Even though I have lived in Sacramento for almost 15 years, I have been & always will be a San Francisco Bay Area sports fan at heart. I lived the first 51 years of my life in the East Bay. As Bay Area sports fanatics we have been blessed with numerous championships over the years.
Back in the 70s, the Oakland A’s won three World Series in a row. The San Francisco Forty-Niners won five Super Bowls during the 1980s earning them the title “Team of the Decade”. Also in the mid-seventies the Golden State Warriors won their first championship. Even the Oakland Raiders, who our family has traditionally always hated, won three Super Bowls during the 70s & 80s.
We did sustain an almost 20 year drought of Bay Area championships until our San Francisco Giants won the first of three World Series in 2010. They have won the World Series every other year which means this is definitely our year for the fourth Major League Baseball title. Go Giants!
The Golden State Warriors finally won it all again last year, 40 years after their first NBA title. This year they posted the most wins in a regular season of any team EVER in the NBA. We had followed them religiously as they moved through the playoffs & into The Finals. I think most of us just assumed they were so good they would breeze through it all & win their second straight championship in Cinderella fashion.
But, alas, it was not to be. The Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James played just a little bit better winning it in seven games. I meant to post this a couple weeks ago but life intervened & my time was taken up with my granddaughter, friend visits & vacation planning.
As much as I love sports, in the end it really is just a game, not life or death. It comes down to who played better on a given day. This year, sad as it was a couple weeks ago, the Cavaliers did what they had to do & we didn’t. Life goes on & there is always next year. The Warriors are already planning ahead having just signed superstar Kevin Durant!
Sports has been the primary connection between my dad & me since I was a small child. Over the years we have shared all these championships together along with countless other sporting events.
I am now 66 & he is 87. In years past he could switch between three sporting events on TV like a real pro never missing a big play. Now, he can barely change channels. Often times he doesn’t know the score & I have to bite my tongue when he just can’t discuss sports like we used to do daily. His interest will wander & he often prefers watching Jeopardy or old movies to a sporting event. He hasn’t been the father I grew up with or my fellow sports fanatic in many years. Our roles have reversed, basically I am the parent & he is the child.
The Warriors game seven happened to fall on Father’s Day, where they played & lost to the Cavaliers. I was staying with my dad for a week while his caregiver was on vacation. Lou came over to watch the game with us. After the game Lou headed home & my dad says to me, “Let’s have a consolation glass of wine.”
We love our wine but rarely have any after dinner except for special occasions. So, I said “Sure”, & poured us each a glass of wine. What came next as we watched all the post game press conferences & reporting was almost like it used to be. We talked about many of the above mentioned Bay Area sports championships over the years. He brought up lots of memories that we had shared back in the day.
For a short time, it almost felt like my dad was back. We were interacting & discussing events almost like we used to do. The irony of it being Father’s Day was not lost on me. We had a definite “sports moment” over a glass of wine or two. Yes, the Warriors lost but for a few minutes I was reminded that the connection between father & daughter was still there.
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