Top 10 Bay Area Sports Stories of 2012: Honorable Mentions
By Eric He
This is Golden Gate Sports’ countdown of the top 10 Bay Area Sports Stories of 2012. We’ll start with those that were good, but not great enough to make the cut. Here are your honorable mentions:
Courtesy: AP Photo/Golden State Warriors
Warriors to Move to San Francisco in 2017
If you haven’t yet gone to a Warriors’ game at Oracle Arena, you might want to do so in the near future.
That is because the Warriors will be relocating to San Francisco in 2017, as announced by owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber in May of this year.
The waterfront arena that will cost upwards of $1 billion will be built on Piers 30-32, and will be just a few blocks away from AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
NHL Lockout
Show of hands: how many of you are actually missing the NHL right now?
If I could see through your computer screens, I would imagine that not many of you are raising your hands at the moment, which is why this story didn’t make it its way into our top 10.
Nonetheless, the greedy attitudes of the owners and players of the NHL has starved many fans of their beloved sport, which is in grave danger of losing its second full season in eight years.
The two sides were reportedly close to reaching a deal last week, but were never able to come to an agreement and are now starting from scratch again.
April 16, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks left wing Patrick Marleau (12) before a face off against the St. Louis Blues during the second period of game three of the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals at HP Pavilion. St. Louis defeated San Jose 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Sharks’ Disappointing Playoff Exit
Nothing like a double-whammy of negative hockey stories.
There may not be a 2012-2013 season, but there was a 2011-2012 season, which was a disappointing one for the San Jose Sharks.
They finished with 96 points, good enough for just seventh place in the Western Conference. Then, they fell 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs to the St. Louis Blues in yet another disappointing early-round playoff exit.
This team has all the talent in the world, from an absolute stud in Joe Thornton to a veteran, smooth-skating defenseman in Dan Boyle to a former Stanley Cup winning-goalie in Antti Niemi.
So why can’t they put it all together and bring San Jose its first championship?
Maybe we could answer that question if there was an NHL season.
Jeff Tedford Fired
Finally, to cap off our honorable mentions, we conclude with the end of the Jeff Tedford era at Cal. An era that saw the Bears’ football program gain more and more relevance not only in the Pac-10/12, but all of college football.
Tedford took over a team that went 1-10 in 2001 and promptly guided the team to eight straight winning seasons and eight bowl appearances.
Unfortunately, a 3-9 season in 2012 forced Sandy Barbour to pull the plug on Tedford, who was fired following the Bears’ final game.
Cal promptly hired the offensive-minded Sonny Dykes from Louisiana Tech to take over as head coach.
Stay tuned to Golden Gate Sports for #10 on our list of the Top 10 Bay Area Sports Stories of 2012 that will be released on Monday, December 17.