Thugs who like nutrition

Showed this to Emma yesterday. Realized everyone else would appreciate it.

http://thugkitchen.com

Nothing else to say. I have no words that can introduce the epic world you're about to step into.

Oh. And go Sox/Giants.

A Gentleman's Agreement

There was a time where my baseball allegiance could have been changed at a young age. Even though we lived in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, my dad raised me to be a Giants fan (it always helped that whenever I came home from my day care after school that Dad would immediately flip on the TV to the Giants game). But when I was in elementary school (as well as middle school, for that matter), a majority of my friends where fans of the Oakland Athletics. I can think of a number of reasons for this, despite the fact that neither the Athletics nor the Giants fielded strong teams in the mid-90’s: A’s games were cheaper to attend, easier to get to (thank you BART!), greater chances of getting a foul ball, and there were some likeable stars with Mark McGwire and Rickey Henderson. (My dad would probably mention that the Oakland Coliseum was also a lot nicer to go see, before Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders installed an upper deck in centerfield and a bunch of luxury suites.) The Giants, on the other hand, played games at Candlestick Park, a run-down football-oriented stadium, where they would give you special buttons for enduring cold extra inning games (and as those of you familiar with San Francisco in the summer time… it can be exceedingly cold and windy). I really only remember going to a couple of games when I was younger at Candlestick (including Barry Bonds’ game where he hit his 300^th and 301^st home runs), specifically because it was much harder to go to those games. And though it was easier to go to games and my friends could have peer pressured me into liking the A’s (I can’t say that I never owned A’s gear), the A’s never really captured my imagination and adoration in the same way the Giants did. I loved Barry Bonds, Rod Beck (a closer who rocked a Fu Manchu), Matt Williams as well as later players like Jeff Kent and JT Snow.  And my personal hero was Bill Mueller, mostly because I enjoyed playing 3^rd base in little league and a coach compared my defense to his. And while I rooted for the A’s when they were successful in the early 2000’s—it would be appropriate to call me a bandwagoner—the Giants have been my team… despite the occasional teasing from my friends.

So it was quite a surprise to me, at a younger age, when I learned that there was a time where the Giants could have been moved to Florida in the early ‘90’s. Despite the fact that the Giants had played in San Francisco since the mid-50’s and was home to such stars as Mays and McCovey, they almost moved. They were mostly terrible as a team in the 1980’s and they played in the craphole that was Candlestick Park—not a money-making scheme. It was only through some last minute dealings that a local ownership group took over, vowing to keep the Giants in San Francisco and build a new stadium*. But there was a critical component in the deal to keep the Giants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Walter Haas, the owner of the Oakland A’s at the time, is believed to have given the Giants the “territorial rights” to develop a new stadium in Santa Clara county in a gentleman’s agreement, where San Jose (the tenth largest city in the United States) is located. Though the Giants never built a stadium in San Jose, they still have access and control over the market.

As Howard Bryant elegantly depicts it (http://tinyurl.com/3j3cvrv), the A’s are struggling both in terms of popularity next to the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants (never gets old for me to say…) and financially. The stadium that used to be a jewel in the Bay Area covers the decks with tarps during baseball season and is now suited more towards football. The A’s have tried to build new stadiums in both Oakland and other locations in the East Bay, but it has been met with no success or enthusiasm. The A’s would rather move locations to San Jose, where they can build a new stadium, gain new revenue streams for corporate sponsorships, and start afresh in a new town. The Giants, claiming that they would suffer financially if the A’s were to move to San Jose, are not having any of it. Both teams have turned to the bumbling and incompetent commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig, to help sort out the situation.

It has been really interesting for me to be hear and read both sides of the debate, as there are kids—just like I was—trying to figure out their allegiances to their baseball teams (for better or worse) that will ultimately be influenced by the outcomes of the debate. For Giants fans, either they don’t want the A’s in San Jose or don’t have a strong opinion of where the A’s are. Personally, I am not sure most are aware of the gentleman’s agreement that led to the Giants’ territorial rights in Santa Clara. A’s fans are livid with the owners of the Giants—they see the Giants as blocking the development of their franchise, despite the “generosity” of Walter Haas.

Personally, I would like to see both teams remain in the Bay Area, whatever ends up happening. The early 2000’s, when both teams were especially strong, were lots of fun for me and my friends alike, especially since we wanted a rematch of the ill-fated Bay Bridge Series of 1989 that was disrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake. The sound of the San Jose A’s seems strange to me, and I’m a bit skeptical of baseball succeeding in San Jose (though the Sharks seem to sell out every home game). But I think the Giants ownership can cut the crap about the negative financial effects of having another team in San Jose. Giants fans (with bandwagoners too) have been selling out every home game at AT&T park, and there is a new generation of young’uns loving Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson, Buster Posey, and Pablo Sandoval. The Giants have an increased payroll and would likely take on additional salary if they were to trade for the studly Carlos Beltran. If there was ever a time to give the A’s a break, it would be now. And I wouldn’t have any second thoughts about it.

*The new stadium thing kinda worked out for Giants, as well as baseball fans of all stripes. I’ve heard many people say that “Mays Field” is one of the best places to catch a game in all of the major leagues. As a Giants fan, I tend to agree.