[chuckinca]

When I first moved to California from Chicago in the early 70's I lived in an singles type apartment complex (seven swimming pools, two Rec Halls and sports teams etc - sort of like a mini villages but for 20's and early 30's types) and it was about a 15 minute drive from the Oakland Coliseum. Back then the professional baseball and football players were making good money but they were not making millions. During their seasons alot of Oakland A's and Raider players lived in the complex. For two years Otis Sistrunk from the University of Mars lived in the next apartment during football season with his wife and 1 and then 2 yr old daughter who, it seemed, was always dressed in all white fluffy dresses holding her monster daddy's pinkie as they walked thru the grounds. The Raider QB, Ken Stabler and receiver, Dave Casper lived nearby and were often in the West 40 Club on Friday nights. Coach John Madden lived about 15 miles to the East in Pleasanton and I saw him a few times in a local "Togo's" sandwich shop having lunch. His wife was a bar owner on Main Street along with about a dozen other cowboy type bars that have since been replaced with more tony establishments. One of his son's is (or was) a HS football coach in the same town. Later, in the mid-80's he moved into a gated exclusive subdivision called "Blackhawk" (developed by the now owner of the Seattle Seahawks) and lived in an about 7,000 SF house overlooking a golf green built next to a thirty foot high waterfall. While most of the houses in the subdivision had BMW's and Mercedes' in the drives he had a VW Beatle and a Ford Pickup.