In the coming weeks, this paper will continue to look at issues surrounding the AвЂ™s new stadium. We hope John Fisher and Dave Kaval wake up and see that their insulting behavior hurts OaklandвЂ™s Black community, baseball, and themselves. It is a shame that corporate greed is spoiling a wonderful history. No longer! The AвЂ™s snub of East Oakland will cause the deterioration of Black baseball fans in Oakland to accelerate. Oakland was once a major incubator for future Black baseball stars. It brought us great heroes likeВ Vida Blue, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, John вЂњBlue MoonвЂќ Odom, Dave вЂњHenduвЂќ Henderson, Claudell Washington, Mike Norris and Dave Stewart who did much to promote Blacks in baseball and the well-being of our African American communities. The Oakland AвЂ™s have had a proud history in OaklandвЂ™s Black community. Further, building at the Coliseum would be a life-changing boost to people living in an area that desperately needs major development. It is shovel-ready with none of the major environmental requirements that complicate the Howard Terminal site. It has been a successful venue for decades. None of the potential Las Vegas sites are downtown and there are no waterfronts in the entire state. That belies their claims that they must have a downtown waterfront stadium. They back up that threat with visits to alternative sites in Nevada. The AвЂ™s threaten that if they donвЂ™t get their way, they will move to Las Vegas. Back then, we were told that major developers would not build anywhere in Oakland. This is the same kind of nonsense we heard years ago. By implication, they are saying they could not sell luxury condos in the area where the Coliseum is located. The AвЂ™s say they need to build luxury condos to help finance stadium construction costs. The Coliseum also has adjacent bus routes along with freeway access and vast parking. (Imagine 15,000+ people trying to get in a gondola after a night game.)Д«y comparison, the Coliseum is located next to a BART station with a link to Oakland International Airport and it has an Amtrak stop right next door for out-of-town fans. Probably because they realized it does not make sense. At one point, the AвЂ™s acknowledged that fact and offered up a gondola system, but we have not heard of that recently. To get to Howard Terminal, fans will have to dodge trucks and trains on busy road and rail routes. Howard Terminal is not downtown, and it does not have easy access. They say fans want a downtown stadium with easy access so they can attend games after work. Are they telling us that a waterfront stadium wonвЂ™t have water issues? The stadiumвЂ™s field could be lifted higher and leveled. We have heard claims that the Coliseum may have water table issues. The only fights we know about were between Raiders fans. Ever since, loyal fans have attended games at the Coliseum without incident.В Never once has a major incident occurred because the Coliseum is surrounded by Black folks.

Reading bus terminal