San Francisco is My Home

26
Mar

Bocce ball

Author: kris, Category: Sports

My thoughts on avoiding spring cleaning made me think perhaps the best thing to do is avoid your filthy house altogether. Today’s suggestion for getting you out of your filthy house and into the springy air is…bocce ball!

Similar to lawn bowling, bocce ball is quite the fun. Gather a small group of pals together and visit one of the courts on this list. (You may need to bring your own bocce balls, so check before you go.) Or combine your playing with copious drinking: check out this list of Napa wineries that offer bocce ball courts.

Remember, you don’t have to be old to like the things that old people like. This is your lesson of the day.

25
Mar

Still carrying a torch

Author: kris, Category: News, Politics, Sports

Lots of uproar over the upcoming passage of the Olympic torch through San Francisco. The i.m. Newsom and his posse of city administrators are being tight-lipped about the planned route, which is getting the ACLU and associated protesters hot under the collar. There’s a lot of talk about protesting China’s crimes against Tibet, especially if Chinatown is part of the torch’s route.

I don’t know what to think about all that. On the one hand, I am firmly against the way China is handling their involvement in Tibet, obviously. On the other hand, there’s a nice ideal attached to the Olympics, that pretty image of there being one place where we all meet up. Even those of us committing atrocities against innocent Tibetan monks.

It’s like a family, I guess. Your brother and cousin may hate each other, or maybe your great-aunt is a racist windbag, or who knows what. Still, you all get together on Thanksgiving. Maybe pointlessly, maybe not.

Then again, China is more than an impotent windbag at this point. Maybe even in a family you’ve got to draw the line somewhere.

Thoughts?

25
Mar

Tuesday profile: Local ballparks

Author: kris, Category: Landmarks, Oakland, Sports

I don’t write about sports much on this site because, well, I mostly find them boring. But I do enjoy baseball. Not in the sense of following it or understanding it in anyway. I just like going to games. And for this reason, this week’s Tuesday business review deals with the two baseball stadiums available to a local fan.

We begin with AT&T Park* in San Francisco. With its sweeping views of the water, this is a gorgeous place to hang out even if you hate baseball. It’s especially nice on sunny days when the water gets all gemstone-sparkly and all the colors seem crisp and new. The drawback, of course, is that tickets are expensive, even for the cheap seats.

For cheaper and less classy game, I like to head for McAfee Coliseum, current home of the Oakland A’s. I like this place because of the cheap Wednesday night games. For a while, tickets to these games were $2, but I think they might be as high as $4 now. That’s in addition to the cost of ten or so dollar hot dogs (now raised to $2 I think) which are an integral part of the experience. A cheap baseball game isn’t a cheap baseball game unless you sneak in your own hooch and make yourself sick by eating way more hot dogs than you wanted simply because you can pay for them with the loose change you find floating around in your car. This stadium is especially exciting because of the side games being offered such as dot racing (three dots “race” on the message board; every guy I know explodes in a frenzy of ridiculous wagering). It’s like even the people who work for professional baseball know that you need fun distractions when watching professional baseball.

Rumor has it that the A’s are making a bid to move to Cissy Field in Fremont, which will be a great sadness for everyone. Get your cheap games in now, because later you might not have the option.

*I’m sure real baseball curmudgeons have covered this much more adroitly and ad nauseam on the internet, but don’t you hate the branding of sports fields? I don’t even like sports and I hate it. You strip the poetry from sports and all it is is big business. What about the little kid who plays on a Little League team and still dreams about making the major leagues, not because it pays well but because he loves the game? What does the branding tell him about that dream? (Don’t get me started on what’s happening to the little girls who love the game.)

This view could be yours.

11
Feb

For romantic times, make it mini golf times

Author: kris, Category: Kids, Out of town, Outdoors, Sports

I don’t know what your plans are for Valentine’s Day, but you might consider mini golf. I just played at Golden Tee Golfland and was reminded why this is the best of sports: bright colors, sunshine, no skill required and a limitless potential for fun picture taking.

The romance of mini golf is not immediately apparent, but that is of course what makes it so romantic. By taking your significant person to a mini golf course, you’re saying “Baby, we don’t need $60 entrees and fancy chocolates (half of which are the gross, jam-filled kind) to get our seduction on.” You’re also saying “Baby, I can’t afford to buy us a weekend stay at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara,” but he/she probably already knew that.

Golden Tee Golfland has a reasonably well-maintained course, and the obligatory arcade. Also, it’s in Castro Valley, which almost guarantees you’ll have a sunny day, even in February. If you want something a little more impressive, you should check out Scandia in Sacramento, which has much fancier obstacles spread over two courses, and also bumper boats, batting cages and more.