Another Bayside Derby

Back in June, I talked about the annual Bayside Derbys between the Giants and the A's. There's another annual local showdown every year between the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers. These teams play each year in the preseason for Bay Area bragging rights, and it's treated as a big deal by the local media. Even though it's a "friendly" in world football terms, fans of each team want to beat the other one. Tonight's game is on two local TV channels with each team's announcers hometowning for the Niners (2) or Raiders (5).

I've been Not Feeling Love for the NFL for the past couple of years, but was a 49er fan back when I followed football, and more importantly, do not like the Raiders. I grew up as a Raider fan during their 70s heyday, but broke up with them after they moved to L.A. in 1982 (from a long distance, since was living on the other side of the world). 1982 was also the first year that the Niners won their first of their five Super Bowls, so it was the year I changed my allegiance.

When the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995, I mostly viewed their return with apathy (and distress that my taxes were used to lure them here), until they started ruining one of the best baseball stadiums in the league by enclosing it and adding a concrete monstrosity in left field that most people call "Mount Davis" (after the Raiders megalomaniac owner). When I watch an A's game in August and see those yardlines in the outfield, it's a sign that Summer is over and baseball is going to be supplanted by football, two things that make me sad.

One thing that doesn't make me sad is that the stadium formerly known as Candlestick is now called Bill Walsh Field, which is a great tribute to a great coach, even if the stadium itself is still a dump. At least it's not a waste of a perfectly good baseball stadium!