Readers Say The Darndest Things: Sports & Leisure

Best Athlete, Amateur
Clara Peterson
A former Duke NCAA champion, she teaches young female athletes the importance of eating right to avoid osteoporosis later on in life. — Lynn Horowitz

Demanda Riot of the B.ay A.rea D.erby girls!!
Serious intensity and her game face is pure intimidation. — demanda_riot

Shayna Powless, NorCal Mountain Bike
This kid. Wow, I’m so inspired by her. She isn’t on a team like most of the kids; she’s an independent racer and she kicks ass and has so much humility, focus and grace; she’s a superb athlete! — LarenaLovesOakland

Best Athlete, Pro
Barry Zito
He was better in East Bay. — smurphy

Andre Ward
I have been following this man since he first started out. Glad to see such a positive product of Oakland doing well! — AriRae

Jamarcus Russell
— pbsaurus

Best Basketball Courts
Anywhere the Warriors aren’t playing
— skaroly

Best Bike Ride
France
— tpk501

Best California Ski Resort
Squaw
Hey, that’s not in the East Bay! — ncbrown76

Best Endurance Challenge
Berkeley City Council Meeting
Go to one, I dare you. — ccjs

My last relationship
He was a trip! — starscape38

Alameda County Social Services
— santopeligro

Being a mom who works full time
— stephanie0083

Del Valle Adventure Race
— elecon

Monkey Yoga on Sunday morning
— dtownpmc

Rad Massaker Alleycat Race
— PantsPeople

Shopping at Berkeley Bowl
— Hillman, Melissa

Telegraph Avenue
— Floatingclouds

Unemployment
— hamishrobertjohnson

Completing this survey
— Wendy Jose

Best Gym or Health Club
YMCA Berkeley
Downside is bad parking. — sara18

Berkeley Krav Maga
Friendly atmosphere, great location, amazing instructors, amazing gym! — Kate Gliksman

Golds Oakland!
It’s like Cheers, where everyone knows your name. — Oakland2010

Kinesthetic Exercise Sciences aka KES FITNESS
Kewesi Simon runs the best new gym in Oakland. — zooey66

Touchstone Climbing
Members can use any of the gyms. Five locations, Oakland, Concord, and Berkeley. — Oakonnor

24 hours
Still the cheapest and with most equipments. — Paixao

Sutter Health
Telegraph Ave. near H-24 overpass. Free to elders who belong to Sutter Health and have a doctor’s presciption. VERY inexpensive to East Bay elders with needs to keep in shape. — jravens

24 fitness, Moraga
The gym is brand new. — matteo

Best homegrown sports league
Montclair Football League
This is a small intramural league that has been in place for 21 years, and has helped hundreds of school-age kids learn about teamwork, communication, goal-setting, strategic planning, and self-esteem building through team-oriented sports. — Fonkenstein

Best Nontraditional Sport
Full Contact Kissing
It’s more fun than it sounds! — Maxwell Fisch

Volleyball
Led by Xceleration VBC — our East Bay Girls dominate! — volleyboy1

Open Water Swimming in the Bay
What better way to enjoy the Bay Area? — BethLM

Doin the nasty/sloshball
— watermelonclock

Lounging and snacking
— okaywhoaokay

Yelling on Telegraph Avenue
— konamichan

Best Outdoor Store
Transports
Okay, so this is just for running and swimming, but they’re awesome. — devildog66

Wilderness Exchange
On San Pablo in Berkeley. — Russell EB

Marmot
They rent lots of gear. — ncbrown76

Farmers market Lake Merritt
— hamishrobertjohnson

Best Park
Moraga
Great place for kids and adults and dogs and it is safe. — Trish M

Tilden Park in Berkeley
Miles of trails for running, hiking and biking, the Little Farm, the Steam Trains, and much more. — our family goes there multiple times a week! — BlueBirdMama

University of California Botanical Garden.
The garden has it all: great views of the bay, a stellar plant collection, benches and picnic tables, great informational displays about the extraordinary plants in the collection. It cannot be beat! — maramelandry

Best Pilates studio
The Pilates Studio
Amy Bruckmeier is a fabulous pilates instructor — she helped me rehab my knee post-ACL reconstruction and is now keeping me in shape through pregnancy. — BlueBirdMama

Stable Core Pilates
Small classes, fabulous instructors, immaculate facility, reasonably priced. — SCOOPER

Best Place to Buy a Hacky Sack
?
You guys are really reaching. — SFbaybface

Best Place to Play Board Games
Hob Nob in Alameda
And good food too! — pamela magnuson-peddle

Albatross
Can’t even think of anywhere else. — dckdck

Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore
Great chess games going on there. — susan sherrell

At home with a beer and friends
— jesykah

Prison!
— santopeligro

Best Race
La Raza!
Just kidding, had to. — huzzam

Black
Duh! — Blobby

OMG
That’s racist. — alxndr

Asian
— glubeal

Caucasian
— Maxwell Fisch

Human
— Charlie Milgrim

Korean
LOL. — deetsky

Latino
— Silasio

MIXED!!!!!
— taylorsimone

Pacific Islander
— terb

Race is a social construct. Just kidding, Oakland Marathon.
— chinaka

Best Scavenger Hunt or Similar Event
Looking for nookie…
— santopeligro

Rad Massaker
— Nate Seltenrich

Best Place to Move the Oakland A’s
Downtown Oakland
Bring the City Back to Life! — YoKaren

Zanzibar
But any other time zone would do. — huzzam

Hayward
Call them the East Bay A’s (or East BAys for short). — Joel Lively

West Oakland
Fuck Fremont. — Oakonnor

San Francisco
I love the idea of the A’s & Giants sharing the stadium. — BB

Jack London Square
Is this not the most obvious public planning issue in the Bay Area? What would SOMA/Mission Bay be right now without Corporate Telephone Park? Day game in SF > Ferry to Oakland for night game. Questions? — jberkeley

Jack London Square
The only way to make that place stop sucking. — higgins2040

Across the parking lot
— EDC

Anywhere where we don’t have to pay for a new stadium.
— leesajay

Bangladesh
— mr.adambeck

Downtown, 5 years ago
— abrentrup

El Cerrito High School
— igorness

El Paso
— idawg

Far away
— Blythe

Finland
— glangorous

Gulf Coast, LA
— Keeker

Into the Bay
— attagrrl

Oakland Army Base
— littlebrazil

Oakland County, michigan
— terry furry

San Jose!!!
— nmarciel

Soon-to-be former location of the Kaiser Arena
— stark

Don’t
— knartistry

Best Sporting Goods Store
Play It Again Sports
Good deals on barely used stuff. — matteo

Wilderness Exchange
— Janice Mead

Best Yoga Studio
Square One Yoga
Ashley West Roberts is an outstanding instructor! My entire day is better after one of Ashley’s classes. — Oakland2010

Funky Door
But take away that rug, please! — Psurkis

Yoga Mandala
Funky music, sweet yoga postures. Good crowd. You’re sure to sweat by inspirational people. The instructors work you and have fun at the same time. The best yoga in the East Bay. — Lexi P

Namaste in Rockridge
Hands down(ward dog), the best, most experience, most intuitive and skilled teachers in the Bay Area. — ecodoc

Square One Yoga Collective
Katy is the most gracious yoga studio owner. All of the teachers are fabulous. It’s always a wonderful experience. — kjimho

Piedmont Yoga
This place is only one that I know of that offers yoga for persons with disabilities. This is a rarity and especially helpful. — oaklandact

Monkey Yoga Shala
Tim Thompson balances an intense passion for taking you deeply into yoga with a wonderfully goofy sense of humor. — kboudy