San Jose Community Information

The San Jose Giants’ record in the second half of single-A baseball’s summer season is the worst in the entire California League—but the team is still in first place. » Read More

ANYONE who has ever hoofed it around downtown San Jose is familiar with those ever-so artful manhole covers adorned with the city seal. Featuring a bushel of grain surrounded by grapevines, ringed by the words “City of San Jose, California,” these manholes are scattered around the city’s sidewalks—just in case one forgets where one is when stumbling out of the VooDoo Lounge at 2am. » Read More

THE LEARFIELD Director’s Cup award, which was inaugurated in 1993–94, selects the top collegiate athletic program. Since then, Stanford University has won the award for 16 straight years. Lea Maurer, head coach of the women’s swimming team and 1992 Olympic Gold Medal winner, says Stanford succeeds year-in and year-out because of a culture of achievement that permeates the university. » Read More

DURING the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, San Jose Earthquakes star Landon Donovan, who was then 20, helped lead the country to its first-ever World Cup quarter-final match. Although they unarguably outplayed Germany in that game, Team USA lost with their heads held high. » Read More

THE San Jose Sabercats’ pending return to the Bay Area is a welcome breath of fresh air for a thin San Jose sports market, where cash-strapped fans could soon have two indoor football teams to choose from. Attendance figures for the San Jose Wolves are lower than the organization predicted, with the team drawing around 3,000 fans per game, according to head coach and general manager Bennie King. Despite the low attendance figures, King said that the team was in good shape financially. » Read More

A FULLBACK in soccer is supposed to stop the opponent’s attack, while it is up to the strikers and midfielders to tally the assists and goals. But the best international teams all boast at least one fullback that is a key contributor on offense. » Read More

TIGER WOODS, Prince Fielder and Usain Bolt all have names that seem like manifest destiny. Add San Jose Giant Brandon Belt to that list. Belt is truly living up to his last name. In his first season playing professional baseball, the left-handed first baseman is leading the team in RBIs while batting .366. » Read More

THE LAST TIME the San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings in a playoff series was 1994. The Sharks had just finished their first season in the new San Jose Arena and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. The eighth-seeded Sharks completed one of the biggest NHL upsets in seven games against the Stanley Cup-favorite Red Wings. » Read More

San Jose State University’s “Speed City” era of the late 1960s is remembered for the iconic image of SJSU runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists at the 1968 Olympics. But Speed City was about more than track and field. Hardcore sports fans worldwide remember the championship boxing of Julius Menendez, and the historic judo champions of Coach Yoshihiro “Yosh” Uchida. » Read More

AFTER TWO YEARS and $72 million in renovations, San Jose’s much-beloved Happy Hollow Park & Zoo reopens to the public Saturday. The zoo has been extensively retooled and expanded, with a grand new entrance, some whimsical bronze sculptures by Tom Otterness and an array of new climbing and sliding equipment for busy children, as well as a 21st-century carousel featuring endangered species. » Read More