Kurtenbach: The Oakland Roots cracked the code. Bet on The Town — it’ll pay off big

OAKLAND — The entire crowd knew Too $hort’s favorite word.

What more do you need to know?

Yes, coming up through the cracked concrete of the Oakland Coliseum, the Roots are growing something worthwhile.

We can be honest here: There have been too many of these columns in recent years. Big-league teams left the Town, searching for a bigger, shiner stadium that some oligarch decided is unworthy of the East Bay. But no expansion teams are coming to take their place, no matter what the hustlers tell you. After 57 years of being a “big-league” city, Oakland has to live with being relegated. It still stings. It’s not going to stop stinging for a long while, yet.

But let Saturday’s second-division soccer game serve as a reminder to all of those who wanted to kick Oakland when they were down:

Those teams didn’t leave because there was no love from the Town.

Quite the contrary.

Saturday’s Roots opener—which sold 26,575 tickets and filled the lower and middle decks of the Coliseum—was yet another reminder that if you show Oakland love, it will return it fivefold.

The Raiders never did that. They were always looking for something bigger and better and more southern.

The Warriors did it for a while, only to hit the big-time and decide the other side of the Bay was where “their people” were.

The A’s? How much time do you have? However much it is, that’s more than the A’s had for Oakland once it was apparent that the city and county wouldn’t cover the costs of a billionaire’s wish list.

But isn’t it interesting that a generally anonymous soccer team – a good portion of the stadium was confused about which team scored the first goal of the game — was able to draw nearly double what the A’s drew for their home opener at the Coliseum last year?

 

Not every Roots game will have a crowd the San Francisco Giants would consider respectable, but don’t be shocked if the team draws well beyond Saturday’s 2-1 loss to San Antonio. It all comes back to a question we so rarely ask ourselves, particularly in sports media:

Why are we doing all of this?

Money? Sure. Players, coaches, media, and owners are all on the racket. For some team owners, these teams are merely investment properties and time-consuming ones at that. See: Fisher, John.

Far more fans, media, players, and coaches are participating in their own way because of a love of the game. And make no mistake about it: There were plenty of folks at the Roots game Saturday who were there because they love soccer. I love it, too, and let me tell you — I’m not sure the region’s MLS team, the Fisher-owned San Jose Earthquakes, can upsell fans on a “higher quality” brand of the beautiful game.

But there’s another reason why people get together around a ballgame, and it was undeniable on Saturday night: community.

Yes, the soccer game was merely a pretense for a get-together. A good, public hang is something Oakland loves to do and excels at, too. Just look at First Fridays.

Saturday had the same air to it. If you’re living right, you couldn’t walk 100 feet in the Coliseum without running into someone you knew.

It was a night to let loose; a night to celebrate Oakland. The soccer game? Just a reason to hang out. And, again, the quality of the game can’t be that bad — there was a sweet bicycle-kick goal in the seventh minute.

And for what it’s worth, the Coliseum was ready to host it all. The concession stands were anything but pared down — they were selling boba tea and wok-fried rice, folks — and the place looked on par or even better than how the A’s left it.

The Coli is still a great dive bar. Authenticity is a term tossed around by advertising firms and public relations “experts”—everyone is trying to find it and capitalize on it.

Yet the Coliseum was vacant until the Roots stepped in.

So much for those consultant fees, right?

Sure, a place that was too cavernous for a Major League Baseball team will likely be too massive for a minor-league soccer team. But if everyone is having a good time — whether it’s 1,000 or 25,000 people in attendance — what does it matter?

The Roots game was Oakland, through and through.

That’s enough of a selling point for me.