-49ers throw some more money around and replace Antonio Bryant with Ashlie Lelie. Besides missing an "s", Lelie has pretty much been a non-entity on the field. So, in other words, meh. -Stanford loses to Arizona in overtime putting them back on the bubble. -Everyone's healthy in Warriors-land, for what it's worth. -Omar Vizquel is arty. -In A's land, the Big Three is now the H Boys. -While the 49ers are making a lot of......

Stumbled across two bad ideas while walking through the Powell cable car area....

We're going to talk about something we rarely talk about-- hockey. Why? Because the San Jose Sharks are now up 2-0 against the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs, after winning last night 2-1. The Sharks, who have won six playoff games in a row, won on a game winning goal by MVP candidate Joe Thorton (check out the great video of it from a fan in the stands). Then there's how they did it, winning last night's game despite, incredibly, being down two players in a 5-3 matchup, only to have two of those players lose their sticks, and still-- somehow, inexplicably-- kept the Oilers from scoring for over a minute. That's studly. Even better is the fact that in describing the whole thing, Sharks coach Brian Wilson referenced the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. How can you not give some props to a Monty Python quoting coach? ...

Truth be told, it's not that easy to choose our favorite Bay Area athlete these days. We don't think it's a stretch to say that twenty years from now, some barfly isn't going to be telling some young whippersnapper about how these were the good-ole-days . Hard to believe, but it was just three years ago when we could claim to being the center of it all. The Giants were in the Series and the Raiders in the Superbowl, the A's had the Big Three and were perennial contenders, the Niners hadn't fallen off the cliff into suckitude yet, and Stanford basketball was always a Top 10 presence. And today? Try this on for size-- the most exciting team in the Bay Area is your Golden State Warriors. As in, wha? As for athletes, this area had some serious star power wattage-- Will the Thrill and Barry; the Giambi Brothers and the Big Three; the amazing Jerry Rice; Joe and Steve. But today, the wattage is considerably dimmer. Oh yes, we still have the biggest badass in the land, the Barrisimo, but he did miss most of last season with rickety knees. And then there's his tainted legacy and our well acknowledged mixed emotions towards the Big Fella. Which leaves us with who? Crazy Crab? So, with all that to ponder, we give you our 2005 Favorite Athlete 'Fistie to (drum roll, please): Baron Davis. ...

ESPN the Magazine (as opposed to ESPN the occasionally showing sports TV channel, ESPN the Web site, ESPN the restaurant chain, and ESPN the movie studio) recently decided to put together a poll that ranks every franchise of the Big Three sports (hockey isn't included as it wasn't playing last year). The ninety-two teams are ranked based on online survey questions and the magazines' own research and are based on things like
wins, management, fan relations, and cost. The top five franchises? The Spurs, Pistons, Steelers, Colts, and the Anahiem LA Angels. So much for sports life in the big cities. The worst five teams? The Knicks, Trail Blazers, Vikings, Bobcats (still too young of a franchise to decide) and coming in last, the poor homeless N'Awlins Saints. So how did our local teams do? In short, meh (we would link to the article in question, but for whatever reason, IT"S NOT ONLINE! This is the 21st Century-- everything should be online. We mean, we can find naked pictures of Natalee Holloway out there, but we can't find a damn ESPN article? What's up with that?) As befitting our no longer regal status in the sporting universe, most of the Bay Area teams came in somewhere in the middle with the Oakland A's deemed the best Bay Area franchise, at 42. Praise was given for it's inexpensive tickets, players (12), and value (17) but were given demerits for management (too cheap) and locale (the dumpy Coliseum, or the Stadium Al Ruined). ...

Last week, the Giants asked the city assessor's office to reassess the Ballpark at 24 Willie Mays Plaza for tax purposes. The point being the Giants are claiming that their four year old park is already starting to get a little less shiny and a little less new and therefore the Giants should pay less money in taxes. Currently, the Giants pay $4 million a year in property taxes plus another $6 million or so......

In breaking news, Billy Beane has shipped the Oakland A's ace, Tim Hudson, to the Atlanta Braves for three young players who, well, won't cost so much. From Atlanta's point of view, we think this may have something to do with the Mets signing Pedro Martinez. So the "Big Three" is now down to two, and since Mulder seems to have problems with his back and shoulder and Zito with his head, the days of......