It’s a very good choice and the one that runs closest to the Valkyries - young team, young dynamic coach, creative use of foreign players with built-in chemistry, etc.
San Francisco Chronicle culture critic. Spends too much time in the archive. Total SF co-founder. S.F. 🌁 Oakland 🌳 Alameda ⚓️
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It’s a very good choice and the one that runs closest to the Valkyries - young team, young dynamic coach, creative use of foreign players with built-in chemistry, etc.
I wrote this before last night’s (good) madness at Oracle Park but wondering now where 2025 Giants might fit in … 🤔
Thank you!! Always fun when I get to take a detour into sports.
1997, 2010 and 2014 all were finalists. 1997 may be the best Giants example. We had lost for so long, I didn’t think a team like that was possible.
The biggest underdogs not on the list are the Giants World Series teams. I was close to adding the 1997 and 2010 teams, but they had a lot more preseason buzz (the worst Giants World Series team had 25-1 preseason odds.) (They were the most *fun* teams though.) www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
Strong argument for Super Bowl XVI 49ers & other teams that came from nowhere and won a title. But Valks are special. No one else — not even the 1993-94 Sharks — made the playoffs with zero recent all-stars on the team. Gift link for Ballhalla residents only🎁⛹🏽♀️🪩 www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Used the @sfchronicle.com archive to rank the Valkyries among all-time Bay Area pro sports underdogs. The Plunkett Raiders were a cinematic team that shocked the world. “Moneyball” A’s not so much. (Their preseason odds to win the World Series were 8-1!) www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
What a game! And a big night in the long history of “Beat L.A.!” …
Alameda ok? May be different owners now but I saw a couple of comedy shows at The Local coffee shop on Park St. Good vibes. Reminded me a little of The Other Cafe, minus the 37 Corbett going by the windows …
San Francisco is so back! Just saw a three card monte game in front of the cruise terminal
I bought an entire comic book of “Return of the Jedi” at the corner smoke shop two weeks before it came out 😂
Oh no sorry I gave away plot points!!! There’s a lot to enjoy. Fantastic season so far. At least two all time great episodes & lots of other good ones.
The Gorn last season were very fast & fluid & CGI but the one in the recent “Enemy Mine” episode looked like a “Dark Crystal” puppet. (In a good way of course.)
I took BART to 24th Street then biked to Potrero Ave. just to get a sandwich today.
I went to four block parties in five hours to get a barometer reading of San Francisco. Still greatly upset that I just missed the tween rock band "Stranger Danger," but otherwise learned a ton about the city. #TotalSF 🌁 ❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
I so wanted those snakes to end up at Cal Academy for the next 20+ years ...
😂😂😂
Sign that I’m a maturing late-career journalist: Didn’t submit the original lead that said the snakes “passssssssed away.” At age 27 I would have submitted it, argued with editor who cut it, then moped around the office like a victim for three days. www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Some sad news to report: Angel/Zeke the East Bay Vivarium's two-headed snake has died, one day shy of their 1st birthday. RIP Angel/Zeke. You were the coolest snakes 🐍 🙏 www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Excellent work!!! I rode in that train. So glad you included a Sightseer Lounge. When I was riding from San Luis Obispo to the Bay Area regularly, I thought that lounge car was the coolest place in the world.
A fascinating story about a beloved urban park, containing the quote: “I resolved to atone for some of my past cussedness” What more could you want?
I loved that quote!! Like gasped when I first saw it. Thanks for reading!!
Today’s column contains maybe my favorite ever quote from the 1800s: “I resolved to atone for some of my past cussedness.” As we all should. 🦬🦬🦬 www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
I wanted to find out how the first bison found its way to Golden Gate Park. It turned into an episode of "Deadwood." Bison in San Francisco 4ever. 🦬 🌁 ❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Loved this story from @susanslusser.bsky.social, where Matt Chapman opens up about his Tourette syndrome. What a tough journey for Chapman, what great parents he has, and very cool that he chose to share his struggles & the tools he’s developed, to help others. www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giant...
They had Korean tacos that were fantastic (off the menu now?) but the Peruvian might be even better!
We got it at the team store!
Soooo much fun tonight. Go Valkyries!!! @wgoldenstate.bsky.social #BayArea 🤝🏼 #Ballhalla 💜⛹🏽♀️🪩
I’ll be the @wgoldenstate.bsky.social fan leading the Veronica Burton “MVP!” chant tonight. As always follow @mingemi.bsky.social for all your women’s sports needs. 💜🖤💜🖤💜
A library book 76 years overdue is an anxiety-ridden prospect. Is someone in trouble? About to go broke? With 10-cent daily late fees, the overdue book accumulated $2,774 in fines. But new rules have changed the landscape of “library book shame.”
Does the library send a SWAT team for a really overdue book, or is it more of a solitary John Wick-like situation? Read my story and find out. 📚🌁💯 www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Agreed. It’s like how people throw out signs of sure-thing politician dementia & years later the person is mostly the same. (I’ve gone through a relative w/ dementia. It progresses quickly & no pill makes it disappear.) He’s probably having some surgery or procedure for something he’s vain about.
And for those who read today’s column and are wondering, I did take video of “Foster City Jesus” walking on water. www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Check out today’s Foster City tour for the @stephenlamphoto.bsky.social photos! Stephen is a good hang and the SECOND Chronicle photographer I’ve asked to jump in a kayak for an assignment this year. (After @jachristian.bsky.social in Crane Cove!) www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
My apologies to Foster City. I lived 3 miles away as a teen, and mostly remember it as a labyrinth where I'd get lost looking for house parties. Returned by bike and kayak for @sfchronicle.com, and found architecture, budget yachting and "Foster City Jesus" ... www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
As a subscriber I’ve really been getting my money’s worth lately with our digital subscription. (Yes, I have to pay 🙃 but it’s cool.) Sports coverage has been 💯 Photography has been 💯 Top 100 restaurants has been 💯 Super-cool data journalism has been 💯 Check us out for practically free! ⬇️
I think I have one of those too!!
Good news. Found the most 1980s thing I own — my Royal Racquet Club racquetball membership card from 1986. I’m planning to use this as my second form of ID for all future DMV and TSA encounters
Nude sunbathers, Willie Mays, JB Pritzker's dad and a bay window to a secret diorama of a couple making love. Ruth Asawa's San Francisco Fountain is the ultimate treasure hunt. We get a tour of the Union Square fountain and share its best secrets. ⛲ 🌁 ❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
Such a fun project from @peterhartlaub.bsky.social Ruth Asawa's "San Francisco Fountain" is a local treasure, so densely detailed you can always find something new. Her son, Paul, showed us some of the secrets, including one that requires a flashlight to view. www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
Nude sunbathers, Willie Mays, JB Pritzker's dad and a bay window to a secret diorama of a couple making love. Ruth Asawa's San Francisco Fountain is the ultimate treasure hunt. We get a tour of the Union Square fountain and share its best secrets. ⛲ 🌁 ❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
The good vibes for this screening are off the charts. @tonybravosf.bsky.social is hosting a 30th anniversary “Clueless” screening on Wednesday Sept. 10 with co-star Elisa Donovan at the mighty Balboa Theatre. Get your tickets!! 🍿🌁❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/events/artic...
Who has more leverage in this situation: An already-in-debt owner of a single indie movie theater? Or Warner Bros studios — showing a typical new film on 4,300 screens? Would be like you or me disputing the price of a Big Mac & trying to haggle with the Kroc family.
What you do at a corporate multiplex is between you and your god. But please stop smuggling food into independent theaters. I get theater owners’ best stories, cop to my own hypocrisy & possibly ruin kimchi for you forever. 🍿💸 www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
More thankful than ever that Finnerty’s in New York stays open until 4 a.m.
I was able to visit just not by bike. Love that space so much. And so close to Filoli!
Some other highlights on the northern side, The Jepsen Laurel tree, a noted picnic spot going back to the Californios (and a good place to turn back if you're walking from the dam) and the San Andreas Fault crossing on the earthen dam between the lakes.
In today's FREE Total SF newsletter!! 🏠 The secret town hidden under Crystal Springs reservoir 💜 Where Violet fits in our Bay Area mascot rankings 🌶️ Oaklanders open edible gardens for tours New every Thursday! Come explore the Bay Area with us! Sign up ⬇️ www.sfchronicle.com/totalsfnewsletter
San Mateo County Historical Society has this one! I'm still working on permission to publish it but it's on their site if you look deep enough ...
I returned to Crystal Springs reservoir after 40 years, and found a lovely hiking spot — and an archive mystery featuring an entire town buried underneath a lake. RIP Crystal Springs Hotel. Minus the lack of antibiotics, the late 1800s in San Mateo seem fun. www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
I returned to Crystal Springs reservoir after 40 years, and found a lovely hiking and biking spot — and an archive mystery featuring a town buried underneath a lake. www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
I'm naming my future punk band "Indistinct Chatter." We'll be the third on the bill at Hotel Utah.
As someone who has lived my whole adult life in cities deemed “dangerous”—NYC, NOLA, and SF—I think a lot about how dense cities require patience, calm, and tolerance in the midst of social difference, which are of course exactly the civic virtues that the right resents being told to cultivate.
I was hoping for a Pegasus but the crowd seemed to really like Violet. Also shout out to Tiffany Hayes in the postgame interview for not presuming Vi’s pronouns. Used “they/them.” 🐦⬛💜⛹🏽♀️
Don't call them "traps." 21 San Francisco tourist spots every local should visit. With a natives-friendly souvenir shop in North Beach, a miniature golf course designed by local artists and a double Irish coffee you can take on the road. #TotalSF 🌁 ❤️ www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
Valkyries game was so much fun last night. My third game & finally figured out what feels the most different about WNBA in S.F.: Even when they lose it feels like you’re coming home from a great party. @wgoldenstate.bsky.social 🪩⛹🏽♀️💜
I'll be 55 on Saturday. It's literally my job to explore San Francisco and pass on my finds to others. And up until last month, I had never visited one of the two most renown landmarks in the city. I finally checked out Alcatraz. Was it worth the wait? www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
Happy birthday! Angel Island is stellar too - a lot more hiking/biking, a little less history - but I'd been going there every decade or so We ran a survey with it, so I can take people on some "firsts." Stunned how many have lived here 50+ years & never been to a Giants game or seen a drag show
Honestly ... I enjoy "Dear San Francisco" much more. Nothing against "BBB," but after all the hype I found it fun and greatly admired the stagecraft but didn't *love* it.
This visit was a long time coming! @heatherknightsf.bsky.social & I often mentioned my never-been-to-Alcatraz gap on our Total SF podcast ⬇️ www.sfchronicle.com/podcasts/art... We did get really close once heading to record our episode at Angel Island with @johnamartini.bsky.social ...
Surprising how many people have lived here 50+ years and never been to a Giants game!
Thanks! We're getting so many good replies!
And here's the fun second part of my Alcatraz story! Are you a longtime local? Which iconic tourist spots and landmarks have you missed out on? I'm going to ride cable cars, visit Angel Island & go to drag shows and Giants games with some longtime readers ... www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
I'll be 55 on Saturday. It's literally my job to explore San Francisco and pass on my finds to others. And up until last month, I had never visited one of the two most renown landmarks in the city. I finally checked out Alcatraz. Was it worth the wait? www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/arti...
That’s where I usually sit!! My aunt got good seats.
BALLHALLA!!! Best home court advantage … on the planet Earth? @wgoldenstate.bsky.social @mingemi.bsky.social #GoValkyries!!!
The alt text!!! Standing ovation 👏👏👏
❤️❤️❤️
Some transit coolness from one of our OG Total SF followers! 🚊👊🏼💯
The cable car gripmen and conductors have a whole sign language. But the Muni drivers seem to not do this. (Or maybe I just can't see it through the protective Popemobile glass.)
I missed a ferry ride??! Next time for sure! I was stunned at the $1.25 historic streetcar price tag. I still think the $2.80 or whatever for Muni (with the transfer window) is a great deal.
Needless to say I’m super fun on vacations. Me in Maui a several years ago: “Have fun hanging out by the pool fam, I’m going to go check out the city bus system.” #WestMauiIslander 🚍 💯
Loved this tiny moment when the two NOLA streetcar operators passed each other. (I might start doing this when I pass @sfchronicle.com colleagues in the hallway but totally not the same.)
Back to work today after a week off! Went to New Orleans & enjoyed the music/history/food but LOVED the historic streetcars. Blown away that this 1800s system is still the spine of the city public transit. Imagine riding BART, but it’s all F-line cars, and they’re efficient & reliable. 🚞 💯
Those Fruit of the Loom kids were amateur hour, but at least they stuck together & had a code.
I like that! So I’m kind of like Sully Sullenberger.
🍋💯
Wait … am I the *hero* in this narrative? bsky.app/profile/drip...
😂😂😂
Let’s say *theoretically* I was in a crunch & needed a lemon for a recipe & picked two hanging over the fence on the abundant tree of an around-the-corner neighbor. And let’s say it didn’t go completely unnoticed. Is this (theoretically) enough to ruin my career if the video ends up on NextDoor?
Credit to the players on both teams for coming out to play in the second half. Not even sure how they can focus on soccer after witnessing that travesty. #CorgiGate ⚽️ 🐾 bsky.app/profile/ming...
Honestly the cover-up is worse than the crime. NWSL only showing the second half of the race 😡 #JusticeForCaptain 🐾
This was bullshit. I’m for the local dog but Moose’s handler literally threw the dog the first five yards for an insurmountable lead. I hope @mingemi.bsky.social or Mia Wachtel or whomever is covering the @wearebayfc.bsky.social game writes about this travesty. #CorgiGate
I also lived in the era of mall bookstores & record shops. (Sam Goody!) They’re like the anti-Walmart. The book/record chains collapsed while the indies (Green Apple! Amoeba!) are adapting & hanging on. I do wish Tower Records pulled through. It was a chain that kept its indie vibes.
“But in an era redefined by the Covid-19 pandemic and the internet, the energy of a metropolis no longer has to be concentrated in its core.” Very smart NYT story from @heatherknightsf.bsky.social & Carol Murphy Marcos about how malls reflect an S.F. transformation. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/u...
“I can throw a ball between my legs pretty well. And I’m blessed that’s kept me doing this for a long time.” Loved this profile from Eric Branch, who captured the self-effacing gratitude of my new favorite obscure 49ers player.
Leite was way off that game, Amihere travels a lot/is a turnover risk under pressure & Chen would have been a defensive liability against Washington’s big guards & any switches. That was the best lineup. Martin & the forwards played great D.
Love this quirky piece of urban S.F. data journalism from @danielleechev.bsky.social and @hannazakharenko.bsky.social — with a cameo from @woodylabounty.bsky.social 🌁 💯 www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s...
I didn’t know City Hall sold them! Would have purchased one there. Found it on this site and was happy with the sizing: www.cafepress.com/%2B%2C127382...
Godspeed!! 🚍⛴️🚊💯 Used to think this was impossible but never bet against @milesintransit.com Hope they throw in one ferry trip just as a flex.
Been looking for a Chronicle photo of that for years …
New T-shirt. This Highway 101 billboard disappeared a decade ago but Bay Area kids who went to Cal Poly or UCSB in the 1980s or 1990s know it well. #NeverForget #ItsHappeningInSoledad
Nice!! Glad you got to ride the Bay Area’s transit roller coaster!! 🚍🎢
One of my fav @sfchronicle.com stories, published a few years ago, about how 1970s roller skaters became activists & shaped the future of our parks. I recall there was big breaking news that day & maybe 12 people read it. Gift link so you can be the 13th. 🎁 🛼 www.sfchronicle.com/oursf/articl...
Is there a better home field advantage in U.S. pro sports than Balhalla? (That was a rhetorical question) #GoValkyries 💜💜💜
It’s a gift to San Francisco that this man has been the skating mayor and steward of joy in Golden Gate Park for coming on a half century. #DavidMilesJr 🛼 🌁 ❤️
Photo of me outside Skates on Haight in 1978 or 1979. Gleefully heading to Golden Gate Park to skate circles around the Music Concourse then watch David Miles Jr. & his crew. (Reminder that I need to get back to the Skatin’ Place this summer.)
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Love it. After three years of “ugly” including a 2023 sweater with lights & a sound element, pivoting to “a BART sweater you can wear to a work meeting” was the right move.
