Team owner Mark Davis has gotten permission from the NFL to move the team to Las Vegas, possibly for as soon as the 2019 season. So, barring a Playoff game -- which would require the Jets to make the 2017-18 or 2018-19 Playoffs, ha, ha -- the Giants' visit might be the last visit to Oakland for a New York football team.
Which might actually be for the best. Lots of sports teams had reputations for rough stuff in 1970s. Some of those teams had fans who embraced that reputation. Most of those fans have since fallen by the wayside, or at least seriously reduced it, or limited it to games against their arch-rivals, including the Yankees.
Raider fans are different. They like being the bad guys, the villains, the bikers, the metalheads, of the NFL. This is one of the few away games in North American major league sports where caution truly needs to be exercised, regardless of who your team is.
Before You Go. The San Francisco Bay Area has inconsistent weather. San Francisco, in particular, partly because it's bounded by water on three sides, is the one city I know of that has baseball weather in football season and football weather in baseball season. Or, as Mark Twain, who worked for a San Francisco newspaper during the Civil War, put it, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum – currently named the O.co Coliseum (O.co being the marketing name of Overstock.com), but I'll use the original name throughout for simplicity's sake – doesn't get as cold as Candlestick Park did, but it has been known to be bad enough. The website of the Oakland Tribune and SFgate.com, the website of the San Francisco Chronicle, are predicting low 70s for daylight on Sunday, and low 60s for the evening.
As with the rest of California, Oakland is in the Pacific Time Zone, 3 hours behind New York. Adjust your timepieces accordingly.
Tickets. The Raiders finished 32nd, dead last, in the NFL in attendance per home game last season, 54,584, or 86 percent of capacity. In fact, the Raiders' 2016 and the Oakland A's' 2017 per-game attendance combined wouldn't fill MetLife Stadium. So getting tickets might not be a problem.
In the Lower Level, Mid-Sideline seats go for $145, Outer Sideline for $130, End Zone for $110. In the Mid Level, seats are $100. In the Upper Level, Mid-Sideline seats go for $85, Outer Sideline for $70, End Zone for $40.
Getting There. It's 2,900 miles from MetLife Stadium to the Oakland Coliseum. This is the longest Giants or Jets roadtrip there is, and will remain so, unless clueless Roger Goodell or some future Commissioner decides to put a franchise in London. In other words, if you're going, you're flying.
You think I'm kidding? Even if you get someone to go with you, and you take turns, one drives while the other one sleeps, and you pack 2 days' worth of food, and you use the side of the Interstate as a toilet, and you don't get pulled over for speeding, you'll still need over 2 full days. Each way.
But, if you really, really want to drive... Get onto Interstate 80 West in New Jersey, and – though incredibly long, it's also incredibly simple – you'll stay on I-80 for almost its entire length, which is 2,900 miles from Ridgefield Park, just beyond the New Jersey end of the George Washington Bridge, to the San Francisco end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Getting off I-80, you'll need Exit 8A for I-880, the Nimitz Freeway – the 1997-rebuilt version of the double-decked expressway that collapsed, killing 42 people, during the Loma Prieta Earthquake that struck during the 1989 World Series between the 2 Bay Area teams. From I-880, you'll take Exit 37, turning left onto Zhone Way (no, that's not a typo), which becomes 66th Avenue, and then turn right onto Coliseum Way.
Not counting rest stops, you should be in New Jersey for an hour and a half, Pennsylvania for 5:15, Ohio for 4 hours, Indiana for 2:30, Illinois for 2:45, Iowa for 5 hours, Nebraska for 7:45, Wyoming for 6:45, Utah for 3:15, Nevada for 6:45, and California for 3:15. That's almost 49 hours, and with rest stops, and city traffic at each end, we're talking 3 full days.
That's still faster than Greyhound and Amtrak. Greyhound does stop in Oakland, at 2103 San Pablo Avenue at Castro Street. But the trip averages about 80 hours, depending on the run, and will require you to change buses 2, 3, 4 or even 5 times. And you'd have to leave no later than Thursday morning to get there by Sunday gametime. Round-trip fare is $564, but it can drop to $419 with advanced purchase.
On Amtrak, you would leave Penn Station on the Lake Shore Limited at 3:40 PM on Wednesday, arrive at Union Station in Chicago at 9:45 AM Central Time on Thuresday, and switch to the California Zephyr at 2:00 PM, arriving at Emeryville, California at 4:10 PM Pacific Time on Saturday. Round-trip fare: $687. Then you'd have to get to downtown Oakland on the Number 26 bus, which would take almost an hour.
Amtrak service has been restored to downtown Oakland, at 245 2nd Street, in Jack London Square. Unfortunately, it's a half-mile walk to the nearest BART station, at Lake Merritt (8th & Oak). For A's and Raiders games, the station at the Coliseum site, which is part of the BART station there, might be better. 700 73rd Street. And yet, for either of these stations, you'd still have to transfer at Emeryville to an Amtrak Coast Starlight train.
Newark to San Francisco is a relatively cheap flight, considering the distance. You can get a round-trip fare for under $1,000. There is an Oakland International Airport, but it's actually a more expensive flight, about $1,500. And whereas you could get a nonstop flight to San Francisco, most likely, you'd have to change twice on the way to Oakland.
So you're better off flying into San Francisco International Airport, and then taking BART into either San Francisco or Oakland. BART from SFO to downtown San Francisco takes 30 minutes, to Oakland City Center 42 minutes. It's $8.65 to San Fran, $8.95 to Oakland. Oakland Airport to City Center is 37 minutes, $7.85
Once In the City. Founded in 1852 and named after oak trees in the area, Oakland is a city of a little over 420,000 people. But if you count the "Oakland area" of the San Francisco Bay Area as being the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Merced, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter and Yolo (not "YOLO"), it comes to 4,723,778 people -- almost as much as the San Francisco side of the area, counting the Counties of Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara (including San Jose), Santa Cruz and Sonoma: 4,855,538. Total: 9,579,316.
So anyone who says, "Oakland is a small market," or, "The East Bay is a small market," is wrong: The Oakland part of the Bay Area has more people than the metro areas of every major league city except New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, Miami, Atlanta and San Diego.
One of the BART stops in the city is called "12th Street Oakland City Center," and it's at 12th & Broadway, so if you're looking at a centerpoint for the city, that's as good as any. Oakland doesn't have a beltway.
Sales tax in California is 7.5 percent, and rises to 9 percent in Alameda County, including the City of Oakland. ZIP Codes in the East Bay start with the digits 945, 946, 947 and 948. The Area Code for the inner East Bay region is 510, the outer region 925.
San Francisco's electric company is called Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). In addition to being the wealthiest metro area in the country, ahead of New York and Washington, the Bay Area is one of the most ethnically diverse, with 32 percent of the population being foreign-born.
Of the 9 Counties usually included in "the Bay Area," 42 percent of the population is white, 24 percent Hispanic (the vast majority of those being of Mexican descent), 18 percent East Asian (highest in the world outside of Asia, except for Vancouver), 7 percent black, 4 percent South Asian, 4 percent Middle Eastern, and half a percent each Native American and Pacific Islander.
San Francisco became well-known for its Chinatown, as Chinese and Chinese Americans are the largest ethnic group in San Francisco itself, with 21 percent. Daly City, just south of the city, home to the Cow Palace arena, is 58.4 percent Asian, the highest percentage in the U.S. outside of Hawaii. San Jose has more Filipinos than any city outside the Philippines, and more Vietnamese than any city outside Vietnam. In total numbers of Asians, New York ranks 1st in the nation, Los Angeles 2nd, San Jose 3rd and San Francisco 4th.
The City also became well-known for its North Beach neighborhood, which became its "Little Italy," and the West Coast hub of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. The Mission District, once mostly Irish, is now mostly Central American, particularly Salvadoran and Guatemalan.
Despite its name, Russian Hill hasn't had much of a Russian presence in over 200 years. That was not the case with the Castro District, where even after Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867, there were significant numbers of people from the Russian Empire, including, at the time, Finland. In the early 20th Century, it was known as Little Scandinavia, because Norwegians, Swedes and Danes joined the Finns there.
During the Great Depression, just as Southerners went to Southern California in search of work, working-class people of Irish, Italian and Polish descent went to San Francisco, especially the Castro. And many closeted soldiers and sailors, returning from the Pacific Theater of World War II, decided to stay instead of going home, and built the largest gay village in America except for New York's Greenwich Village. Just as Haight-Ashbury led the way for the Hippies, for gay America, the Seventies were their "Sixties."
Oakland has a black majority, and became known as the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and, along with South Central Los Angeles, the West Coast rap scene. As recently as 1970, 1 out of 7 San Franciscans was black, but as the black middle class grew, they were able to afford better places to live, and, in recognition of Oakland's role, abandoned "The Harlem of the West," once the home of a thriving jazz scene (part of what attracted the Beat writers), and headed for the East Bay. San Jose has a Hispanic plurality, which may be a big reason why Major League Soccer put a team there, instead of in San Francisco or Oakland.
San Francisco has always been a parochial city. I don't mean in a religious sense. I mean that it has always looked down on Oakland and the East Bay, which have always resented the more established city because of it, more than New Jersey has ever resented New York.
This even extends to sports: Because Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal reached the major leagues in San Francisco, and Willie Mays was an established star brought in from another city, he has never been as loved by Giants fans as those others. Frank Conniff of the New York Journal-American, perhaps the only man ever to interview both men, wrote, "This is the damnedest city. They cheer Khrushchev and boo Willie Mays." (Khrushchev had visited San Francisco as part of his 1960 U.S. tour.)
Important to note: If you're going to spend any part of your visit to the Bay Area in San Francisco, do not call the city "Frisco." They hate that. "San Fran" is okay. And, like New York (sometimes more specifically, Manhattan), area residents tend to call it "The City." For a time, the Golden State Warriors, then named the San Francisco Warriors, actually had "THE CITY" on their jerseys. They will occasionally bring back throwback jerseys saying that.
Going In. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway line has a Coliseum stop, 6 miles from downtown Oakland and 16 miles from downtown San Francisco, which can be accessed from nearly every city in the Bay Area. It takes 21 minutes to ride either the Green (Fremont) or Blue (Dublin/Pleasanton) Line from downtown San Francisco to the Coliseum stop, and it will cost $4.15 each way – a lot more expensive than New York's Subway, but very efficient. (The BART system switched from subway tokens to farecards in 2005.)
A BART train
The official address of the Coliseum is 7000 Coliseum Way. If you're driving in (either having come all the way across the country by car, or from your hotel in a rental), there are 4 major lots, and going clockwise from the north of the stadium they are A, B, C and D, each corresponding with an entry gate at the stadium. Parking is $20 for A's games, $30 for the Warriors, and $35 for the Raiders. Tailgating is encouraged, but must be done in either the A or B lots, and beer kegs and glass containers are prohibited.
The complex includes the stadium that has been home to the A's since 1968 and to the NFL's Oakland Raiders from 1966 to 1981 and again since 1995; and the Oracle Arena, a somewhat-renovated version of the Oakland Coliseum Arena, home to the NBA's Golden State Warriors on and off since 1966, and continuously since 1971 except for a one-year hiatus in San Jose while it was being renovated, 1996-97.
The Oakland Clippers, the only champions the National Professional Soccer League would know, played at the Coliseum in 1967 and 1968, beating the Baltimore Bays 4-1 in the 2nd leg of the 1967 NPSL Final to win 4-2 on aggregate, before the NPSL merged with the North American Soccer League the next year. The Bay Area's former NHL team, the Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals, played at the arena from 1967 to 1976.
The Coliseum faces east, away from San Francisco, and is 6 miles northwest of downtown Oakland. From the outside, it won't look like much, mainly because it was mostly built below ground. Above ground, you'll be seeing only the upper deck. If you come in by BART, you'll almost certainly be coming in from the east.
Mount Davis stands as a bold green reminder of the man who stole one of the locals' teams away, and then, in order to bring it back, screwed up a stadium that was already looking more and more inadequate with the building of every new retro-style stadium.
In spite of the Raiders' return, the 49ers are more popular -- according to a 2014 Atlantic Monthly article, even in Alameda County. The Raiders remain more popular in the Los Angeles area, a holdover from their 1982-94 layover, and also a consequence of L.A. not having had a team since.
The field is natural grass -- in fact, to their credit, the Raiders have never played a home game on artificial turf -- and the infield will be filled in once the A's are done for the year at the beginning of October. Now that the CFL's Toronto Argonauts have moved from the Rogers Center to BMO Field, the Coliseum is the only remaining stadium in America that hosts both Major League Baseball and professional football.
Unlike in this photo, included for demonstration purposes
Like most football fields, it's laid out north to south, but this made the Coliseum the only stadium in the country where the football field went crosswise over the baseball field, not from an outfield corner to a baseline or from center field to home plate. This also means that the vast amounts of foul territory at A's games will be taken up, and a Raider game will have more intimacy than an A's game.
Note that, this time, the infield is filled in.
UPDATE: On
September 12, 2017, the very day that I posted this, Thrillist had an
article ranking all 31 NFL stadiums. Some stadium had to come in dead last, 31st out of 31, and that turned out to be the Coliseum. The author wrote:
Imagine you took an entire Pelican Bay cellblock, dressed them in spiked shoulder pads, and told them to start drinking at 7am. Those are the nice fans in the Black Hole. It’s as close to Mad Max as you’ll find in a sports venue...
Raiders fans are, without argument, the most menacing, violent fans in all of sports. My family has had season tickets since they moved to Oakland in 1993, and we’ve had our car blocked in by Raiders fans fighting EACH OTHER at least once a season. Opposing fans sometimes require police escorts through the stadium lots.
Even if you enjoy the anarchy that is a Raiders tailgate, this place is still a dump. One might think that as the third-oldest stadium in football, it would have some kitschy, throwback charm like a Fenway or a Wrigley. Then one would forget it was built in the 1960s, when seemingly every stadium was designed by architects just imported from communist East Germany. Por ejemplo: 56,000 seats. One concourse. Not even sure how this made sense in 1966. Nor do bathrooms so far apart they require missing half a quarter for the privilege of sharing a trough with a guy dressed like a skull. Also, because the A’s still play here too, even the prime seats on the 50 are literally over 100 feet from the sideline. The good news, if you can call it that, is Raiders fans only have to deal with it for another couple of years until the team moves to Vegas. The drive there still might be shorter than the bathroom lines.
UPDATE: On June 24, 2019, Scott Nordlund backed this up, in an article for the NFL's worst stadiums for Moneywise: The Oakland Coliseum was the worst.
Food. San Francisco, due to being a waterfront city and a transportation and freight hub, has a reputation as one of America's best food cities. Oakland benefits from this.
Aramark Sports & Entertainment, the successor corporation to the Harry M. Stevens Company that invented ballpark concessions, provides food and beverage services for the Westside Club, Eastside Club, Luxury Suites, and all of the Coliseum's Premium Seating areas. Traditional ballpark fare is also offered throughout the stadium by Aramark. Specialty items such as barbecue, pizza, and garlic fries can also be found at specific concession stands. (The Giants have been especially known for their garlic fries, but the A's and Raiders also serve them.)
The blog Athletics Nation recommends Ribs & Things BBQ, a stand based on the restaurant of the same name in the East Bay suburb of Hayward, behind Section 104; Hot Dog Nation at 111 and 123; Round Table Pizza at 114; A's Grill, featuring specialty sausages, at 205; and Burrito District and 220.
They also recommend Ballpark Poppers, on the lower level behind the foul poles. They fry cheeseburger bites, corn dogs and Jalapeno peppers in cornbread batter, with ranch and Sriracha sauces.
Team History Displays. The Jets and Raiders are original AFL franchises of 1960, and original AFC franchises of 1970. Their history includes the "Heidi Bowl" (played at the Coliseum) and the AFL Championship Game (at Shea Stadium) in 1968, a Divisional Playoff in the 1982 season (in Los Angeles), and a 2001 Wild Card game (at the Coliseum, played right before the Raiders went to Foxboro and lost to New England in "The Tuck Bowl").
So the Raiders have lots of history. But it's getting more and more distant: They lost Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003, and haven't won a Playoff game since. It took them from then until last season to make the Playoffs again, and they hadn't even topped .500 since, going 8-8 in 2010 and '11, and lost at least 11 games in each of the other 10 seasons in between.
Indeed, at the Coliseum's front entrance, you'll see banners for each team. Both teams' banners have their logos on them. The A's logo mentions Oakland as their city. The Raiders' logo does not. The A's banner lists their 4 World Series wins. The Raiders' banner says only, "COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE." Absolutely no mention of a commitment to Oakland, to the East Bay, to Northern California, or to California at all.
Yes, that is razor wire, the nasty successor to barbed wire.
Welcome to "Raider Nation."
But that's all the display that you'll see of the Raiders' past. There are no mentions, visible from the field of play, about their Super Bowl XI, XV and XVIII wins; nor of their 1967 AFL Championship; nor of their 1976, 1980, 1983 or 2002 AFC Championships; nor of their 15 Western Division Championships from 1967 to 2002 -- and while that included a streak of 9 in 10 years from 1967 to 1976, only 4 of them have been won in the last 30 seasons.
And don't bother looking around the Coliseum for a display of the Raiders' retired numbers: They don't have any. I don't just mean they have no banners for their retired numbers. In spite of their rich history, Al Davis never ordered the retirement of a player's number – not even the never-again-used (not by the Raiders or by any other NFL player) Number 00 of Jim Otto. (Get it, "aught-oh"?) Whether he didn't want to share the spotlight with any of his players, or he thought that it would detract from the team-is-everything ethos he preached, I don't know. Still, it was almost sickening to see the late Ken Stabler's Number 12 being worn by Todd Marinovich.
There are, however, several Raiders in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Though their numbers are not retired, I'm including them here:
* From the 1967 AFL Champions, representing Oakland: Owner Al Davis; 00, center Jim Otto; 16, quarterback and kicker George Blanda; 24, cornerback Willie Brown; 25, receiver Fred Biletnikoff; 63, guard Gene Upshaw; 78, offensive tackle Art Shell; and scout Ron Wolf, who gained greater fame as the general manager of the Green Bay Packers. Head coach John Ralston has not been elected; he also got the Oakland Invaders to the 1985 USFL Championship Game.
* From the 1976 NFL Champions that won Super Bowl XI for Oakland: Davis; head coach John Madden; Brown; Biletnikoff; Upshaw; Shell; 8, punter Ray Guy; 12, quarterback Ken Stabler; 83, linebacker Ted Hendricks; 87, tight end Dave Casper. Wolf was away, helping build the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but returned.
Hall of Fame voters have thus far refused to elect safety Jack Tatum, a.k.a. "The Assassin," Number 32, who, though talented, carries the stigma of having paralyzed New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley in a meaningless preseason game in 1978. And defensive tackler Bob "Boomer" Brown, Number 76, played 3 seasons with the Raiders, between their Super Bowl II and XI appearances.
* From the 1980 NFL Champions that won Super Bowl XV for Oakland: Davis; Wolf; Upshaw; Shell; Guy; and Casper. Oddly, neither head coach Tom Flores nor quarterback Jim Plunkett, Number 16, has been elected to the Hall, despite winning Super Bowls XV and XVIII. Nor has tight end Raymond Chester, Number 88, been elected.
* From the 1983 NFL Champions that won Super Bowl XVIII for Los Angeles: Davis; Wolf; Guy; 22, cornerback Mike Haynes; 32, running back Marcus Allen; 75, defensive end Howie Long.
* From the 2002 AFC Champions that lost Super Bowl XXXVII for Oakland: Davis; 26, safety Rod Woodson (better known as a Pittsburgh Steeler); 80, receiver Jerry Rice (better known as a San Francisco 49ers); and 81, receiver Tim Brown. Head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Rich Gannon, Number 12, have not been elected. Defensive tackle Warren Sapp, Number 99, left the Buccaneers and played 4 years with the Raiders, but after Super Bowl XXXVII.
The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (BASHOF) is unusual in that its exhibits are spread over several locations, including the Coliseum, on the walls of its concourse. The Raiders players so honored are: Otto, Blanda, Brown, Stabler, Biletnikoff and Shell. The A's figures in the BASHOF, honored there, are: Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Dave Stewart and Billy Martin (the Yanks & A's manager grew up in nearby Berkeley).
Other Raiders so honored: Davis, Ralston, Madden, Guy, Upshaw, Hendricks and Casper at, oddly, San Francisco International Airport; Plunkett, at his alma mater, Stanford University; and Chester, who has yet to have his plaque posted anywhere.
Blanda, Brown, Otto, Art Powell, Clem Daniels, Dan Conners, Tom Keating, Dave Grayson and Dave Kocourek were named to the AFL's All-Time Team. Upshaw, Hendricks, Haynes and Guy were named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. Blanda, Brown, Otto, Biletnikoff, Shell, Upshaw, Hendricks, Haynes and Allen were named to The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. Borwn, Otto, Upshaw, Shell, Hendricks, Haynes and Allen were named to the NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players in 2010.
Because the Raiders have embraced their villain status, several teams consider them a rival. Some of these rivalries date back to the AFL, including the one with the Jets. The Raiders come into this game leading the Jets 24-19-2, including the 1968 "Heidi Bowl" at the Oakland Coliseum won by the Raiders, the subsequent AFL Championship Game at Shea Stadium won by the Jets, a 1982-83 AFC Divisional Playoff in Oakland won by the Jets, a 2001-02 AFC Wild Card Playoff in Oakland won by the Raiders, and a 2002-03 AFC Divisional Playoff in Oakland won by the Raiders.
The rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs is especially nasty. The Chiefs are the only AFC West team to have a winning record against the Raiders: 61-52-2.
The rivalry with the Denver Broncos is 59-47-2. The rivalry with the Chargers, in San Diego or Los Angeles, is 59-46-2 in the Raiders' favor. The rivalry with the Miami Dolphins, including the 1974 "Sea of Hands" AFC Divisional Playoff that ended the Dolphins' dynasty, is 19-17-1 in the Raiders' favor. While the Pittsburgh Steelers were not an AFL team, they've met the Raiders in 6 AFC Playoff games, splitting them 3-3. Overall the Raiders lead the Steelers 15-13.
Outside the AFL/AFC, the "Battle of the Bay" with the San Francisco 49ers isn't all that big, certainly not on the level of the Cross-Bay rivalry between Cal and Stanford. Overall, the Raiders lead 7-6, but, only counting when they've both been in the Bay Area and the NFL (1970-81 and 1995-2016), it's tied 4-4. When both teams were in the Los Angeles area (1982-94), the Raiders went 4-1 against the Rams.
(UPDATE: Through November 2018, the Raiders lead the Jets 25-19-2, the Broncos 60-49-2, the Chargers 59-50-2, the Dolphins 20-18-1, and still lead the Steelers 15-13; and trail the Chiefs 62-53-2. With the 49ers, it's tied 7-7 overall, and 5-4 49ers counting only games in the Raiders' Bay Area tenures.)
Stuff. According to the Raiders' website, "There are four walk-in stores; an external store at gate C, an external store at gate D, an indoor store at section 105, and an indoor store at section 129." While these team stores may sell pirate hats with the Raider logo on them, I will guarantee you that they don't sell the kind of costumes for which Raider fans have become infamous.
Having a fascinating (if frequently controversial) history even if you only count the Oakland years, the Raiders have had several books written about them, although they don't always put the team in a good light.
Some, like Peter Richmond's 2011 Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders, extol the Raiders' image. All 3 of those nicknames were from the Super Bowl XI winners Snake was Stabler; Foo was linebacker Phil Villapiano, from Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey; and Dr. Death was cornerback Alonzo "Skip" Thomas.
Some, like Mike Siani and Kristine Setting Clark's 2016 Cheating Is Encouraged: A Hard-Nosed History of the 1970s Raiders, are not complimentary. Others, like Steven Travers' 2008 The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Oakland Raiders: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments from Oakland Raiders History, look at both sides of the issue.
The NFL sells the DVDs Oakland Raiders: The Complete History (although, only going up to 2003, it's hardly complete anymore) and Oakland Raiders 3 Greatest Games: Super Bowl Victories. So if you're looking for footage from games such as the 1968 Heidi Bowl against the Jets, the 1974 "Sea of Hands" Playoff win that ended the Miami dynasty, the 1977 "Ghost to the Post" Playoff win in Baltimore, or anything from the L.A. years such as Bo Jackson's wild running against Seattle on Monday Night Football in 1987, you'll have to settle for highlights on The Complete History.
During the Game. Many of the Raiders fans who show up for home games like to wear costumes ranging from variations on the Raider-meaning-pirate theme to biker gang members to sci-fi and horror film villains. A guy in a Darth Vader mask was a regular Raider-goer in the Jimmy Carter years, and the Dark Lord of Star Wars has become a popular theme with the Raiders' Oakland revival. (George Lucas' sports preferences are not publicly known, but he is a Northern Californian, so there is a tenuous connection.)
A recent Thrillist article named Raider fans 2nd to New England fans as "the most obnoxious in the NFL," and I don't think the author was joking about those numbers:
Right now there are at least 50 people in San Quentin Prison for something they did after a Raiders game. Possibly 100. The official team of the California penal system is a far cry from the renegade outlaws that got them their sociopathic fanbase, but your average Raider fan isn't really as concerned with "winning" as he is with "beating opposing fans with blunt objects."
The organization, and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Commission, are aware of these issues, and have posted the following on their website:
The following actions are prohibited:
- Fighting, taunting, or any action that may harm, endanger, threaten, or bring discomfort to anyone.
- Actions that impair others' ability to enjoy the game, including mistreatment of other fans, verbal abuse. harassment, profanity, confrontation, intimidation, or threatening and irresponsible behavior.
- Use of foul, abusive, or obscene language or gestures.
- Any action that causes a disruption, creates an unsafe environment, or interferes with the game.
- Sitting in a seat other than one's ticketed seat; loitering in concourses, aisles, tunnels or stairs; or any unauthorized use of disabled seating areas.
- Possession of any illegal drugs.
- Intoxication or other signs of alcohol or substance abuse impairment that results in irresponsible behavior.
- Smoking anywhere in the Coliseum, which is prohibited by the Oakland Municipal Code. This includes the use of electronic cigarettes and vaporizers.
- Damage, destruction, vandalism, or theft of any property.
- Refusal to remove or turn inside-out clothing deemed offensive or obscene upon request by stadium personnel.
- Failure to follow the directions of law enforcement, security, ushers, ticket takers, or any other stadium personnel, including refusal to submit to security screening, wanding, pat-down and search of your persons and belongings prior to entering the Coliseum.
- Possession of any item listed on the Coliseum Prohibited Items List .
The fact that each and every one of these things has been mentioned on the website suggests that they have found violations of these rules before.
Countering their violent image, perhaps more than any other team, the Raider organization reaches out for diversity. Black gang members and rappers' embrace of the team's Silver & Black color scheme in the Los Angeles years led to first the L.A. Coliseum, and now the Oakland Coliseum, being called "the Black Bottom."
The organization does not like the gang connotations, especially since Oakland's gang problem is (per capita) every bit as bad as L.A.'s, but they do encourage African-American fandom, since Oakland is a majority-black city, one of the few larger cities in California that is not (or net yet) majority-Hispanic.
But they have sought out the Bay Area's Hispanic community. Their 1st quarterback in 1960, Tom Flores, later coached them to 2 Super Bowl wins, making him the 1st Hispanic head coach to win one. His quarterback in both was Jim Plunkett, who (thanks to his mother's side of the family) was the 1st Hispanic quarterback to win one. Hispanic Raider fans refer to the team as La Familia (The Family), and they don't mean that in an organized-crime way.
Finally, something to look at during a Raider gameday
for reasons other than anthropological research.
As I said, the Raiders were loved by L.A. rappers, including Ice Cube, and he recorded the team's official theme song in 2010. The group R.A.P. Phenomenal recorded "Raider Nation." But pretty much the only fan chant they have is "Rai... ders! Rai... ders!" I suppose that could sound threatening.
As far as I know, and contrary to their rough-and-tumble image, the Raiders are the only NFL team with an official poem. In 1974, NFL Films producer Steve Sabol was inspired by the Raiders' already-in-place reputation for roguishness to write "The Autumn Wind." He showed it to Al Davis, and Davis loved it, saying, "This is what the Oakland Raiders are all about." So Sabol gathered some Raider footage, showed it to NFL Films voice John Facenda, and, in that oft-imitated but never quite duplicated baritone, Facenda read, "The Autumn Wind is a pirate... " And a legend was born.
After the Game. Oakland has a bit of a rough reputation, and Raider fans are a part of it, but not the only part of it. So, unlike for an A's game, the Coliseum being an island in a sea of parking, not in any neighborhood, much less a bad one, may not help. Once again: Don't antagonize anyone, don't make eye contact, and don't respond if they start taunting you, and you'll get out alive.
If you want to go out for a postgame meal or drinks, be advised that some sections of town are crime-ridden. And, in this case, wearing Jet or Giant gear might not be a good idea. It's probably best to stay within the area from the 12th Street/Oakland City Center BART station and Jack London Square, the center of the city's nightlife.
There are three bars in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco that are worth mentioning. Aces, at 998 Sutter Street & Hyde Street in San Francisco's Lower Nob Hill neighborhood, is said to have a Yankee sign out front and a Yankee Fan as the main bartender. It's also the home port of Mets, NFL Giants, Knicks and Rangers fans in the Bay Area.
R Bar, at 1176 Sutter & Polk Street, is the local Jets fan hangout. The Wreck Room, at 1390 California Street, is also said to be Jet-friendly. And Greens Sports Bar, at 2239 Polk at Green Street, is also said to be a Yankee-friendly bar. Of course, you'll have to cross the Bay by car or by BART to get there.
Lefty O'Doul's, named for the legendary ballplayer who was the longtime manager of the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals, was at 333 Geary Street, corner of Powell Street, just 3 blocks from the Powell Street BART station and right on a cable car line.
However, a dispute between the operators of the restaurant and the owners of the building meant the closing of Lefty O'Doul's on February 3, 2017. The owners of the building say they will renovate the current location and reopen under the Lefty O'Doul's name, while the operators of the restaurant say they will open at a new location under the Lefty O'Doul's name. Who has the legal right to operate under the name has not yet been decided.
UPDATE: On June 7, 2018, the last operator, Nick Bovis, announced a deal for a new Lefty O'Doul's, to open at Fisherman's Wharf, at 145 Jefferson Street. Light Rail E or F to Jefferseon & Powell.
Sidelights. The San Francisco Bay Area, including the East Bay (which includes Oakland), has a very rich sports history. And Oakland is a big part of it.
On February 3, 2017, Thrillist made a list ranking the 30 NFL cities (New York and Los Angeles each having 2 teams), and Oakland, which they counted separately from San Francisco, came in 14th, in the top half. They cited the city's "great music and food culture."
UPDATE: On November 30, 2018, Thrillist published a list of "America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and, as you might expect from the nation's 4th largest metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay Area came in 4th.
UPDATE: On November 30, 2018, Thrillist published a list of "America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and, as you might expect from the nation's 4th largest metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay Area came in 4th.
Here are some of the highlights, aside from the Oakland Coliseum complex:
(UPDATE: On November 28, 2018, the A's announced that they'd chosen the Howard Terminal as the site for a 34,000-seat ballpark, which, presuming they clear all the necessary permissions, and come up with all the funding themselves as they say they will -- no government money and therefore no taxes -- they can begin construction in time to open for the 2023 season. 1 Market Street, 3 blocks west of the Clay Street Ferry Terminal, 5 blocks west of Jack London Square, and 8 blocks south of downtown. From Oakland City Center: Bus 72 to Jack London Square. By BART: Lake Merritt Station, then Bus 62 or 72 to 7th & Market, then 8 blocks south.)
(UPDATE: On November 28, 2018, the A's announced that they'd chosen the Howard Terminal as the site for a 34,000-seat ballpark, which, presuming they clear all the necessary permissions, and come up with all the funding themselves as they say they will -- no government money and therefore no taxes -- they can begin construction in time to open for the 2023 season. 1 Market Street, 3 blocks west of the Clay Street Ferry Terminal, 5 blocks west of Jack London Square, and 8 blocks south of downtown. From Oakland City Center: Bus 72 to Jack London Square. By BART: Lake Merritt Station, then Bus 62 or 72 to 7th & Market, then 8 blocks south.)
* Emeryville Park. Also known as Oaks Park, this was the home of the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks from 1913 until 1955. The Oaks won Pennants there in 1927, 1948, 1950 and 1954.
Most notable of these was the 1948 Pennant, won by a group of players who had nearly all played in the majors and were considered old, and were known as the Nine Old Men (a name often given to the U.S. Supreme Court). These old men included former Yankee 1st baseman Nick Etten, the previous year's World Series hero Cookie Lavagetto of the Brooklyn Dodgers (an Oakland native), Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi (another Oakland native), and one very young player, a 20-year-old 2nd baseman from Berkeley named Billy Martin. Their manager? Casey Stengel. Impressed by Casey's feat of managing the Nine Old Men to a Pennant in a league that was pretty much major league quality, and by his previously having managed the minor-league version of the Milwaukee Brewers to an American Association Pennant, Yankee owners Dan Topping and Del Webb hired Casey to manage in 1949. Casey told Billy that if he ever got the chance to bring him east, he would, and he was as good as his word.
Pixar Studios has built property on the site. 45th Street, San Pablo Avenue, Park Avenue and Watts Street, Emeryville, near the Amtrak station. Number 72 bus from Jack London Square.
* Seals Stadium. Home of the PCL's San Francisco Seals from 1931 to 1957, the Mission Reds from 1931 to 1937, and the Giants in 1958 and 1959, it was the first home professional field of the DiMaggio brothers: First Vince, then Joe, and finally Dom all played for the Seals in the 1930s. The Seals won Pennants there in 1931, 1935, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1957 (their last season). It seated just 18,500, expanded to 22,900 for the Giants, and was never going to be more than a stopgap facility until the Giants' larger park could be built. It was demolished right after the 1959 season, and the site now has a Safeway grocery store.
Bryant Street, 16th Street, Potrero Avenue and Alameda Street, in the Mission District. Hard to reach by public transport: The Number 10 bus goes down Townsend Street and Rhode Island Avenue until reaching 16th, but then it's an 8-block walk. The Number 27 can be picked up at 5th & Harrison Streets, and will go right there.
* Candlestick Park. Home of the Giants from 1960 to 1999, the NFL 49ers since 1970, and the Raiders in the 1961 season, this may be the most-maligned sports facility in North American history. Its seaside location (Candlestick Point) has led to spectators being stricken by wind (a.k.a. The Hawk), cold, and even fog.
It is easily the most-hated venue in the history of North American sports. But its finest hour came on October 17, 1989, just before Game 3 of the World Series, when the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck. Over 60,000 people were inside the stadium, and they all got out okay, because the stadium's reinforced concrete held, with only minor damage.
The Giants only won 2 Pennants there, and never a World Series. But the 49ers won 5 Super Bowls while playing there, with 3 of their 6 NFC Championship Games won as the home team. The NFL Giants did beat the 49ers there in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, scoring no touchdowns but winning 15-13 thanks to 5 Matt Bahr field goals. ABC and ESPN hosted Monday Night Football at Candlestick 36 times, the most of any stadium.
The U.S. national soccer team played their 4th and final match there in 2014, a win over Azerbaijan. MLS' San Jose Earthquakes are scheduled to do so on July 27, which ended up being the last competitive sporting event held there. On July 12, nearly 30 years after their Super Bowl XIX matchup, legendary quarterbacks Joe Montana of the 49ers and Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins led teams in a flag football game there, with the proceeds going to charity. And Paul McCartney, having played its 1st concert with the Beatles 48 years earlier, played its last concert on August 14, the last scheduled show before the place was demolished.
A plan to build retail and housing units on the site has stalled, and it remains vacant. Ironically, since it replaced the original Kezar Stadium, 5,000 of Candlestick's seats went to the new Kezar.
The best way by public transport isn't a good one: The KT light rail at 4th & King Streets, at the CalTrain terminal, to 3rd & Gilman Streets, and then it's almost a mile's walk down Jagerson Avenue. So unless you're driving/renting a car, or you're a sports history buff who has to see the place, I wouldn't blame you if you crossed it off the list.
It's hosted some college football games, and a February 10, 2006 win by the U.S. soccer team over Japan. 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at 3rd & King Streets.
UPDATE: In 2019, it was renamed Oracle Park.
* Kezar Stadium. The 49ers played here from their 1946 founding until 1970, the Raiders spent their inaugural 1960 season here, and previous pro teams in the city also played at this facility at the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park, a mere 10-minute walk from the fabled corner of Haight & Ashbury Streets.
High school football, including the annual City Championship played on Thanksgiving Day, used to be held here as well. Bob St. Clair, who played there in high school, college (University of San Francisco) and the NFL in a Hall of Fame career with the 49ers, has compared it to Chicago's Wrigley Field as a "neighborhood stadium."
After the 49ers left, it became a major concert venue. Rocky Marciano defended the Heavyweight Championship of the World there on May 16, 1955, knocking British fighter Don Cockell out in the 9th round.
The original 60,000-seat structure was built in 1925, and was torn down in 1989 (a few months before the earthquake, so there's no way to know what the quake would have done to it), and was replaced in 1990 with a 9,000-seat stadium, much more suitable for high school sports. The original Kezar, named for one of the city's pioneering families, had a cameo in the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry. Frederick & Stanyan Streets, Kezar Drive and Arguello Blvd. MUNI light rail N train.
* Frank Youell Field. This was another stopgap facility, used by the Raiders from 1962 to 1965, a 22,000-seat stadium that was named after an Oakland undertaker – perhaps fitting, although the Raiders didn't yet have that image. Interestingly from a New York perspective, the first game here was between the Raiders and the forerunners of the Jets, the New York Titans.
It was demolished in 1969. A new field of the same name was built on the site for Laney College. East 8th Street, 5th Avenue, East 10th Street and the Oakland Estuary. Lake Merritt BART station.
* Cow Palace. The more familiar name of the Grand National Livestock Pavilion, this big barn just south of the City Line in Daly City has hosted just about everything, from livestock shows and rodeos to the 1956 and 1964 Republican National Conventions, nominating Dwight D. Eisenhower and Barry Goldwater, respectively, for President. (Yes, the Republicans came here, not the "hippie" Democrats, although they did hold their 1984 Convention downtown at the George Moscone Convention Center, 747 Howard Street at 4th Street, nominating Walter Mondale.)
The '64 Convention is where New York's Governor Nelson Rockefeller refused to be booed off the podium when he dared to speak out against the John Birch Society – the Tea Party idiots of their time – and when Senator Goldwater was nominated, telling them, "I would remind you, my fellow Republicans, that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And I would remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." (Personally, I think that extremism in the defense of liberty is no defense of liberty.)
Built in 1941, it is one of the oldest remaining former NBA and NHL sites, having hosted the NBA's Warriors (then calling themselves the San Francisco Warriors) from 1962 to 1971, the NHL's San Jose Sharks from their 1991 debut until their current arena could open in 1993, and several minor-league hockey teams. It hosted 1 fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, with Ezzard Charles defending the title by beating Pat Valentino on October 14, 1949.
The 1960 NCAA Final Four was held here, culminating in Ohio State, led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek (with future coaching legend Bobby Knight as the 6th man) beating local heroes and defending National Champions California, led by Darrall Imhoff.
The Beatles played here on August 19, 1964 and August 31, 1965, and Elvis sang here on November 13, 1970 and November 28 & 29, 1976. It was the site of Neil Young's 1978 concert that produced the live album Live Rust and the concert film Rust Never Sleeps, and the 1986 Conspiracy of Hope benefit with Joan Baez, Lou Reed, Sting and U2. The acoustics of the place, and the loss of such legendary venues as the Fillmore West and the Winterland Ballroom, make it the Bay Area's holiest active rock and roll site. 2600 Geneva Avenue at Santos Street, in Daly City. 8X bus.
In addition to the preceding, Elvis sang at the Auditorium Arena (now the Kaiser Convention Center, near the Laney College campus in Oakland) early in his career, on June 3, 1956 and again on October 27, 1957; and the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove Street at Polk Street) on October 26, 1957. That auditorium is where the 1920 Democratic Convention was held, nominating James M. Cox, who lost to Warren Harding.
While Fresno is nearly 200 miles southeast, it's closer to Oakland than it is to Los Angeles. Elvis sang at Fresno's Selland Arena on April 25, 1973 and May 12, 1974. 700 M Street at Ventura Street.
* SAP Center at San Jose. Formerly the San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion, this building has hosted the NHL's San Jose Sharks since 1993. If you're a fan of the TV show The West Wing, this was the convention center where the ticket of Matt Santos and Leo McGarry was nominated. The Three Tenors -- Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras -- sang there on December 29, 1999. 525 W. Santa Clara Street at Autumn Street, across from the Amtrak & CalTrain station.
* Avaya Stadium. The new stadium for the Earthquakes opened last year. It is soccer-specific and seats 18,000 people. On July 28, 2016, it hosted the MLS All-Star Game, with North London giants Arsenal defeating the MLS All-Stars 2-1. It has hosted matches of the U.S. women's soccer team (the men's team will make its debut there on March 24, in a World Cup Qualifier against Honduras), and has also hosted rugby. (UPDATE: They won 6-0, and beat Costa Rica there 2-0 in a friendly on February 2, 2019.)
1123 Coleman Avenue & Newhall Drive. It is 3 1/2 miles from downtown San Jose, 41 miles from downtown Oakland, and 46 from downtown San Francisco. ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) to Great America-Santa Clara.
This is actually the 3rd version of the San Jose Earthquakes. The 1st one played in the original North American Soccer League from 1974 to 1984, at Spartan Stadium. This has been home to San Jose State University sports since 1933, it hosted both the old Earthquakes, of the original North American Soccer League, from 1974 to 1984. It was a neutral site hosting Soccer Bowl '75, in which the Tampa Bay Rowdies beat the Portland Timbers 2-0. It's hosted 3 games of the U.S. national team, most recently a 2007 loss to China, and games of the 1999 Women's World Cup.
1251 S. 10th Street, San Jose. San Jose Municipal Stadium, home of the Triple-A San Jose Giants, is a block away at 588 E. Alma Avenue. From either downtown San Francisco or downtown Oakland, take BART to Fremont terminal, then 181 bus to 2nd & Santa Clara, then 68 bus to Monterey & Alma.
UPDATE: On November 19, 2018, Moneywise compiled a list of their Worst College Football Stadiums, the bottom 19 percent of college football, 25 out of 129. Spartan Stadium, now named CEFCU Stadium, came in 5th: The article called the New Deal era stadium "tired," and cited bad concessions and the fact that the field was Astroturf, the original artificial turf that has proven so dangerous, and not a more modern, safer synthetic grass like FieldTurf.
San Jose State was also the alma mater of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the Gold and Bronze Medalists in the 200 meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, who then gave their glove-fisted salute for civil rights (most people still don't understand that it wasn't a "Black Power" salute) on the medal platform, to short-term anger and long-term praise.
In 2005, SJSU dedicated a statue commemorating the occasion, with the Silver Medal part of the platform, where Australian runner Peter Norman would have stood, empty so people can pose with the Smith and Carlos figures. Outside Clark Hall, where 6th and San Antonio Streets would have met.
Smith and Carlos at their statue
The 2nd version of the Quakes played at Spartan Stadium from 1996 to 2005, but ran into financial trouble, and got moved to become the Houston Dynamo. The 3rd version was started in 2008, and until 2014 played at Buck Shaw Stadium, now called Stevens Stadium, in Santa Clara, on the campus of Santa Clara University. Also accessible by the Santa Clara ACE station.
Despite all its contributions to women's soccer, the Bay Area no longer has a professional women's team. The San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), captained by 1999 penalty hero Brandi Chastain, played at Spartan Stadium from 2001 to 2003, winning the 2001 league title.
FC Gold Pride won the 2010 title in the league named Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), but couldn't sustain itself financially, and folded immediately thereafter. Pioneer Stadium, Hayward. 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., on the campus of California State University-East Bay, in Hayward. About 28 miles from San Francisco, 19 from Oakland, 28 from San Jose. BART to Hayward, then Bus 60.
* Levi's Stadium. The new home of the 49ers, whose naming rights were bought by the San Francisco-based clothing company that popularized blue jeans all over the world, is about to open at 4701 Great America Parkway at Old Glory Lane in Santa Clara, next to California's Great America park, outside San Jose. ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) to Great America-Santa Clara.
The Sharks lost to their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, in an NHL Stadium Series outdoor hockey game there on February 21, 2015. On February 7, 2016, it hosted Super Bowl L, and the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers. It will host the National Championship game for the 2018-19 college football season.
UPDATE: It has been selected by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a finalist to be one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup.
* Stanford Stadium. This is the home field of Stanford University in Palo Alto, down the Peninsula from San Francisco. Originally built in 1921, it was home to many great quarterbacks, from early 49ers signal-caller Frankie Albert to 1971 Heisman winner Jim Plunkett to John Elway. It hosted Super Bowl XIX in 1985, won by the 49ers over the Miami Dolphins – 1 of only 2 Super Bowls that ended up having had a team that could have been called a home team. (The other was XIV, the Los Angeles Rams losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Rose Bowl.)
It also hosted San Francisco's games of the 1994 World Cup, a game of the 1999 Women's World Cup, and the soccer games of the 1984 Olympics, even though most of the events of those Olympics were down the coast in Los Angeles. It hosted 10 games by the U.S. national team, totaling 4 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws.
The original 85,000-seat structure was demolished and replaced with a new 50,000-seat stadium in 2006. Arboretum Road & Galvez Street. Caltrain to Palo Alto.
No President has ever been born, or has ever grown up, in the San Francisco Bay Area. But Herbert Hoover, 1929-33, was part of the 1st class at Stanford, from 1891 to 1895, and he and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, maintained a home there from 1920 until her death in 1944, at which point he moved to the Waldorf Towers in New York. The house is now the official residence of the president -- of Stanford. It is not open to the public. 623 Mirada Avenue, across the campus from the stadium.
Stanford runs a think tank named for the 31st President, the Hoover Insitution, and exhibits inside the Hoover Tower on campus. 550 Serra Mall.
But it's also, quite literally, on the Hayward Fault, a branch of the San Andreas Fault, so if "The Big One" had hit during a Cal home game, 72,000 people would have been screwed. With this in mind, the University renovated the stadium, making it safer and ready for 63,000 fans in 2012. So, like their arch-rivals Stanford, they now have a new stadium on the site of the old one.
The old stadium hosted 1 NFL game, and it was a very notable one: Due to a scheduling conflict with the A's, the Raiders played a 1973 game there with the Miami Dolphins, and ended the Dolphins' winning streak that included the entire 1972 season and Super Bowl VII. 76 Canyon Road, Berkeley. Downtown Berkeley stop on BART.
* Chase Center. The new home of the Warriors is expected to open for the 2019-20 season -- that is, next year. It will seat 18,064, and be located off the Central Basin of San Francisco Bay, on land bordered by South Street, 3rd Street (north-south), 16th Street (east-west) and Terry A. Francois Blvd., across from the campus of the University of California at San Francisco, and 8 blocks south of the Giants' AT&T Park. Light Rail K or T to UCSF/Mission Bay.
In 1865, the adjoining Mechanic's Pavilion was built, hosting several major events, including a speech by President Theodore Roosevelt on his 1902 tour of the country.
This also included 4 fights for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, each time with a Californian defending the title: "Gentleman Jim" Corbett against Tom Sharkey on June 24, 1896 (a draw, thus allowing Corbett to retain the title); Jim Jeffries against Gus Ruhlin on November 15, 1901; Jeffries against Corbett on August 14, 1903 (the 10th-round knockout turning out to be Corbett's last fight); and Jeffries against Jack Munroe on August 26, 1904 (after which Jeffries retired, only to return and get clobbered by Jack Johnson in Reno in 1910).
The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed Mechanic's Pavilion, but the men running the Mechanics' Institute kept it going and helped with the rebuilding of the city. Today, membership in the Institute is still open to the pubic, offering the full services of the library, and to the chess room, home of the oldest continuously operating chess club in the Western Hemisphere. 57 Post Street, off Kearny Street, downtown.
Yankee Legend Joe DiMaggio, who grew up in San Francisco and later divided his time between there and South Florida, is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, on the Peninsula. 1500 Mission Road & Lawndale Blvd. BART to South San Francisco, then about a 1-mile walk. Raiders boss Al Davis is buried at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. 4499 Piedmont Avenue. Bus 12 to Piedmont & Brandon.
The Fillmore Auditorium was at Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, and it still stands and hosts live music. Bus 38L. Winterland Ballroom, home of the final concerts of The Band (filmed as The Last Waltz) and the Sex Pistols, was around the corner from the Fillmore at Post & Steiner Streets. And the legendary corner of Haight & Ashbury Streets can be reached via the 30 Bus, taking it to Haight and Masonic Avenue and walking 1 block west.
San Francisco, like New York, has a Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), at 151 3rd Street, downtown. It's part of Fort Mason, on the north shore of the city, which also includes the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. The park's Great Meadow was the site of James Brown's last concert, on August 20, 2006. 1300 Bay Street. Bus 30 from downtown.
Oakland isn't much of a museum city, especially compared with San Francisco across the Bay. But the Oakland Museum of California (10th & Oak, Lake Merritt BART) and the Chabot Space & Science Center (10000 Skyline Blvd., not accessible by BART) may be worth a look.
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is probably the city's most famous museum, in Lincoln Park at the northwestern corner of the city, near the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge. (Any of you who are Trekkies, the Presidio is a now-closed military base that, in the Star Trek Universe, is the seat of Starfleet Command and Starfleet Academy.)
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is probably the city's most famous museum, in Lincoln Park at the northwestern corner of the city, near the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge. (Any of you who are Trekkies, the Presidio is a now-closed military base that, in the Star Trek Universe, is the seat of Starfleet Command and Starfleet Academy.)
The Palace of Fine Arts isn't just an art museum: It has a theater that hosted the 2nd Presidential Debate of the 1976 election, between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the one where Ford got mixed up and said, "There is no Soviet domination in Eastern Europe." 3301 Lyon Street. Bus 30.
And don't forget to take a ride on one of them cable cars I've been hearing so dang much about.
The tallest building in Northern California is the iconic Transamerica Pyramid, 853 feet high, opening in 1972 at 600 Montgomery Street downtown. If all goes according to schedule, it will be superseded next year by the Salesforce Tower, also downtown, at 415 Mission Street, rising 1,070 feet. Another skyscraper will open around the same time in Los Angeles, slightly higher, so the Salesforce Tower won't be the tallest building in California, much less the American West.
In contrast, lots of movies have been shot in Oakland, including a pair of baseball-themed movies shot at the Coliseum: Moneyball, based on Michael Lewis' book about the early 2000s A's, with Brad Pitt as general manager Billy Beane; and the 1994 remake of Angels In the Outfield, filmed there because a recent earthquake had damaged the real-life Angels' Anaheim Stadium, and it couldn't be repaired in time for filming.
Oakland's status as a Navy city has allowed some nautical-themed films to be filmed there, including the 1934 pirate classic Treasure Island, various versions of The Sea Wolf, the World War I film Hell's Angels (predating the Oakland-based motorcycle gang founded in 1948 and taking the name), the World War II film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home -- with the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, away at sea, having the USS Ranger stand in for it.
Movies set in San Francisco often have Oakland-filmed scenes, including Pal Joey, Mahogany, Basic Instinct, and the James Bond film A View to a Kill. The Jim Belushi film The Principal and Janet Jackson's gang-themed debut, Poetic Justice, were Oakland all the way. Robin Williams, a San Francisco native, filmed scenes from Mrs. Doubtfire and Flubber in Oakland. And the aforementioned George Lucas made his first film, THX-1138, in Oakland in 1970.
For legal reasons, the CBS medical drama Trapper John, M.D., starring former Bonanza star Pernell Roberts as Dr. John McIntyre, was said to be a sequel to the film version of M*A*S*H, where Trapper was played by Elliott Gould, not the TV show, where he was played by Wayne Rogers. Thus we have the oddity of Trapper working in a hospital in San Francisco, the hometown (well, the neighboring suburb of Mill Valley, in Marin County, was) of the man who replaced him at the 4077th MASH, B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell).
Wayne Rogers did play a doctor in a series set in San Francisco, after leaving M*A*S*H, starring with Lynn Redgrave in the 1979-82 sitcom House Calls, set it what was then the present day. Other series set in San Francisco include (separated by category, then by chronological order) the police dramas Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, McMillan and Wife, Hooperman, Nash Bridges and Monk; the sci-fi/fantasy shows Sliders and Charmed; the family drama Party of Five; and the sitcoms Phyllis, Too Close for Comfort, My Sister Sam, Suddenly Susan, Dhrama & Greg, and Disney's That's So Raven.
So, if you can afford it, go on out and join your fellow Jet fans in going coast-to-coast, and enjoy the Jets-Raiders rivalry, even if it's not what it was back in the 1960s and '70s. But be careful: As is the case for Yankee Fans visiting Boston, or Met or Giant fans visiting Philadelphia, it's better to be a live and uninjured coward than a dead or injured tough guy.
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