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God I wish I could agree here.. unfortunately I cant really, and it comes down to a few annoying issues.
1. Oakland Raiders. Had the most successful team in the area in the Raiders, and took the cake over the sad 49ers for years. Had a better stadium, better fanbase, more down to earth fanbase (blue collar vs. white collar) and they had an owner who was committed to winning. The only thing that stopped them from completely dominating during the 70's was the Steelers, who were just fucking psycho good. It always came down to Oakland and Pittsburgh in the AFC championship... and if it weren't for some goddamn immaculate deception... yeah... i'll shut up with that haha.
either way, Al Davis went full retard, moved the team to LA a year after winning the Super Bowl, and absolutely crushing everyone in the playoffs en-route to it, even as a total underdog.
But then they were in LA, disillusioned the fanbase, and all of a sudden Joe Montana comes over, and everyone jumps ship, because everyone hates LA in Norcal, and now the 49ers have the entire football fanbase. 5 superbowls later, nobody gave a shit about the Raiders when they returned to Oakland, and a newly renovated and nearly ruined-perfectly good baseball stadium in Oakland. They rarely sold out because of the PSL's.. They sell out now when the team's on it (they were pretty decent last year - raped the division) but still, the 49ers have the majority of the fans. Serious Raider fans really ARE into it though... Raider Nation is still massive, and LA still roots for the team, because they hate the Chargers and 49ers hardcore... and the Halloweenesque atmosphere is unbelievable (go to a game and sit in the black hole sometime. its rowdy as shit, and you're guaranteed to see hot tits)
2. Oakland A's. Only non-Yankee Dynasty, and home of where a lot of the Yankee's best players have come from anyways... (Maris, Giambi, Reggie Jackson.. shall I keep it up?). 4 world series, 6 ALCS championships (both of them AL dynasties). They are the more successful team in the bay area, but didnt come till a decade after the Giants had a foothold, and even in their best years, still were not as popular for some dumb reason. Although.. the Bay Area is highly known to bandwagon hardcore for baseball.. Unlike Chicago and NY, fans are fans of both teams for some reason, and its downright retarded, and makes both sides look terrible. With the Giants world series last year, the A's bandwagon's all but gone, and with the ruined stadium thanks to Shallow Al, they play in the worst baseball stadium in the majors. Talks of moving to San Jose are making fans jump ship as well, even though the team is consistant as shit with Billy Beane as the GM - one of the best in sports. They do pretty bad at the gate, and will only sell out now if they go on a massive tear, are playing the yankees/sox/giants (where they are outnumbered by bandwagon fans typically) or are in the playoffs (where they usually command a massive bandwagon base) They're my favourite baseball team, but There's some issues - mostly stadium issues, that need to be addressed. I miss the old coliseum, and as much of a Raider fan as I am (dad grew up in Oakland going to games at Frank Youll field, before they built the Coliseum), I hate what's happened to the stadium... It's back to waiting for prospects to gel again in the meantime... and theyre on a huge slump at the moment, so thats really not helping shit at all.
3. Warriors. Clippers-North. They, like the other teams in Oakland, won championships in the 70's (yeah, you know how Boston seems to keep winning them? That was Oakland in the 70's), but they havent been shit since. They were decent in the late 1990's but aside from a 8th seed massive upset a few years ago in the playoffs, haven't done jack squat. They rebranded the team and are looking better for the future now, but they aren't even the best team in Northern California. I'm a Kings fan (another team that might move - fucking hell...) and, with Oakland being such a huge basketball outlet as it is (Bill Russell, Paul Pierce, Leon Powe, Gary Peyton, Jason Kidd, etc) the team does it a massive disservice to it's surrounding areas.
4. California Golden Seals. First team in the bay area, only were around for less than a decade or so, had like 6 owners, including former A's owner Charlie Finley who didnt know what the fuck hockey was, and tried to introduce white skates that looked fuckin goofy. He would trade first overall draft picks for not-too-proven potential players, and even traded away the pick that landed Guy Lafleur for pissall... They did okay at the gate when they were playoff-contending, but they were just so bad all the time that nobody really cared to actually come out for games. It was like an Atlanta situation, but worse because that team actually contended usually, instead of being in the pit of the NHL all the time. They moved to Cleveland, only to suck it up for 2 more years there, and were merged into the Northstars. The only good thing that came of them, is that when the first owners of the sharks wanted a hockey team, they were able to sell their share in the Northstars, and be granted a new team in the Bay Area, which had been itching for hockey ever since the team left, and the glory days of the league in the 80's enticed bay area fans to watch the sport.
The problem with Oakland really lies in it's poor performing teams (warriors), Bad Stadium (coliseum), and Ownership that kinda screwed some things up (Al Davis).
If my dream happens, and the A's get a new stadium, Al Davis hires and KEEPS a coach around, and the Warriors get an ownership group that's committed to actually winning (not that I care because the NBA's rigged anyways), then Oakland can return to it's 1970's success - as of right now though, everyone's been paying attention to San Francisco's teams, and are more likely to be Lakers fans now just due to some of the bandwagon nature of a lot of people in the area.
Least we have Cal Bears Football... (oh wait, they're undergoing stadium renovations and are playing in San Francisco's baseball stadium next year. fuck haha.)
