We're approaching the final six months of the best decade in Bay Area sports history.
The 2010s have been that good. Championships. Star players. Memorable events. So I already took away the suspense: You don't have to go to the bottom of this column. You now know what is No. 1.
But in the spirit that has led me to rank the greatest generations, decades, days of the week, minor holidays and even punctuation marks, let's look at the best decades in Bay Area sports history.
This is about the 10-year spans with the most winning, the best memories, the biggest stars. The list focuses on major league professional sports, so sorry to Johnny Miller or Kristi Yamaguchi or Andre Ward, whose accomplishments don't count here. The list begins with the 1950s, the first full decade with major professional teams.
From worst to first:
7. 2000s: This was the first title-free decade in the Bay Area since the 1960s and it added some terrible memories. The Giants lost a heartbreaking World Series in 2002 and the Raiders lost the Super Bowl to former and future coach Jon Gruden a few months later. Other franchises had bright spots (the A's had a 20-game winning streak in 2002 and inspired the book and movie "Moneyball," the Warriors had the "We Believe" season in 2007), but for Bay Area sports fans, the Great Recession refers to sports from 2000 through 2009.
6. 1950s: For most of the decade, it was just the 49ers – and they weren't that good. The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, giving Willie Mays only two years of this decade in San Francisco.
5. 1990s: Other than the 49ers (Super Bowl wins in 1990 and 1994), this was a lean 10 years. The Warriors descended toward the bottom of the NBA; the Giants signed Barry Bonds, then struggled to make the postseason; the Raiders returned to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995, then failed to win a playoff game. At least the San Jose Sharks were born in 1991, bringing the NHL back to the Bay Area after 15 years.
4. 1960s: The Raiders were born in 1960, the Warriors moved here in 1962 and the A's moved here in 1968 – so by the end of the this decade, most of the Bay Area sports scene was set, including the California Golden Seals, an NHL team that played in the Bay Area from 1967 through 1976. These were the glory days of Mays, Brodie, the mad-bomber Raiders, Rick Barry . . . but no championships, unless you count the Raiders 1967 AFL title (they lost in the Super Bowl).
3. 1970s: This was Oakland's greatest sports decade, as the A's won three championships and the Warriors and Raiders each won one. However, the Warriors and A's won in relative obscurity (the A's never averaged more than 13,000 fans per game during their three-year run as champions, the Warriors averaged fewer than 9,000 fans per game during their title season). The 49ers (other than a run at the beginning of the decade) and Giants were largely dreadful.
2. 1980s: The most popular franchise in the region had its greatest run of success as the 49ers won three titles (with the fourth coming in early 1990) so many fans will automatically pick this as the greatest decade. That the A's won a World Series (over the Giants, nonetheless) adds gravitas to that theory. But consider the whole decade: The A's and Giants were largely bad, the Warriors were mediocre and the Raiders (who won the Super Bowl in 1980) left for Los Angeles in 1982. Great decade, but not the best.
1. 2010s: If the Warriors win the NBA title this year, they surpass the 1980s 49ers as the greatest Bay Area sports dynasty – in the same decade in which the Giants won an unimaginable three World Series. Add a 49ers trip to the Super Bowl, a 2016 Sharks trip to the Stanley Cup finals and four A's trips to the postseason (so far) and you are back where we started: With the greatest decade in Bay Area sports history. And we still have half a year to go.
Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment