I can't wait for this movie to come out. I loved John Madden, one of the greatest coaches and sports personalities to ever walk this Earth. Nicholas Gage stars as Madden, and he definitely looks the part. I also saw this morning that Christian Bale will star as Al Davis (former owner of the Raiders).
Madden (and Davis)
Davis also was an interesting cat...in a jackass kind of way. I met him once...well sort of. It's actually kind of a funny story.
We built a building for Davis, in Wyoming. Davis, as many will know, rose to prominence not as a football figure but as an oil man. He owned Davis Oil. Anyway, we (my parent's construction company) were contracted to build a large metal building for him in Wyoming. Davis was notorious for not paying, and our experience was no different. We finished the building early and under budget, but he kept finding reasons not to pay us. We satisfied his every whim to where he had exactly zero grounds to refuse to make final payment...and, he finally agreed to pay.
Rather than send us a check, he decided to deliver the final payment in person. So, I was going to get to meet the famed Al Davis. Davis would be flying in on his private jet. The old man sent me (as usual) to go out to the airport and meet with him to get the check. This was one 'go'fer' task this construction general foreman (at the time) didn't mind. (Note - I got to do every shitty job in the company, the shittier the better). But again, this task I was actually kind of happy about. Davis was in his heyday with the Raiders at this point. So, I headed out to the small Wyoming airport.
I get out to the airport (and we had another project at the airport during this time, so I could drive right out onto the ramp...which I thought would make Davis feel all 'special'.) I figured the guy might want to get something to eat so I'd planned to drive him and his pilots over to a nearby cafe for a bite of lunch. I waited. And waited...and waited! Was this dude even going to show up?? I had just about resigned myself to calling up the old man and telling him Davis had stiffed us once again when low and behold this Gulfstream jet landed. The aircraft then taxied up to the general aviation hangar where I was parked. Honestly, I was pretty excited to meet this guy.
For the longest time nothing happened. The jet just sat there, one engine running. I mean like for a really long time, it just sat there. By this point I was like...WTF, over??? Finally, after what seemed like 30 minutes, the door pops open and the stairs unfold. "Finally!"...I said to myself. Then more nothing happened. Nobody got off, heck, nobody even looked out; they just sat there. After another long wait (won't bore you...more...here), this tiny elderly looking woman crept down the stairway. She stood on the tarmac and was looking around like she'd just set foot on the Moon. I got out of the car and raised my hand, as if to say..."I'm the one you're here to meet with".
No idea who this woman was, but she was walking toward me. I had prepared this short welcome speech, but it was intended for Davis, not some random old woman. She walked up to me and before I could say a word she said "HERE!" and smacked an envelope down into my outstretched hand. My hand was intended to greet her with, but she just slapped this envelope into my hand, and just as fast as she'd walked up she turned right back around and headed for the plane. I said something to the effect of..."I thought you folks might want to have lunch". She stopped, glanced at me, and without a word continued walking to the jet. Ice cold. The second she got up the stairs of that jet the stairs retracted, the door shut, and the other engine spooled up. My "goodbye" acknowledgement from Davis and crew was seeing the shutter only the only unshuttered window of the jet slam shut. Even the pilot was a dick. He went to breakaway thrust and turned immediately, showering me with dust and gravel as they pulled back out onto the taxiway. "Nice meeting you, Al!"..."you fucker!"...I said to no one in particular as I got back in the car.
The final invoice was for something like $98,547.97. Accountants will do stuff like that sometimes, make an invoice for some weird amount, rather than round up or down to the nearest dollar. I looked at the check. It was made out for $98,547.92...five cents less. Five stinking cents! They had actually thought about that amount, it was no accident. Our invoice was dumb enough with .97 at the end, but his check was even worse with .05 deducted off the amount, cheap bastard! My Dad and I joked for years afterwards about how we should have sent a letter to Davis Oil demanding the five cents and threatening legal action if they didn't pay!!
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As just kind of an epilogue to this story, the building we built for Davis sat empty for about a year after we completed it. Despite their 'crisis level' demands to expedite and complete it early, Davis was in no rush to occupy the building.
After about 18 months a sign from this shady real estate agent showed up on the property. "For Sale or Lease"...the sign said.
Davis, nor any other sole from Davis Oil, ever even set foot inside this giant brand new building.
It sat there empty for years. I just looked on Google maps and it's still sitting there; and there are no signs it has ever been occupied. That was over 40 years ago!
Madden (and Davis)
Davis also was an interesting cat...in a jackass kind of way. I met him once...well sort of. It's actually kind of a funny story.
We built a building for Davis, in Wyoming. Davis, as many will know, rose to prominence not as a football figure but as an oil man. He owned Davis Oil. Anyway, we (my parent's construction company) were contracted to build a large metal building for him in Wyoming. Davis was notorious for not paying, and our experience was no different. We finished the building early and under budget, but he kept finding reasons not to pay us. We satisfied his every whim to where he had exactly zero grounds to refuse to make final payment...and, he finally agreed to pay.
Rather than send us a check, he decided to deliver the final payment in person. So, I was going to get to meet the famed Al Davis. Davis would be flying in on his private jet. The old man sent me (as usual) to go out to the airport and meet with him to get the check. This was one 'go'fer' task this construction general foreman (at the time) didn't mind. (Note - I got to do every shitty job in the company, the shittier the better). But again, this task I was actually kind of happy about. Davis was in his heyday with the Raiders at this point. So, I headed out to the small Wyoming airport.
I get out to the airport (and we had another project at the airport during this time, so I could drive right out onto the ramp...which I thought would make Davis feel all 'special'.) I figured the guy might want to get something to eat so I'd planned to drive him and his pilots over to a nearby cafe for a bite of lunch. I waited. And waited...and waited! Was this dude even going to show up?? I had just about resigned myself to calling up the old man and telling him Davis had stiffed us once again when low and behold this Gulfstream jet landed. The aircraft then taxied up to the general aviation hangar where I was parked. Honestly, I was pretty excited to meet this guy.
For the longest time nothing happened. The jet just sat there, one engine running. I mean like for a really long time, it just sat there. By this point I was like...WTF, over??? Finally, after what seemed like 30 minutes, the door pops open and the stairs unfold. "Finally!"...I said to myself. Then more nothing happened. Nobody got off, heck, nobody even looked out; they just sat there. After another long wait (won't bore you...more...here), this tiny elderly looking woman crept down the stairway. She stood on the tarmac and was looking around like she'd just set foot on the Moon. I got out of the car and raised my hand, as if to say..."I'm the one you're here to meet with".
No idea who this woman was, but she was walking toward me. I had prepared this short welcome speech, but it was intended for Davis, not some random old woman. She walked up to me and before I could say a word she said "HERE!" and smacked an envelope down into my outstretched hand. My hand was intended to greet her with, but she just slapped this envelope into my hand, and just as fast as she'd walked up she turned right back around and headed for the plane. I said something to the effect of..."I thought you folks might want to have lunch". She stopped, glanced at me, and without a word continued walking to the jet. Ice cold. The second she got up the stairs of that jet the stairs retracted, the door shut, and the other engine spooled up. My "goodbye" acknowledgement from Davis and crew was seeing the shutter only the only unshuttered window of the jet slam shut. Even the pilot was a dick. He went to breakaway thrust and turned immediately, showering me with dust and gravel as they pulled back out onto the taxiway. "Nice meeting you, Al!"..."you fucker!"...I said to no one in particular as I got back in the car.
The final invoice was for something like $98,547.97. Accountants will do stuff like that sometimes, make an invoice for some weird amount, rather than round up or down to the nearest dollar. I looked at the check. It was made out for $98,547.92...five cents less. Five stinking cents! They had actually thought about that amount, it was no accident. Our invoice was dumb enough with .97 at the end, but his check was even worse with .05 deducted off the amount, cheap bastard! My Dad and I joked for years afterwards about how we should have sent a letter to Davis Oil demanding the five cents and threatening legal action if they didn't pay!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As just kind of an epilogue to this story, the building we built for Davis sat empty for about a year after we completed it. Despite their 'crisis level' demands to expedite and complete it early, Davis was in no rush to occupy the building.
After about 18 months a sign from this shady real estate agent showed up on the property. "For Sale or Lease"...the sign said.
Davis, nor any other sole from Davis Oil, ever even set foot inside this giant brand new building.
It sat there empty for years. I just looked on Google maps and it's still sitting there; and there are no signs it has ever been occupied. That was over 40 years ago!