I know little about Charles Barkley

But he seems to be a very amusing fellow.

On Sunday, Barkley dissed cities on both sides of the Bay Bridge on national TV. Pretending to be stung by a clamorous reaction by rabid Warriors fans, Barkley claimed that "I would rather stay on Alcatraz than San Francisco or Oakland.''

It was an affront to all that is good about this region, and residents reacted with talk-radio rants, angry phone calls to The Chronicle and a few good-natured chuckles.

Then Barkley went for the really low blow -- "You know how bad it is?'' Barkley asked his co-hosts. "I like Sacramento better than both those cities.''

Oooh, that one hurt.

"I really thought,'' Barkley chuckled Monday night, "that was a nice touch.''

Apparently, some locals got really upset about it. Others rolled with it and gave back in kind.

"I'm not surprised that he likes Sacramento,'' said Alameda's Violet Lawton. "He probably feels right at home surrounded by all that hot air.''

[...]

Kent Peterman of Vallejo took a look at Barkley's shaved head and channeled Gertrude Stein: "Not only is there no hair there," he said. "There is no there there.''

[...]

[Comedian Will] Durst thinks Barkley, the favorite son of Leeds, Ala., has just become disoriented.

"Where's he from, Alabama?'' Durst asked. "I think the big city just confuses him.''

Will Durst is a funny guy too.

"Charles is kind of a sly fox,'' [Warriors GM Chris] Mullin says. "He may be trying to line up a trip to the Bay Area. In fact, we may demand that he make an appearance.''

Yeah, just don't let Nancy Levine talk to him.

In fact, Nancy Levine of Berkeley is not only inviting him to stop by if the Warriors continue in the playoffs -- she is passing along a tip to make his visit easier.

"When you're in town,'' she says, "the best route to take to the Oracle Arena is through the MacArthur Maze.''

Now that's just mean. Isn't the regular traffic around here bad enough to wish on him?

Posted by Ken S at May 1, 2007 05:49 AM | TrackBack (0) |