The Editor’s Rant: Highlights and Lowlights From This Week in Bay Area Sports

Aug 23, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) elects to run escaping Chicago Bears defensive end Aston Whiteside (71) during the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Chicago Bears defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-26. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

It’s that time of week again, when I take a sarcastic look at the highlights and lowlights in Bay Area sports during the past seven days:

Highlights

Because we just can’t go a full year without having a quarterback controversy in the Bay Area, Terrelle Pryor and Matt Flynn have graciously provided us with another one.

Except the Raiders aren’t a Super Bowl-caliber team, and they don’t have enough of a supporting cast to be successful next season with either Pryor or Flynn at the helm.

But who am I kidding? Everyone wants to see Pryor, the young, athletic, and mobile quarterback who creates excitement and buzz whenever he steps on the field. What’s more, he might actually make the Raiders a watchable team if he starts (sorry, only one bad Raiders’ joke per rant) .

Seriously though, is anyone besides Dennis Allen still convinced that Matt “I can’t throw the ball more than 20 yards downfield” Flynn is a better option than Pryor?

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The Giants continue to descend deeper in to the abyss of a lost season, but every blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn.

On Tuesday, the Giants rallied in the late innings against the Red Sox to eke out a walk-off win, and they did it in the most Giants way possible. Down 2-1 in the eighth, they tied things up on a foul ball sacrifice fly, which are makes you wonder why the outfielder even bothered with catching the ball in the first place.

Then, they literally walked-off in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Marco Scutaro. Ball four clearly looked like a strike, but when you’re 19 games back, a win is a win is a win. Even if you needed zero hits to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

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Kurt Suzuki is back in an A’s uniform, and all is right in the world again.

The A’s were in desperate need of some catching depth with John Jaso’s lingering concussion symptoms, so of course they went out and reacquired their former catcher, who hit just .222 with the Nationals this season.

In fact, he hasn’t had a good season since 2009 with the A’s.

But when your other options are Stephen Vogt or Derek Norris, you really have no other options.

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And finally, here’s something you don’t see everyday:

Bill “Spaceman” Lee, a 66-year-old former major leaguer, played all nine positions on Wednesday for the San Rafael Pacifics. It was the annual publicity stunt for Lee, who last played in the big leagues in 1982.

Here’s Spaceman throwing a strike in the inning that he pitched:

Lowlights

You want to know how dominant ESPN is in the sports media world?

On Wednesday, Ron Jaworski threw out a prediction that Colin Kaepernick has the potential to be one of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL. By the end of the day, the sports world was abuzz with people agreeing or disagreeing with Jaws.

Does Kaepernick have the ability to become one of the NFL’s greatest? Absolutely.

But he’s only started 10 games. So how can we even begin to think about putting him among the best of all-time?

Jaworski should know better than to throw out these “predictions” just to gain attention and produce controversy. But wait, ESPN does that all the time anyway.

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Matt Flynn. This guy just can’t catch a break. Or maybe he’s just not seizing his opportunities.

Flynn was awful in New Orleans, and somehow played worse on Friday night against the Bears. Meanwhile, Terrelle Pryor came in and gave the Raiders’ fans something to cheer for.

You know how this is going to end, right? After coming to a new team with a near guarantee of being the starting quarterback, Matt Flynn is in serious danger of losing his job to a young, mobile guy with little experience. Again.

Flynn’s probably thinking, “Maybe I should have just stayed in Green Bay to back up Aaron Rodgers.”

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It was a blockBUSTer trade between the 49ers and Chiefs on Monday: A.J. Jenkins for Jon Baldwin. Bust for bust, straight up.

When he was traded to Kansas City, Alex Smith probably wished he could bring a few offensive threats with him over from the 49ers. You know, Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, etc.

You know what, Alex? For all those years you spent being booed by fans, then taking the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game, and finally, being a class act when Kaepernick took over, you’re going to throw to a draft bust who has zero career catches and little self-confidence on a team that was tied for having the worst record in the NFL last season.

Oh, and please win at least eight games so the 49ers can get that second round draft pick from the Chiefs.

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The Sharks unveiled their “new” jerseys on Tuesday, but they basically look the same as the old ones.

Take a look…

Old jersey:

Dec 28, 2011; San Jose CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period against the Vancouver Canucks at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

New jersey:

Photo: San Jose Sharks

Ok, the color is a bit lighter, and it’s a little more simplistic, but really? These are what you call “new” jerseys?

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We always like to laugh at the “balldudes” at Giants games that sit down the lines and fail at handling foul balls.

What we don’t like to laugh at is when one of them tries to catch a popup that’s in play, and the Giants’ third baseman Joaquin Arias has a chance at gloving it.

I love how she apologized profusely afterwards, but Arias had absolutely none of it, stared at her and walked away.

When you’re 19 games back, these kinds of things tend to happen.

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One team is in the thick of the chase for the postseason, playing winning baseball and giving fans a reason to cheer. The other team is the middle of a rough season, playing horrible baseball, and giving fans little reason to cheer.

From Monday until Wednesday, when both of these teams hosted home games at the same time in their respective stadiums, the team playing horrible baseball drew nearly three times as many fans as the team playing for a playoff berth.

41,585, 41,551, and 41,532. Those were the attendance figures for the Giants in their interleague series against the Red Sox.

11,112, 13,041, and 18,641. Those were the amounts of people who came to the O.co Coliseum to watch the A’s play the Mariners.

Look, I understand. I know it’s the Red Sox coming to town, a team that people rarely get to see squaring off against the Giants. I know the Giants have an amazing ballpark. I also know that the A’s don’t have a great ballpark, and the Mariners aren’t exactly the type of opponent that results in a large crowd showing up. I get it.

Wait no, I don’t get it. Doesn’t the old saying go, “Winning solves everything?”

The A’s are winning, the Giants are not. In today’s society, where people have a “what have you done for me lately” attitude, you would expect people to begin flocking to the team that has done a lot lately, not the team that has absolutely no chance of defending its championship.

Forget the stadium issues, forget that the owner wants to relocate, and forget that it’s Oakland. It’s all about winning, and it’s a shame that only 11,112 people came out to watch a baseball game, let alone a team that’s in contention to make a postseason run.

So A’s/Bay Area baseball fans…congratulations. You get the lowest lowlight of the week.