In what seems to be a recent theme for Bay Area sports, the San Jose Earthquakes had a breakout year in 2012, winning the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record after finishing no better than sixth in each of their previous four seasons since the franchise was recreated in 2008.
Much of their success rode on record-setting MVP Chris Wondolowski, whose 27 goals last season tied him with Roy Lassiter for the MLS record and made him the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 73 goals.
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Andy Potts has won the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon more than anyone else in the event’s 25-year history.
He won for the fifth time in eight tries last year, and has never finished lower than third, but that doesn’t mean leaping off the California Hornblower into frigid San Francisco Bay gets any easier.
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As the last team standing in 2012, the Giants already had a short offseason. Cutting even further into that break is the World Baseball Classic, which nine Giants players will be participating in.
The WBC, which was played for the first time in 2006, then again in 2009, will hold the semifinal and championship games at AT&T Park in March after pool play takes teams all over the world, from Japan to Puerto Rico.
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While most of the focus is on the next generation of sailors competing in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, the seasoned sailors are busy getting ready for the final push in the America’s Cup World Series.
The next stage will be run on AC72 catamarans, and the crews are spending time on San Francisco Bay getting to know the new vessels.
The field has been shaken up since the event’s last appearance in San Francisco, with Ben Ainslie moving under the Oracle Team USA banner for the next round.
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The USF baseball team finds itself with a familiar feeling to start the 2013 season, which kicks off Friday against Cal Poly.
Once again the Dons were not picked to win the West Coast Conference title, which they last claimed in 2011, and once again they will rely on pitching and defense, hoping for enough offense to stay competitive. The Dons finished 29-30 last season, and have higher hopes this season.
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Once again, the Giants find themselves in stark contrast to their archrival in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
L.A. spent big money in an effort to upgrade its team over the past year. The team’s new ownership group has plenty of money, and it has not been shy about spending it in an effort to dethrone the Giants.
San Francisco, on the other hand, has gone with the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
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STANFORD — Imagine everyone agreed you were the best at what you did. Imagine enough people told you that you believed it. Imagine you planned on starting your professional career by being recognized as the best in front of the whole world. Now imagine that the one person whose opinion of you matters most decides someone else is better. And eventually it appears seven people are better. Now what do you do?
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STANFORD — Two and a half years ago, Cal’s baseball program was placed on the chopping block. The community responded by providing the funding to keep the program alive, and the team responded by making a historic run to the College World Series in 2011.
While the program was saved — and will even get lights and a new scoreboard at Evans Diamond this spring — the near death of the program is not without repercussions.
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With the 49ers’ season now in the books, San Francisco’s focus turns back to happier memories than the bitter Super Bowl loss.
The Giants now welcome Bay Area sports fans to revisit the team’s victory in last year’s World Series with their annual FanFest at AT&T Park and Pier 48, just across McCovey Cove, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Leading up to the Super Bowl, all anyone has wanted to talk about is the Harbaugh brothers — Jim and John coach the 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, respectively. Much has been made of what they have in common and what makes them different.
Asking them about it reveals one thing in common, though that’s not what they might have intended with their answers: They both want to make sure this game is about the players on the field.
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Over the past week, the 49ers have gone from a team many so-called experts were predicting to lose in their playoff opener against the Green Bay Packers to the national media’s new darling.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s record-setting day in the 45-31 win in the team’s playoff opener got him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and his trademark bicep kiss has been dubbed Kaepernicking. The possibility of a Harbaugh Bowl — matching 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh against his brother, John, coach of the Baltimore Ravens — looms for the second straight year.
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One would think playing the defending NBA champions on the road would be a tougher task than playing them in your own gym.
The Warriors, however, are on a different sort of streak now than when they went into Miami on Dec. 12. Golden State had won the first four games of a lengthy road trip and beat the Heat 97-95 on a last-minute score by Draymond Green.
Now, Golden State has lost three of its past four during a tough January schedule that includes nine games against likely playoff teams. They welcome the Heat to Oracle Arena tonight.
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Niners wide receiver Michael Crabtree said after the regular-season finale that he wanted to make up for his lack of production in last year’s playoffs, when he totaled just 28 yards on four catches over two games.
The young wideout made good on his promise as he was Colin Kaepernick’s favorite target throughout the 45-31 NFC divisional playoff win over the Green Bay Packers. Crabtree hauled in nine passes for 119 yards and a pair of scores, accounting for 45 percent of the team’s 263 receiving yards.
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The 49ers proved last season was not a fluke in the 2012 season opener by beating the Green Bay Packers 30-22. If they want redemption after the shortcomings in last year’s playoff run under coach Jim Harbaugh, they will need to duplicate that season-opening effort Saturday.
San Francisco has changed dramatically since the Sept. 9 opener, most dramatically at quarterback, where Colin Kaepernick took over following an injury to Alex Smith on Nov. 11.
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The 49ers were happy to cap their season off with a win that gave them the NFC West Division title, but the game featured a number of other highlights for the Red and Gold as well.
Michael Crabtree set a career high with 172 yards on eight catches, including a pair of touchdowns. He became the first 49ers receiver to pass the 1,000-yard milestone in a season since Terrell Owens did it in 2003. Crabtree finished with 1,105 for the year.
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