Just Shoot the Puck (it sounds stupid, but it works)

OK, a quickie observation from last night's 5-2 Sharks win, their team record 9th straight on the road...the Sharks went down 2-1 and were teetering on the edge of one of their fold the tents collapses when a funny thing happened. They learned the important lesson their coaches have been trying to hammer home all season (and last season as well for that matter) - SHOOT THE PUCK!!!

When you shoot the puck at the net good things happen. To borrow a line from Dazed and Confused...it sounds stupid, but it works.

This team is so skilled that they get too cute on offense...rather than peppering the opposing goal tender with shots they instead try to make fancy passes to get just the right shot. Well, guess what? *ANY* shot is just the right shot! Ironically it is the Sharks' great skill level that seems to be hamstringing their offense. Just shoot the damn puck!

Turns out after all the clamoring from coaches and fans alike the catalyzing event that allowed the Sharks to learn this important lesson - at least for one night - was Craig Rivet's nothing little shot from just inside the blue line at 12:04 of the 2nd.

It was one of those shots that no one expects to go in...maybe you'll get a nice rebound, at the very least it might lead to a forecheck deep or a much needed line change. But something strange happened...it went in the net. All of a sudden we had a tie game, and you could almost see the wheels turning in the Sharks' heads.

Suddenly every player was winding up and letting it fly. Odd angles, blue line shots, spin arounds with hardly a chance to go in. And sure, most of them didn't go in. But it's no coincidence that they scored 3 more goals after Rivet's...with all the shots they were putting on net some were bound to go in, and indeed some did.

So, Sharks, remember this night and this lesson. Don't try to get pretty. Don't dazzle us with your skill. Just tenaciously keep shooting the puck at the net. Good things will happen. Trust me on this.

Jack Giveth and Jack Taketh Away

The Warriors are a fun team. No question about that. Unfortunately "wildly entertaining" doesn't necessarily translate to "really good". We saw that last night.

Look, after the miserable hoops years we've had here by the bay I'll certainly gladly take wildly entertaining and mediocre. It's a hell of a lot better than boring and crappy, which is what we had come to expect. But let's be clear about this team, they are entertaining, fun, edge of your seat exciting, but they aren't really good. Last night was a microcosm of what the W's are about, and Stephen Jackson, the emotional center of the team, is also the best example of all that is both good and bad with the Warriors.

You see, the Warriors are dependent on Jack. We all know the team started out 0-6 as Jackson served a league imposed suspension, and how the season suddenly turned around upon his return.

But Jackson, like the Warriors, is like the little girl with the curl....when he is good he is very very good, and when he is bad he is horrid. Unfortunately whether he's good or horrid the Warriors depend on him, and as he goes they go.

In some ways Jackson is having a great year...he's averaging a career high 21.5 points per game, good for 16th best in the NBA. He is the emotional core and co-captain of our resurgent Plucky Little Warriors. For a guy considered poison by most NBA teams because of off the court issues he's having a fantastic year, better than they could possibly have hoped for when they traded for him.

And yet, he's shooting only 40% from the field, 30% on 3s (while hucking up almost 7 a game on average). For all the points he is putting up he's also giving away a lot of possessions with bad shots or, like last night, just plain missing key good shots. Jackson had a wide open 3 to take the lead with 9 seconds left last night...he clanked it, and with it went the game.

Jackson, who missed 10 of his 15 3 attempts and 18 of his 27 shots total, said after the game "The team relies on me to score points, so I just have to shoot better. If I'm going to take that many shots, I'm going to have to hit a higher percentage of them."

And herein lies the problem. The Warriors do rely on him to score points. And some nights he is very good at it. Unfortunately, however, on some nights he is horrid. And when he is, like he was last night, so are the Warriors.

So are the Warriors wildly entertaining? Yes. Are they a lot of fun? Yes. Am I thankful to have them? Absolutely. But we all have to accept that they are, like their emotional leader, also wildly inconsistent. Some nights Jackson and the Warriors look unbeatable, but many nights they look as they did last night, dependent on a mediocre shooter for key points at big moments. And that's not really good.

Clearing Out the Cobwebs (Me and the Teams)

OK, back at it after 5 days off for the holidays...and the words are not exactly flowing out of me as they sometimes are wont to do. Of course, I'm not the only one shaking off the rust...there are millions of others out there in the same boat.

Apparently a handful of them play for the Warriors and Sharks. Yes, they both won last night - and for the Sharks that is reason in itself to be excited. And yes, a win is a win. But take a closer look at how they won and you'll see these are not teams playing at full capacity right now.

The Warriors took on the worst team in the league last night, at home, and built up a 22 point lead. But, they surrendered most of it, eventually hanging on for a 4 point victory, 105-101. Hey, it's a win - their 4th in 5 games - and we'll take it. But good teams don't often let bad teams back in games they control at home. Great teams never do. We'll give them a pass because it's the holiday season and I'm feeling magnanimous, but this is not a comforting win.

That said, watching the development of Monta Ellis in to a top player in the league is a true pleasure. I like this team a lot, and they're fun and exciting to watch. I just wish they'd learn to put a bad team away. They've got some time to figure it out.

One team that is running out of time to figure it out is the Sharks. They've plummeted from the 2 seed to the 5 seed in little more than a week with yet another perplexing run of uninspired play at home against Pacific Division rivals. They currently sit only 3 points away from being on the outside looking in on the playoffs. This even after a win last night.

Again, though, take a closer look at that win. It was over a team, the LA Kings, who had, coming in, lost 8 straight games. Much like the Warriors the Sharks pounced quickly, gaining an early 2-0 lead. But, like the Warriors, they twice let the Kings back in to the game, allowing them to close within 2-1 and, later, 3-2.

Hey, after the Sharks terrible play of late a win seems great, no question. But, once again, the good teams don't let the bad teams back in games, they step on their throats and don't let up.

This is more worrisome in the Sharks' case than the Warriors' - there are higher expectations for the Sharks. Unlike the Warriors, who are a good team who hope someday to be great, the Sharks are supposedly a great team, one of the top 4-5 in the league. They haven't looked like it in defeat the last week, and unfortunately they didn't look like it in victory last night either.

So our teams went 2-0 yesterday but, like the rest of us, slowly easing back in to the grind of everyday life after the holidays, there is a lot of work still to be done.

The Clarity of Distance

OK, in the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I am out of town and did not actually watch the Sharks shootout loss to the Coyotes last night. But, in an odd kind of way, hearing about it without actually having seen it has proven somewhat illuminating.

They lost the way they've lost many times before - at home, in the shootout, blowing a late lead, giving up a shorthanded goal. And, since I didn't see all the times they carried the play I am not fooled in to thinking 'oh, a break here, a break there...they were clearly the better team, they just didn't close the deal, it will even out over the course of the season'.

Guess what? I'm beginning to think they just may not be the better team we all think they are. When you just read the results, and consider the familiarity of those results...well, perhaps this is just the team we have.

Perhaps we really are a team that can't win at home, that can't hold leads, that can't win shootouts, that allows almost as many goals on the power play as it scores(OK, exaggeration, but admit it, it feels that way).

You know what we call teams like that? Hint: the answer isn't "Contender for the Cup".

I feel somewhat like a hypocrite considering I wrote just last week that the Sharks were doing fine and fans complaining were overreacting and should be happy with the team they get to watch. But you know what? Perhaps I just needed to step away and not watch them for a game to see what everyone - but me - who has been watching them is seeing.

And maybe you all are right.

The Great One

Sure, I should talk about how the Sharks suffered yet another dispiriting home loss to the Ducks on Tuesday,

And of course I should talk about The Plucky Littles comeback win over the Wolves last night.

And yes, I know The Great One is Wayne Gretzky.

But I want to take a moment today and talk about one of the classiest, most talented, most inspirational football players I have ever had the joy to root for - Bryant Young.

It appears BY will be retiring at the end of the year, making Sunday his final home game. It's a sad day, the last remnant of the title winning 49er teams riding off in to the sunset.

But BY is special for so many more reasons than being the last one standing from the '94 champions. He exemplifies everything that is right about the game, in an era in which so many exemplify everything that is wrong.

His stats are fantastic - 4 time All Pro, 4 time Pro Bowler, 89.5 sacks. But here's a number even more impressive - 8 Len Eshmont Awards.

The Len Eshmont Award is given annually to the 49ers' most inspirational player. An 8 time winner is absolutely unheard of. To put that in perspective...no one else has ever won more than 2. Not Montana, not Young, not Rice. No one.

Look beyond the numbers and awards and consider this quote from one time teammate and Sunday opponent Jeff Garcia -

"Bryant Young is the ultimate professional and ultimate 49er. The guy has been an ambassador for the team in the sense he is everything you want, not out of a player but out of a person. He is the type of person you want your son to be like."

Wow. That's heady praise.

BY has put up Hall of Fame caliber statistics, been the team leader and heart and soul for 14 years, and has the ultimate respect of teammates and opponent alike. The numbers are great, the qualities beyond the numbers are even better.

So long BY. You've been a great 49er, and we'll miss you.

At Least We Know How to Kick Round These Parts

The NFL Pro Bowl teams were just announced today, and the Bay Area cornered a rare distinction...we'll be represented every time either team punts the ball. Yup, Shane Lechler of the Raiders is the AFC punter, Andy Lee of the Niners is the NFC punter.

Considering the offenses on display for us here in Northern California that is eminently appropriate. We may not be able to move the chains, run, pass, block or score touchdowns, but we sure can kick!!

Thank you Patrick Willis for being the only Bay Area pro bowler who actually plays the game. Maybe next year you'll have some company...

The Secret to Their Success

It hit me last night as I watched the 2nd half of the Plucky Little Warriors' 113-105 road victory over Memphis. The Warriors have star power in Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and even, to a certain extent, Al Harrington.

They have top young emerging talent in Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins.

They have the Hall of Fame coach in Don Nelson, and the fun up-tempo style that Nellie has had so much success with, particularly in his last stop here.

But the real key to the Warriors' success? Kelenna Azubuike and Matt Barnes.

If you watched the game last night you saw why. Azubuike was only the 5th leading scorer for the Ws last night with 15 points, but he hit big shot after big shot down the stretch - none bigger than his 3 point play with 3:28 left just after the Grizzlies had cut the deficit to 8 points and looked to be seizing momentum and possibly the game. It was a fearless play - driving the lane, getting pounded, yet somehow making the shot to bring the momemtum back to his side. Championship players make plays like that.

For good measure Azubuike also grabbed a couple of key rebounds, played good defense and made no major mistakes down the stretch.

Matt Barnes went scoreless on the night but actually had a huge impact on the game. His 7 rebounds and 4 assists didn't exactly fill up the scoresheet, but if you were watching you saw that every one of them was huge, that his hustle plays led to extra possessions for the team, his slick ball movement allowed the offense to flow, and he too played a strong defensive game.

What's particularly amazing about both players is that until they became Warriors they weren't considered valuable assets. Azubuike went undrafted out of college, played D-Ball for a couple of years, and was waived twice before finding his niche here. Barnes was drafted (in the 2nd round) but bounced around the league, playing for 6 different teams before ending up on the Warriors.

Now their grit, tenacity, and knack for making the right play - even if it's not the sexy play - at the right moment have them both playing key minutes for the playoff contending Warriors. Night in and night out they are giving the effort and making the plays that need to be made.

And, more often than not, being the difference between winning and losing while playing in the shadows of their better known teammates.

Is It Still Football Season?

This was a weird Sunday. For as long as I can remember from September through January Sundays meant one thing - football.

Then this Sunday rolled around. I'm not an NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber (thank you, cable) and so my football choices were Packers/Rams in the morning and Raiders/Colts in the afternoon. Yawn, and yawn again.

OK, so the Raider game apparently ended up being interesting. Big deal. Would that matchup have kept you in front of the TV? Not unless you were a fan of the Raiders (no, still haven't gotten over the Marcus Allen thing) or the Colts (please).

So yesterday afternoon I found myself Christmas shopping and thinking to myself "So this is what normal people do on Sunday. Interesting."

At least we had the Warriors on in the morning and the Sharks on in the evening. I like that schedule - 5 good hours of sports as bookends to a day of being out in the world like other normal humans. Interesting.

Of course, had their been interesting matchups it would have been different. It's a testament to just how grim the NFL landscape is on a week to week basis that I put in 5 hours in front of the TV watching sports on a December Sunday and none of that time was spent watching football.

Bizarre.

At least the Sharks gave me a nice win against the defending champs to justify my time investment. The Warriors? Well, let's just say that maybe Rams/Packers wouldn't have been such a bad choice after all...

The Good, The Bad and the Uglies

The Good: 49ers win! 49ers win! 49ers win!

I had to write it 3 times before it looked right, it's been so rare this year.

Shaun Hill, where have you been? Frank Gore, we always knew these games were in you if you got some decent QB play to take some of the defensive heat off you. The Defense...just looking for a little support from the offense, you've been playing your heart out all year.

Yeah it was against the Bungles. Yeah it was a meaningless December game in a lost season in front of an embarrassingly empty stadium.

But it was a win. We'll take it.

The Bad: The Sharks, playing with the kind of passion we've been expecting from them all year, play a mostly great game against their longtime division rival, yet lose and drop out of first place.

For the most part no complaints - although wait for The Uglies - though the results aren't there and that's a discouraging game to drop, particularly when faced with another game tonight on the road against a now fully Niedermayered Anaheim team.

But another great game for Bernier, who is on quite the roll with his physical play, Marleau, despite an unfortunate penalty also played another solid game, and what more can you say about the two rocks of the team - Joe Thornton, as usual the best player on the ice, and Craig Rivet, taking 19 penalty minutes sticking up for his teammates and establishing the physical tone of the Sharks.

Nice game, fun to watch, not too much to complain about, too bad it wasn't a win.

The Uglies - Mike Nolan and Matt Carle, you guys get to share this award.

Nolan - it's easy to pile on Nolan for not having started Shaun Hill sooner. Keep in mind, though, the old saying about the backup being the most popular guy on the team. It's much easier for Hill to come in, no pressure, with the season already lost - and put up numbers against one of the worst D's in the league.

Normally I wouldn't blame Nolan for waiting too long to go to Hill, but in this case I do believe he has some culpability, only because Trent Dilfer was SO awful in pretty much every game he started this year. There were times when I thought to myself 'I know Shaun Hill is probably going to suck, but could he really be any worse than Dilfer? Isn't it worth a shot simply on the logic that no matter how bad he is he couldn't play any worse than the QB play they're getting now??'

So thanks Mike, for waiting until the season had slipped through your fingers to make the QB move that could have made a difference. You don't even get credit for making the move, Dilfer's concussion left you with no choice.

Also, special mention to going for it on 4th and 2 with a chance to put the Niners up by 2 scores with a FG. Instead they failed and the Bungles had a very good chance to tie late in the game. That's just awful game management, through and through, capped by a very perplexing Nolan quote after the game:

"And when we go for it - whether we convert it or not, it's not significant - we typically have won the game."

Okey dokey Mike, I guess that means you should just cut the punter because apparently the team tends to win games in which you go for it on 4th down, whether you make it or not.

Riiiiiight.

Matt Carle - I know he's very young, and could still grow in to the player the team thinks he can be. In fact, he probably will. But right now he is just killing them with tentative play on the ice. Bad turnovers, poor keep-ins at the blue line, and then that horrible horrible unforced penalty yesterday that completely changed the course of the game.

This is a game the Sharks were controlling - they scored the first goal, got the lead back within a minute after a fluky goal tied it, killed a 4 minute penalty with energy to spare after Craig Rivet took 19 minutes in penalties sticking up for the team and taking on Steve Ott...Bernier and Grier were throwing their bodies around, the crowd was going nuts, the ice was tilted the Sharks way.

Until an inexplicably jittery Carle, who had been a healthy scratch during most of the Sharks recent run of great play, threw the puck over the boards for a delay of game penalty.

At that point the momentum turned, the Stars were given new life, and the Sharks never recovered.

Yes you can say one of the top teams in the league should be able to overcome a mistake like that. But keep in mind they were playing another top team. Every play, every penalty was crucial. To have an unforced error like that is inexcusable. For good measure Carle followed up by sending 2 more pucks over the boards later in the game.

Please Ron Wilson, put Carle back in the press box till he straightens himself out! I'd rather see Rob Davison in there...he may be less talented, but at this point in their respective careers he's the more mentally tough player.

Soul, Passion and Some Luck

Another great win for those Plucky Little Warriors last night...with the help of a little luck, in the form of Kobe Bryant's groin injury which clearly hampered him in the 4th quarter, ultimately leading to his leaving the game at crunch time.

This has been quite a week for the locals in basketball and hockey - the W's get the Spurs sans the best player in the game, Tim Duncan, then get Kobe and the Lakers, only to watch Kobe spend the 4th quarter hobbling around like he just had his hip replaced. The Sharks, meanwhile, get division leading Vancouver minus the best goalie in the league, Roberto Luongo.

But hey, you can only play the cards you're dealt, right? Wins are wins. And, to be fair, due to Stephen Jackson's smothering defense Kobe was having a rough game well before he got hurt.

The biggest thing I take away from this game is the mental fortitude the Warriors are showing this year, a fortitude long missing from this team. Even during last year's great run they didn't show this kind of mental toughness.

It was first evident in their rapid recovery and ascent from their 0-6 start. While previous Warrior teams might have gone in the tank at that point the Warriors went out on a tough road trip and righted the ship.

Then there are the come from behind victories - last Friday, coming from 18 down against the Heat and now coming from down 8 with 3:29 to go against a team that had beaten them 9 games in a row.

That's mental toughness. That's soul and passion, and hey, let's be real, a little bit of luck. But in this league you need to take advantage of your opportunities, and make some of your own luck.

These Warriors are living up to their name. As Lionel Hampton might say, this could be the start of something good...

Sharks: Biting or Teasing?

Another great home win for the Sharks last night. That's 2 in a row, both by 3 goals, both over solid playoff teams. Granted, Vancouver was playing without their all world goalie Roberto Luongo. It's a little bit like the Warriors' win over the Tim Duncan less Spurs earlier this week...impossible to understate his loss, but a good, dominating win over a very good team nonetheless.

So, are the Sharks turning the corner? Who knows...we've seen small stretches of inspired play from them a few times, only to have them fall off again in to lack of effort 7-1 home losses. Are they coming on, or just having a nice series of games?

The next few weeks will answer those questions. In the meantime I'm excited to relish in the good I'm seeing - with the Sharks you never know when those good feelings will evaporate, enjoy 'em while they're here. To wit:

1. Patty Marleau - last night was easily his best game of the season, perhaps not on the scoresheet, though his streaking goal to make it 2-0 Sharks was a thing of beauty, but in every aspect of the game Marleau was dominant. He finished checks, set up other players, won every battle for pucks and generally looked like the guy he's supposed to be - a #1 Center playing on the 2nd line because the Sharks are so deep there's an even better #1 Center on the team.

2. Steve Bernier - After being the best player on the ice in Tuesday's win over the Wild he followed it up with another strong all around game featuring signature Bernier hits and a goal.

3. Joe Pavelski - Showing impressive grit to match his impressive speed and skills.

4. Nabby - Leading the league in wins, 2nd in goals against.

5. Oh yeah, some guy named Thornton, who continues to play with passion and grit on both ends of the ice while scoring 14 points in his last 8 games.

6. The standings - despite long stretches of mediocre hockey and a general acknowledgement that they haven't played to their potential the Sharks sit in the #2 seed in the West and the 3rd best record in all of hockey.

There's a lot of time between now and the playoffs. There will be ups and downs to come, but right now I am one cautiously optimistic Sharks fan. Check back with me in a couple of weeks though, things can change fast in these waters.

The Mitchell Report - Meh

I have to admit I eagerly anticipated the titillation that would be the release of names in the Mitchell Report as much as anyone. Guiltily, I might add, as I am against the report in general and particularly as it was spearheaded by a paid employee of the Boston Red Sox. Even if Darth Mitchell did indeed use a completely unbiased hand in the creation of the report he was just a terrible choice due to conflict of interest.

I was in a meeting at 11 AM PST when the report was released, and all I could think about was 'what names are out there already that I don't know about yet??'

Well, when I finally got to a computer, watched the Mitchell press conference, downloaded the PDF of the report, read the list of names...meh.

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite. Huge names to be sure, but not new names.

Barry Bonds. Yawn.

Miguel Tejada and his Fabulous B-12 Shots. Big deal.

Eric Gagne. Dogged by whispers for years.

So, where were the big new names? The names that were going to change the way we look at baseball, go down in infamy, destroy good American values and prove they were all communists this whole time??

FP Santangelo is not exactly an earth-shattering reveal. Seems like a great guy, local media figure, sad to see him on the list, but didn't change the prism through which I view baseball.

Mark Carreon? I was happy to see his name on the report simply because I had forgotten he played for the Giants. Brought back some nice 1990's memories.

The 8 '98-00 Yankees? We already talked Clemens and Pettite, it's not like the other names are Jeter, Williams and O'Neill.

What really bugs me about the "60-80 names" we were promised is 23 of them are named in the report in the context of being already publicly exposed as targets of investigations. Hey, I can issue The Al Babe Report and include 60-80 names too by putting in my Report "George Mitchell included the following names in his report..."

Big deal. Today was kind of like Super Bowl Sunday - lots of anticipation, indulgence in guilty pleasures, and then when the buildup is over and it's time for the Big Event? Wake me up when it's over.

Rowand to the Giants - Move 1?

OK, so the Giants just signed CF Aaron Rowand to a 5 year $60 million deal. I have mixed feelings on this deal...I LOVE everything I've heard about Rowand. He's a gamer, he'll quite literally run through walls for the team, as he did when he legendarily broke his nose hitting the OF wall making a fantastic catch, and he'll demand max effort from his teammates.

Considering manager Bruce Bochy was concerned there wasn't enough of a warrior mentality in the clubhouse this directly addresses that, and Rowand should be the anti-Bonds with respect to showing the younger players how things are done in the bigs.

But 5 years at $12mil/per? Wow. Reports had no other teams offering more than 3 years. So the Giants, as they always seem to do, overpaid, perhaps not in dollars but in years.

Then again, perhaps they had to. San Francisco, once a premium destination for free agents, is becoming sort of a wasteland. The team isn't good, the park will kill hitting stats...and when Detroit faced these same obstacles a few years ago they overpaid grossly to get free agents interested, notably Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez, and I'd say that worked out pretty well for them.

Still, this move seems to be at odds with the get younger philosophy the Giants are trying to employ. Hard to see how this move alone makes up any ground in the west. Yes they kept their stud starting pitching, but they still don't have a major league lineup.

Unless this is just move 1. In Andrew Baggerly's piece in the Merc today Sabean is quoted as saying they are out of the market for Hideki Matsui, and they are talking to Pedro Feliz about a 2 year deal. Mistake, and mistake again.

I wasn't a big fan of the Matsui deal to begin with, mostly for the same reasons I'm lukewarm on Rowand - each move, by itself, does nothing to close the gap in the west, and you're not getting players that will grow and peak with your young pitching.

But, now that they've leapt in to the brink I think they need to follow it up with more moves. Here's how:

Trade Jonathan Sanchez, Brad Hennessey and Dave Roberts for Hideki Matsui. If the Yankees would take a lesser arm than Hennessey to pair with Sanchez great, but considering the Giants are in the over-paying business this looks like the deal to make. Maybe the Yankees throw in a young league average prospect to fill out the deal.

On the Yankees end they get two young live arms, which can either give them the flexibility to throw Ian Kennedy in to the Santana trade and get that done, or at least give them options both for their bullpen and starting rotation if the other kids in the rotation wear down (which history says at least one will). They also get an expensive but useful 4th OF who can provide decent defense, steal a big base late in a game (ask the Red Sox how important that can be), and lead off the 25 or so games Damon will miss with nagging injuries. Yes, he's expensive, but the Yankees can afford it and they like depth and speed and he gives them both.

Then the Giants trade grade B prospects for Scott Rolen and his entire deal. The Cards get rid of Rolen and his entire salary, the Giants take on money to keep talent, which they desperately need to hold on to. Let the Cards sign Pedro Feliz, the Giants have danced that dance.

Now you have a lineup that looks like this:

Winn RF
Frandsen/Durham 2B
Rowand CF
Matsui LF
Rolen 3B
Molina C
Ortmeier/Aurilia 1B
Vizquel SS
P

And, you've kept your stud starting pitching, so you can roll out Cain, Lincecum, Lowry, Zito and Correia every 5 days.

Is this ideal? No, of course not. They probably are still not a contender, though they are respectable now if everyone stays healthy. Are Matsui and Rolen expensive injury risks? Absolutely. I would have advocated taking your lumps and building slowly with youth so your hitting matures with your young pitching, but now that they've made the Rowand deal they almost have to follow up with something like this.

The Giants stated last year they were going young, then didn't. They've done the same this year, but so far aren't. If they're not going to tear the whole thing down at least do the patchwork thing smartly.

Happy Wednesday

In stark contrast to the growing disaster that is Mike Nolan, Alex Smith and the 3-10 49ers here's why Bay Area sports fans should be in the holiday spirit today - your San Jose Sharks and Plucky Little Warriors.

The Sharks absolutely took it to one of their nemeses, the Minnesota Wild, last night. This was the kind of dominating, game never in doubt performance over a good team we've been waiting for at home from Team Teal. The Sharks scored early (Pavelski at 2:39 of the 1st), got production from every line, great goaltending from Nabby, and generally looked the part of a real Cup contender.

Special kudos to Steve Bernier. I thought this guy was going to be a star his rookie season. It seemed like he won every personal battle in the corners. But weight issues and inconsistent play have dogged him since then. If he can finally put together consistent play the caliber of last night's effort the Sharks will be brutal to defend.

Last night was the first game in a while where Joe Thornton wasn't the best player on the ice, it was Bernier.

OK, on to those Plucky Little Warriors...look, I know Tim Duncan didn't play, and it's impossible to overstate how huge that is. But come on, this is the best team in the NBA we're talking about, the defending champs. They had won 2+ games without Duncan, including wins over West powers Dallas and Utah. They were 17-3 coming in, winners of 5 straight.

Duncan or no Duncan, that's a great win for the W's. And, let's face it, a win that wouldn't have happened in years past. This has to be an enormous confidence boost for a team that wasn't exactly lacking in that department to begin with.

Now if only they can find a way to beat the Lakers...

Mike Nolan has Finally Pushed Me Over the Edge

I've been on the fence about Mike Nolan. When he was first hired I greatly admired his public presence, his mixture of optimism and realism, and his apparent sense of accountability. As recently as last year it looked like his vision was coming to fruition, and that the slow build from misery to respectability, respectability to contender was coming to pass.

Even this disastrous year I was willing to believe that bad luck (losing Norv Turner too late in the year to make a proper O-Cor hire, the Alex Smith and Manny Lawson injuries, etc) and over inflated expectations were more to blame than Nolan. As long as he kept the qualities he'd shown in the dark early days I was willing to believe he was still the guy to right the ship.

But in the face of bad loss followed by worse loss, of a team clearly getting worse as the season goes on, the cracks in the Nolan armor are becoming more and more pronounced.

His public presence has become smarmy and at times combative (yeah, it's really Ann Killion's fault the Niners aren't doing well, isn't it??). The optimism is still there, but the realism has totally vanished - it took Nolan almost the entire season to bring himself to admit that OC Jim Hostler was overmatched, he stubbornly maintained in the face of mounting evidence that Alex Smith wasn't hurt, he has maintained that Trent Dilfer has been doing a great job at quarterback...I read some of Nolan's quotes now and think 'Are we watching the same team??'

And, finally, accountability. With today's San Jose Mercury News article in which Smith claims Nolan has undermined him in the locker room it seems that Nolan is preparing to throw Smith under the bus for this season's dismal failures. For someone who has gone to great lengths to protect his coaching staff from criticism he sure isn't shy about heaping it on his franchise QB.

As recently as Sunday's unwatchable loss to Minnesota I was in the Give Nolan 1 More Year to Turn it Around camp. No more. Good coaches don't refuse to acknowledge obvious shortcomings within their staff and gameplans, they don't let their team get worse and worse as the season goes on, and they certainly don't throw their franchise QBs under the bus to make themselves look better. Not coaches who expect another year at the helm.

So long Mike Nolan. You showed such promise when there was nowhere to go but up, but it's been a different story on the way back down.

Black Sunday By The Bay

Ouch.

That's all I can think to say in the aftermath of yesterday's general bay area sports disaster.

Let's see - the Raiders got thumped in Green Bay. Then the Niners go down 27-0 before losing at home 27-7 in a game they were never in. Then the Plucky Littles lose a game against the Lakers that is a stark reminder that 'exciting and fun' is all well and good but not the same as 'championship caliber'. What a great way to lead in to a Monday.

Oh, and for good measure a fan fell to his death at the Niner game yesterday.

Somewhere in there is a metaphor...

Perplexing

OK, look, I'm not going to get overly negative here. The Sharks did just win 4 straight over stiff competition. They are 6-2-2 in their last 10, and they are tied for the Pacific Division lead with 2 games in hand on Dallas. If the playoffs were to start today they'd be the #3 seed. Lots of fan bases would kill to root for this team right now.

And yet the Sharks continued dismal play at home certainly does set off alarms. They remain one of the worst home teams in the league. It's hard to imagine the Sharks making a significant playoff run unless they get their house in order at the Tank.

What's particularly odd about this team is they do so many things well - they have the #1 penalty kill in the league, they lead the league in goals against (OK, they did before last night, not sure now)...these are the stats that one usually associates with championship caliber teams.

And on the road they are a championship caliber team. But unless they can get straightened out at home putting our faith in them to be in position to hoist the Cup is not a comfortable feeling.

Plucky Littles Don't Disappoint (but yeah, I was a bit worried)

OK, I admit that watching the Warriors go down 18 last night I was thinking to myself 'I can't believe I let the Warriors sucker me in to believing again, I am Charlie Brown, they are Lucy with a football', but ultimately they did put together that kind of great 4th quarter the truly good teams do, and won a game in which they were for long stretches significantly outplayed.

And you know what? That's what seriously good NBA teams do. They win games with 4th quarter runs over teams they are supposed to beat. For the last 15 years these were exactly the kinds of games the Warriors would lose. They'd be the team leading most of the game then somehow walking away with that frustrating loss. They'd be the ones thinking 'We had that game and we just gave it away'.

Not anymore. These aren't your father's Warriors. Or my mom's.

Oh, by the way, the Sharks won their 4th straight last night to move in to the division lead. You may not know that of course, since as hockey gets no respect the game wasn't on locally. But they did. If a tree falls in the forest....

The Plucky Littles

My mom is a huge Warriors fan. She's stuck with them through a lot of lean years. I mean, a whole lot.

I've stuck with 'em too, although less so than she. Still, I always kept my eye on them, watched games I knew they would lose, and basically just accepted the fact it would be years before they were good again. A couple of years ago they actually showed a little promise, and here and there actually surprised with a win over a good team. When talking with my mom I started mentioning those plucky little Warriors and their surprise wins. Don't get me wrong, they still weren't good, but they could sometimes surprise.

After several such conversations the epithet started to stick, and soon I was referring to The Warriors as The Plucky Little Warriors. As that became kind of burdensome to say it eventually evolved in to the Plucky Littles.

In thinking about the game tonight I realized just how far the Plucky Littles have come. Yeah, they beat the #1 seed last year in the playoffs, a monumental achievement to be sure, but that always had the feel of David beating Goliath, the Plucky Littles beating the Big Bad Guys.

So now here we are, and the Miami Heat are coming to town. Shaq, Dwayne Wade, Pat Riley. Those are big time, basketball sexy names. And yet, not only are the Plucky Littles favored, it's not even close. The Plucky Littles are 8 point favorites! Over Shaq and D-Wade! Amazing.

Sure the Heat are having a down year - ok, a REALLY down year. But hey, for the last several years the Plucky Littles would still be underdogs, or even if they weren't they'd find a way to lose the game. Now it just seems like you know they're going to find a way to win.

Marcus Thompson II said it perfectly in a great article for the Contra Costa Times - The Warriors are seriously good. They are a legit good NBA team.

Making the playoffs will no longer be some sort of quirky surprise. It is expected now.

My Plucky Littles sure have come a long way!

Giants Should Hold Their Stud Pitching

Here's hoping Brian Sabean and Co decide ultimately that their agony over the proposed Lincecum for Rios trade is a message and they don't pull the trigger on it. Look, the Giants aren't going to be competitive next year anyway. This is OK - I don't think they give the fans enough credit for patience. We just want to see a master plan, and building with young pitching, drafting and developing a few hitters and waiting for better free agents than are available this year is the best plan.

I would have no problem coming to the park next year and seeing Cain, Lincecum, Lowry, Zito and Correia/Sanchez with no good hitting behind them. For one year - no problem at all.

Stud starters - you never have too many of 'em, and it's easier to find stud hitters down the line.

The Magic of Jumbo Joe

Did you see that pass last night? All I can say is WOW! If you didn't, check it out:


Positively Gretzky like. Now, no one will ever be as great as Gretzky - I was lucky enough to get to watch him in LA while I was in college, he's why I'm a hockey fan to begin with - but Jumbo Joe is as close as I've seen to Gretzky in regards to his on ice vision since The Great One himself.

Just that highlight alone doesn't do Thornton justice though - if you watched the game last night you saw that he not only controlled the flow every shift he was on the ice, he also set up the two Sharks who needed goals the most, Cheechoo and Marleau. That's leadership. Oh, he also scored the game winner - did I mention that?

Strangely after a stellar start as a face off man that was one area where Thornton struggled last night, but big props to Little Joe Pavelski for a huge faceoff win to ice the game at the end. I thought Pavelski, while undeniably talented, might be a little small and soft to play tough NHL minutes but he's proving me wrong.

Quietly the Sharks are 7-1-2 in their last 10, well positioned in both the division and conference races. I still don't quite know what to make of this team but at the moment I'm liking what I see.

Regarding the Name of this Blog

My first post! Very exciting!

I thought it would be appropriate to start by talking about the title I chose, Momentum Swing. I've been inexorably drawn to sports for as long as I can remember. Often I've tried to put my finger on exactly why. So have my parents, my lovely fiancé Melissa (MANY times!!), my friends...what is it about this stuff that keeps bringing me back?

Ultimately it's the human element. In these days of number crunching, stats for everything, and big money contracts we all tend to lose sight of the fact that these are human beings competing against one another, that there is emotion and will and courage involved.

To me, momentum is the perfect expression of this. If sports were strictly about who was more talented or who executed better you wouldn’t have momentum. (As an aside, this is why I can't get in to fantasy sports)

And yet momentum is very real. You know when it has shifted. Announcers talk about it, but even before they do savvy sports fans know. Uncle Mo just moved from one team to the other.

If it weren't for the human element - for emotion - there would be no such thing. The game would proceed and perhaps a team would make a big play or start performing better suddenly due to a match up or well executed plan, but would it affect the next several minutes, and perhaps the entire rest of the game, for both sides? I think not.

Momentum swings in sports remind us the games are organic, that anything can happen on any given day - that courage and fearlessness are as important as skill and practice. And that is what keeps me coming back.

Hopefully you'll enjoy Momentum Swing as much as I will enjoy writing it. Long live the games!!