Bay Area Sportsball News
Four Bay Area big-hitter teams are making headlines this week, for all sorts of different reasons. Two are knee-deep in playoffs, one is waste-high in bureaucratic BS and one just lost a player to the retirement fairy.
The San Jose Sharks took the Vegas Golden Knights out of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Tuesday with another dramatic overtime win. It was Game 7 in what had been a brutal first-round series where the Knights blew a 3-1 lead (I am refraining the obvious) and refs didn’t make any new fans from either camp. Everything was on the line and it came down to the line, and one very controversial call, to decide playoff fate.
The prospect of a Sharks win was none too rosy for the better part of the game, even with home-ice advantage at the SAP Center. Facing third period with a 3-0 deficit, the Sharks would have to pull out all the stops in order to recover, and that’s exactly what they did with a sudden four-score comeback inside a five-minute major penalty. From there, it was on. The teams went back and forth like cat and mouse through the rest of third and pushed the play to sudden death overtime. With 1:41 left on the OT clock, the Sharks knocked it in for a 5-4 final score.
The San Jose Sharks will next face the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.
The Golden State Warriors are fighting for their own playoff round-two advancement against the Los Angeles Clippers with Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs being played Wednesday night at the Oracle. The Warriors, with a 3-1 lead (I know, I know…) could take the series Wednesday as long as they keep their cool, stay out of tech territory and don’t get injured, which proved difficult in the first four games. The refs and Patrick Beverly of the Clippers came out of the gate with fangs for Kevin Durant, getting under his skin and racking up technical fouls on some very questionable calls. Saying KD and Beverly went at it in Game 1 would be a gross understatement – they have history from KD’s OKC days and that saltiness followed them out onto the court, resulting in both players being ejected.
But the team has stepped up since, despite a Game 2 injury that took DeMarcus Cousins out of play for the rest of the season. There’s a very real possibility the Warriors could wrap this thing up at home Wednesday night and earn some rehab time before the next round begins. With Stephen Curry’s new eyes and 3-point insanity, Draymond Green’s defense and passion, KD’s uncanny ability to knock opposition shots away as easily he makes them, Klay Thompson’s cool work of it all, Andre Iguodala’s seasoned skill and Jordan Bell’s unbridled eagerness, I’d say they have all the right magic to get it done…as long as they don’t get in their own way.
The Oakland A’s just took an 11-5 win against the Texas Rangers Tuesday, tying up the four-game series that continues Wednesday. Although there’s been some happy player contract talk recently, the real meat in the press has nothing to do with the players at all. As you may have heard, the Oakland baseball franchise is looking to pack up from their aging digs at the Coliseum and move over to a futuristic monstrosity of a stadium proposed at the Howard Terminal at Jack London Square. The proposal itself comes with hefty backlash from several groups, including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The ILWU gathered at Oakland City Hall Thursday to voice a “litany of concerns” about the project’s impact on local labor and the proposal’s lack of traffic infrastructure that will present challenges to the workforce in that area.
Another battle wages on the subject of the still-existing Coliseum. Alameda County voted Tuesday to move forward with a tentative deal to sell their half-share of the Coliseum property to the Oakland A’s organization, for a cool $85 million – the city owns the other half. Prior to yesterday’s vote, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf issued the county a warning against considering any sale that does not come loaded with substantial community benefits and she was joined by other elected officials who threatened to consider legal action if the county didn’t act in the best of interest of the area they serve as a public entity. The county has clapped back by approving the negotiation without built-in benefit provisions.
It was reported Wednesday that Oakland native and Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch will be retiring, again, and will not play out what could be the last season for the franchise in the Town. He came out of a previous bout of retirement to play the last two seasons with the Raiders because playing the game in Oakland where he grew up mattered to him. It’s hard to say why the 33-year-old is skipping out a season before the big move to Las Vegas (maybe) because he’s never much of a press statement kind of guy. But, since love between the city and the team is being tested by douchey choices coming from the owner’s box, it may not be much of a stretch to say he just wasn’t feeling it anymore. And we all now how Lynch gets down when he’s not feeling it.
For all you Bay Area sports fans, be sure to check out Stuart’s “Sportsball” gear in team colors of your choosing. Happy balling.
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