Thank God for CC Sabathia and Jimmy Rollins because without them it’s hard to be positive about any sports associated with the Bay Area this year.

Philly would be hurt without the timely hitting and crack defense from J Roll aka Jimmy Rollins. The Yankees? Sunk without the cannon like power of CC Sabathia’s 95 mile per hour fast ball.

J Roll is from Alameda CA, CC and his people stay in Vallejo, CA. Bay boys through and through.

But back to Bay Area sports teams this year (sigh):

The Raiders, even after their stunning upset of the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, suck. And to add more fuel to the fire burning at Raiders headquarters, Richard Seymore—Raiders defensive tackle fresh over from the Patriots—predicted that my 2-4 Silver and Black will make the playoffs. Laughable.

49ers: Niner fans think the Niners are good. And they just might be in a subpar NFC West. Are they an elite squad? Nope.

A’s: treaded water all year with youngsters and injuries—they were out of the race by the all-star game.

Giants: good run, came up a few bats short. But now that the Dodgers are being manhandled by the Phils the NL West is what it looked like during the regular season: weak.

Warriors: will be fun to watch and might win 35-40 games, in other words what we’re used to around here since forever. No playoffs/bad team.

Sharks: knocked on the door as a NHL playoff team the last few years, they haven’t been inclined to kick it in yet.

Cal Football: competitive, respected (no stranger to bowl games) and not a factor in the BCS ratings. The Bears may scratch their way back into the top 25 by seasons end.

Stanford Football: The Cardinals are rebuilding, again, a winning season would be almost celebrated.

Calling this a down year for Bay major sports fans is an understatement.

CC and Jimmy dominating their respective series in the MLB playoffs is the only sliver lining I can see.

Last night while CC was mowing down the Angels (on three days rest) one of the announcers, I think it was Joe Buck, pointed out that CC’s favorite sports teams are the Raider’s and the Warrior’s.

That’s so Bay it’s scary, Sabathia has it honest. He knows the true misery of loving franchises that don’t love themselves enough to win on a consistent basis.

1976, the greatest sports year in Bay history, saw the Raiders, Warriors, Seals (hockey) and A’s all win championships…like Archie and Edith Bunker sang (off key) ‘those were the daaaayyyyysss.’

I could never root for Philly or NY but I can root for the homeboys to do good and they are doing good, in fact they are showin’ out.

Even though the number of African American players in Baseball has decreased steadily since it’s height in the 70’s these Bay bred soul brothers are in the elite tier of ballers, highly paid
and productive.

You’re welcome NY and PHI: you have Bay and you couldn’t win without us.

—Kevin Weston aka Just Win Baby