Gary Radnich. According to Blogger Richard Lieberman, Radnich, a long time San Francisco and Oakland sports and TV radio guy, and some guy who has the same name as the character from Nightmare On Elm Street, Freddy Krueger (no kidding), were talking about why they think the San Francisco Giants get more attention than the Oakland A’s. Finally Radnich asks Krueger to name one Oakland A’s player.
Wow, you mean like Manny Ramirez, who’s set to join the Oakland Athletics as soon as May 30th?
And as to Radnich claim that the Giants get far more attention that the Oakland A’s, from a social media standpoint, that’s not exactly true. According to Social Mention, a site this blogger uses to monitor social media trends and activity, “Oakland A’s” was mentioned 422 times versus 485 times for “SF Giants;” hardly a massive advantage for San Francisco. But hold everything.
When you use the same terms in Google Insight for Search, a different outcome shows up. The search volume for “SF Giants” is on the average ten times greater than that for “Oakland As” and that’s leaving off the ‘s just to make it fair. See for yourself: http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=Oakland%20As%2CSF%20Giants&cmpt=q
So the volume is indicative of a larger and more engaged fan base for the SF Giants than for the Oakland A’s, and that’s not necessarily something that will change with the A’s location, but it will change with the Athletics success on the field. The last time the A’s had a year worth cheering about was before improvements in measurements in Internet activity, and that was the Moneyball year of 2002. If the A’s start winning again, or just build a new stadium, that search volume picture will change, and for the better.
But all of that is no excuse for Radnich not knowing an Oakland A’s Player, or dissing the Oakland A’s. If the Oakland A’s were with KNBR, Radnich would be taken to the woodshed for such comments, and he knows it. The A’s, which seek a new radio deal every year, it seems, were with KNBR at one point, but as of last year have one now with http://www.957thegame.com.
So now, Gary Radnich, a guy with just 5,868 Twitter Followers, (I have over 60,000 right now) thinks he can kick sand in the face of the Oakland A’s? Wow.
Gary would say he’s not an Oakland guy, but he would be for cash, and has been – so really since Gary lives in the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area, and is a radio guy, he should know who Manny Ramirez is.
Such unwarranted hubris. Radnich must be put in his place.
Bill Carroll