It is a well-known fact that I’m an absolute sports nut. I love almost all sports, and I’m a diehard “anything Bay Area” sports fan. Recently as I’ve started this blog, and people see how much I really follow sports, a lot of people have asked me, “When did this all start? When did you become obsessed?”
Surprisingly, I can give them a direct answer: 1994. Without a doubt, that year was the beginning of this huge passion of mine.
In 1994, the San Jose Sharks played their first season in the newly built San Jose Arena. In their previous first two seasons of existence, they were playing at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. In the Sharks 2nd season, the Sharks gained only 24 points, and set a NHL record of 71 losses in the season. However what took place in their 1st season in San Jose was the biggest turnaround in NHL history, where they finished with a total of 82 points, an increase of 58 points, and made the playoffs for the first time ever. In the 1st round of the playoffs, the Sharks upset the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings, in what some call the biggest playoff upset in all of NHL history. In the 2nd round against Toronto, the Sharks ended up losing in 7 games. What was sad was that they could have won it overtime in game 6, but Johan Garpenlov hit the crossbar. The Sharks captured the hearts of the entire city, and I instantly fell in love with the team. How great was this season? The city of San Jose through a parade in honor of this team. I dont think ANY city has ever thrown a parade for a team that didnt win a championship, but what the Sharks accomplished was that amazing. Was I there? Of course. It meant so much to me that my dad took me out of school to attend the rally!
In 1994, the United States hosted its first ever World Cup, and Stanford Stadium in nearby Palo Alto was chosen as one the site venues. I had grown up playing soccer since I was very young, and I absolutely loved the sport. To this day, it remains both my favorite sport to play and watch on television. In the 1994 World Cup, the United States miraculously made it out of the group stage, and drew Brazil in the next round. What was completely awesome was that this match took place on July 4th at Stanford Stadium. There was a frenzy in the entire Bay Area that the national team was playing its first knockout round game at Stanford. It was impossible to not get caught up with the excitement. What was even more awesome was that the Brazilian national team (the eventual champions) chose Los Gatos as their home base in the buildup to this match. I clearly remember heading to downtown Los Gatos on a Saturday evening with my parents, and we took in all the excitement and partied with all the other Brazilian fans. The success of this tournament led to the birth of soccer in this country. San Jose was granted one of the original MLS franchises, and eventually went on to win 2 MLS Cups.
In 1994, the San Francisco 49ers fielded one of the greatest teams in the NFL that season led by Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Ricky Watters, Ken Norton Jr, Deion Sanders, and others. They were such an amazing team to watch and follow and they eventually won Super Bowl XXIX against San Diego.
In 1994, I started attending Challenger School for the 4th grade, where I was reacquainted with one of my best friends from Kindergarden and 1st grade, Ernest Ling. Ernest’s dad was a Stanford alum, and a big supporter of their sports teams. Since I hung out with Ernest 24/7, I naturally started to follow the Stanford Cardinal as well. The Stanford sports teams in the mid-90s to early 2000s were very dominant in the Pac-10. The basketball team made the 2nd rounds of the tournament in the 94 and 95 seasons, made the sweet 16 in 96, and finally the Final Four in 97. The 1994 season was also Tyrone Willingham’s first year leading the football team, and he immediately made the team competitive. They made back to back bowl games in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, before playing in the Rose Bowl in 2000.
In 1994, the Golden State Warriors were actually….GOOD. In the previous couple seasons, the Warriors had the famous Run-TMC group, composed of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. Unfortunately, they disbanded this group. However in 1994 with the #1 pick, the Warriors drafted Chris Webber, who eventually went on to earn the Rookie of the Year award. Webber, alongside Latrell Sprewell, who went on to gain All NBA First team status, lead the Warriors to the playoffs that season. This was also the last time that the Warriors made the playoffs until the 2006-2007 season.
What about baseball?! Well in 1994, the MLB had its mid-season strike…so that sucked. But in the previous year, Barry Bonds signed with the San Francisco Giants and the Giants were involved in a pennant race against the Atlanta Braves where they missed out of the playoffs by 1 game, despite leading the Braves by 10 games at one point. Many people consider this to be the “last great pennant race” ever. The Giants struggled the next three years, but eventually improved to be one of the best teams in baseball, including a berth in the World Series in 2002.
Basically in 1994, the entire Bay Area sports scene was EXCITING!!! All our teams were either at the height of their dominance, or just about to enter in a new era. I was fascinated by our teams, and came to really love all of them.
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