Two news items that have been building up:
Ray Ratto first wrote in his SFGate blog about the anti-ownership sign controversy last weekend. The NY Daily News, Oakland Tribune, and East Bay Express picked up the story, with Oakland City Attorney appearing as his normally indignant self.
Now Giants beat writer Henry Schulman has more details on the team’s stepping up of their efforts to get in on the big Warriors free-for-all. Once again with feeling, “Remember the Sonics.”
It’s not hard to see why the Giants would be interested. They see the A’s looking at San Jose and A’s ownership is buddy-buddy with the Sharks. The Giants do pretty well with non-baseball events such as the annual bowl game, concerts, and other offseason stuff. Down south, the combination of HP Pavilion, an A’s ballpark, and a Quakes stadium could make for a very competitive situation. Get a fancy new arena near the downtown ballpark gem and you preserve that “entertainment hub” status while gaining booking flexibility in the process. That would leave Oakland/Alameda County with two older venues, though hopefully the arena’s debt will be taken care of with the W’s move. But hey, keep fightin’ the good fight on that sign issue.
Added 4/30 3:14 PM: Zennie Abraham has made a Freedom of Information Act request for all correspondence and documents related to any and all efforts to build and manage sports venues in Oakland. The request has gone out to all relevant city and county offices/agencies. We’ll see how far that goes.
newballpark.org 
Pingback: Tweets that mention Giants want piece of W’s, Russo wants signs back - -- Topsy.com
the Giants just do everything right. really sharp guys over there.
I think the ultimate baseball organization would have the Giants marketing team and the A’s baseball operations staff.
.
I wonder how John Russo’s grandstanding plays in MLB’s offices?
MLB has already lost a freedom of speech case over those “John 3:16” signs. Same idea here, that if you’re going to abridge freedom of speech, you need to be extremely clear on the exact reasons, and not simply say, “We have a policy against it.”
@jeffrey
so you are saying fans should be ejected for voicing their displeasure with a’s management?
who’s side are you on anyways?
@tps- No arguments there. I actually agree with Ratto. Lew Wolff should have invited the guy to come and talk with him.
.
I think signs like “Lew Wolff Hates Oakland” are childish and counter productive, but kicking the guy out for bringing it is not exactly a the best way to defuse the situation.
.
@A’sObserver- I don’t need you to put words in my mouth. I never said anything remotely like that. I only asked a question about Russo, who has now taken an openly adversarial tact towards the A’s twice.
.
First when he said that Lew Wolff never looked in Oakland (which is complete crap, considering the City has acknowledged that two of the sites they have recently proposed are retreads he previously rejected. How can they be retreads if he never looked?). Lew Wolff said he exhausted all options, from what I hear about Victory Court and JLS North, he may be right. I guess we will all find out when Oakland comes out and says what their plan is.
.
Now he is grandstanding about the sign gate. Honestly, as I said above, I think people who bring signs like that to games are within their rights but also look childish.
.
There are ways to handle this without trying to build your political future by attacking a baseball team you are supposedly trying to keep in town. That’s all.
Basically, Russo is losing the forest for the trees.
Pingback: Tweets that mention Giants want piece of W’s, Russo wants signs back - -- Topsy.com
Oakland loses, everyone is against them. The city will sink after moves are set.
ML….that’s very nice of you to be concerned about the Oakland Arena’s debt.