10 Things I Wish the San Francisco Giants Would Bring Back or Improve Upon

I love my San Francisco Giants.  During the good and bad times, the warm days at AT&T Park and freezing cold days at Candlestick, and from the nosebleeds to the premium seats that had me on TV all day long, I've always been a loyal fan.

At AT&T Park, there's always new developments and innovations that makes our ballpark stand out as one of the best in the nation.  But there's always room for improvement.

I wish there were some things they can improve or bring back from the past:

1. Every time we win the game, do they always have to play the "whoo hoo" song?  Isn't there a more recent trendy song that can get the crowd going?  Remember "Who Let the Dogs Out?"  It was great to hear that and hear the fans in the stands sing out loud.  Could we sing the Ghostbusters song when Posey hits a home run?
2. The Giants promotes all these new food options like the Original Joes burgers and sushi, but these new creations are only sold in just one isolated location in the entire park.  Original Joes burgers are only sold near section 136 near the mini ballpark for kids, and the sushi stand is in the Club Level which means only the privileged Giants fans have access.  At least open a second stand somewhere accessible to everyone.
3. Where's the social media hangout they planned to open at the former Build a Bear stand?  Now it's an abandoned building for the last few homestands.  If you don't plan to open a social media hangout, how about opening a second Crazy Crabz location because those sandwiches tastes GOOD!
4. Sometimes the ushers don't really care about people going to their seats while the ball is in play or the batter is in the box.  It annoys the crap out of me seeing people just walk up the stairs to their seats and blocking the view of the ball being pitched.
5. I remember the when the arcade section had the flat penny machine and the penny you received said what game you attended.  It was the best souvenir for just 51 cents.  Can we get that back?
6. Can you cook the garlic fries a little bit longer?  The Club level has a reputation for cooking good garlic fries, but the rest of the stands in the park could use a little more TLC.
7. Bring back the souvenir pin giveaways.  It used to be a common occurrence back at Candlestick, including one pin I still have on my hat from nearly 20 years ago when the Rockies first played against the Giants at Candlestick.  I like the pins more than a box full of giveaway hats and oddball items like fingerless gloves.
8. I find it ironic that soda cans are banned from bring brought into the park, but they sell beer in aluminum bottles.  Are aluminum beverage containers considered a weapon?
9. Please kill-off the "Family Feud" from your gameshow inning promotion.  How the hell is Dirty Harry not a top eight choice for best San Francisco movie, but that Nicholas Cage film, The Rock is a top eight?
10. Is it just me or is nearly impossible to find the designated driver program booth anymore?  Ever since they yanked-out the desk next to Guest Services, there's no way to tell if they even take sign-ups anymore for those free sodas.  They put a new location on the promenade level near the stairwell leading to the Lefty O'Doul gate, but it's manned only on a few days and you'd miss it if you weren't looking carefully.

BART's Transbay Tube is Shut Down - How to get to U.S. Open Today

UPDATE: BART is back open.  Good work BART repair crews!
 
Bad timing for BART today.  An early morning fire spread to the tracks near the West Oakland station causing possible damage to the rails or the structure.

Due to the fire, BART has completely shut down the transbay tube, no service is being provided between San Francisco and Oakland at this time.  BART will run two different systems, a service between SFO/Daly City and Embarcadero, and lines within the East Bay.  Read BART's press release.

With no transbay tube service, it's already a mess on the roads.

There's thousands of people who can't get to the U.S. Open via BART, unless if you are in a hotel in downtown SF, you got extra lucky.

How to Get to the U.S. Open without BART:

Option 1: Drive
Get across the bay via the Bay Bridge or San Mateo Bridge and take 101 to Candlestick Park.  Park your car at the stadium's parking lot and take the shuttle buses to the U.S. Open.

You can also take the San Mateo Bridge and park your car at Millbrae or San Bruno BART, pay the parking fee, and take BART to Colma for the golf shuttles.

Option 2: Ferry
Take the Oakland/Alameda ferry and walk to Embarcadero BART station.  Take BART to Colma station and take the golf shuttle.

Option 3: Transbay Bus
Take one of the AC Transit transbay buses, get off at Transbay Terminal and walk to a BART station.  Take BART to Colma station for the golf shuttle.

Option 4: Just stay home
If you don't want to stress it, eat your ticket money and just stay home today.  Sorry.

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A reminder:
For those of you searching for parking, please don't attempt to park near the event area.  Parking is extremely limited and in many areas, heavily restricted to time limits, special permits, or heavy security presence blocking entrances to private parking lots (such as the churches on Brotherhood Way).  Like I said earlier, your best bet is Candlestick Park.

Your Survival Guide to the USGA's 2012 U.S. Open at SF's Olympic Club

NOTICE: Taking BART to the U.S. Open on Thursday?  READ THIS.

Another big golf event means raking in the tax dollars for the city, but also means headaches for us locals just trying to go on our merry way.

So here's my survival guide to you, the average citizen who doesn't care about golf.

The USGA's 2012 U.S. Open will be held at the Olympic Club, located in the very deep southwest corner of San Francisco and straddles between the borders of San Francisco and Daly City.

The location of the course is surrounded by four major streets/roads: John Muir Drive (North), John Daly Boulevard (South), Lake Merced Boulevard (East), and Skyline Boulevard/Highway 35 (West).  While the Olympic Club is closed to the public as it is a private club for the wealthy, the U.S. Open will make it open to the public with the purchase of a ticket.

The tournament is scheduled to go from Monday, June 11th to Sunday, June 17th with practice rounds on the first few days, and the rest as the tournament.  Crowds and major media attention is likely going to peak during the last final days, especially during the weekend.

Traffic Problems
From what is currently known from the U.S. Open, an article from SFGate, and SFMTA/Muni's websites, there are some key road closures that will definitely put a dent in your commute.

Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35) in the northbound direction will be closed from John Daly Boulevard to John Muir Drive from approximately 5AM to 10PM during every operating day of the U.S. Open.  The southbound direction will have one lane closed between the two streets, but the other lane will remain open.

John Muir Drive, which borders the northern end of the golf course, is closed to traffic.  It is scheduled to close starting at 6AM on Sunday, June 10th and will remain closed until 6AM on June 18th (as per SFgate).  However, contradictory to what the Chronicle is saying, the 18-46th Avenue bus line will still be able to go eastbound on John Muir (as per SFMTA), but is unable to go westbound.

There is also the likely possibility of a traffic jam on the east side of the golf course along Lake Merced Boulevard.  Between John Muir Drive and John Daly Boulevard is the community park and will be the staging area for all taxis and limos as drop-off and pick-up points.

Better alternate routes:

Take 280 and 19th Avenue:

View Larger Map

Take Sunset Boulevard which changes to Lake Merced Boulevard, Brotherhood Way, and 280.  UPDATE: This is not a great route, southbound Lake Merced Boulevard can get jammed by heavy traffic all the way from Font, but once you make the turn to Brotherhood, traffic flows fast.  An alternative is to make a left turn onto Winston towards Stonestown and turn right onto 19th Avenue.

View Larger Map

Parking Problems
As there will be incompetent people on the road looking for a sweet parking space to go watch golfers stroke their [three] wood and wash their [golf] balls, expect major parking problems in the surrounding areas.

As always, there will be those golf spectator idiots who thinks parking in a private parking lot such as Burger King's or the Westlake Shopping Center is a great idea.  I'll tell you, it's not, and expect a nice tow truck to haul the car away.  They probably have extra security watching over the lots.

Here's a list of areas where parking might get hard, and these are areas where it's "close" to the entrance on John Muir Drive.  BUT in reality, parking in one of these areas means one hell of a long walk.

• South end of the golf course, such as near Joe's of Westlake (they do make a great Steak a la Bruno).
• Lake Merced from Winston to Font.
• SF State and Parkmerced area (most parking is limited to one hour).
• Merrie Way (Janet Pomoroy Center).

One way to definitely piss-off a lot of people is to park in the SF State garage.  If you have no university related business, stay the hell out.  You seriously don't want to mess with students, faculty, and staff; the lot is for them so they can go to or teach class, or do their jobs as university officials.

UPDATE: Golf spectators with a special permit to park in the SF State garage is permitted to do so.  If you don't have one of those permits, you'll be turned away.  SF State students, staff, and faculty should be prepared to show their campus ID, employee parking permit, or have a legitimate reason to park on-campus.

Public Transit Problems:
There's only two bus lines that runs close to the action: Muni's 18-46th Avenue and Samtrans 122.

Samtrans may encounter traffic, but Muni will feel the pain.  All 18 line service going from Legion of Honor to Stonestown will operate normally.  All 18 line service going from Stonestown to Legion of Honor will have to be re-routed.  See maps below.

This is the normal route the 18-46th Avenue line takes to go from Stonestown to Legion of Honor (via westbound John Muir):

View Larger Map

This is the detour the bus must take due to the westbound John Muir closure:

View Larger Map

If you are trying to get to the event...
The parking lot is at Candlestick Park.  You think I'm kidding?  No.  There will be luxury shuttle buses transporting people to and from the stadium's lot to the golf course.

For those of you riding BART, take the train to Colma station (NOT DALY CITY) and board a shuttle to the golf course.  Please remember, parking in Colma station to ride the shuttle is a violation of BART parking policy and will be cited and/or towed; it is only for BART passengers.  Park at a different BART station, pay the parking fee (if applicable), and take the train to Colma.  Go to BART's website and get information about parking and how to get a reserved parking space permit.

For more information, please visit:
USGA Spectator Guide (Transportation Info)
SFMTA/Muni 18-46th Avenue affected routes
SFgate article on U.S. Open

49ers Stadium in Santa Clara with Taxpayer Money - Are you nuts?

I keep hearing in the news about the 49ers wanting to build a football stadium in Santa Clara, nearby their main headquarters office and next to the Great America theme park.

I'll admit, Candlestick Park is really getting old and way outdated and a new facility is needed, but is Santa Clara going after the deal of a lifetime or ready to get screwed?

Santa Clara is proposing to pay a portion of the stadium costs with taxpayer money, which makes me wonder, why does the 49ers organization want to pay for a stadium with the public's money?  Can't that money help pay for other improvement projects like fixing potholes, fixing schools and other local government buildings, or maybe opening a community clinic?

It also makes me wonder why the 49ers can't simply buy up the land and build it themselves with their OWN MONEY.  With the economy all beat-up, all levels of government facing layoffs, cuts, furlough, and closures; it doesn't make practical sense for a city to invest millions of dollars of tax money into building a stadium that won't be used on a daily basis.

Now what I mean by "daily basis" is this: a sports stadium is not used every day, in fact, a football stadium is used only about a dozen times a year.  If you include another sports team, that still doesn't make up for making it a fully useful facility.  I would support using tax money to build a hospital or a City Hall because the property will be used every single day for business.  Tax money on a facility not used on a near daily basis = waste of money.  Tax money on a site used daily = a worthwhile investment.

What's wrong 49ers?  Why can't you fund it yourself?

Look at AT&T Park, they built their facility without public money and did additional fundraising by simply selling "charter" seats (seat licensing).  The Cal Bears are raising money by selling 50 year ticket plans for up to $250K a seat with additional perks.  Even corporate headquarters are not paid with tax money, they have the money to build and maintain their facilities.

For you taxpayers in Santa Clara, think about what kind of debt the city and how much more in taxes you will pay for the stadium.  Give the 49ers the finger and vote against it.