Cheating Is Encouraged: A Hard-Nosed History of the 1970s Raiders

Mike Siani has written a nice book at the behind the scenes look into the Raiders of the 1970's. While some information may not surprise you, there are some things that will definitely raise your eyebrows to stop and wonder, how could they get away with that ??From the early years when Al Davis took over, you will learn what it meant to be a Raider and what was expected of you to be part of the group. Late night parties, drinking, sex and just about anything else you could imagine.Covered also are the rivalries with the Steelers, Chiefs, and Broncos. Has nice information on teammates bio's, week by week results for each year during the 70's along with controversial unforgettable games as "The Immaculate Reception", "Sea Of Hands", "Ghost To The Post", and "Holy Roller".Overall a good read on one of the NFL's most notorious teams, whether a fan of the Raiders or not, if you grew up during this era, this is the stuff you never heard about at the time.Would also recommend the following for more good info from the NFL during the 70's when "real football was played by real men".1)Badasses by Peter Richmond2)The Super '70s by Tom Danyluk

I've read the book twice and both times I have found myself "LOL." I was a huge Raiders fan in the 70's and have had the pleasure to meet many of the players and coaches. The Raiders played the game with a passion. They played for the love of the game and for the respect and high expectations they had of each other. They were winners. Al Davis was a great innovator and leader. John Madden, as you will find out in the book, knew how to handle the team, got the most out of his players, along with the ultimate respect from his players.The book puts you right in the thick of all of the action, from training camp at Santa Rosa, the social life in Oakland, to what they did to make them win.Some called it "Outlaw Football", but I call it stretching the rules a bit. Didn't we just forget about "Deflate Gate?"We did because of how talented Tom Brady is...and he's a WINNER!!The same can be said about the Raiders. Loaded with talent, and WINNERS!Congrats Mike on Cheating is Encouraged...A WINNER!!

Excellent book especially if you're a Raiders fan of NFL fan in general it's a throwback to the hard hitting days of the 70's

Not much new in this if you have previously read "Badasses" or other Raider related books. Lots of grown men acting like idiots, securing the admiration and company of groupies, over doing liquor and pot. Normal everyday things that Raiders used to do. Siani was a player and a part of some of my favorite Raider teams, but if he actually wrote this book he needs to hurry to a neurologist for testing. I've seen better editing on free self published E- Books. Paragraphs on teammates and games are often repeated, confusingly pieced together or just wrong. The final score of the AFC 1976 Championship Game that ultimately sent my Raiders to a Super Bowl victory over the Vikings was Steelers 27 Raiders 24. WHAT??Yep, bottom of page 221. The next page briefly tells of the Raider win over the Vikings. Don't spend the money for this and thereby encourage mediocrity, get it from the library if you must. To whomever is responsible for this mess : Just Edit Baby!

This book was poorly edited and it's hard to say it was written, more accurate to say it was "put together." The jacket cover intro is replicated in the book itself--this is just one glaring example of the overall shoddy job done getting this book together. I would not buy another book put out by the same publisher...giving a less-than-passing-grade-in-high-school effort to a hardcover new release is unacceptable, period. It's difficult to believe that this book was not just a schlock job hurried out before the holiday season to take advantage of Raiders fans. The lackluster production of the book takes away from what could have been a real solid book with the sources quoted and interviewed. The "writer" and publisher of this book should read the "Monsters" book that Cohen wrote on the Bears and published by FSG last year, if they read that masterful book they will realize what a poor effort they put in on this one.

Some laugh out loud moments.Some boringly poor recaps of games one paragraph at a time.Constant quotes of people talking about other people and you don't know who is talking about who.While I'm glad to have the funny stories, I think the editing of the book and the writing are poor.

Great details into those stars I watched growing up!

A wonderfully and very thorough book about the Raiders on and off the field. I knew they were good but never realized how great they were in their hey day.

Very good anectdotes about the raiders of the 70s and 80s when they were a great team and feared in the NFL

Some great stories about some of the wildest characters.

excellent book

Great Book - interesting

Ordered book as a gift for my husband RN4LOn opening the parcel I found that the backcover was already ripped.Not a good look for a gift.