Bay Area Sports Blogging

The 2008 season opener for the San Jose Earthquakes is on Thursday, where they will play against David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The new look Quakes are an expansion team this year, with the old team moving to Houston and forming the Houston Dynamo.

Even as a new expansion team with a completely new roster, they are not ranked the weakest team in Major League Soccer. Out of the 14 teams in MLS, the Quakes are ranked 11th by Yahoo! sports. Cheers for not being the suckiest team in the league, unlike those awful San Francisco Giants.

Bay Meadows will begin its Fall season of live racing Wednesday, August 22nd. Many people have heard about horse racing, or even seen a few telecasts of the Kentucky Derby, but not enough people get the chance to attend a live race. Horse Racing, known also as The Sport of Kings, is an inexpensive activity that can last all day.

When most people think horse racing, one of two images appears: grand events like the Kentucky Derby, or a cold, dirty, gamblers haven. While the Kentucky Derby gets all the attention, it is just the start of a three race event, called the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. After the Kentucky Derby, there is the Preakness Stakes, and concluding with the Belmont Stakes. The other image of horse racing can be attributed to television and movies. Often, a man is shown losing money at the tracks, only it is not his money that he lost, but borrowed money from the mafia. While such situations can happen, it is the exception, rather than the norm.

The general cost of spending the day at Bay Meadows in California is $4 for parking and $3 per person for grand stand admission. A group of four would total $16. This cost will cover the entire day of racing, which starts around 10 AM and end around 6 PM. Compare that with a movie ticket costing $8 per person and lasting around 2 hours. Or compare that with a pre-season San Francisco 49ers football game, costing $60 per ticket for a 3 hour practice squad game. Attending a live horse race is very cost effective.

We are now two months away from opening day, NFL 2007!

The first game of the new season will be a Thursday night shoot-out between the New Orleans Saints visiting the Indianapolis Colts. The world champion Colts are going to have to show they are still the team to beat as they face off against a young and cocky Saints team that came one game away from the SuperBowl. The Saints lost senior citizen Joe Horn while the Colts are missing drug-addict Dominic Rhodes.

A notable match-up for week 1 is Detroit at Oakland. Two sucky teams, facing each other in Week 1. Its notable not because of what the two teams can do, its what they can't do. I am predicting the league's first ever opening day TIE. You heard right.