It's a start. A beautiful start.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders have inked short term leases with our favorite pit/Black Hole/multipurpose concrete structure of distinction--the O.Co Coliseum.

The Raiders will stay put through the 2014-15 season, while the A's will be tenants of Bud Selig's forgotten symbol of things past through December of 2015. We can now all ghost-ride our Volvos with confidence and glee.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTvSUCCqPo[embed]

Oakland's financial woes are well-documented, but this stopgap measure at least shows that the idea of a revitalized Coliseum City/Complex is alive and kicking on the table and gives a fan base desperate for stability and a voice exactly that.

Perhaps this is reading into a bit much, as pessimism would place the A's somewhere within the San Jose/Fremont nexus after the lease expires...however...

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA[embed]

Baseball, football, and sports in general are about believing in a chance against numerical and historical odds. The Raiders have not hoisted the Lombardi trophy in just under 30 years...the A's have not brought home a parade in just over 24 years.

But, we believe...and continue to believe despite limited payroll, bad drafting decisions, countless controversies, and the almosts that break our damn hearts time and time again.

It is feasible...even likely that Lew Wolff will rip our hearts out and give the Golden State Athletics a corporate makeover that will take all the dirt and grit that makes us, and make it marketable/palatable to a host of sponsors and cell-phone gabbing suits behind home plate.

And, well...the Raiders have hurt us before, and could very well hurt us again.

Yet, there is a chance...however small it may be. And, in professional sports, that's all we really need to keep cheering, yelling, swearing, and pretending not to hurt.