Ron Kantowski fields a call from Oakland Raiders boss Al Davis, who explains why Lady Rebels play-by-play man Bob Blum is ...
Still part of the Raider family
It's not every day that Al Davis, the legendary maverick owner of the Oakland Raiders, agrees to an interview.
It's even more rare when he instigates one.
So when his secretary calls and asks "Will you hold for Mr. Davis?" it's really not a question. You hold for Mr. Davis.
I didn't have to hold long. Obviously, there's still plenty of time to draw up plays for Lane Kiffin, the Raiders' new young coach, because it was only a matter of seconds before a familiar voice came on the line and said it was a pleasure to talk to me.
Davis didn't do a Paul Simon and say I could call him "Al." But that's how he makes you feel.
Of course, it didn't take a rocket scientist or even John Madden to discern why he was calling. A mutual acquaintance, veteran sportscaster Bob Blum, is being inducted into yet another hall of fame, and since he couldn't be there in person - Davis will present Blum at tonight's Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame dinner at The Orleans via videotape - he thought it would be nice to talk about an old friend with one of his not-quite-as-old colleagues.
"Las Vegas has been a big part of my life for the past 50 years," Davis said. "I have some great friends there and Bob was kind of the conduit for several of them and several events I've been part of there."
Blum was part of the Raiders' family even before Davis became its patriarch. He was the team's play-by-by man when 33-year-old Al Davis became the youngest head coach and general manager in pro football history in 1963.
He retained only three employees from the previous Oakland regime. Blum was one of them.
"Whatever he did was done for the good of the organization," Davis said. "He was not self-aggrandizing. That's what you are looking for when you are trying to build something. You want loyal people, dedicated people, people you can trust. That was Bob."
The 86-year-young Blum continues to serve as the play-by-play voice of the UNLV Lady Rebels. During his 57 years in the business, he has called more than 3,000 games. One of those that Davis recalls most vividly was the only pro football exhibition game ever played in Las Vegas.
It happened in 1964. The Raiders vs. Houston at old Cashman Field. "I remember that the showgirls wore sweaters that night and we won the game," said Davis, who never met a victory he couldn't remember.
Although the NFL has maintained and nurtured a hate-hate relationship with our city, Davis said pro football fans might be surprised to know that this is where today's league actually took shape. He said when he became commissioner of the old American Football League in April of 1966, he ran it out of a Las Vegas hotel room for a couple of weeks. In an irony that some of us would find most delicious, the AFL-NFL merger actually was hatched in the vicinity of a blackjack table.
Years later Davis would celebrate his 70th and 75th birthdays - he'll be 78 on the Fourth of July - at the Bellagio. Then he began reminiscing about the many friends he has here.
He mentioned the old Raiders, such as Frank Hawkins and David Humm and Napoleon McCallum, who either grew up in Las Vegas or make their homes here.
He mentioned our former governors, Paul Laxalt and Mike O'Callahan, the former executive editor of the Sun who walked the sidelines at Raiders games dressed all in black, just like the team owner.
He mentioned sportsmen, including the late Tom Wiesner and Bob Arum, the boxing promoter, who went to the same high school as Davis in Brooklyn.
He mentioned the entertainers - Billy Eckstine, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme - who have serenaded him over the years.
He mentioned the rogues and characters: Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, the gambler, and Lem Banker, the even bigger gambler.
"There's so many great people I remember," Davis said. "Bob knew them all."
Davis said that while it's hard to top a Super Bowl memory or presenting one of his former players or coaches at the Hall of Fame ceremony in Canton, Ohio, one his earlier ones is turning around the Raiders from a 1-13 team in 1962 to 10-4 in his first year as coach.
"I'd see Bob come out after every game with that look on his face like he didn't believe it," Davis said, reminding me of the part he played in the greatest turnaround in pro football history.
By then, I was feeling so at ease that I reminded him that the Raiders, 2-14 last year, will have a chance to break his record this year.
"No question we've got to turn it around because we were terrible," he said, sounding like the Al Davis of old instead of an old Al Davis.
Because when you're committed to excellence, there's only one thing that beats talking about old friends, and that's talking about some new ones who can block and tackle.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2007/jun/08/566636364.html
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