Swap the green for black, and the Athletics for the Raiders, and that’s what you’ll see in 2013. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)

The construction took place during the baseball season, it was load and annoying to say the least.  Once it was completed, things were never the same.  What was once a nice vintage baseball stadium had become an ugly multi purpose stadium that would get chewed up every year by the rechristened Oakland Raiders.

Fast forward to the present day, the A’s are still there, desperately in need of a new stadium that will likely never be decided upon by Bud Selig and his cronies, attendance has bottomed out, and it’s all because of that massive structure beyond the outfield walls.

Then today word came out through Raiders CEO Amy Trask that all of the seats on top of Mt. Davis and a few sections of the 300 level would be tarped off for the 2013 NFL season.  Words simply cannot describe how infuriating this news is.  The Raiders destroyed everything that was great about the Coliseum in order to add enough seats to properly suit an NFL team, only to fail to fill those seats consistently over nearly two decades, and now they’ll just cover them up.

This is a move that will upset Raiders fans, upset Athletics fans, and just make the franchise look worse than it already does.  The A’s felt a public relations backlash when they decided to tarp of the 300 level seats, and they’re still joked about several years later.  It’s one thing for an MLB team to do this when they have a 81 game home schedule to deal with, but the Raiders play just 8 games during their regular season, so the fact that they can’t fill the stadium speaks volumes about the operation the Raiders have going.

I don’t want to pile on, but I can’t help but hold the late Al Davis and the Raiders partially responsible for the state of the Athletics because of what they did to the Coliseum.  If they hadn’t done this, perhaps we could have had a Kauffman Stadium-like renovation that turned an outdated ballpark into a massively upgraded one.  I’m sure it’s not as nice as some of the newly built ballparks around the league, but it sure has to be better than the O.co.  For the Oakland fans, all that can be done is to wonder what if.

Wasting Away in the Coliseum? (Photo courtesy of Swingin A's.com)

While the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders play in two different professional sports, the two team franchises do happen to share the same dumpy stadium in Oakland. O.co Coliseum, previously known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, is home of the MLB’s Oakland A’s and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Both franchises, however, have no interest in staying in the cavernous Coliseum for much longer.

The A’s, a team coming off a third-place finish in the AL West, continue to rot away in the outdated Coliseum. The Raiders, a team on the rise after the passing of their fiery owner Al Davis, have also expressed an interest in relocating elsewhere.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig appointed a special committee to oversee the A’s stadium options nearly three years ago. No answer from that committee has been released.

The A’s have been quietly, and patiently I might add, waiting for a yes or no answer regarding the team’s wish to relocate to San Jose. The Raiders, like the A’s, have grown tired of the outdated Coliseum and want out.

John Shea, a writer for the SF Chronicle, mentions in a recent post about the A’s stadium debacle that the Raiders may pursue a deal where they would share a stadium with bay area rival SF 49er’s in Santa Clara. Shea regards this possible joint-stadium proposal as the Raiders’ best shot at getting out of the confines of the Coliseum.

Interestingly enough, Shea suggests that the A’s, if denied the right to move to San Jose, could remain in Oakland as the sole tenants of O.co Coliseum. That’s assuming the Raiders pack up and leave. But, would that be any better? Sure, the organization could try to renovate the Coliseum as Shea suggests, but would that really help?

Probably not. At least to me it doesn’t. The A’s need a fresh start. Period. (more…)

Since the start of the second-half, the brilliant pitching has since turned into a mediocre staff led by youngsters Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez, and the offense has surprisingly stepped up a notch or two. The whole Jekyll and Hyde aspect of this A’s squad has made 2011 a very painful year to watch as a fan, and I’m not sure where the organization plans to do after this season.

Do the A’s roll out next season like it’s finally their year to contend? Or does Billy Beane, or David Forst, who might take over soon if Beane decides to pack his bags and leave, decide to rebuild yet again for the future?

Those questions are going to be answered at some point or another, but until then, here are a few things to look forward to in September: (more…)