Like pretty much every sports writer, or “Sports Guy,” I love sports.

I know that seems like it would be pretty obvious, but sports is not as monolithic, or simple, as a final score might indicate. As I’ve gotten older, I love sports less and less for its competitiveness, its final outcomes, and more and more for its transcendence, its quests for greatness. 

It’s one of a handful of things, like the arts or religion, in which we’re always trying to go beyond where we are now, who we are now (and if you think about how many sports are timed, even when we are now … ). A long-distance runner has more in common with an artist and a team in a tight game has more common with a church choir, than you might think. They are all trying to achieve something greater than themselves.

Even if you’re not a “Sports Guy,” no matter how you feel sports, it permeates everything in our society because of our mania about winning. “Politics” and “News” channels like MSNBC, CNN and, yes, Fox, are all becoming more and more like SportsCenter. And sports gets covered pretty much the same way universally. It is hyper-masculine, sophomoric and often downright mean. (Hence, the phrase “Sports Guy” because even the few women who can crack the profession, have to act like frat boys who want to be cooler than you.)

Sports coverage - as it currently exists - is about selling transcendence and all the things that can get sold by being associated with transcendence. As such, it is not pro-Environment, pro-Development, pro-Arts & Education or pro-Identity. Even the food is bad. In short, it is anti-Oakland Local. 

But something as transcendent as sports, like Oakland Local, should be inclusive, not exclusive. So, I’m going to ask Oakland Local readers to help us be inclusive in our sports coverage. I want your suggestions about what, um, local, Oakland sports events you'd like covered, especially youth and adult amateur leagues. You know, the things that don’t get covered by Sports Guys. No sporting event is too small. I'll do my best.

Of course, I am a guy, and I do love sports, so I’ll also try to up date you if I catch an A’s/Raiders/Warriors/CalBears game, or some other kind of mainstream sporting contest. But I’m not the “Sports Guy”…