Save Oakland Sports is eager to help    Dave Newhouse

Every time they show up for a meeting, it is with one purpose in mind: to keep the Raiders in Oakland. They are big investors in this project, but not as politicians or corporate types. They are invested more heavily, from an emotional standpoint.

They are Raiders fans, many of them season-ticket holders, remaining loyal even though the Raiders haven't had a winning record in 12 seasons. Sadly, politicians and corporate types, not to mention Raiders ownership, pay little attention to them.

Even though their voices are scarcely heard, their red-hot passion cannot be doused. They will fight on endlessly to hold onto their "Raiduhs," regardless of the odds.

These ardent fans are organized too, as Save Oakland Sports (SOS). Though most of them dress in silver and black, they also are trying hard to keep the A's and Warriors from leaving.

Their latest meeting was held Feb. 24 at the Taj Mahal of local sports bars, Ricky's Sports Theatre & Grill, in San Leandro. There were 50 SOS members in attendance, but you might see them anywhere -- March 3 at the Oakland City Council evening meeting, March 4 at the Oakland Planning Commission evening meeting, March 6 at the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority morning session. Night or day, they'll keep hammering at those in charge until they are finally listened to.

Remember the Frank Sinatra song "High Hopes"? Well, SOS is the ant that's trying to move a rubber tree plant. "Our goal is to raise attention," SOS president and co-founder Chris Dobbins said at the last gathering at Ricky's, not the first or last time he will utter those words.

SOS is a perfect name for these folks, because they're trying to rescue the Raiders, A's and Warriors from their own stupidity, thinking that there's a panacea waiting for them in another city. The SOS gang simply won't give up.

They certainly have strong messages for the three Oakland ownerships. Hey, Mark Davis, your dad moved the team to Los Angeles, then he brought them back to Oakland. Hey, Lew Wolff, you couldn't move the A's to Fremont and San Jose; are you getting the picture? Hey, Joe Lacob, you think the Warriors will find paradise in San Francisco? Be careful, it could be paradise lost.

The SOS folks keep emphasizing that Oakland has committed fans who have remained loyal and passionate, even though their teams can't wait to flee town. SOS points out that Oakland is enjoying its greatest economic boom ever.

True, Oakland lacks the funds to build new sports facilities by itself. But judging from consistent sellouts with two losers (Raiders and Warriors, who had one winning record in 17 seasons until recently), there is money in abundance in all three teams' coffers, even as the A's continue to play on the cheap.

Private financing is the answer, if it can be pulled together. Yet, understand, the Raiders, A's and Warriors won't necessarily be better off in any other location. If the Warriors get to San Francisco and the team starts to fail, it could all go south -- or east. Didn't the 49ers move to Santa Clara? San Francisco isn't exactly the pot of gold at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Let's hear it for Oakland, which rescued the A's from Kansas City, rescued the Warriors from San Francisco, and nurtured the Raiders to respectability. So why don't we ever hear that dialogue from the Oakland City Council and the Alameda Board of Supervisors?

"It's our inferiority complex," Dobbins believes. "We live in San Francisco's shadow. We have three sports teams, we have better weather, our crime is down and jobs are up, and our restaurant scene has gone ballistic. It's unbelievable. When you have all three owners constantly disparaging Oakland, it is frustrating."

So what can SOS do to reverse that trend? "We have nonprofit status now," said Dobbins. "We're pushing the conversation, pushing the envelope. We're going to host a business summit in the near future to galvanize business leaders."

Nate Miley, current county supervisor and former Oakland councilman, showed up at the Feb. 24 meeting. He said it would cost $2 billion to build a new stadium, but he recommended retrofitting the Coliseum at a half-billion. However, convincing a sports owner that retrofitting beats a new stadium is like getting a tan in a snowstorm.

Miley drew the SOS gathering's rancor by bringing up Oakland's "bad reputation." Oakland has a crime problem, surely, but so does society. Turn on the evening news and there are shootings in San Jose, San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. Crime is everywhere.

Miley didn't make any friends that night, but he gained points by showing up. Regardless, the SOS's positive demeanor remained in check.

"We need to continue to press our case that Oakland is the best long-term home for both the Raiders and the A's from an economic standpoint," said Jim Zelinski, who also co-founded SOS three years ago. "And to dispel the notion that Oakland is small market. Oakland has, does, and will support two teams. To keep the Warriors would take a full-court shot with a second to go by Stephen Curry."

The corporate angle rankles Zelinski.

"Raider fans don't need an app that's going to call a robot over to deliver a $55 cheeseburger to their seats," he said. "Perhaps less is more. We just need an open-air stadium that has grass, good sight lines, lots of clean service and bathrooms, good food and drink -- and a team that has the old Raiders swagger."

Zelinski is convinced that "Oakland and the East Bay have an irreplaceable fan base. Oakland also should be the prohibitive favorite in keeping the Raiders, because we have the best stadium site. But we must assure the NFL and Major League Baseball that we are economically superior to any alternative location."

So then, what are the odds that Oakland can keep the A's and Raiders?

"I would say that it's 50-50 on both," Zelinski replied.

Keep pitching, and plunging, SOS.     

Whitney Reed: He mastered life AND tennis   Dave Newhouse

Somewhere back in his youth, Whitney Reed asked himself: How much of life do I want to enjoy? He then decided to squeeze every ounce out of living that is humanly possible, and he succeeded.

Reed looked at life as a game, the same way he viewed tennis. Perhaps he could have had a No. 1 world ranking, but look at the fun he would have missed. Rankings and winning tournaments were wonderful, but not if it meant his forfeiting the spontaneity and frivolity that life offered.

He didn't deny himself success; quite the contrary. He was America's No. 1 ranked player in 1961, just two years after he won the NCAA singles championship at San Jose State. He played on three Davis Cup teams, and beat some of the best players on the planet. Though he never won a major tournament, he won plenty of other tournaments.

But that wasn't what Reed was about. He liked the cocktails and the ladies, which made tournament officials uneasy, wondering if Reed would make his match on time, which he usually did, barely. He often won while still hung over, frustrating opponents with an endless variety of lob shots and drop shots, for he lacked a championship serve.

More than anything, he was an entertainer, right along with entertaining himself. He succeeded in living life to the fullest until he passed away Jan. 9 in Oakland. The cause of death: Cardiac arrest. Reed gave his heart a good run, and it held up for 82 years until, finally, game, set and match.

On Sunday a number of Reed's friends gathered at the American Oak Restaurant in his hometown of Alameda to pay their respects, and to tell lots of stories about, arguably, tennis' most colorful character ever. Sports Illustrated, in 1962, labeled Reed a "tennis bum." Nothing libelous there.

For tennis defined Reed. Every job he had was connected to or was a direct result of his tennis career. Remember, he played mostly as an amateur, thus he lived a hand-to-mouth existence.

A typical Reed story. He bummed a ride to the airport, then he bummed money for his flight, and when he arrived for his tournament, he bummed money for his entry fee. A tennis bum, indeed, but even if he didn't pay back his benefactors, few of them held it against him.

"He was fun-loving; he just loved life," said Shirley Goodman, who knew Reed for 70 years. "He loved parties, loved to dance. Always a gentleman. Everybody liked him, and he liked everybody."

Shirley's husband, Ron, went to Alameda High School with Reed, who came from tennis-playing parents, Rollie and Ann Reed. Their daughter, Susan, also could stroke a tennis ball.

"Whitney was a loosey-goosey guy," said Ron Goodman. "And he mumbled; that was his way. But when I took a tennis lesson from him, he taught me something I never forgot: 'It's a whole new world out in front of you.' He meant that if you hit the ball early (on a return), your opponent doesn't have quite enough time (to react)."

Reacting to Reed required some effort. He'd show up on the court appearing exhausted, which wasn't far from the truth. He'd lean on his racket after a shot, he'd stumble back to the serving line, then he'd wear out his opponents with all forms of deception.

At one Canadian Open, his opponent was a 16-year-old who did jumping jacks before their match. A bleary-eyed Reed lost the first set, then took command of the match before his young foe dropped to the court with leg cramps in the blistering heat, and was forced to quit. Reed looked down at the teen and mumbled, "The kid needs to get in better shape."

At another Canadian Open, it took Reed two years to make it back home. He traveled from tournament to tournament, country to country, like some vagabond, before returning to Alameda. Those who knew the irrepressible, unflappable Reed weren't the least bit surprised.

"Whitney never had any money, and people took care of him," said Ron Goodman. "That was the only way he could survive. Sometimes it would be somebody's couch. I'm sure he didn't always know day-to-day. He wasn't a worrier, though. He was one of a kind."

Reed found another way to make money: Gambling. He'd play backgammon, gin, poker, pool, table tennis, with bets on the side. When he lost money to friends, he'd say, "It's better to lose to people who care about you than those who don't." He valued friendships over financial gain.

Arif Khatib, another friend of 18 years, said Whitney was "likable, moved around without a lot of resources, and turned his tournament wins into a group party. He didn't appear to be a guy who maintained a bank account every day. A thinker on the tennis court, if he took the sport more seriously, there's no telling how high his ceiling would have been."

Of course, that would have meant his showing up for a tournament with a tennis racket. He often misplaced his own, and had to borrow one. This happened at Wimbledon, and he then, mistakenly, bowed in the opposite direction on the royal box. Only Whitney.

"There was never any doubt about anything with Whitney," said former doubles partner Larry Dodge, "never any fear, even when he lived in his car. He didn't have to insure the future. I'd never known anybody else like that."

Well, how many Alamedans would show up at a local bar in their pajamas? Only Whitney.

The stories about Reed abound, though Dodge always will remember him as an "angel who didn't have one bit of pretense, and who was an artist on the tennis court. He was all about art."

Tennis colleague Steve Cornell added, "Everybody has these funny stories and anecdotes about Whitney, because he's such great material. But there's this other side of Whitney that gets overshadowed, and that's his humanitarianism. He was a really compassionate person."

Reed's health deteriorated toward the end of his life, when Gail Feaster became his care-giver and his Gal Friday. "He was in quite a bit of pain the last five years, but he never once complained," she said. "He was a true warrior. He wanted to live forever - he had a love of life."

A life he lived to the fullest.

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