Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced earlier this week the city will be hosting a rally and parade on Sunday, October 5 in celebration of the Ballers’ Pioneer League baseball championship win, the city’s first pro-sports championship celebration since 2018.

As KQED reports, Oakland’s independent baseball team the Ballers nabbed the winning title at the Pioneer League Championship, which took place at the team’s home base in Raimondi Park against the Idaho Falls Chukars, 8–1, on September 21 — just one year after the team’s inaugural season. KQED notes this is Oakland’s first baseball championship event since the Athletics won the title in 1989.

Sunday’s rally and parade will begin at City Hall at 1:00 pm and end with a big celebration at Prescott Market in West Oakland, as KGO reports.

The Oaklandside reports that the last professional sports championship parade to take place in Oakland was in honor of the Golden State Warriors’ NBA win in 2018 — their third in four years. The publication also writes that in 2023, Oakland hosted a parade for the Oakland Tech girls and Oakland High School boys basketball teams after they won state titles.

Image: Oakland Ballers/X

Previously: The Newly Formed Oakland Ballers Will Renovate and Play Ball at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field

Civil rights leaders and elected officials are demanding the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) reinstate a gold medal stripped from 16-year-old Salinas sprinter Clara Adams who celebrated her win by spraying her cleats with a fire extinguisher in tribute to Olympian Maurice Greene.

As reported by KTVU, Adams was disqualified from the competition for celebrating her 400-meter state championship victory by briefly spraying her cleats with a fire extinguisher — while standing on a grassy area, away from the track and other athletes. The gesture was a tribute to Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene, who celebrated the same way in 2004.

Adams' father handed her the extinguisher after her uncle, a former firefighter, showed her how to use it safely. “My feet were on fire,” she said. “I just ran 53 seconds in the 400 for the second time in my life. That was a big moment for me.”

As KGO reports, despite the celebratory nature of the act, CIF officials quickly ruled it “unsportsmanlike conduct,” disqualified Adams, stripped her of the state title, banned her from running the 200-meter event, and, according to her family, physically escorted her from the infield. “I was just like, ‘what?’” she recalled. “I can’t even explain what was going through my mind.”

The incident unfolded at the same CIF championship meet where transgender athlete AB Hernandez’s top-tier performances were similarly undercut—this time by a last-minute policy shift that redefined podium placements, as reported by SFist. That rule change, enacted days earlier, came in response to political pressure from the Trump administration and reshaped how medals were awarded to avoid declaring Hernandez an outright winner. In both cases, CIF has faced mounting criticism for decisions that appear more reactive to politics and optics than athlete well-being.

The CIF has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Civil rights attorney Adante Pointer accused the organization of being arbitrary and heavy-handed by disqualifying Adams: “They robbed her of her achievement and have yet to explain what they based their actions on.” His firm is exploring legal options, including compensation for emotional distress. Co-counsel Marlon Monroe added, “You have a young girl who should be celebrated as a champion, but instead was publicly humiliated.”

According to NBC Bay Area, Adams said she’s now in counseling, adding, "I’ll never get that back. I’ll never get that back to enjoy the medal  around my neck around everybody. And I’ll never get that back to run the  200, and we’ll never know what could’ve happened.”

Support has poured in from both Democrats and Republicans, including California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo. “Officials clearly overreacted,” Alejo wrote. The Monterey County Republican Party also issued a statement calling her win "a source of pride."

Meanwhile, Adams has received attention from universities like UCLA and Princeton, and Nike has reportedly reached out with interest. “I’m going to bounce back,” she said. “That’s the kind of athlete I am.”

Image: eyetoeyePIX/Getty Images

Previously: Trans Athlete AB Hernandez Wins Triple Medals at CA Track Finals Amid Policy Change, Protests

It is has become a fashionable and popular theory in these few days since the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship that the team would boycott the traditional champions’ White House visit over their distaste for Donald Trump. The spread of this rumor has become a case study in “Fake news ‘til you make news,” and the initially unfounded speculation has gained fast-break momentum as the team is now being asked about it regularly and signs like this are becoming a part of the Warriors championship celebration today. But this question has now been posed, and new precedents on presidential visits may be set considering Trump’s views on race and the fact that — golly, many pro athletes are African-American, particularly in the NBA.

Championship sports teams visiting the White House is an entirely useless tradition that was very occasionally practiced as far back as the 1860s. (President Reagan streamlined a process that all championship teams would be invited for a White House photo op, but it was never a policy decree).

Within five hours, Warriors PR was forced to put out the statement, “Today is all about celebrating our championship. We have not received an invitation to the White House, but will make those decisions if and when necessary.”

In other words, this basketball team is punting on the decision. But the topic is now a hot-button issue, and star players are being asked to weigh in. Steph Curry, who has groused about Trump in the past, was asked directly on Wednesday and said, “Obviously as a team, we’re going to have a conversation,” Curry said. “We’ll handle that according and responsibly, and do the right thing individually and for us as a group.”

Andre Iguodala was less diplomatic, telling USA Today “Hell nah,” when asked if he’d visit the White House. But in reference to the entire team, he said “We’re going to do what our leader (Curry) does.”

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr has been exceptionally sharp in his criticism of Trump, but has taken no stand since the team won the title. But Kerr is quoted in today’s Chronicle from the taping of a weeks-old podcast saying, “There’s a respect for the institution, for the office,” and, “There’s a respect for our government that I think you have to take into account, regardless of people’s opinions of the person sitting in that chair. I think it’s important, but it’s also important for the players because it’s really about them to make the decision whether they want to go or not.”

You’d have to wonder if Trump, an extraordinarily thin-skinned man, is watching any of this on TV (he is) and simply deciding he won’t invite Warriors in the first place rather than endure the indignity of a refusal. If that scenario plays out, this Warriors title will have made history in more ways than one.

Related: Warriors Put Away 80 Bottles Of Champagne At Post-Win Party

It is difficult to assess the Golden State Warriors' 118-113 Game 3 win in the NBA Finals (I believe we properly called that) in terms of individual plays, stats, and scores when so much greatness and history are now at stake and so closely within the Warriors’ grasp. With great intent to not jinx anything, the Dub Sack will merely point out a few indisputable facts — with their 15th straight playoff win, Golden State now has the longest consecutive playoff win streak not just in the history of the NBA, but in any of the four major U.S. sports. No NBA team has ever gone undefeated through an entire NBA Playoffs, though this is now quite a real possibility for the home team. And the Warriors sit one win away from a championship trophy, a parade whose location we are likely to debate, and the right for this team as currently assembled to sit squarely in the center of the “Greatest Team of All Time” debate.

Deep breath, people. Let's go the tape.

In the most competitive game yet of these NBA Finals, Klay Thompson's 30-point outing (16 in the first quarter alone) was his finest work in this or probably any of the three Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals matchups. But the superlatives should rightfully be directed to Kevin Durant (31 points, 9 rebounds), whose three-pointer seen below gave the Warriors the lead for good with 45 seconds left and drew a delightfully dispirited non-verbal from LeBron.

But the Warriors have earned this, going back to last summer when they so shrewdly acquired Kevin Durant and the “Greatest Team of All Time” whispers started. We must continue to ignore these whispers, and focus one one win — one measly win. But that one measly win stands to inspire an outbreak of joy, history, and bragging rights greater than any this franchise has ever known.

Game 4 is Friday night at 6 p.m. PDT and will be televised on ABC.

Related: Warriors 'Dance Cam Mom' Finally Boogies With Steph Curry

(By Joe Kukura)

Congratulations, all of you Boston expats out there. As of this morning, your Celtics are the NBA’s newly-crowned 2008 World Champions. You represent yourselves disproportionately well in Bay Area sports bars and events, yet there is sometimes a perception that we f*cking hate you. That may be, but with last night’s 131-92 demolition of the Lakers, you have acquired another trophy for your impressive collection and did to Kobe Bryant what the Eagle County, Colorado court system couldn’t do.

It appeared to get easier for your Celtics as the playoffs went on. You had your doubts when the Hawks (!) and LeBron each took you to the brink… but the Pistons were misfiring, Ray-Ray found his groove with the addition of that funky-ass arm warmer device, and you have established Kobe as the "greatest Jordan fraud of all time". It was a testament to that storied New England perseverance, and your persistence of faith has paid off grandly.

Oh, and one additional word of encouragement for you, Boston fans… 18-1!