As I was saying … Happy New Year, Marina, Cow Hollow, North Beach, Pacific Heights, and city wide friends and readers! It’s great to be back and I encourage you all to keep writing in with your athletic events news to [email protected].
… On to the world of sports! Tickets for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, scheduled for Feb. 7-23, are still available online at www.sochi2014.com/en/. The U.S. team is highlighted by star athletes such as Shani Davis (two-time defending Olympic champion in 1,000-meter speedskating), Shaun White (one of the most recognizable names in the X and Winter Games, White has won gold in the halfpipe in 2006 and 2010), Lindsay Vonn (one of the biggest stars in Vancouver for winning a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze in the Super-G, Vonn tore her ACL and MCL in her right knee and fractured her tibia in a crash back in February at the world championships, but is back in action), Bode Miller (in his previous four trips to the winter Games, Miller has earned five medals (one gold, three silver, one bronze), and Maddie Bowman, a 2012 world champion (ski half-pipe)
… Speaking of a variety of activities coming up this Winter, the Golden Gate Sport and Social Club is now accepting registrations for upcoming kickball, dodgeball, volleyball, bowling, soccer, football, basketball, softball, and other fun leagues at www.playinthebay.com (I have more to say about the club online at www.marinatimes.com)
… As the Golden State Warriors march toward their best season in years with the strongest team they’ve had in decades — surprise, surprise, it does help to have a solid big man in the NBA — tickets are becoming more expensive and more scarce — until Gametime came along (see main article above). Available at the Apple iOS store and soon on Android, the mobile app offers up to 80 percent off Warriors tickets … For those not willing to travel to Sochi, lace ’em up for the GGSSC or go to Warriors or San Jose Sharks games, the Marina and Cow Hollow are brimming with sports bars offering great deals while watching college and pro football and all your sports and greatest on the latest flat screen TVs. On Union Street check out the Brick Yard, Bus Stop, Perry’s, The Blue Light, Bar None and The Brixton, then hang a right onto Fillmore and into the Mauna Loa, The Balboa and KT’s. Make a left onto Chestnut for The Horseshoe, The Marina Lounge, Monaghans, and The Tipsy Pig before winding up, or down, at Liverpool Lil’s on Baker Street. Now that is a sports pub crawl that dreams are made of!
… For family fun, adventure and fitness, enjoy free admission to all California National Parks, including Yosemite, Joshua Tree and Muir Woods from January 18-20
… January is also National Skating Month, so check out www.usfigureskating.org for more information about local events.
