One of the concepts discussed Friday by Quan and other top city officials is something they're calling a "Coliseum City." That is basically remaking this entire complex with individual venues for the A's, Raiders and Warriors. It seems no coincidence this plan is being promoted just as the Warriors have their heads turned toward San Francisco.
On the first official day of practice, it appears Monte Ellis and his Warrior teammates maybe making a play to move from Oakland to San Francisco.
"We received an invitation from Mayor [Ed] Lee of San Francisco about 10 days ago to come visit with them," Warriors President Rick Welts said.
Welts confirmed he and other top team officials met this week with Lee and representatives of the San Francisco Giants about building a new arena for Golden State near AT&T Park.
"He directed, or asked at his direction, that the Giants and the Warriors work together to begin to explore whether or not there is a feasible site in San Francisco that could be the new home for the Warriors," Welts said.
"We want to make it absolutely clear that we want to save and keep all three teams in Oakland," Quan said an hour later during her own press briefing.
Billed as a "major announcement" about her city's efforts to keep the A's, Quan took the opportunity to reiterate she wants all three major sports teams to stay put and that she's been part of the conversation with the Warriors all along.
"I've met with the new owners of the Warriors since they bought the team, we've been keeping in touch," Quan said. "They actually contacted me last week to let me know that San Francisco was going to contact them."
Beyond that, Quan and other top officials want to remind everyone that Oakland has two viable sites for a new A's ballpark -- one at Victory Court near Jack London Square and the other near the site of the existing Coliseum.
"This is their home," Oakland City Council Member Larry Reid said. "This is where they need to be at, and we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that they stay here in the city of Oakland."
A's spokesperson Bob Rose had no new comment, except to reiterate what the team has been saying all along, that their focus is on building a new ballpark in San Jose. The team is still waiting for Major League Baseball to announce its decision about whether the team can move to San Jose. It's a process that's been going on now for three years. An announcement is expected soon.
