Welcome one and all to the final SB Nation regional site to be launched: SB Nation Bay Area. I think it's fitting to declare that they most certainly saved the best for last. For those who don't know, SB Nation was initially developed in the Bay Area through Athletics Nation. Although SB Nation has expanded across the country, and in fact, across the globe, the Bay Area takes pride in considering itself the launching point of this fast-rising brand.
But, enough with the network pitch. You have come to this site because you are a Bay Area sports fan. Whether you're a fan of the Warriors, Sharks, Giants or A's, Raiders or 49ers, or Cal or Stanford, you're a fan of sports in what is arguably one of the biggest markets for sports fans. Until now, you've complained about the Warriors ownership at Golden State of Mind, or wondered when the Giants would figure out how to hit over at McCovey Chronicles. You've pondered the end of the Al Davis era at Silver and Black Pride or whether this is finally the year Alex Smith makes the leap at Niners Nation. And while you can certainly discuss other teams at each site, you've never really had a single site to discuss each and every aspect of Bay Area sports.
Well, today that officially changes.
SB Nation prides itself on being all about the fans. They've developed 260+ team-specific blogs and each one has a phenomenal community of readers. The regional sites that have been rolled out over the past month, culminating in SB Nation Bay Area, are one more arena for you to express yourself as a fine, and follow your teams as closely as possible.
SB Nation Bay Area will be your one-stop shop for anything and everything you need to know about your team. The site is not meant to take you away from the team-specific sites. The team sites here at SB Nation provide the type of nitty-gritty detail that no other network (independent or mainstream) could hope to match. If you want to know how the backup running back battle is likely to fair over at Memorial Stadium, you can find that and more at California Golden Blogs. If you're ready to learn about what exactly the latest draft pick brings to the Sharks, Fear the Fin will have it in more detail than you could ever imagine.
This regional site will be a broader look at your favorite teams. If you were looking at this on a spectrum, we'd fall somewhere between the rather generic coverage you'll find at the major mainstream sites, and the super specific information you'll find at your individual team blogs. We'll give you some context about the events from a broader perspective, and then you'll be able to get the real detail from Athletics Nation, McCovey Chronicles, and every other Bay Area team blog.
So, how exactly are we going to do this? We've got a whole assortment of tools at our disposal to help you better understand what's going on in the Bay Area.
Story Streams
The story stream is an innovation by SB Nation that improves the way you learn about breaking news. When a story breaks, there are generally multiple developments before the story completely cycles out. The Sharks re-signed some of their own free agents recently. However, over the course of the offseason, the Sharks will make numerous moves to build towards hopefully bringing home a Stanley Cup next season. Rather than have Sharks stories spread all across the site, we'll have a single story stream as signings happen. In that stream, we'll include the basic news, and then update that news with links to Fear the Fin, some of our own analysis, and even what other folks around the Internet have to say about the move. It will be the proverbial one-stop shop for breaking news.
Starting Lineup
Every morning when people get to work, the first thing many do is take a quick surf around the Internet to their favorite sites. The Starting Lineup will provide you with 5 quick links to start your day. They won't be simple links to a game recap here, or basic news there. They'll be our favorite articles, tweets, YouTube, or whatever, to help get your day off to a rousing start.
Bay Bridge Banter
While we've got a variety of new features, the blog will be one area you can return to each day for a variety of stories about your teams that go beyond mere news. Say Patrick Willis tweets something that evolves into some of the highest of comedy. It's not breaking news, and it's not something that requires a high level of analysis. It's just something amusing that we think will entertain the masses. Or maybe a video of an amazing dunk at the San Francisco city basketball league goes viral on YouTube. We'll embed that in a blog post for you. We'll have plenty of discussion related to the breaking news of the day, but generally, Bay Bridge Banter will be for news that doesn't quite evolve on that level.
Feature Posts
The feature posts will provide the broader analysis you're used to seeing on a blog. As football season approaches, we'll have previews of the 49ers and Raiders seasons. Rich Twu will have a write-up on the amazing amateur basketball league he runs. Sam will be providing some interesting looks at the team uniforms we often take for granted. Maybe you want to know about all the potential stars playing for De La Salle High School's football team in 2010? We'll have you covered The point is, the features will provide detail on a vast array of topics that are all related to Bay Area sports.
The key to all this is that SB Nation Bay Area is here to complement the rest of your SB Nation surfing experience. Comments and critiques are always welcome as we are always looking for ways to improve the site. At the bottom of the front page, you'll find a rundown of all the writers at the site. If you click on my name, you'll see my bio and contact information. Do not hesitate to email me, or simply leave a comment in one of our posts, if you have a comment, suggestion, or just want to say hi.
It's an exciting time for Bay Area sports and we hope you'll join us for what will be an amazing ride. The A's find themselves in the middle of an improving youth movement, while the Giants are hoping to ride Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval to a playoff berth. The Raiders are coming off a strong draft, while the 49ers appear on the verge of returning to the playoffs. The Sharks are consistently in contention, and the Warriors are in a crazy time with a potential sale on the horizon. And the Cal-Stanford rivalry will never die! Welcome, and enjoy.
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