“Oakland Loves Its Sports Teams” Press Conference on 8/27
Post to the Save Oakland Sports Facebook page earlier tonight – The City of Oakland is putting on a press conference/rally in Frank Ogawa Plaza on Monday, August 27 at 11:00 AM. Here’s the description of the event:
Mayor Quan – joined by regional elected officials, business leaders and sports fans – will share details on the “Oakland Loves Its Sports Teams” Week.
The “Oakland Loves Its Sports Teams” Week will salute the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders for being irreplaceable civic treasures that add significantly to the economy, identity, pride and culture of Oakland, Alameda County and the entire East Bay region.
Gotta show the teams some love, especially when both have leases that run out after their respective 2013 seasons. The blurb is right about one thing: the teams are irreplaceable.
Note – It appears that I have been taken off the S.O.S. email chain. Perhaps they chose to close ranks.
It’s really strange to me, the “Keep the A’s in Oakland” movement has sort of spawned three distinct groups with different motivations and “ideas” for keeping the team in town. Two of them are clsoely aligned (the City Government and Let’s Go Oakland) and the third (SOS) is really just on the periphery being quoted in Monte Poole columns and such. You git part of the City Council that wants the A’s to build their own stadium in the Coliseum Parking lot, then you have Let’s Go Oakland who has been pushing JLS (or thereabouts) from the beginning.
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David, before you get on me about this… This is not a shot at Oakland, or Monte Poole (though, this is: he doesn’t get the business of sport and I think it is stretch to call him even adequate at analyzing sports in general).
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I think Oakland is best served by throwing their weight behind Let’s Go Oakland’s plan. Let the SOS guys serve as cheerleaders for LGO and let the City Government get the hell out of the way (because let’s be real, this City Government has been really bad at this for a loooong time).
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LGO’s plan (this is an observation as an outsider) is really driven by some special interests (ie, Signature Properties) who bet big on a big development driven by a JLS renaissance (and vice versa, to some degree) that gets touted in papers but has yet to really produce much of substance (where’s Oak 2 9th?). They see a JLS area baseball stadium as a catalyst for that development and a path to actually having their bet payoff.
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Just because their motivation is making their bet payoff, doesn’t mean there is no benefit to the City. There is huge benefit to the City if the waterfront becomes an extension of downtown.
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I wish we’d here more about how the potential stadium benefits the A’s from these groups. Because most of what they preach is about how good it is for Oakland. Maybe that’s because of the fractured approach? I don’t know… But like I said a long time ago, if the A’s are to stay in Oakland it will be because of Doug Boxer and the crew at LGO and despite Jean Quan, et al. I just wish it would hurry up and be over…
@LakeshoreOAK – You’re not going to engender sympathy for Oakland by turning around and unleashing attacks on citizens of other cities.
@LS – When it has little or nothing to do with the topic of the post.
Fans are the citizens of SJ who voted for our elected officials to get shit done, not do press conferences. But hey, if you are going to go down the 45k FB fans, more power to you. But I think it speaks volumes that quite a few of us SB A’s fans (with no “TR” team of our own) can traverse 30 miles up 880N to support our team, when less than half can do the same in their own city. But I’ll concede and say that I’d rather have support from city government and large SV corps then no show cheerleaders.
Funny, I still think the best compromise is still Fremont. It allows East Bayers to save face with their ego and pride, yet appease SV corps with the vicinity. Why did the NIMBYs have to block it…
re: That is the definition of “HATER” – you have nothing good to say about Oakland but none (few) of you have the balls to go there for yourself, or even TRY to see something positive about it.
…Looks like I don’t meet the definition. I was in Oakland twice in the past few weeks – at an A’s game and at the fabulous Oakland Zoo. I also argue against folks who believe it’s not safe to set foot in Oakland. But do I think Oakland can get a ballpark done? I’m not seeing any evidence that it can. Press conference after press conference doesn’t get shovels in the ground….
@ML – Disagree, but I understand your point about staying on topic.
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Is the meeting really a press conference–where we expect to get news about something–or is it going to be more like a rally?
Dan, The Warriors are left out because they aren’t playing anytime soon? I am guessing, but I took the PC to be about celebrating the A’s success this season and the Raiders impending season. Not really about venue development or the like.
@ML – you’re right. But I’m so frustrated with listening to people and their incessant hatred of Oakland. You can go read my historical posts – I think I’ve been fair and civil. At times, I’ve admittied a mistake or agreed with others in here. Yet some of the poster here cannot say the same.
A man can only take so much. If I lost it every time I heard a ridiculous, off-color comment about Oakland I’d literally go insane.
lakeshore… You don’t know any of us I am assuming. You really should stop pretending you do.
@Jeffrey – what are you talking about? I don’t claim to know any of you personally.
@pjk – Clearly, you are an Oakland advocate. How could anyone misread your position?
Here’s an idea: why don’t you think of a way Oakland can come up with the money, instead of (again) saying, “I dont think they can”?
interesting observation about the press release–it targets only the east bay–”The “Oakland Loves Its Sports Teams” Week will salute the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders for being irreplaceable civic treasures that add significantly to the economy, identity, pride and culture of Oakland, Alameda County and the entire East Bay region.”
Whether it be the gints, ’49ers, or Sharks they always refer to their fan base as the “Bay Area” or more broadly “Northern California”—
@Lakeshore–you miss the point for many of us who are advocates for a new ballpark for our A’s. It has nothing to do with hating Oakland and loving SJ–it has to do with which city is more capable of delivering that ballpark in a reasonable period of time. Oakland after many years has yet to prove they are up to the task—which is where my frustration towards Oakland and its leaders is directed–not because I am hating on Oakland-
@ Lakeshore, per your request, here you go on how to get it done in Oakland. Enjoy!
lakehore- for not knowing any of u personally you sure make a lot of generalizations about where we are from, what our motivations are, etc. That’s my point exactly.
im not surprised you were taken off the SOS email chain. it seams like a lot of pro oakland people, including i few ive talked to who are involved with SOS, hate you and this website. personally i love this site and i think marine layer does an excellent job of putting out a lot of info in an inbiased manner.
lakeshore, i apologize for the typo in your name above… my “s” key is flakey. No offense intended.
@ACV,
hate? Really? Wow! Pretty sad if you ask me (I don’t like being chained up by the Giants TRights, but to say I “hate” the Giants would be going overboard)
Pro San Jose folks, why don’t you come up with a financial plan to get the territorial rights from the Giants. If you did, you would have Cisco Field would be open my now.
Ethan: Because Selig, in his infinite cowardice, told the Giants and A’s to work it out amongst themselves even though the Giants have no incentive at all to negotiate. We can be sure the Giants, if they are even setting a price, have set it in the 9-figure range. Selig’s plan is akin to a runner and catcher being told to negotiate whether the runner was out or safe.
I don’t think a lot of people hate Oakland on this blog, I think a lot of people hate what the coliseum has become, and more directly hate the civic leaders that have made this situation get to this point. I like Oakland, I just am having ah hard time seeing A’s being competitive financially there as opposed to South Bay. By that I mean, tough to sell out stadium, maximize tv deal and corporate sponsors. But even if A’s left, id still go visit. I’d consider living there if I were to move to the bay.
LOL – way to deflect the issue, again! I come up with a proposal and all i hear is silence, and now you’re going to ask us to resolve a business dispute? Bro, I would be more concerned about your own matters before trying to talk smack about other cities or as i alluded to above:
So you, SS, and Lakeshore still haven’t responded to my previous inquiry: if you guys are so certain about the feasibility of Oakland for a new stadium venue, would you then support guaranteed revenue/attendance for it to the A’s/Raiders? Still waiting…..
@Ethan – MarineLayer did a post about TRights valuations: Here you go:
http://newballpark.org/2011/12/26/the-payoff/
On a non-stadium issue all i have to say is NO!!!!!!!! A’s need to find a number one pitcher ASAP.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8293026
@Mike2 – We have a #1. His name is Brett Anderson.
Anon I don’t think how Oakland is going going to announce how they are paying for anything until MLB and the A’s say they are going to stay in Oakland. No need to throw out numbers. There are plenty of ways but a specific plan needs to be in place.
Now San Jose folks if the A’s are so important to the city, where is the financial play to pay off the Giants. Will you guys come up with a private plan to help Lew Wolff take care of the Giants. What is your plan San Jose to pay off the Giants.
San Jose should pay off the Giants? Here’s a better idea: San Jose should sue MLB and the Giants to invalidate the anti-trust exemption. Then let the Giants pay San Jose for damages resulting from lost economic opportunity while the Giants denied San Jose major league baseball
Tell yah what Ethan; just worry about Oakland, and let us “haters” worry about San Jose. How does that sound?
WTF?! First, the A’s are in Oakland now and supposedly part of the heritage there, but you’re saying why start a dialogue on how to fund a stadium until a MLB decision is made? Why announce CC, VC, and HT then? Why make noise that its the OAKLAND A’s now?! Secondarily, why does SJ need to pay anything to the Gnats? If anything, as PJK alluded to, SJ should sue the Gnats / MLB for monopolistic practices. There are things that the city can control, like EIRs, land acquisition, corporate support, etc. that are already taken care of. Things that SJ cannot will be decided by the powers that be in MLB. If Oakland wants the A’s so bad, then do f@#$in something about it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not SJ-Only, I’m pro-A’s-stadium-NOW for the A’s, whether it’s in Oakland, Fremont, or SJ, but selfishly prefer SJ since it would ease my commute. I’m just tired of the typical Oakland only stance of, “LW is a carpetbagger, because he hates Oakland”, yet don’t see any sort of plan on the Oakland side besides… *gasp* press conferences! Sorry if this analogy offends anyone, but this is like a divorce. If you don’t do something to convince the Mrs. to stay, she’s going to go to greener pastures especially after neglecting her so long. So, if you can’t convince her to stay by guaranteeing you’l be better or have any sort of plausible concrete plan, don’t blame others if she leaves. Just like in the mirror…
Anon just ended the debate. Until the real news conference occurs…
Great rant Anon, think you hit all the fine points of the what ifs and what should have been done by now.
Territorial rights have no role in this stalemate. Ok whatever!!!
Deflection, ignorance, denial, and lack of responsibility. This is your way and in general, the
“Oakland Way”. And you Oakland pundits wonder why we criticize you…..
Ethan writes: “”I don’t think how Oakland is going going to announce how they are paying for anything until MLB and the A’s say they are going to stay in Oakland”"
Did I misread that? You think MLB/LW should just commit their time, effort and money to Oakland……. then hope that Oakland can come up with a realistic and beneficial plan? Again, did I misread that or are you that out of touch?
The idea that Oakland shouldn’t sell a $$$ plan to make LW/MLB voluntarily choose Oakland….. that is an idea that isn’t making it happen for Oakland. It is an idea that wholly relies on the A’s being forced to stay in Oakland due to no good alternative. Wow! Way to really grab the bull by the horns and make something happen! But in your defense, your way of thinking seems to be in sync with Oakland Pols.