing a season… or games… or drafts… all of a sudden a paragraph starts…. Jim Campbell:… and then he tells you about the same exact segment from his point of view. There can only be so much different because the facts don’t change. When this happens over and over… the reader at first thinks he either fell asleep… or passed out… because he has to scratch his head and wonder if he started reading the same pages over and over again. Another “oddity” is that when the authors are doing a fine job describing a big game… they periodically jump to short… totally boring… quotes about the game and plays they just aptly described… from famous announcers like Gowdy… Cosell… Meredith… Gifford… etc. … etc.The core subject of this book is fascinating… but once you get past the halfway mark… and realize you’re forced to hear the same story twice from two different people… the book starts to drag… and it gets hard to keep reading. It’s almost like a guy sitting next to you at a bar… tells you a whole complete story about an incident… he gets up and leaves… another guy sits down next to you… and starts telling you the same story with a different accent and cadence.It’s a shame… but at this price… with the typos and repetitive stories… and dull announcer quotes… you may want to wait for the paperback… or simply go to another bar.P.S. from 1974-1980 the Steelers and Raiders won six Super Bowls!

I have been a huge Raiders fan since the 60's. The period of time covered in this book corresponds roughly to my high school and college years. I watched in disbelief from my parents' living room when the Immaculate Reception occurred. I was then devastated when the Steelers beat my Raiders in the '74 and '75 AFC Championship Games. I was so happy when the Raiders turned the tables in '76. I just wish the Steelers had been at full strength for the '76 game.This book brought back all those memories and was very interesting to read. I cannot give the book five stars, however, because of the strange way in which it was written. For example, one author describes the '75 season. Now I am ready to read about the '75 playoffs. But instead, the book next gives the second author's account of the '75 season. If they had just taken the time to weave both author's accounts into one continuous tapestry, the book would have flowed much better.Despite the poor way in which the story flows, the book is worth four stars because of the very interesting subject matter. I'm happy I purchased the book.

You will have to ask my brother about this book. I am not a Steelers fan, but he is. It looks like a great overview of them. It had good ratings, so I went on that note. As for my brother, he did say thank you

Steeler fan.Always enjoyed the Raider Steeler games.Perhaps a bit to much detail in the first 80 pages when describing the organizational philosphy of both teams.Could have used more interviews of players.

As someone who reads a ton of football history there is no new information here. I was disappointed. If you are novice fan - ok - if you are a big Steelers or Raiders avoid this. Also they repeated some of the same stories over and over.