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Crosscurrents

"Home Field Advantage" tells the story of Oakland's greatest athletes

Paul Brekke-Miesner
Marshawn Lynch is one of dozens of athletes from Oakland profiled in "Home Field Advantage"

The Bay Area was well represented in Super Bowl XLIX. The MVP, Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, is from San Mateo. His favorite target, Julian Edelmen, is from Redwood City. And the man who could have won the game for the Seahawks, running back Marshawn Lynch, went to high school at Oakland Tech. In fact, Oakland has an especially rich history of athletes making it to the pros.

Paul Brekke-Miesner talks about this in his book Home Field Advantage: The City that Changed the Face of Sports, which examines the impact of Oakland athletes on the sports world. He sat down with KALW’s Ben Trefny.

BREKKE-MIESNER: I was just talking to my sons the other day about coming up with a t-shirt with “Oakland A’s” on it that says: “I have no heroes. They’ve all been traded.”

Click the audio player above to listen to the complete interview. 

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Crosscurrents SportsOakland
Ben joined KALW in 2004. As Executive News Editor and then News Director, he helped the news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped teach hundreds of audio producers, many of whom work with him at KALW, today.