San Francisco, CA
WEEKEND Sports stars slam San Francisco over crime, homelessness – Washington Examiner
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco‘s bad rap as a city overrun with criminals, addicts, and the homeless has led to big business, residents, and tourists looking for the exit ramp.
Now, its lengthy list of problems is being blamed for driving away professional athletes considering signing with the city’s professional sports teams.
The Northern California hub has been getting hammered by former NBA star-turned-sportscaster Charles Barkley who has been asked to rein in his smack talk but has refused to pull punches about the conditions. Barkley, never one to be shy about his opinion, recently went on an anti-San Francisco rant after it was announced the city would host the NBA All-Star Game in 2025.
“Hey Reggie, if you had a chance to be in the cold [in Indianapolis] or be around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco, which would you take?” Barkley asked Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who was announcing the game with him on TNT.
When commentator Taylor Rooks said off-camera, “We love San Francisco,” Barkley shot back, “No, we don’t,” prompting a back-and-forth with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green about safety in the city. When Green said anyone could walk around unharmed on the city streets, Barkley sarcastically agreed, saying the statement was true as long as the person was wearing “a bulletproof vest.”
It wasn’t the first time Barkley has gone after San Francisco.
When Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks was delayed in 2022 due to a leak from the roof of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Barkley claimed, “You know the bad thing about all this rain? It’s not raining in San Francisco to clean up all those dirty-ass streets they got there … all that dirtiness and homelessness, y’all, man, y’all gotta clean that off the streets.”
But it’s not just Barkley who has a problem with San Francisco.
Former San Francisco Giants star catcher Buster Posey, who is now a member of the Giant’s ownership group, raised eyebrows when he claimed baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani might have chosen the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Giants because of the city’s drug and crime problem. He claimed in an interview with The Athletic that safety is among the top concerns free agents consider before signing.
“Something I think is noteworthy, something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and even the players’ wives, is there’s a bit of an uneasiness with the city itself, as far as the state of the city, with crime, with drugs,” Posey said. “Whether that’s all completely fair or not, perception is reality. It’s a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just with baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as a free-agent pursuit goes, I have seen that it does affect things.”
While there are some notorious parts of San Francisco like the Tenderloin district, the area around Oracle Park, where the Giants play, is among the safest in the city. It’s within walking distance of luxury 5-star hotels, boutiques, and upscale restaurants and breweries. There is also plenty of public transportation and for the most part is well lit.
Despite the high-profile criticism, more and more people are coming to the city’s defense.
Infielder Matt Chapman signed a three-year, $54 million deal with the Giants this month and said he purposely “chose to come [to San Francisco.]”
“I think everybody’s different, everybody has different things that matter to them, but I’m from California,” he said. “I played in the Bay Area. I’m comfortable here. And people say what they say, but I think at the end of the day when you look at the franchise, they want to win.”
Chapman added that he doesn’t “see why people wouldn’t want to come here” and that “a lot of people have reached out and said they want to come play here and told me that.”
In December, the Giants signed South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee. His agent, Scott Boras, also pushed back on claims that athletes were keeping away from San Francisco.
“There are issues including homelessness near the ballpark in San Diego, in downtown L.A,” Boras told NBC Sports. “To identify that only with San Francisco is really unfair. In any of the major cities, we’ve got issues. Chicago, New York, whatever. The players’ major focus is the structure of the organization and winning and competing. The biggest issue the Giants have is the fact that the Dodgers are getting better. Players want to know if they come here, will they be able to compete with the Dodgers? And now Arizona. That’s the real major question that San Francisco has to answer.”
City leaders have also come to San Francisco’s defense.
Democratic mayoral candidate Ahsha Safai told SFGATE that while the city was solid, it still has room to improve, like the three teams Barkley played for during his 16 years in the NBA.
“We have the talent, we have the desire — we just need a new head coach to lead our city!” Safai said.
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Kyle Smeallie, chief of staff to District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, offered up what he thought set Barkley off about San Francisco in the first place.
“Our city rules — big baby Barkley is just mad he never got a ring,” Smeallie said, adding that the Warriors have seven NBA championships under their belt.
The month after they moved in, the team threw their first party. Khonaysser posted the invitation to Instagram: “Wine dinner. Eight strangers. … Dinner, drinks on us. Dm us.”
Hundreds responded — nannies, tech workers, venture capitalists, local politicos — which confirmed his hunch. “People are hungry for connection,” he said. “They just need some help.” The night of the party, he donned a butler’s jacket, set the table, and waited by the door. All 12 RSVPs showed up, and from then on, “Dinner With Strangers” became a monthly event. Nowadays, it boasts a 5,000-strong waitlist.
In the past year, Vently has promoted and hosted hundreds of events: Orangetheory workouts, bank raves, boat parties, a SantaCon takeover, viral “lookalike” contests. It has partnered with TechCrunch and the Golden State Warriors (“They reached out to us!,” Khonaysser said). The company has amassed 12,700 followers on Instagram and in November launched a platform where event organizers and venues can list and sell tickets, send text blasts, and manage their communities.
Of course, living with cofounders — and hosting parties in the home — can put a strain on relationships. But Gargi Kand, 26, Vently’s head of growth and self-proclaimed “big sister” of the house, thrives on intensity. (Last year, she ran a marathon with no training. “Don’t recommend it,” she said. “Dislocated my knee a month later.”)
Living in a party house with her colleagues has been generally low-stress, she said, noting that the guys are respectful and clean up after themselves. The only disagreements are over Khonaysser’s “pathological need” to blast the heat; the others forgive him because he makes a killer espresso martini.
As for romantic entanglements, only Khonaysser is in a relationship. “If someone has girl problems, I’m the one they talk to,” said Kand. Jacob Wells, 22, who went to college with Khonaysser and is Vently’s COO, said he’s on standby if Kand needs relationship tips. “Gargi comes to me when she wants a straight-shooter opinion on her many dating problems,” he said.
Monday is St. Patrick’s Day around the world, but San Francisco kicked it off a wee bit early on Saturday with its annual parade down Market Street to City Hall.
While the atmosphere was fun, there was also an emphasis on recognizing that Irish-American culture is a story about immigrants.
The streak continued as the pipes and drums blared past City Hall. It was officially the 174th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco.
That’s because even during the COVID-19 shutdown a few people marched down Market Street with flags and pipes, just to keep the tradition going.
“It is true that the Irish like to celebrate, for sure,” said Irish resident Missy Keehan. “And what’s wrong with that?”
Nothing wrong at all. In fact, Edward Connelley came to watch his family march and to catch up with friends. Now 76, he emigrated to the US in 1970 when he was 21 years old.
“Just came over, my family was here in New York,” he said. “So, I just joined my family, and then they came to San Francisco.”
He worked hard his whole life and is proud of his Irish heritage, but he said he only decided to become a citizen in 2016, for what he admits were practical reasons.
“No, I didn’t become a citizen until before Trump went for office. That’s when I became a citizen,” said Edward. “Because Trump was so crazy. He could throw anybody out of this country.”
Many Irish arrived in America in the 1800’s because of a potato famine back home. They helped build the Transcontinental Railway that united the nation, but they were vilified by the country for taking jobs that most people didn’t want.
Eventually, they gained their acceptance after becoming prominent in law enforcement and firefighting, which is acknowledged as part of Irish-American culture to this day.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all,” said Christine Ahern DelCarlo, with the United Irish Societies of SF. “Because we don’t necessarily have a culture here. We have cultures. And you can grasp all of them and be part of it. I think it’s a good thing, a good thing to keep a history going.”
But she said she didn’t think that was being respected in today’s political climate.
“No, I don’t think it’s being appreciated too much right now,” she said. “I think it’s being taken away, actually. We’re trying to take it away.”
A second-generation American, Ahern DelCarlo, said she believes people have a deep-seated need to hold on to their roots.
“A lot of people still consider Ireland home. And when you go there, I’ve gone there several times, it’s very strange. I didn’t think I would be that affected because my grandparents were born there, my dad was born here, and the first time I went back there, I really felt like going home. It was weird, really weird.”
For those born in Ireland, like Edward, the feelings run pretty deep about the current anti-immigrant sentiment. It bothers him and he didn’t pull any punches about who he blames for it.
“Yes, it does,” he said, “because Trump is crazy. The whole world hates Trump. The whole world hates Trump.”
Edward is proud of what he’s done as an American, and he’s even prouder of the family he’s raised here. He hopes his new grandchild will grow up proud to be the product of immigrants that have chosen to call this country their home.
The San Francisco 49ers are re-signing fullback Kyle Juszczyk to a two-year, $8 million contract, a league source said Saturday. The nine-time Pro Bowler will return to San Francisco after being released earlier this week.
Juszczyk took a visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers but returns to the team he spent the last eight years of his NFL career with. Juszczyk spent his first four NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him in 2013.
The 49ers are re-signing FB Kyle Juszczyk, per source.
The 9x Pro Bowler will return to San Francisco after being released earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/EdwFtY0o59
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 15, 2025
Juszczyk, who turns 34 in April, is a contributor in both the run and pass games and caught at least 14 passes in 11 consecutive seasons, including 30 as recently as 2021. His return follows a number of big-name exits following the opening of the new league year on Wednesday.
Left guard Aaron Banks and left tackle Jaylon Moore left for Green Bay and Kansas City, respectively, after wide receiver Deebo Samuel was traded to the Washington Commanders ahead of free agency. On defense, the 49ers lost tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and defensive backs Charvarius Ward and Talanoa Hufanga.
Juszczyk’s return is a shot of good news to a locker room shaken by a flurry of departures earlier in the week. The two most prominent were Juszczyk’s and Greenlaw’s. Neither was a total shock. The 49ers’ other linebackers seemed to sense that Greenlaw would not be back as the 2024 regular season drew to a close. Juszczyk, meanwhile, was asked to take a paycut last year, signaling the 49ers could try to do so again.
Juszczyk remains as the longest-tenured player on the team, someone who arrived shortly after coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. Because of that, Juszczyk’s forged a number of deep bonds in the locker room, especially with tight end George Kittle, who also arrived in 2017, and with tailback Christian McCaffrey.
🧃❤️ pic.twitter.com/44MzvQuY22
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) March 15, 2025
There was always a chance Juszczyk could return simply because the fullback market is so limited and because the 49ers continue to value it more than most teams. Soon after Juszczyk was informed of his release Monday, for example, the Ravens signed fullback Patrick Ricard to a one-year deal to remain in Baltimore. After that, the Buffalo Bills announced they’d re-signed fullback Reggie Gilliam to a one-year deal.
According to a league source, Juszczyk had light interest from the Detroit Lions and more serious interest from the Las Vegas Raiders and Steelers. That included a visit to Pittsburgh earlier in the week. But the fact that the 49ers won out with a two-year deal underscores that they still value the fullback position — and Juszczyk — more than any team in the league.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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