I watched an A’s game for the first time in over a month yesterday; valiantly attempting to push aside the oozing slime of human conduct from leaking into my baseball brain. Why, you ask? Well, let me put it simply: in the past 25 years income has gone down for 18-35 year olds and student loan debt is at an all time high. We had 3 trillion in bailout money, income inequality and the homeless problem are greater than ever and the general public at large feels scammed by the political system. We, as a country are facing a financial and social crisis and sometimes all we have is a few leisurely hours of escape watching the game that we love–and as Oakland fans even THAT was taken away.
We as A’s fans have been reduced to watching a downsized and dispossessed baseball team. Our hopes are pulverized, our ambitions starved because of despicable ownership, led by Lew Wolff, who have no interest in giving us respite from the social ills that I have spoken about above. This is not only an inferior product, but one molded by the hands of the elite in order to maximize profit. They laugh all the way to the bank while we blindly pledge allegiance. You can see this as holier-than-thou ballyhoo or an insidious prediction on our future, nevertheless I leave you with the immortal words of Joe Strummer, singer of The Clash as a message to Athletics’ ownership, “Go straight to hell, boy.”
Coco Crisp's Afro 
Couldn’t agree more, Gary. I love to watch baseball- pretty much any baseball, and I’ve got a big league team, just a fifteen minute BART ride away, with what passes for reasonable ticket prices, these days.
I don’t care. Lew Wolff has been peeing on our backs for years, now, loudly expressing his displeasure at having to keep his team in our low-rent burg, and then using the resulting low attendance to support his argument that there’s “no support” for a big league team in Oakland.
Fine. I’ve long since given up on ever having a “home town” team, again, and I’m a Giants fan, even though I can rarely afford to go to one of their games, across the bay- at least, they care about the town in which they play.
That’s how it works. I can’t care more about a team then it cares about the town who’s name they wear, and the A’s ownership holds us in naked contempt. They’ll never get a buck out of me, as long as that situation continues, and it will probably continue, as long as the team is in this town.
45+ years of being an A’s fan. Went to my first game of the year Saturday, what a pathetic product. Even playing the 1st place Cubs, I was bored to death. Its been said everywhere before, so no need to repeat it. This ownership must go.