Contra Costa Times: Bay Area's top spectator experience might surprise you

By Neil Hayes

ANNOUNCERS MAKE IT sound as if the event they're covering is all-important, regardless of whether it's one baseball game out of 162 or Game 7 of a playoff series. That's when the idea uncoils itself and strikes like a snake. What is the best spectator sporting experience in the Bay Area?

It's a big question. It depends on your taste in sports: baseball or football, basketball or hockey, pro or college. Then there's the matter of which team you prefer: A's or Giants? 49ers or Raiders? Cal or Stanford? There's also a timeliness factor. The 49ers and Raiders would rank higher, for example, if for the past three years they hadn't played a brand of football that makes eyeballs fall out and roll down stadium steps, trying to escape. The real magic of spectator sports happens in those moments just before kickoff, faceoff, tipoff or first pitch when so much electricity surges through the crowd that you swear you can see sparks. Or maybe it's during a tense timeout late in a game that it hits you: There's no place I'd rather be. What follows is subjective. Ask 10 people to name the best sporting experience in the Bay Area, and they will come up with 10 different but equally plausible lists. As of May 4, 2006, here is mine:

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3. Before Jeff Tedford came to Berkeley, the idea of putting Cal football ahead of the 49ers and Raiders was preposterous. Not anymore. Strawberry Canyon is one of the most spectacular settings in college football, and Cal finally has a coach and a program worthy of it. Stroll across campus on a fall afternoon and the house parties and alumni barbecues create a festive scene. You can hear the band playing as you approach Memorial Stadium. Once inside, students are up to their old card tricks. Spending fall afternoons in Berkeley is tough to beat with Cal playing such an entertaining brand of football. The Bears' 34-31 triple-overtime win over eventual national champion USC in 2003 was a game for the ages.

When the long-overdue stadium renovations are complete, it will be better still, just as the soon-to-be-completed Stanford Stadium, along with an improved team, could launch the Cardinal into this debate as soon as next season.