Since I've been reading AN, I've been startled by the amount of anti-Giants venom displayed here. Not horrified or pleased- I have vaguely positive feelings for the Giants and don't believe "they steal potential A's fans" conspiracy theories, nor do I subscribe to class-war theories focused on stereotypes of the respective teams' fans- but still a little surprised by the passion. What I've noticed in my nowhere-near-scientific observations is that the A's fans who hate the Giants/Giants fans/city of San Francisco/wine-and-cheese-consumption seem to be younger than A's fans who like the Giants or don't care much about them either way, with the under-25 group tending to have the most virulently anti-Giants members.

Which brings me to my latest crackpot theory on the subject: This all stems from the 1991 split between the 415 and 510 area codes (can't recall when the 925 and 650 codes split off, but it was around that time). Yes, in the days before cellphones and fax machines gobbled up every possible phone number, you had one area code for a huge chunk of the Bay Area. Oakland was 415. Lafayette was 415. Marin was 415. And so on. Residents of San Francisco and Oakland could join hands and dance around the One True Area Code, singing "Kumbaya" and celebrating their bond, etc. So, when the 510 split off from the 415, a whole generation of Bay Area residents grew up thinking Bad Thoughts about those auslanders with the other numbers... (why, I hear those 415s sacrifice their own children to Wotan!). Those born too early to have a clear recollection of the pre-510 era- let's say early 80s- grew up with a more intense awareness of the otherness of those bastids on the other side of the water.

So, to satisfy my curiosity I'm going to put out this little poll. The first six choices are really for the use of (current and former) Bay Area residents; I've included choices for those of you who live outside the 415/510 Conflict Zone (sorry, no age groups for you, but I'd need more poll fields for that).