Here's todays sports news...

We apologize for the scant hockey writing lately, but this Fishmonger has been stuck in the Bermuda Triangle that lurks in the background of San Jose's logo, on a futile quest to find Patrick Marleau's game. The Sharks captain's season of misery continues apace, and we're halfway through the 2007-2008 season....

There is actually one team in the area that is playing well and that is your San Jose Sharks. For that, we turn to Sharks' correspondant Ian to get the latest...

Los Gatos-based NetFlix has one of the greatest products around, and we give them a lot of leeway despite the company's annoying, ever-present pop-up ads. The company just announced a summer concert series that attempts to mesh movies with music. We originally thought, "how cheesy." But then we decided we liked the idea -- more or less because it's so cheesy. Also, they're all free to the public. Unfortunately, none of the concerts are......

Well. Um. *cough* Err. Yuck. This going to sting for a while. The Sharks are going to have a lot to think about this off-season, as they once again collapsed in the playoffs after taking a series lead. They were 30 seconds away from a commanding 3-1 lead in Game 4, but then collectively lost their minds, with some stand-out individual mind-losing efforts as well. They not only allowed Robert Lang to tie the score with barely half a minute left in that game, but were dominated in the subsequent overtime. ...

We're three games into the Sharks-Red Wings series, and so far it's been like watching a couple of dogs tussle in Duboce Park: it's competitive, but not exactly fun to watch. The Sharks got two quick goals in Game 1, then endured a Wings onslaught for the win, thanks to stellar goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov. In Game 2, the Sharks went for seconds, going up by two goals in the first period before going into a shell. But that second plate never is quite as good as the first, and Detroit dominated play, battled back to tie the score, and got a late goal by Pavel Datsyuk on a broken play for the win. ...

Here's todays sports news...

The Sharks begin their Western Conference Semi-finals matchup with the Detroit Red Wings on the road at the Joe Lewis Arena tonight. The Wings played the Calgary Flames in Round 1. The series was tightly played, with the Wings ultimately prevailing over the Flames through their forward depth, better transition game, and (somewhat surprisingly) better team speed as the series went on. Mikka Kiprusoff, the Flames netminder, couldn't hold off the Wings offense forever, and Kipper was the only real hope the Flames had to take the series. ...

The Sharks dispatched the Mustard Men in 5 games, which makes the series seem a lot less close than it was. 3 of the games were decided by one goal, with Game 1 in double overtime. Even Game 2, the Predators 5-2 win, was not decided until late in the 3rd period. Nashville's undisciplined play (they led all playoff teams with almost 30 minutes of penalties per game) was their undoing, even though the Sharks power play was more or less ineffective, and often frankly ugly to watch. But it was one more way to wear down the Nashville defenders, and keep their skill players on the bench. Patrick Marleau again scored some big goals, and Joe Thornton took the first step toward erasing his playoff-choker reputation with dominating play and 6 points in the series. Nashville wasn't the only team to distinguish itself with dirty play in this year's playoffs. The Calgary Flames managed to steal the spotlight by having their backup goalie come in to play lumberjack to the Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen's, umm, old growth redwood late in Game 5 of their series (Franzen, fittingly, scored the series winner in Game 6). Then the Flames' Jarome Iginla and Daymond Langkow got in the act late in the game (cross-checking plus slashing and sucker-punching, respectively). Classy. Brad May of the Anaheim Ducks got a 3 game suspension for sucker-punching the back of Minnesota Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson (who is both emphatically not a pugilist, and happened to be Minnesota's best D man), which then caused a multi-player dust-up between the Ducks and Wild during the *pre-game skate* of Game 5 in their series. ...

Sharks 3 Predators 2- SFist did something we haven't done in a long time-- watched a hockey game. Well, the last period at least. For those who've never watched playoff hockey, it's great fun. The sport is already pretty intense with it's speed and occasional bouts of violence and the intensity is turned up several notches during the playoffs. Especially when one is facing elimination. Other than a minute of action, when the Predators scored......

Here's todays sports news...

Sharks 3 Predators 1- San Jose took an all important 2-1 lead in the series against the Predators with an offensive onslaught, getting off 41 shots while holding the Predators to only 19 shots. The Sharks actually were down 1-0 going into the second period when they got goals from Milan Michalek and Ryane Clowe. Patrick Marleau added the insurance goal with about 4 minutes left to play. Also of note is that while......

The Sharks open the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs Wednesday night as a #5 seed on the road against the #4 Nashville Predators. If this match-up sounds familiar, it's because these two teams were first-round opponents last year, when the Predators made their post-season debut, falling to the Sharks 4-1. ...

The Pond's horrible ice and Teemu Selanne's illegal stick helped the Sharks avoid being down a man in overtime against the Ducks last night. Selanne was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the beginning of overtime, negating a Craig Rivet penalty that was carrying over from the end of regulation, and San Jose went on to win the shootout for a 3-2 victory. The Sharks came back to even the score after being down by 2 goals in the first period, and both teams helped their playoff positioning against the Dallas Stars. ...

-The Sharks clinched a playoff spot with a win over the LA Kings, 3-1. Sure, it was pretty much a given but it's still nice to say. Patrick Marleau had two goals and one assist to lead the way. -Frank Gore is now making bank. -Athletics Nation tries to make sense of the A's spring stats. -Tim Kawakami gives us today's "what will the Raiders do with their draft pick" post. -Ray Ratto takes up......

The Giants are installing solar panels right outside WhateverTheyWantToCallItNow Park......

Here's today's wrap up of sports news...

Here's todays sports wrap up...

Here's todays sports wrap up....

Here's todays daily sports roundup...

Here's todays wrapup of sports stories...

At around 3 o'clock or so on Sunday, Palo Alto gave a huge sigh of relief as the Cardinal made it into the Big Dance, being seeded 11th in the South Regional. Their first game is against the sixth seed, Louisville (23-9). No time has been set, but the game will be on Wednesday. ...

-San Jose gets back to where it all belongs with a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks appear to be playing up and down lately-- a win here followed by a loss there-- and this is definitely one of the up games. ...

At times, coaches get blamed for losing a game. Herm Edwards, Doc Rivers, and Marty Schottenheimer, we're looking at you......

In lieu of the NFL trying to trademark the words "Big Game," we are going to do our best to honor them by using the phrase "Big Game" as much as possible. -The Warriors once again get blown out on the road, this time to the Chicago Bulls in their BIg Game. Even Don Nelson seems to be throwing in the towel about playing in all of those Big Games in the playoffs. ...

This morning, ESPN's Len Pasquarelli is reporting that "sources" say that the 49ers' prized offensive coordinator Norv Turner will be the new coach of the San Diego Chargers, to which we say noooooo....

The Warriors' forward/Vice President Of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin is among the finalists for the NBA Hall Of Fame this year. Savor it, Warrior fans......

-The Warriors get a big lead, lose a big lead, then regain a big lead as they beat the NY Knicks. Tim Kawakami thinks the Warriors need to tank the season by giving Patrick O’Bryant some playing time. ...

-Barry Z meets the press while Barry B is still unsigned. Scott Ostler is looking forward to the Z and B show and actually, he has a point-- the Giants are now lead by two people who are about as different as different could be. Over in Oakland, Monte Pool says flaky Barry Z could be a perfect fit for flaky SF ...

We can't say this was one of the worst years in Bay Area sports but it has to be up there. One only has to look at the early part of this decade to see how far we've fallen. The A's and Giants were both perennial contenders and the Raiders were playoff bound. Only the 49ers and Warriors were woeful but well, beggars can't be choosers. We did get one Super Bowl appearance and one World Series out of our teams. ...