AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

“You don’t know what you’ve got until its gone”….a phrase often used in a time of refection.  I typically write about the various ways that effective communication skills can enhance and empower the lives of today’s students….but this time I’m writing about something else.

I was born in Berkeley, Ca and raised in the east Bay Area.  I grew up a sports kid in every aspect and Glorietta Elementary School in Orinda was my stomping grounds.  A sports fan of all seasons…I’d  play mud football in the Fall, I’d play basketball on the asphalt courts and played baseball over the summer until it got dark.  As a kid, growing up in the east bay seemed as though it was the center of the sports universe.  The Golden State Warriors won the Championship when I was 9, The Oakland Raiders played in 5 straight AFC Championship games and won the Super Bowl when I was 10 and the Oakland A’s won 3 straight world series.  The Oakland Alameda County Coliseum was at the center of it all.

My dad would secure Raider tickets to one game every other year or so and would take me and my brother.

Driving to the Oakland Coliseum in the early 70’s was as an exciting adventure I could fathom. The grit, the energy, the aura and seeing a region full of civic pride.   Our seats were literally in the last row of the upper deck and I loved it.  I would ask my dad to point out the players and to point out head coach John Madden. As a kid, I would only go to a handful of A’s games but went to many more as I got older and could take BART.  Even more games when I could drive and tailgate with my high school buddies (oh the stories!). Same applies to Warriors games at the arena. I’d go to a smattering of games each year when I got older.  I also spent time at the Coliseum and Arena as a high schooler attending day on the green concerts such as The Who (supposed final ever tour in 1982!) and countless concerts at the arena too.

The memories were plenty.

But when I was in the 7th grade I got my first real dose of heartache….and no, it wasn’t because my 7th grade girlfriend broke up with me…well , that was heartache at the time!  The Raiders left Oakland for LA.  One word; brutal.  My young sports fan heart was ripped apart.  Too young to know what eminent domain meant and too emotional to understand and rationalize why my team was leaving me and all the loyal fans.  A true dose of “life sucks sometimes”.

The Raiders came back years later but the Coliseum was renovated and was never the same.

The Raiders left yet again for Las Vegas…..and the emotional wake the team left still has ripple effects to this day.

The Warriors had a rough patch between the time they won the championship when I was 9 and when they won it again when I was 49.  They left Oakland for a shiny new arena in SF.  Brutal yet again for the city of Oakland, and the fans.  Yes, they are at least still in the Bay Area…but its not the same, period.

Going as a kid to the Coliseum to see the Raiders and A’s play are memories I’ll cherish forever. Years later, I was fortunate to see the Coliseum in a different light.  When I was living in Bay Area and the 49ers were on the road, I would often get asked by Westwood One Radio to be a “spotter” for the national radio broadcasts.  Getting to work with producers and on air talent is always a thrill! Seeing the very outdated stadium from behind the curtain was eye opening.  The same press box where the voice of my youth, Bill King, would display his mastery of painting verbal pictures with his otherworldly descriptions of the game.

Walking through the same locker room where the players I admired as a kid got ready for history making games, all surreal.  Working the 2001 AFC Championship game that the Raiders lost the eventual super bowl champs Baltimore Ravens was wild.  Seeing Brett Favre (the day after his dad had passed away) and the Packers beat the Raiders on Monday Night Football in 2003 was epic.  Getting to meet John Madden, years after I used asked my dad to point him out to me from the last row back in 1973 and now getting to meet and take a picture with him…Just walking around the press box and down the field was dreamlike.

I have little interest to get into the weeds about city politics, taxpayer funding, greedy ownership and bad business decisions.  I’ll leave that for others who are more educated than me on those topics.   Rather, I’d like to focus on loyalty, passion, civic pride, and how sports is one of great equalizers that bring people of every walk of life, together.

Knowing first hand how the soul of any arena or stadium are the countless workers who give their all to be there and bring every event to life.  Ticket takers, ushers, grounds crew, stadium operations, security staff, elevator operators and the list goes on.

After my dad taking me as a kid, It was gratifying that I got to bring him on his birthday, to a 49er game in 1998, so he could see what takes place on a gameday.  Equally as gratifying that I got to bring my brother to a 49er game but most gratifying is that I get to bring my boys to one game a year, so they can see what I’ve been doing for 32 years and counting.

And then there we none…..all three major sports franchises I grew up with are gone and there are countless others like me, who had a huge part of the culture they were raised in, to have faded into history.