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Damon Amendolara believes his national sports media colleagues failed a fanbase, a city and, ultimately, its own responsibility when it ignored the years-long stadium crisis that pushed the Oakland Athletics out of the market.
In a recent appearance on The Damon Bruce Show on YouTube, the veteran host argued that too many national voices dismissed Oakland’s problems as the result of apathetic fans rather than examining how ownership created the conditions for the franchise’s departure. He felt the early narrative lacked critical reporting and context.
“I really thought the A’s, when they were in Oakland trying to struggle for a stadium and to keep their team was criminally reported and opined by the media. We sat on the outside of the national media and we saw an empty ballpark that was falling apart and a bad team. Then we said, well, they ought to move. And we didn’t know anything else,” said Amendolara.
However, he added that the emptiness of the Oakland Coliseum wasn’t organic. Instead, he argued it was the predictable result of ownership decisions that pushed fans away.
“We [national media] didn’t know about John Fisher and what he wasn’t investing. We didn’t know about how he pulled the plan away at Howard Terminal, and didn’t know that they had taken PR and basically told fans to go away,” noted Amendolara. “It was orchestrated apathy. They wanted to make the ballpark empty to give them the camouflage to move.”
With the A’s currently in Sacramento and possibly Las Vegas afterward. Amendolara said the media’s lack of engagement still frustrates him. He thinks reporters and national radio hosts overlooked a major story because it lacked the glamour of bigger franchises.
“The national media as a collective did such a disservice. If you woke up and saw what was really happening, this is deplorable. This is criminal, this is crazy, and nobody cared enough. Maybe because of baseball, or because it was not their team. Maybe because it wasn’t the Cowboys or the Yankees or the Lakers. It was so disgustingly overlooked by those with the loudest voices that that empowers me even more to keep talking about it,” explained Amendolara.
The morning voice of SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio has no plans to stop. He acknowledged that some programmers prefer he shift to football or other national tentpoles. However, he remains adamant that the topic still matters.
“I still talk about it to this day, and I still get bosses going, well, we talk about more NFL stuff, or why don’t we? Are we sure we do? But I don’t care. I think it’s that important, because if it can happen in Oakland, where can’t it happen,” questioned Amendolara.
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