From the newsroom: What do sports and the A’s mean to Sacramento? We’ll keep letting you know
For longtime sports fans here, the A’s coming to West Sacramento not only conjures visions of Major League Baseball next to the river, but also all the twists and turns the professional sports scene have taken here. We always seem to have, with teams, relationships worthy of advice columns.
The Kings, now ensconced at DoCo’s Golden 1 Center, came here in 1985 from Kansas City, but threatened to leave for Anaheim, wait, no, Virginia Beach, no, wait, Seattle. All these suitors from 2011 to 2013, all these flirtations outraged us as other cities tried to steal our team like, you know, we had. Could this marriage be saved? Apparently with new ownership and public money, sure.
Such is the drama off the court, and off the field, with sports. We have always covered all those machinations.
A little background: Sacramento has been home to a range of sports franchises. Say, presently, the River Cats (whose home will host the A’s) and FC Republic. In the past, we sported jerseys with the Monarchs, Smokeys, Sirens, Surge, Knights, Spirits, Gold, Gold Miners, Mountain Lions, Capitals, Solons, Steelheads and some names we’re surely forgetting. Those marriages could not be saved, and in some cases, sorry, it was you, not we. Some brought little stability to our civic relationship.
But major sports, the top of the professional circuit? We have the NBA. We tried for the NFL. Gregg Lukenbill’s group, which owned the Kings, tried to bring Al Davis’ Raiders here, a deal that fell just short of the altar in 1990. Lukenbill also wanted to bring baseball here. Years later, somewhere out in a field in North Natomas were some concrete and rebar remnants of a stadium not to be.
How do we know all this? I’m the managing editor of The Bee and have been here since 1985. Through the decades, I’ve read our thorough coverage of the business and government decisions and all the proposals behind bringing sports to the region. And I have directed some of that coverage, always knowing how much major league sports can transform a city, as well as pit sports fans against those who object to the public monies devoted to them or oppose working with owners or feeling it is all just wasting their time.
We report for both.
Even fans throw up their hands in disgust, but usually over bad plays, bad uniforms, bad draft picks. That’s a huge part of sports, just talking about your partner you’ve invested with so much emotion. That’s the love-hate relationship anyone has with sports teams.
With that much emotion comes a simple desire to know what’s going on. That’s our relationship with you. We committed to bringing you all the news and information to understand what’s happening with the Kings or, now, the A’s.
The A’s — we’re the rebound partner in this one, keeping them company until their move to Las Vegas. The announcement that the Oakland team is coming here next season while it awaits a Vegas stadium spurred us into action April 4, with in-depth coverage that day that we pledge to continue.
Those stories have an “In the Spotlight” label, part of a concentrated effort to focus on a developing story that has great significance to you. As our explanatory language introducing these stories says, this coverage “digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about.” We also invite you to send us suggestions at metro@sacbee.com. You can also contact me at slebar@sacbee.com.
We have followed the initial burst of stories with “Carmichael Dave” Weiglein’s commentary on why we shouldn’t want to play a part in Oakland’s misery and Chris Biderman’s examination of whether the move is a tryout for a permanent MLB team. As I said, relationships. Do we want to break up one or are we proposing? We’ll keep letting you know.
