Comments on: Football Town, Baseball Town

By: Robo

Robo — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:28:49 +0000

eb, I guess what I was getting at above was that if it took the Raiders moving to L.A. for the city of Oakland to step up and build the A’s a new stadium (again if SJ is a no go) how would A’s fans feel about losing the Raiders, but as a result of that, the A’s playing in a new stadium. Presumely if Oakland has funding for the Raiders, but if they then leave, they could use those resources for the A’s. I am a fan of both teams, but no longer live in the BA.,so the Raiders heading for L.A. wouldn’t bother me too much,especially if it meant a new stadium for the A’s…..I’m sure fans in BA think differently, depending on which team they like more..So in a sense I asked Raiders or A’s/.FootballTown or Baseball Town. I know in the old days it was more a football town, but don’t know how it is since the Raiders came back.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:54:13 +0000

@Anon – Yes, but his name was so vague…

Probably wanted to remain anonymous....

By: Marine Layer

Marine Layer — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:51:11 +0000

@Anon – Yes, but his name was so vague…

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:50:22 +0000

@SunshinePumper – Hey, we’ve gone national! Kewl. The counter was the best 5 minutes spent on a JavaScript snippet ever.

Remember who suggested it?

By: eb

eb — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:49:26 +0000

“I look at every life as a balance sheet” Does Wolff seriously not think about what he says? It was interesting hearing Chris Townsend say today that members of the A’s front office cringe and get angry when Wolff speaks.

By: Tony D.

Tony D. — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:14:04 +0000

Agree with suit (really!). Oakland is a football town and the city should focus on getting Da Raiders a new stadium. Watching last nights game, its not hard to imagine a totally revamped coliseum complete with western Mt. Davis and new north/south section. Also, NO MORE DIRT INFIELD to contend with; might of cost us the game last night.
A’s in San Jose, Raiders forever in Oakland…make it happen!

By: SunshinePumper

SunshinePumper — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:12:06 +0000

Congrats man. Passan actually seems to know what he’s talking about. Extremely rare for a national guy. Go A’s! Need the W tonight.

By: Marine Layer

Marine Layer — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:07:39 +0000

@SunshinePumper – Hey, we’ve gone national! Kewl. The counter was the best 5 minutes spent on a JavaScript snippet ever.

By: SunshinePumper

SunshinePumper — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:46:02 +0000

ML. My main man, your TREMENDOUS website was sited by Jeff Passan in his article on the A’s today:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/a-s-stunning-climb-defies-explanation.html

Nicely done. The money quote from the article……

“And to complement that with some revenue, some money, the riches San Jose would bring – well, the A’s, the little team that could, instantaneously would become the big, bad wolf.
All it takes is the San Francisco Giants ceding a territory that baseball will have to pry from their cold, dead fingers. That’s why, as the great newballpark.org notes, it has been 1,276 days since MLB looked into Oakland’s stadium options. It is one of the great embarrassments of Bud Selig’s tenure…”

By: xootsuit

xootsuit — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:05:57 +0000

Good post. One thing that jumps out is the actual existence of the stadiums waiting for the NFL teams to move into when they changed cities. Maybe it’s the economic era, maybe it’s the impediment of the A/T exemption, but San Jose and Wolff/Fisher don’t have the final piece in place. Apparenlty, they have to prepare, and wait, for approval before they can build. The A/T exemption looks less and less defensible every day. (For that very reason, I expect mlb to broker a deal between the A’s and Giants, to pull the shades back over the privilege mlb enjoys.)
.
Oakland is a football town. Raider Nation is a remarkable phenomenon that passes down through the generations like a passionate minority faith. Back in 2001, on the last day of the season, when Barry Bonds hit number 73, my 10 year old son and I rode BART back to the East Bay. At a downtown station, hundreds of costumed Black-Hole-style Raider fans boarded the cars. Suddenly we were in the middle of a Halloween party. I enjoyed listening to the ghouls and monstrous misfits rattle their chains, etc., while they chatted lightly about what time they needed to pick up the baby from grandma, or what time they had to be behind the reception desk at their boss’s office in the morning. To each his own. My son eventually developed into a staunch 49er fan.