Better To Reign In Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire

Description

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 multiracial, largely blue collar supporters runs deep, as does their sense of community. As Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew reveal in this 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 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 photograph 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.

Jim Miller is a professor of English, philosophy, humanities, and labor studies at San Diego City College. Kelly Mayhew is a professor of English, philosophy, and humanities at San Diego City College. They are co-authors, with Mike Davis, of Under the Perfect Sun (The New Press).

"Beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and whackos ever assembled in such numbers under a single "roof," so to speak, anywhere in the English-speaking world." - Hunter S. Thompson on Raiders Fans; "A lot of people feel Oakland has a reputation to live up to. A tough, gritty, urban identity. The Raiders are a way to get in touch with your inner thug." - Jim Zamora, journalist"