Sports
They come in droves to jump on the massive trampolines. They do backflips, play dodgeball, and dunk on a basketball hoop they couldn’t otherwise reach without some catapulting aid. Oh, and children can also be found doing these things at the House of Air, San Francisco’s first indoor trampoline park.
On Saturday, Youth Uprising, a not-for-profit organization that develops young leaders, celebrated its third annual For A Safe Town (FAST) festival in East Oakland in an effort to promote peace. Bounce houses, basketball tournaments, skating demos, DJs, and the savory smells of a free BBQ chicken lunch attracted a couple hundred people from the community.
Saturday’s sunny skies made for good weather by any standard, and in the calm waters between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena, it was a perfect day for a dragon boat race. Watch the video of the Bay Area’s 15th annual Dragon Boat Festival this weekend. It was the largest event of its kind in the country.
For those who can’t decide between a Sunday morning bike ride and dutifully going to church, Manifesto Bicycles has been helping Oakland cyclists have it both ways. Since 2008, the locally owned bike shop on 40th Street has been hosting “Bike Church,” an irregular Sunday morning gathering at Manifesto, where attendees can listen to music, enjoy street food and catch up with one another.
With coach Tom Cable making a quarterback change for the second half, the Oakland Raiders pulled off their first victory of the season against the St. Louis Rams Sunday afternoon.
Despite some early turnovers, the Oakland Tech Bulldogs defeated the visiting Balboa Buccaneers of San Francisco, 41-20, in Tech’s varsity football season opener Friday night. The non-conference matchup marked the Bulldogs’ only home game of the season.
The first rule of bike party is: Have fun during bike party. On Friday night, 300 cowboy-costumed cyclists rolled through three East Bay Cities, bringing the party with them. Listen to Oakland North Radio’s sound report of the happy biker pack out for the night.
Delton Edwards, or “Coach D,” as he has affectionately been known over his 15-year career as the head football coach at Oakland Technical High School, has a tough act to follow. It’s his own.
Some people rested. Some traveled. Others played on Labor Day. Many Oakland residents used their extra day off from work or school Monday to create their own sporting events: a bike ride in the hills, steering an unfamiliar water vessel at Lake Merritt. Check out reporter Laith Agha’s slide show and map for a glimpse of city residents finding their own ways to play.