The Warriors On Sale: Why The Warriors Should Stay In Oakland

The air is electric in the Bay Area. Long suffering Warriors fans have slogged through years of team mismanagement and misfortune to hear these five immortal words:

"The Warriors Are On Sale."

You don't have to ask around to find out that Chris Cohen tops the list of "Reasons Why We Suck" for us Warriors fans. I have prayed to God, and then to Cthulu after God would not hear my prayers. The era of Chris Cohen has to have been the lowest point in the history of the vaunted Warriors franchise, even to the point where the rest of the league has forgotten how much history we have and how good we used to be.

There is one disconcerting thing about this newfound optimism. It seems that almost all of the groups have had some murmurings about relocating the Warriors from their Oracle home to a possible new arena complex in one of the parking lots at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

At first glance it makes sense. San Francisco is the undisputed center of the Bay Area and its defining city on postcards and tourist attractions. It's a city steeped in sporting history, and it served at one point as the home for the Warriors. It can also deepen the franchise's pockets with inflated prices and a city full of affluent fans willing to pay them.

But I'm going to tell you why the Warriors should stay in Oakland.

First off, getting the necessary permits and approval to build a new sports complex from the city board takes a lot longer and is a lot more complicated one might think. Just ask the 49ers. It will cause undue stress and even might become an unwelcome distraction to the team. The option to move to SF may seem attractive in terms of revenue stream and visibility, but is there really enough upside when the team already has a good enough complex in Oakland?

The Oracle Arena seats about 19,000 fans, is easily accessible by freeway (I-880) or public transportation (BART), has good amount of luxury box seats, and has been the home of every major Warrior moment on the West Coast. We Believe, Run-TMC, the last ring the Warriors have won(technically won at the Cow Palace, but the Warriors played in Oakland that season). It also boasts sell-out attendance throughout sub par basketball, and provided one of the most electric atmospheres in playoff history.

Seriously, has TNT ever put a noise meter on a playoff game before the Roaracle? I think when Baron whack-a-mole'd Kirilenko with that monster tomahawk in Game 4, the Oracle was topping off at 105-107 decibels. That's like a jet flying over your house and shaking off the chandeliers. That's what the Oracle provides for us.

Secondly, the fan identity of the Golden State Warriors has always been connected with the identity of Oakland and the East Bay. Oakland is not a fluffy city in any sense. It's rough and tumble and it gets your hands grimy. It's a working class town, whether that work happens to be at the docks or on the street corners, and it will always be characterized by the hustle of its residents. 

People are proud to be from Oakland because they survive there everyday, despite the neglect and the history of tragedy apparent on its streets. Normal people wouldn't choose Oakland as a prospective town to live, but you can't convince any Oakland resident to leave their town for anywhere else.

It's the same thing with the Warriors. The fan base is filled with working class people, and they have to be in order to claim Golden State as their team. You have to be comfortable with life not giving you everything you desire, especially since the Cohan-era Warriors have a track record of disappointing you. You have to know how to take a punch to the chin, and still represent where you come from with pride.

San Francisco doesn't share the same identity with fans. I always believed that San Fran is misjudged as a city of yuppies, but that stereotype is true to an extent. San Franciscan identity is based on being classy and cultured. It has blue collar areas, but it's definitely not a blue collar city. I love SF, but anyone who knows the Bay Area, also knows that the City and County of San Francisco doesn't match the identity and soul of the Golden State Warriors.

Thirdly, I'm broke as hell and I don't want to have to pay over my back to watch my team play. I know, it's selfish, but I can guarantee you that half of the fan base agrees with me. Sports in Oakland are just cheaper to watch, it's the way the market is constructed. You move that team over the bridge, and not only will I have to ransom my two-year-old nephew to pay for season tickets, but I'll be watching the game with a bunch of yuppies. That doesn't sound appealing to me, at all.

I'm always a skeptic about the benefits of relocating a franchise, especially if there is still a large, die-hard fan base ready and willing to give their hard earned checks for season tickets and merchandise. I know that moving the team across the bridge doesn't really qualify as "relocation," as Baltimore or Seattle fans might tell me, but I'm still not sold on moving my team to SF.

There are benefits to moving the Warriors to San Francisco, yes. But I don't believe it's in the best interests of the team, and while I might be coming from a biased standpoint as a lifelong fan of the Golden State Warriors, I truly believe that the city of Oakland deserves to keep the Warriors for their new chapter.