S.F. Examiner: Big night for Eddie D, Stabler, Boldin

February 07, 2016 by Art Spander in articles, football

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

He was the stranger from Youngstown, the little guy who had to earn his spurs and, more importantly after some missteps owning the 49ers — “This team is not a toy,” he grumbled at the media so critical of his mismanagement — earn the cheers. They were there at Super Bowls in past years. And they were there Saturday night, when Eddie DeBartolo was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So timely. So appropriate that DeBartolo, now 69 and far away in time and distance, having moved to Tampa, Fla., would be one of the chosen few when the Super Bowl, the Half-Century Super Bowl, No. 50, would be played in the area where he built a champion in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Read the ful story here.

S.F. Examiner: Stabler’s magical memories remain vivid

July 11, 2015 by Art Spander in articles, football

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

Oh those Oakland Raiders of the 1970s, talented and uninhibited, who, like the poem, would knock you ’round and upside down and laugh when they’d conquered and won. They seemed less a team of athletes than a group from central casting, characters but, when needed, full of character.

Ken Stabler, who died Thursday at 69 from colon cancer, was the perfect quarterback for those Raiders, someone who sensed how far he could push the rules and, in a manner of speaking, push his teammates — which was all the way to the top.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Memorable plays during Raiders days puts Ken Stabler on doorstep of Hall of Fame

July 11, 2015 by Art Spander in articles, football

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

Maybe it was all about timing. Ken Stabler played in an era dominated by Terry Bradshaw and Bob Griese.

Maybe it was all about location. Stabler might have been in the wrong place. He played on the "Left Coast," as Easterners say with a sneer.

Read the full story here.