HOT CORNER

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What: “Rebels of Oakland: the A’s, the Raiders, the ‘70s.”

Where: HBO, tonight, 9.

Raider fans looking to reflect on better days should enjoy this one-hour documentary that examines Oakland’s two unorthodox teams of the 1970s.

The Raiders’ owner, Al Davis, was different; so was the coach, John Madden.

“He looked like a refugee from the bowling alley,” Pat Toomay says of Madden.

Madden had a good 10-year run with the Raiders, although there were some rough spots along the way. For example, in a 1972 playoff game against Pittsburgh, the Raiders had a 7-6 lead and the Steelers had time for one more play, which turned out to be Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception.

Says Madden: “I ran out on the field and the officials were huddling there. And they said, ‘Get off the field, we don’t know what happened.’ I said, ‘I know you don’t know what happened.’ ”

The show features many of the Raider highlights of the era, including the 32-14 victory over Minnesota in the 1977 Super Bowl at the Rose Bowl, when Madden was carried off the field.

Among the bizarre aspects of the A’s covered in the show is flamboyant owner Charlie Finley’s decision to install a 13-year-old -- the future rapper MC Hammer -- as a team executive. Considered an informant by the players, the youngster, nicknamed “Hammer” by Reggie Jackson, was Finley’s eyes and ears.

Monte Moore, then the A’s lead announcer, says, “One day [Finley] called me before a game and he said, ‘I want to tell you that you’ve got a new broadcast partner today. Hammer is going to come over and do an inning.’ I said, ‘Play by play? What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘Yeah, play by play. He has been doing it for me every day on the phone.’ ”

Many of the stars of those A’s teams are part of the show, as is a former vendor named Tom Hanks.

-- Larry Stewart