by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–During the past few years downtown Oakland became famous for the demonstrations, the Occupy movement, the riots, the anarchist covering their faces while destroying windows, cars, stores an anything on theirway, all that negative stuff that was all over national television, while on the other side of the bay, the Giants had three World Series parades in the last five years and were seen celebrating in front of a million people down Market street.

I am not trying to compare Oakland to San Francisco, because everybody knows that San Francisco’s beauty and status ranks very high over Oakland, and over many other cities.

The Golden State Warriors have not won an NBA championship since the 1974-1975 season; and this year they look like they are going to repeat for the first time since then.

There were rumors that if the Warriors captured the NBA title this season, there will be a parade in San Francisco, but that is incorrect. Even the thought of the Warriors planning to build an arena in San Francisco and eventually move there, they still are playing in Oakland territory, and if the win the NBA title the Victory Parade
will be down Broadway in downtown Oakland.

It is not a ‘done deal’that the Warriors will be playing in San Francisco, there is opposition to their arena in that city led by the Mission Bay Alliance, and as we all know (those of us that have lived here for many decades)one of the toughest things to do in San Francisco is to build any type of sports venue.

There are environmentalists that would favor the survival of a two billion year smelt that lives under the docks, over any type of building, and residents that have complained already that their view of the bay will be obstructed by building an arena for the Warriors. Campaign consultant and San Francisco political guru Jack Davis is leading the charge to stop the new Warriors arena with Mission Bay Alliance.

Common sense tells us that eventually the Warriors will build their new arena in San Francisco, it is a happening city, one of the most expensive cities in the country and with the influx of the high technology crowd moving up north from San José/Silicon Valley, there is plenty of money by the Golden Gate. So in the long run, the possibility of the Warriors playing in a new arena in San
Francisco is very big.

However, today 2015 the Golden State Warriors are still an Oakland team, and should have been named the Oakland Warriors a very long time ago. Other franchises have changed their “generic”names, to reflect the city where they actually play. Regardless, the City of Oakland can use a parade, a festive affair that brings people together in a
positive celebratory mode.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Angels Spanish TV voice and the A’s radio Spanish voice and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com