RealClearSports: Tebow Drama Gives Draft a Stretch

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- The analysis from ESPN began, "This is a stretch.'' Which was exactly what the NFL draft needed at the point Tim Tebow was selected.

A stretch, a jolt, excitement. Something more than another defensive tackle or offensive lineman.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

RealClearSports: Oakland: Sports Boomtown Going Bust

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- Never thought of this place as the city where dreams go to die.

Battered metaphorically as the poor sibling of San Francisco across the bay -- "There's no there, there,'' said local girl Gertrude Stein -- Oakland for a long while survived on its championship teams.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: Madden vouches for Davis' legacy

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Two things were evident on an evening of sweet nostalgia: That Al Davis wasn’t in the room, and that John Madden was.

“You can’t write the history of sports in the Bay Area without the name Al Davis,” Madden said. “Al Davis belongs here. He’s a Hall of Famer.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: New year doesn't bring much hope for Bay Area sports

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — This is a happy new year? The 49ers reveling because they didn’t lose more games than they won. The Raiders groping because they did lose more games than they won. The Warriors making us wish it were baseball season. The Giants and A’s making us wonder why we should wish it were baseball season.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Bay Area Full of Dysfunction

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- That the San Francisco 49ers are telling us they could play in Oakland, while the Oakland Athletics are more than hinting they want to play in San Jose, might not make sense to people back in the rust belt. Yet it's perfectly logical to us demented folk along the Pacific.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2009