Why not San Francisco?

The Arena (where the Warriors play) just was rebuilt a few years ago. But I agree about the Colisseum. If the A's want out and the Raiders go back to L.A., it will be useless.

 

I've just not really heard great reviews from ppl. I know that UC Berkeley was absolutely overjoyed to get outta there and move back on campus to Haas Pavilion, a much nicer facility, but more important... on campus.

W/ A's and Raiders gone, the stadium would sit empty and the city would be more amenable to an SSS.

Amen

I honestly don't know; maybe just designating it for The Gays, and then encouraging gay friendly businesses to open up.

 

I hear the weed is great in Davis.

 

The Arena in Oakland is quite nice. Hass Pavilion in not a much nicer facility--it's just better suited for the college game and in the right location.

 

Regarding the original post, the one thing about San Francisco (aside from, you know, the reality of trying to get a stadium built there) is that it really is not a soccer town. There's no tradition, no history; when Italians immigrated there they took up baseball, not soccer. (Like Joe Dimaggio.) Furthermore, I think the game is now associated with San Jose, and San Franciscans look down on everything San Jose-ish as minor league.

 

I think it had more to do with atmosphere (as well as rent) than the facility. The Arena is quite nice actually. I have never been in Haas (even though I live in Berkeley) so I can't say if its better or not.

Uhhh, no one is going to say outloud or put into print a designation of an official gay area of a city. It just sort of happens.
Besides I don't know what that would have to do with getting a soccer stadium built.

Lee

 

While I too I think a SSS in SF is pretty remote, but I think if it was built, the team would do just fine, at least as well as anywhere else, including San Jose. As long as it was accesible by public transportation, otherwise forget it.

Lee

 

Uhhh... I live here and I have received stuff in the mail on this and have spoken to community activists regarding changes in the area, such as the elimination of a lane around Lake Merritt, the beautification of Lake Merritt, an attempt to keep buses on International Blvd and off the parallel streets, etc. The city is planning on making the East Lake a gay friendly area.

Wull, Laney College is at the tail-end of what would be The Gay Area, the Quakes would play there, the Quakes are gay... Get it? Gay smack. The Quakes are gay!??

 

SF is filled w/ transplants from other areas. It's also a "destination city" for the region of over 7 million ppl. Plus, it does have some tradition: some of its adult leagues are the best in the nation.

SF wouldn't have a problem bringing in fans...

 

Well, agree to disagree, my (apparently) fellow Bruin. San Jose is actually larger, from both a size and a population standpoint. And I've seen plenty of apathy from the local media, which is largely based in San Francisco, especially the local television stations.

Not that any of this matters, since a San Francisco stadium ain't gonna happen.

 

There's a lot of soccer going on in San Francisco actually.

Definitely the Quakes history is entirely with San Jose, but SF used to have the Blackhawks (right?). And there's a new PDL franchise (SF Seals) coming to SF in 2006.

There are tons of leagues that play in the afternoons and weekends in Golden Gate Park at the Polo grounds and down by Ocean Beach - I forget what they call those fields. There was a tournament held there this summer that many Bay Area-bsed ethnic amateur teams played in that sounded like it was very successful.

MFL clubs that have played at SBC Park have drawn pretty well in the few games played there (sell-outs or close to it IIRC). It will be interesting to see how many people attend the USMNT/Japon match there on Feb 10th.

Also, there are plenty of soccer-friendly bars around town (Mad Dog in the Fog, Kezar Pub, etc.) The '98 World Cup packed people into the bars in downtown SF to watch the games and I assume it will be the same this summer since they will be airing in the morning and at mid-day.

In summary, just because SF has never had a MLS/NASL franchise doesn't mean that it should not be considered for a future franchise or identified as being unfriendly to soccer. Quite the contrary.

 

If it doesn't happen in San Jose then it will be in Santa Clara. The city of Santa Clara wants a team there, and has land for a team in a "Great" location. Only way it would happen elsewhere in the bay area is if the money came from elsewhere. Now, now, don't be shouting...er....crying Wolff to me. He is interested in the south bay for an mls team, not Oakland. Sorry carlos, but you will still be haulin' your butt down to the south bay for Quakes games.

 

S.F. is an awesome soccer city. It's just a terrible city to even think about putting a new stadium in. So you won't see an MLS team inside the city limits.

 

Hey, I'm not saying that I want the Smurfs to move to my neighborhood, per se. I don't even know how much longer I'll be here. (I seriously came close to applying for a post-doc in Houston [how ironic!] that I've had my eye on for years, but I ended up not even bothering 'cuz it wouldn't be a good move for me.)

I'm just giving a breakdown of what a stadium would need to have to be near Lake Merritt. It could be done, but I doubt that it ever would...

 

I realized that this was just your fantasy.

 

Those are the fields near the windmills, right? Played some games there back in high school. What a cold and miserable place it was to play a game.

 

It's been a while since I've been in that neighborhood, but there isn't anything on the lake unless you demolish something, like Henery J Kaiser, is there?

 

Yep. That's what you would have to demolish. And even still, that's on a not very wide rectangle that runs parallel to the lake. In order for a stadium to face the lake [ ] you'd have to take out some roads.

Or... you plop down one of those skinny Euro-style stadiums (hey look!! I used the plebian plural form of stadium!!), and have the upper deck on the westside so that it could see over the eastsiiide at the beautiful lake.

Parking? Tear out the (newly rebuilt) football stadium (prolly 1,000 capacity) and the really nice track and build a parking lot.

Of course, this'll never happen, but it's nice to dream...

 

Also, remember, that although 2 wrongs don't make a right, 3 lefts , however, do

 

Okay, how about the Seals - they were pro/semi-pro, right? How many guesses do I have remaining?

 

Hey, I'm up for that. I was at the closing of Winterland. If I could make the closing HJK, I might be able to pace myself to remember most of it.

 

Sorry, I'm fairly new to the area... What was Winterland?