All Star Break

Being a baseball fan on the left side of the country can be a pretty happy ride. Over the past few years, there have been a couple World Series parades, and plenty of playoff games played between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's. It's a pretty satisfying time right now, what with the no-hitter from Tim Lincecum and the A's roaring through the first half of the season with organized baseball's best record, it's hard to imagine how this couldn't be our national pastime.
Unless you've been reading any other section of the paper beyond the sports page. This past week, a judge ruled that the Los Angeles Dodgers must pay Giants fan Bryan Stow fifteen million dollars for their part of an incident three years ago that left Mister Stow in a wheelchair. That incident was off the field, after the game, in a parking lot, but the jury found that the Dodgers' lax security was to blame for the attack visited upon Stow after the season opener in 2011. Certainly there have been times when being a fan of any team is a lonely proposition, but it should never be a dangerous one. As one of the very few Denver Broncos fans in the heart of Silver and Black Oakland Raiders territory, I have felt nervous at times donning my orange and blue, but nothing like what Bryan Stow must have felt way back then. Permanent disability should not be part of the ticket price.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the state, the San Francisco Giants are considering a ban on "culturally insensitive attire" at AT&T Park. A couple of weeks ago, at AT&T Park’s Native American Heritage Night, two groups of fans had a disagreement over the issue of what should and shouldn't be worn. The San Francisco Examiner reported two Native American fans asked a third fan, who appeared to be Caucasian, to remove a headdress he was wearing. If you're getting a totally Northern California vibe from this proposal, you win the kewpie doll. 
Meanwhile, across the bay, the Oakland Athletics continue to play their games in the house that Al Davis built, or at least added on over the past twenty years, until it can barely support its own fans. Toilets overflow, and the lights won't always stay on. As for cultural sensitivity, Oakland lets the guys from Green Day throw out the first pitch. How much more sensitive can you get?