City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
5. Golden State Warriors
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (510) 986-2200
Description: Born in Philadelphia in the 1940s, the Warriors moved west, becoming the San Francisco Warriors from 1962 to 1971, before floating across the bay to Oakland to become Golden State. The team that brought Wilt Chamberlain from Philadelphia in 1962 has won only one NBA title on the West Coast. That came in 1975, when superstar Rick Barry and a gang of overachievers shocked the Washington Bullets in a four-game sweep. Big-time performers such as Nate Thurmond and Cazzie Russell came before 1974–75, Bernard King and World B. Free after, but no other Warriors team has gone all the way. Things seemed to be looking up under coach Don Nelson in the early 1990s, but the situation blew up when Nelson feuded with star forward Chris Webber in 1994–95. Warriors tickets range from $15 to $100.
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
9. San Jose Stealth
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (925) 460-8290
Description: One of 13 lacrosse teams in the National Lacrosse League in the United States and Canada, the Stealth plays a 16-game regular schedule, followed by a championship playoff. The season runs from December through April. Lacrosse is played inside the confines of an ice hockey rink, but with special turf placed on top of the ice. The game is rather hockey-like, combined with the fast pace of basketball. Tickets range from $23.50 to $33.50, with discounts for students and seniors.
10. Charles Schwab Cup Championship
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (707) 939-4131, (800) 868-7563
Description: This is the final event on the Champions Tour (what used to be called the PGA Seniors Tour), a four-day party in late October at the Sonoma Golf Club, a private par 72, 7,093-yard course built in 1928. Tour players 50 and older have included Hale Irwin, Tom Watson (2005 winner), Jim Thorpe (2003, 2006, and 2007 winner), and Gil Morgan. In 2004 a relative youngster to the tour, Mark McNulty, shot a final-round 66 to win the $2.5 million championship by a stroke over Tom Kite. Ticket prices vary depending on what you want to see; a grounds pass is $30 for the tournament weekend. Add access to the wine festival and it goes up to $45 per day. Taking part in the whole enchilada costs between $100 and $150. This event has raised more than $1 million for local charities.
11. Calistoga Speedway
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (707) 942-5111
Description: Calistoga is a gathering point for devotees of sprint cars, those miniature, winged beasts that evolved from old Indy 500 roadsters. Pound for pound, sprint cars pack as much power as modern-day Indy cars, and they seem to be as loud. They produce downward force, which helps the car grip the track; the larger one also happens to provide handy space for advertising.Calistoga Speedway’s half-mile dirt track hosts at least three sprint-car nights a year: one in mid-June and two in August. A typical program might include four 10-lap heat races, a feature-inversion dash, a 12-lap semi-main event, and a 25-lap feature event. Tickets run about $20 for a single race.
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
13. Petaluma Speedway
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (707) 733-7223
Description: Check the notes about sprint cars listed in the Calistoga Speedway section and apply them here. The three-eighths-mile, semi-banked track is located at the fairgrounds, just west of US 101 on East Washington Street. Weekly shows (Saturday nights) are $13 for adults, $9 for kids 6 to 11, $7 for seniors, and free for kids 5 and under. Special event tickets run a couple bucks higher.
14. Vineman Ironman Triathlon
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (707) 528-1630
Description: This popular event—celebrating its 20th year in 2009—attracts more than 2,000 participants from throughout the world. It is set mostly on the backroads of northern Sonoma County, with the swimming portion held in the Russian River at Guerneville. The full course includes a 112-mile cycle, 26.2-mile run, and 2.4-mile swim. A Half Vineman is also featured.
City: Wine Country, CA
Category: Spectator Sports