Photo credit: George Nikitin/AP Photo, San Francisco Zoo, 3/15/08 Cute, yes? The San Francisco Zoo just released images of the newborn Sumatran tiger cub triplets born this past week to Leanne and George. Here are a few shots of the new kittens waiting for their first health exam. For a few more photos of small cat preciousness, follow the jump.......

We were walking down Fillmore Street near the SFist Staff Writer Dickensian Workhouse just now, and in the time it took us to go from Page Street to Fillmore Street, we were passed by no fewer than five 22-Fillmore busses. The first was packed the gills, the last was predictably empty. It's obvious that busses travel in packs to avoid predators (thanks for that one, Chris!), and given recent happenings at the zoo, we certainly......

Here's todays sports news...

Dodgers 6 Giants 4- Before we begin the fun, we'd like to draw your attention to a pretty interesting article by the LA Times' Bill Plaschke who writes how that two game series in '97, the Brian Johnson series, completely ruined the Dodgers for ten years. Long story short, the series devastated the team that season and knocked them out of the playoffs, making it easier for Fox to buy the Dodgers and promptly trash the franchise. Good stuff. Anyhoo, the Enchanter got Cained (our new verb for when a pitcher pitches a good game only to lose due to the Giants ineptitude) as the bullpen gave up four runs in the eighth to lose the game. The damage was done by Messer’s Kline and Messenger and is it us or does Randy Messenger look like a taller, skinner Turtle from "Entourage." As for Bonds, he did nothing of much importance but we couldn’t help but notice that when he hit what looked like a decent shot at hitting the homer, the fans stood up in excitement only to see it turn into just another fly out. When he was taken out, a huge portion of fans left the stadium and yes, it is fairly typical of Dodgers fans, but it was still a 3-2 game at the time. ...

Here's todays sports news...

Here's todays sports news...

Here's todays sports news...

So with baseball starting up this week, we thought we'd turn over the previews to our favorite revolutionary, Leon Trotsky. Coming up, quotes that he thinks sum up the season and Leon's predictions. You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in, you. To a man we are told is the smartest man in baseball, Tony LaRussa, who finally overcame years of being the most annoying and most overrated manager in baseball......

Ahem...... Perhaps you would like a preview of the upcoming season from a totally official source? Well, you’re obviously not going to get that from us, but we are pleased to bring you the very first installment of A’s Anatomy; where the green and gold will be dissected all season, and no one will be spared, even if you’re Billy Beane and his BFF. (Just kidding, Bob Geren; welcome aboard!) ...

Forget the Oscar nominations and the Super Bowl, what really matters in January is The Onion's A.V. Club choices for Worst Band Names. They have special categories for emo bands, death metal bands, bands with the word "f*ck" in them, bands with the word "funk" in them, and bands with gratuitous usage of exclamation points. Personally, we're of the opinion that there are two types of bad band names: annoying or boring bad and so-bad-they're-good......

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. ...

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: Hey, the EBX is starting a blog -- we hear those are very trendy. But they've got us listed as a link, right below the Culture Blog, so it's all okay! Bottom Feeder mocks the errors made by the Bay Guardian in its East Bay endorsements. Would you buy expensive organic meals prepared by these folks? Confrontational atheists meeting near Walnut Creek. Cover article: the woes of air......

After the A's lost Game 2, a friend of ours was bemoaning the quick demise of the Green & Gold. They had had a great season, they had finally made it past the first round of the playoffs, why couldn't they just quit right there? It would have been the perfect cap of the season, all happiness and joy instead of disappointment and despair. You know, end it all at the perfect moment and with people wanting more, not less. ...

-On a cold, wintery afternoon that probably matched how A's fans are feeling right now, the A's went down to the Tigers 3-0 to now be down in the series 3-0. It happens every year in baseball come playoff time-- one team gets in explicably hot and can do no wrong (the '02 Angels, the '03 Marlins, the '04 and '05 Sox) and that this year is the Tigers. The A's, meanwhile, appear to be in that vicious playoff cycle in which hitting becomes almost impossible so the team presses and makes hitting even that much more impossible. Yeah, it's not over til it's over and the '04 Red Sox famously came from behind by an 0-3 margin, but.......

Quick note on todays ALCS game-- the game is scheduled to start around 1:30 PST. The reason MLB is giving is because it's supposed to, yes, snow late Friday night and they'd like to get the game in before winter hits. The not quite said reason is because the Mets/Cardinals have to make up their rained out Game 1 and Fox would rather show the Mets/Cardinals game in prime time than the A's/Tigers game. ...

The Detroit Tigers look like a team of destiny. It's usually a bad sign for any opponent when a team finds several ways to beat you. Instead of completely shutting the A's down like they did Tuesday evening, the Tigers matched each A's offensive threat with a flurry of runs of their own without a blink or stammer. And they showed us all why they, indeed, have the best bullpen in the Major Leagues. They slowed the A's momentum down just enough to deliver a decisive knockout blow in the eighth and ninth innings, a tribute to their indomitable will and Fernando Rodney's 96 mph fastballs and Todd Jones' craftiness. They are clearly this year’s Chicago White Sox, able to find the slimmest cracks and crannies in a team’s defenses and exploiting the hell out of them. ...

-Another Caltrain fatality, yesterday around 6. It's the thirteenth this year. -McAfee is your latest hi-tech company to have a CEO go down due to stock shenanigans. ...

The Detroit Tigers didn't have to do much to defeat the Oakland Athletics last night 5-1. The A’s decided to take the evening off on one of the biggest nights the club has experienced since the "steroid years" of the late 1980's, early 1990's. With delirious fans draped in every facet of Kelly green and gold paraphernalia, the A's promptly went out and laid a massive egg in front of a national audience. Besides the obvious embarrassment, the team played with the smarts of a Class A instructional league team. They made Detroit's Nate Robertson—an adequate arm at best—look like a wizened Sandy Koufax. They also hit into four double plays, stranded multiple men on base and made enough mental blunders to allow the Tigers to capitalize. Barry Zito, the surprise conqueror of Johan Santana in the ALDS against the Twins, appeared to have forgotten why he was there. Playoffs? Yes, Zeets. It's the first game of the ALCS remember? Gotta pitch with some guts and guile, buddy!...

The A's might have wrapped up their playoff spot days ago, but the big question of who they would play was still up in the air. Finally, this afternoon, the A's got their opponent, the Minnesota Twins. ...

Oakland finally snapped out of it and beat the Mariners 12-3 just as word filtered down the Angels lost 5-2. Your Magic Number? 0. As in "clinched." As in "playoffs!" ...

Barry Zito outpitched Curt Schilling this afternoon to lead the Athletics to a 7-2 beat down of the Dead Sox. That's what they in the business call a "sweep." The A's have won 15 of 19 games and were 21-6 in August and the Chron notes that the A's are an amazing 124-45 in August since 2001. Crikey. ...

The NCAA men's basketball tournament resumes tonight with third-round (also known as the Sweet 16) action in both the Atlanta and Oakland regionals. Action in the Washington D.C. and Minneapolis regionals continue tomorrow and Saturday....

Our concert picks for the week of 7/21-7/27. It's a good week of shows for those of us who love singer-songwriters, so let's celebrate by giving you something for free! Dark folk troubadour Chris Whitley has a new CD coming out on Tuesday on Messenger Records, and we want you to hear it. Enter to win Chris Whitley's new CD Soft Dangerous Shores. Contest ends 7/27. Tonight none other than the good Sir Mix-A-Lot is......

Music-loving good samaritans, this is your lucky week. If you like to enjoy a little partying and live performance in exchange for your charitable contributions, you have no less than six different tsunami relief benefits to choose from. On Friday, The Independent is having their second benefit, featuring members of New Monsoon, ALO, Samantha and the Ritual for a donation of $10-50. Great American's benefit that night with indie kings Gibbard, Kozelek, Richman and Bachman......

Sure, there are new releases this week by Britney, Eminem and Shania, but what love have they ever shown to San Francisco? "Talkin' in the Mission / Over coffee, this is my utopia," sings Vanessa Carlton on "Harmonium," her second full length album. That might sound like a normal morning to us, but we'll allow the young songstress her love affair with our fair city. Partly recorded here and produced by resident rocker Stephan Jenkins,......