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This email was forwarded to me today.  Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner is encouraging Oaklanders to email Major League Baseball to keep the A's in Oakland:   Dear A’s Fans - As you are well aware the Oakland A’s have pulled their proposal to build a stadium in Fremont.  At this time they are trying to convince Major League Baseball to let them build their stadium in San Jose.  In order to move to San Jose, I understand the Giants have to agree and/or Major League Baseball has to say yes over the Giants objection. I am still very committed to trying to keep the A’s in Oakland.  I have talked to Lew Wolff who still says he is not interested in Oakland. I think it is time for us to make it clear to Major League Baseball that the Oakland A’s belong in Oakland.  The Mayor, Ron Dellums and I wrote a letter to the League clearly stating our desire to have the team stay in Oakland and outlining that the City of Oakland would like to meet with the League an...

I attended my first meeting of the Sports and Entertainment Task Force last Thursday, and which was its second meeting.  It appears that we're on track to produce a document by the April deadline, and I don't write this because I'm on the task force.  I do want this thing to work, and by that I mean we have to create a set of recommendations for the Mayor that's workable and doable.  But I must explain many of the task force members fear the "politicians" will not do anything.  More on that in a bit. This is where we are:  the first meeting was used to explain what the task force is, and what the Mayor expects to see.  We're a collection of concerned citizens who represent various concerns and backgrounds, from restaurant owners, to Internet business owners (me), to activists like Steve Lowe, and journalists like Chris De Benedetti, who's the chairman, to the Mayor's office, who has a staffer that records the action.  What the Mayor expects to s...

For about two years there has been talk of the formation of a Sports Task Force. I first sent an email asking for such a group to the staff of Mayor Ron Dellums during the first two months of his administration but did not receive feedback. Then I twice talked to the Mayor about brieking him regarding what happened to Oakland's Super Bowl Bid and the Oakland Sports Commission I established in 1998. The Mayor said he would get back to me on the matter, er, have his secretary call me, but never did that, so I had lost any faith in his interest in solving Oakland's long-standing sports industry problems. Then I was approached by Steve Lowe and Chris DeBenadetti, both who have been active in Oakland politics and sports journalism respectively. We talked about such a task force with a member of the Mayor's Staff over a year ago. Then we waited, but to Lowe's credit he pushed for it constantly. Now it's formed. The first meeting was Thursday of two week...

More at Raiders Gab : “The Desert News reports that the Raiders and owner Al Davis actually were looking to hire Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. Here is the report: Al Davis, the Oakland Raiders eccentric owner who once hired Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham’s father Fred as a defensive coach, called Whittingham after watching Utah dominate Alabama at the Sugar Bowl and tried to hire him to coach the Raiders defense. A little less than a week before the Sugar Bowl that piqued Davis’ interest, Whittingham agreed to a five-year contract extension worth roughly $6 million.” -- If Al can't get an unknown college coach, then is there hope for the Sliver and Black?

More at SFGate.com : “(01-02) 23:22 PST -- McClymonds senior guard Will Cherry didn't score until the second quarter, but he provided plenty of buckets when the defending state champions finally awoke from an early slumber Friday night. Cherry poured in 26 points and host McClymonds, The Chronicle's top-ranked team, beat Fairfield 66-45 in a physical, turnover-laden game between Division I schools. It was the 45th straight victory for the Oakland school, which improved to 13-0.”

By The Blue Screen - NY Daily News : “The Giants have won 22 games in two seasons, and followed up a Super Bowl championship by earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. So really it’s no wonder that other NFL teams would be interested in raiding their coaching staff. And apparently defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn’t the only one drawing interest. The Oakland Raiders are reportedly going to contact the Giants about speaking to offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, too. Gilbride, who was the Giants’ quarterbacks coach from 2004-2006 before stepping up to offensive coordinator last season, was instrumental in the development of Eli Manning and helped turn the Giants into one of the most powerful and diverse offenses in the NFL.He also has head coaching experience, with the San Diego Chargers in 1997-98.” -- For some reason I'm not excited about Gilbride and that's because I view his offenses as static and inflexible. I also don't think he has the right temperment to coach ...

More at Sports at - Inside Bay Area” : “OAKLAND — Swingman Stephen Jackson straggled from the shower and took a seat at his locker. Tape recorders and microphones descended upon him, looking to get his reaction to the Warriors' biggest win of the year. But his expression contradicted the atmosphere at Oracle Arena after he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Warriors' to a 99-89 upset of the Boston Celtics on Friday. He slumped in his chair, spoke with a drag and didn't smile once.”

More at Oakland Tribune : “The Raiders' all-around impressive 27-16 victory over the red-hot Houston Texans on Sunday had those who braved the cold and rain at the Coliseum roaring their approval and likely wondering if this was a one-game aberration or a harbinger of things to come.”

Raiders' losing becoming historic - Inside Bay Area : “The Raiders went 33-15 in their 48 regular-season games from 2000-02. They enter today's game against the New England Patriots enmeshed in a 22-71 tailspin that isn't losing much, if any, of its momentum. By comparison, the Patriots are 74-19 during the same period. A loss today by the 3-10 Raiders, or in any of their final three games, would cement their place in the annals of the Advertisement NFL as the first team with six straight seasons of at least 11 losses.” -- The Raiders are an organization in search of true leadership. The problem starts in the front office and from what I'm told, a culture that fosters fear and backbiting.

Randy Johnson could land in Bay Area | DailyHeadlines.org

I missed the game -- working -- but glad to see Cal get a commanding victory.    Here's the details from the Tribune: Cal Bears Beat Arizona State 24 to 14 By Jonathan Okanes Staff writer Article Last Updated: 10/05/2008 08:04:09 AM PDT Click photo to enlarge California Golden Bears LaReylle Cunningham, #85, makes a catch and is tackled by Arizona State... 1 2 » Slideshow Slideshow:  Cal vs. Arizona Related Oct 4: Follett sack seals win, earns payback Longshore likely to keep job BERKELEY — How well did Cal's defense play Saturday afternoon against Arizona State? Nate Longshore replaced Kevin Riley as the team's starting quarterback and it still wasn't the prevailing storyline. The Bears' defense continues to flourish in its new 3-4 scheme. It dominated the Sun Devils, holding them to 236 yards while forcing three turnovers in a 24-14 victory in front of 58,302 at Memorial Stadium. "I love watching our defense. They're on fire right now,...

Ever wonder what a day at the Oakland Raiders game is like. See my video of my day at the Raiders / Colts game. It features Raider Legend Moris Bradshaw, Raider Fan Legend Charlie Santana, Jr., and Raider fans and The Raiderettes. Oh, there was a game, too!

It doesn’t matter if it’s a retail business or the Oakland A’s, all good economic development efforts start with one thing: action. Well, two things – action and aggression. Over the past six years, the City of Oakland – and I mean everyone, not just the government, has shown little of either. By contrast, Fremont, led by Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, and Fremont’s Mayor Bob Wasserman have been both active and aggressive in attempting to yank the A’s from Oakland. What can Oakland do? Simple. Fight. Take action and aggressively work to retain the A’s. Oakland should use Jacksonville, Florida as an example. Jacksonville had no business thinking it could host a Super Bowl game, but their shortcomings didn’t stop them from trying. They were rejected by the NFL, but kept coming back until finally in 2000, they landed the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl – the one the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission and I worked to bring to Oakland. We had a better plan, and...

UPDATE: NEWSOM AND DELLUMS DIFFER ON FATES OF PRO SPORTS TEAMS 01/17/07 4:10 PST SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums expressed contrasting opinions today about their ability to keep professional sports teams from leaving their cities. Speaking at an annual business forum sponsored by the San Francisco Business Times, Newsom said the San Francisco 49ers' plans to move to Santa Clara "are by no means a done deal.'' Newsom said, "I don't know how the math works out'' to make the proposal to move to Santa Clara successful. Newsom said he believes "it's in the best interests of the San Francisco 49ers to stay in San Francisco, where they've prospered for 60 years.'' He said he believes his recent proposal to build a new stadium in the Hunters Point area along with affordable housing and community projects is a good one. "I hope the 49ers participate,'' he said. Newsom noted t...