Let’s face it. Relatively few residents of San Jose will get into Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8 for Super Bowl XL. And while more may see the FIFA World Cup games at the Santa Clara stadium this summer, those six games will go by in a flash.
But San Jose is hoping to leverage both those events, as well as the NCAA March Madness games, to have a more lasting impact for the city’s youth. That’s the goal behind “Game On, San Jose,” an initiative launched this week by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and several Bay Area sports teams that will bring sports-related experiences to thousands of students in their classrooms and at community events.
The launch was held at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley’s Smythe Clubhouse in East San Jose, where students got to practice street hockey and football drills (Mahan even tried his hand at the passing drill, going 1 for 2 on hitting the target).
But before they could head out to the field, the students exhibited Hall of Fame patience as they sat through a lineup of speakers that included 49ers President Al Guido, soccer legend and BayFC co-owner Brandi Chastain, BayFC goalie Jordan Silkowitz and former Earthquakes star Shea Salinas. Fortunately, mascots S.J. Sharkie, Gigante from the San Jose Giants and Q from the Earthquakes were on hand to keep everyone entertained.
“The big game will get played on Feb. 8, and it will go away,” Guido said. “But the legacy that it leaves will be defined by the work we do in the community that changes lives.”
You can sign up for updates about future school visits and community events at sj26.sanjose.org/gameon.
PLAYING THE BLUES: Mark Jacobson has been hosting a blues music show at Santa Clara University’s radio station, KSCU (103.3 FM), since he arrived on campus as an MBA student in 1985. This week, he’s being recognized for his four decades of championing the blues with the Keeping the Blues Alive award from the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tenn.
“I’m humbled and honored,” Jacobson, 65, said. “Overall, It feels great to get recognition for 40 years of playing the blues on KSCU and supporting the local blues bands, the venues and festivals in the greater Bay Area.”
Jacobson, who grew up in Cupertino, said the radio bug hit him early, and he worked for KKUP-FM when he was a teenager. He kept his hand in radio at San Jose State and then found his home on the airwaves at Santa Clara University. He’s made his living in technology sales but still hosts the Sunday Blues Blast and has mentored at least a dozen blues DJs over the years. While KSCU is a low-wattage station, streaming the station has opened it to listeners all over the world.
SPRUCING UP FOR THE SUPER BOWL: With all the big sports events in Silicon Valley this year, somebody’s working overtime in coming up with sports-themed references for San Jose events. I mentioned the youth initiative “Game On, San Jose” earlier, but this weekend also will see the launch of “Tackle San Jose,” a series of cleanup events around downtown before and after the Super Bowl. No doubt Mineta San Jose airport will find a way to use “Touchdown San Jose.”
The cleanups, which run Jan. 17, 24 and 31, as well as Feb. 7 and 14, are being supported by the San Jose Sharks, the San Jose Conservation Corps, San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy’s office and the mayor’s office. You can sign up to volunteer by going to bit.ly/tacklesj.
San Jose City Hall is also getting dolled up for the Super Bowl. The mayor donned a hard hat and boarded a crane lift to check out the vinyl wrap being applied to the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda on Thursday morning. The process is expected to take a couple of days to complete, and it will be followed by similar “San Jose 26” branding on about 12 floors of the City Hall tower on either side of the elevator banks.
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