Reflecting on the A’s leaving Oakland for Las Vegas

BREAKING: The Oakland Athletics have zeroed in on Southern Nevada, signing a binding purchase agreement for land just west of the Strip where a major-league ballpark could be constructed. https://t.co/p7ARgL8S5G

— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) April 20, 2023

Well, what I hoped was not going to happen is now all but guaranteed. And of course the news breaks right as I was getting ready for bed. The team, not surprisingly, did this when a good portion of the country was asleep.

I had held on to a miracle to happen, and that the speculation of a move to Nevada wouldn’t come to fruition and somehow a new ballpark would be built in Oakland. This is for a team that has called this city home since 1968. Now, much like the Warriors and Raiders, they’re leaving Oakland.

What sucks about this is that I have had many years to prepare myself for this. As the ongoing search for a new ballpark continued, it became more and more apparent that Las Vegas would be the final destination. And why wouldn’t it? The attendance has been so bad and the current stadium is in desperate need of a lot of help. And of course, the owner John Fisher and management has made no effort to field a competitive team. All the star players are shipped out for prospects that don’t even get a chance to establish themselves as stars in Oakland.

Warriors fallout: Draymond Green interview revelation doesn’t change fact that Kevin Durant was at fault

Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

This morning Bleacher Report uploaded the much-anticipated interview between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. The highlight of this interview was when Draymond Green and Kevin Durant discuss their argument in 2018 during a game against the Clippers and how management handled that situation. (Green was suspended one game.) People believe that that moment was what convinced Durant to not return to the team in the offseason.

Here is the clip from the interview that addressed the incident:

What it was like covering Alex Smith on the 49ers beat

A photo with me and Alex Smith at a local premiere of “The Taking of Pelham 123” in the Bay Area.

I first started the San Francisco 49ers in 2007. At the time I was just a blogger and gaining access to anything the 49ers did was definitely not on my radar. However, it was exciting for me to cover the team I grew up watching and hoping that the Niners could get back to respectability.

I had a lot of hope in Alex Smith. He as entering his third season with the team and he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders as the top overall pick in 2005. This is where I started focusing a lot of my writing on him and the team. It was some ups and downs in those two years until I finally got credentialed.

Gaining credential access to the 49ers was a big deal for me. The Niners at the time never gave access to online media journalists — the concept was too new and bloggers like myself were an unpredictable unknown. I was just grateful that I worked hard enough and published enough quality content that the team decided that I was worth considering. I was only able to cover a few practices here and there but that was enough for me. That was when I got to interview and meet Alex Smith.

Should the Oakland A’s adopt this new cap design?

Interesting logo choice for Oakland. https://t.co/PUa2AO5s3H pic.twitter.com/ADj3uoDNB4

— Samuel Lam (@SamuelYLam) April 8, 2021

Earlier this month, MLB’s Mother’s Day caps for this season was revealed on Macy’s website. It’s basically every team’s current caps except the logos now feature pink. Not very creative but it does exactly what it needs to do to be different and enough to build merchandising revenue.

However, as you can see above, the Oakland A’s cap does not feature their current logo.

The logo you see is the “O” from the script the team wore during their early years in Oakland.

My WrestleMania 37 predictions

Well, thanks to COVID-19 last year, WrestleMania was forced into the Performance Center. This year, with limited fans in attendance, the attempt to pull off this show in Tampa Bay is going to happen. Once again it’s a two-night affair and I am going to make my predictions on what will go down.

Kickoff Pre-show: WOMEN’S BATTLE ROYAL — NOT HAPPENING
– The match will be cancelled for the second straight year.

Kickoff Pre-show: ANDRE THE GIANT MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL — SMACKDOWN
– This match happened on SmackDown with Jey Uso winning.

What it was like attending Opening Day in 2021

Opening Day in Oakland. April 1, 2021.

Last night was a special night for me. And for Major League Baseball. After not being able to have fans in attendance all of last year except for a few postseason games, the league is back in full swing with fans being able to attend games in limited capacity. Except for you Texas Rangers. Shame on you.  

The COVID-19 pandemic hit across the United States and all of Major League Baseball in early spring last year and the league had to shut down everything. It was only months later into the summer did the league begin playing games. No fans in attendance and my hopes of attending a big league game that season was dashed. 

I usually find myself in Oakland for a handful of games every year to see my hometown A’s. Since moving to Los Angeles, being able to attend games at the Coliseum has been challenging but I have found ways to fly or drive back home. The team didn’t allow any fans in attendance at all last season, opting for cardboard cutouts among other silly gimmicks. But this season, they’re letting fans in at a limited capacity (20 percent) and I knew immediately I wanted to be in attendance for that first game. I booked my flight and bought my ticket to Opening Day in Oakland. I had to be there. 

This will be my first live sporting event since a Warriors game in San Francisco last January. The pandemic took away any other chances of me attending any other sporting events since then. But now a little bit over a year later, I am back at one of my favorite places ever. 

The Coliseum site itself has been a vaccination site in recent months and now it’s welcoming fans back for a live event. I wanted to document everything about my experience in my first game back. I wanted to see what was different now than what it was like in 2019, the last season the team was able to have fans in attendance. Here’s what I saw.

Determining the best Super Bowl game ever with a unique grading system

Was Super Bowl XXXII the greatest Super Bowl ever?
(Photo by Lutz Bongarts/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Last night’s Super Bowl game wasn’t all that exciting. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers grabbed the lead early and its defense suffocated the Kansas City Chiefs. And with that, the 55th Super Bowl game ended with a 31-9 blowout.

While watching the game last night I started to think about all the previous Super Bowl games and which one is the best game ever. If you ask based on the qualifier of the actual gameplay, then you will get a ton of answers and all are debatable. We could look back at the New York Jets’ major upset in Super Bowl III. Or maybe Joe Montana’s late drive to seal the win in Super Bowl XXIII. Or maybe the New York Giants taking down the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII?

These are just a few examples of some games worth considering. But I feel that there should be some other qualifiers. The gameplay is important, but the visuals to me are a very important factor into the decision. For a long while, the Super Bowl was played under sunny skies. Now, depending on the location of the game and the game start time, that option may not exist. Even games played indoors eliminate the sun from being a factor.

Another thing that matters is the field itself. This is a personal preference, but games played on grass are visually more appealing than games played on any other surface. And with the rolling out of astroturf and field turf, it seems like every other year we lose that element.

And as you know, I am a big uniform guy so finding a good contrast in both teams’ uniforms is important to me. I love it where both teams don’t share any of the same colors and that there is a good balance of colors on each uniform. For example, the Seattle Seahawks wearing a blue helmet, with blue jerseys and pants isn’t visually that strong. And on the other hand, despite the Pittsburgh Steelers having a very classic uniform, I am not a fan of a black helmet on a white jersey with yellow pants. It’s too many different dominant colors on one uniform.

Warriors fall flat again in tribute to Oakland roots

The new Warriors uniform that pays tribute to Oakland.

The Golden State Warriors announced new uniforms for the team in their upcoming season. The uniforms are a tribute to their Oakland roots.

This isn’t the first time the Warriors have tried to pay tribute to Oakland with their San Francisco move finalized, but this will be the first time they will wear an Oakland-themed uniform while playing in San Francisco.

Despite the goodwill these uniforms are attempting to make, it’s still a slap to the face of the city of Oakland.

Will the Oakland A’s finally win a postseason series?

Do the A’s have what it takes to win it all?

Today the Oakland Athletics embark on their third consecutive season in the playoffs. The last two years, the A’s failed to win the division and were forced to play in the Wild Card Game. Both times, the A’s lost and their postseason dreams ended just like that. This season with the 60-game schedule due to the pandemic, the A’s won the West and don’t have to worry about a one-game schedule. They will now play a best-of-three set against the Chicago White Sox. The A’s will play all these first round games in Oakland, which is a nice reward for winning the division. It’s a different format than previous years because of the pandemic but I won’t complain about it. The A’s clearly were the best in the division and have earned this right.

But will they win this series? Will they go far into the postseason?

Having watched the A’s this season I believe that they have what it takes to win it all. However, they need to be so perfect in everything they do in these playoffs. On paper they are not the best but they have found ways to get it done on the field, leading them to a 36-24 record this seasons.

My WrestleMania 36 predictions

What a strange time we are right now. COVID-19 has forced this major event out of the stadium and into the WWE Performance Center. No fans. Two nights. It could be great. It could be awful. I have no idea which nights the matches will take place. Here are my predictions.

Kickoff Pre-show: WOMEN’S BATTLE ROYAL — NOT HAPPENING
– There will be more than 10 people in the ring so this match won’t go as planned. 

Kickoff Pre-show: ANDRE THE GIANT MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL — NOT HAPPENING
– There will be more than 10 people in the ring so this match won’t go as planned. 

===

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH 
– Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar (C)

It would be a great way to start the first night of the show with this match. The hype for this has died a little bit but the potential of Drew McIntyre is still pretty strong. However, with so much uncertainty right now, it might be a good idea to have McIntyre win the title and then not be in any foreseeable matches. So right now, having Brock Lesnar hold the title until maybe SummerSlam is the way to go.