Warriors to SF

[CameronFrye]

The Golden State Warriors will likely move to San Francisco in 2017 | Ball Don't Lie - Yahoo! Sports

I really think this is the best move the team could possibly make. The move will not only show the players that the Warriors owners are ready to make this franchise a winner, but saying that any prospective FAs can move to San Francisco is a whole lot more enticing than telling them they can move to Oakland.

And let's be honest - even with the renovations that Cohan made a decade ago, the Oakland Arena is still a piece of shit. This is going to give the Warriors the best arena in the NBA.

 

[SFAnthem]

Wow on the waterfront, too

This is going to be great. So far, so good with aggressiveness of Lacob & co. He's actually doing something..

 

[CameronFrye]

For those unfamiliar with the area, this is the future location.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Can't wait!

 

[CameronFrye]

Why was Ahmad Rashad the MC of the day's press conference? Does anyone know if he has some kind of connection to the new owners?

 

[Heathbar012]

For those unfamiliar with the area, this is the future location.

Looks like the Warped Tour is gonna need a new spot in The City (or just move it to Mountain View). No matter. That Tour sucks now, anyway.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Looks like parking might be an issue though.

 

[CameronFrye]

Looks like parking might be an issue though.

No more than it is for Giants games. When I go to Warriors games at the new arena, I will take BART to the Embarcadero and walk the mile or so to get to the arena or I will take the CalTrain to the end of the line and walk from 4th and King to the stadium. Either way, I'm not driving.

 

[clyde_carbon]

No more than it is for Giants games. When I go to Warriors games at the new arena, I will take BART to the Embarcadero and walk the mile or so to get to the arena or I will take the CalTrain to the end of the line and walk from 4th and King to the stadium. Either way, I'm not driving.

Traffic on the Embarcadero is horrible without this new arena.

 

[Yoshi]

About freaking time Cam.

Time for me to start switching allegiances and root for an SF Basketball team that actually plays in the city, my hometown.

There's a lot of fine dirt that has yet to be revealed here, however. I remember the Giants front office mentioning that AT&T would be privately financed, yet there's some 100M still lurking that the city is still responsible for. I highly doubt that this new stadium will be entirely "privately" financed, but nonetheless the location is great despite the problems dealing with parking. As Cam mentioned, I don't even bother with driving since parking prices are a mess anyways and you're gonna waste gas getting stuck on that 3rd and King corner leaving that area anyways.

Can't wait.

 

[CameronFrye]

About freaking time Cam.

Time for me to start switching allegiances and root for an SF Basketball team that actually plays in the city, my hometown.

There's a lot of fine dirt that has yet to be revealed here, however. I remember the Giants front office mentioning that AT&T would be privately financed, yet there's some 100M still lurking that the city is still responsible for. I highly doubt that this new stadium will be entirely "privately" financed, but nonetheless the location is great despite the problems dealing with parking.

The STADIUM will be privately financed. There is still a shit-ton of work that has to be done to the actual piers to make them stable enough to support the arena, the fans and the parking on what is left of the space. The chances that the team pays for that are slim and none. The City will definitely foot the bill for those costs, and I expect the costs to be close to the 100 mil that the City paid to renovate China basin.

As Cam mentioned, I don't even bother with driving since parking prices are a mess anyways and you're gonna waste gas getting stuck on that 3rd and King corner leaving that area anyways.

Can't wait.

There will be some spaces at the other piers near the new arena, but it makes no sense to me to pay $40 to park, $40 in gas and have to deal with the hassle of getting in and out of that traffic jam when you can take Bart for $5-15 depending on your location.

It really will be awesome once the team moves to the City. The Oracle Arena is a dump and the area around it is a ghetto. You can't go to a Warriors game right now and then walk over to a nice restaurant or bar after the game is over for food and drink. At the piers, that is exactly what we'll be able to do.

 

[CameronFrye]

Marcus Thompson II writes a piss-poor column about the move to SF.

Commentary: Warriors owners show little compassion toward their jilted East Bay fans - Inside Bay Area

I have two major problems with the article. First, he hints numerous times that by moving to SF, the new owners are pricing the best fans in the NBA out of the ability to attend games. But even if Lacob and Guber would have found a great location in Oakland (Union Square? The Waterfront?) the ticket prices for the Oakland arena would have been just as excessive as the prices will be for the arena when it is built at Piers 30 and 32. So that idea is just plain wrong.

Second, by comparing the Warriors' move to SF directly to the Sonics' move to Oklahoma City, Thompson is proving that he is not approaching this in an unbiased manner as he claimed. Unless my geography is wrong, OK City is not a 10-minute car trip from downtown Seattle. The new arena in SF is so close to the Oracle Arena that you can almost see one of the locations while standing at the other. The Niners' move to Santa Clara is 10x the distance. Yet there's little outrage from that fan base.

MTII is obviously stung by the fact that the Warriors are leaving a dump of a city like Oakland for a beautiful, welcoming city like San Francisco. I would have respected him more if he would have just said so.

 

[CitySushi]

Marcus Thompson II writes a piss-poor column about the move to SF.

Commentary: Warriors owners show little compassion toward their jilted East Bay fans - Inside Bay Area

I have two major problems with the article. First, he hints numerous times that by moving to SF, the new owners are pricing the best fans in the NBA out of the ability to attend games. But even if Lacob and Guber would have found a great location in Oakland (Union Square? The Waterfront?) the ticket prices for the Oakland arena would have been just as excessive as the prices will be for the arena when it is built at Piers 30 and 32. So that idea is just plain wrong.

Second, by comparing the Warriors' move to SF directly to the Sonics' move to Oklahoma City, Thompson is proving that he is not approaching this in an unbiased manner as he claimed. Unless my geography is wrong, OK City is not a 10-minute car trip from downtown Seattle. The new arena in SF is so close to the Oracle Arena that you can almost see one of the locations while standing at the other. The Niners' move to Santa Clara is 10x the distance. Yet there's little outrage from that fan base.

MTII is obviously stung by the fact that the Warriors are leaving a dump of a city like Oakland for a beautiful, welcoming city like San Francisco. I would have respected him more if he would have just said so.

I read this the other day and couldn't understand his perspective either. I've been a Warrior fan for over 20+ years living in San Francisco and I've made the commute to Oakland without a second thought to watch them play. If they think a 20 minute car ride is going to push out loyal fans, they're clearing deluding themselves.

15+ years and 1 playoff appearance; Numerous coaching and player changes, terrible GM's and bad contracts; but no, moving to a brand new arena in a great location, 20 minutes (or less for you lead foots) away from the previous one is going to push away the fans. C'mon...use your brain.

I think the writers, MTII included, are just trying to spark debate. The Warriors and their "why mess up a bad thing that might get worse" thinking has rubbed off on to their writers as well. MTII also doesn't factor in the number of corporate sponsors in SF who would jump at the bit to get in on the action. They will definitely not lose anything from a sales point of view.

 

[Yoshi]

There will be some spaces at the other piers near the new arena, but it makes no sense to me to pay $40 to park, $40 in gas and have to deal with the hassle of getting in and out of that traffic jam when you can take Bart for $5-15 depending on your location.

It really will be awesome once the team moves to the City. The Oracle Arena is a dump and the area around it is a ghetto. You can't go to a Warriors game right now and then walk over to a nice restaurant or bar after the game is over for food and drink. At the piers, that is exactly what we'll be able to do.

I actually drive down to a Cal Train station and just commute to the station adjacent to Lucky Strikes/Safeway since it's about a 5 minute walk from AT&T. I figure it's the best option to do with BART being a close second. I've been to both Portland and Miami and having basketball arenas close to waterfronts is a pretty nifty idea if you ask me.

This is something interesting, btw:

Warriors pass up S.F. Giants' arena offer

 

[CameronFrye]

I actually drive down to a Cal Train station and just commute to the station adjacent to Lucky Strikes/Safeway since it's about a 5 minute walk from AT&T. I figure it's the best option to do with BART being a close second. I've been to both Portland and Miami and having basketball arenas close to waterfronts is a pretty nifty idea if you ask me.

This is something interesting, btw:

Warriors pass up S.F. Giants' arena offer

I still don't understand the aversion the Warriors owners have to pairing with the Giants. I am guessing that it all comes down to money, but none of the journalists who report on this little nugget ever get into the particulars of why, so it is really just a guess.