To say the San Francisco 49ers were a play or two away from the Super Bowl is an understatement because this team played determined football against all east coast odds, and were just a Kyle Williams' freak play away from beating them.
Their opponent was the 13-31-6 Columbus Blue Jackets, but the San Jose Sharks' game on Tuesday night had just about everything a fan could want in the first game back from the All-Star Break.
Scoring, numerous fights, defense, goaltending.
For a team that has struggled to get on a consistent roll this
Before their improbable 13-3 season and appearance in the NFC Championship at famed Candlestick Park, the San Francisco 49ers players found themselves in a much smaller setting — Spartan Stadium.
For so many years, the question of where the San Jose Sharks were going to finish in the Western Conference was never up for discussion. San Jose is consistently one of the best teams in the NHL, and despite the ups-and-downs the 2011-12 season has carried, this season is no different.
With the San Francisco Giants' 40-man roster all but set for the 2012 MLB season, now is the time to make judgements about the team, the offseason they had and the what the future holds for the franchise.
The immediate judgements are not kind, to say the least.
GM Brian Sabean and the Giants have had a busy offseason, and while most would take that as a sign of good moves filling voids the team had before, that is simply not the case.
If it is not one thing, it is another for the San Jose Sharks this month.
After an up-and-down December 2011, the team finally got back on the winning track, claiming victories in seven of their first nine games of 2012. That was soon followed
The San Francisco 49ers listed six players as questionable for their NFC Championship game against the New York Giants on Sunday.
The official injury report included CB Tarell Brown (thigh), S Dashon Goldson (ankle), WR Ted Ginn (knee), TE Delanie Walker (jaw), C Jonathan Goodwin (calf) and LB Patrick Willis (knee).
All listed players were limited in practice on Friday in some way or another, except for Ginn, who missed practice completely and had yet to participate this week.
San Jose Sharks' GM Doug Wilson always seems to come alive this time of year. With a little over a month before the NHL Trade Deadline, rumors of Wilson on the trade prowl have crept into the Twitterfeeds, blogs and rumor mills of Hockey Nation.
Looking back at the San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants Week 9 match-up in mid-November, it did not seem totally out of the question that either team would make the Super Bowl. The Giants were 6-2 and coming off a win against the New England Patriots, and the 49ers were a surprising 7-1, not to mention a play or two away from being 8-0.
What was lost in the mayhem that was the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints epic divisional playoff game on Saturday was the fact the 49ers won without one of their most reliable and timely offensive weapons.
There was a point in the third quarter of Saturday's epic shoot-out between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers that Jim Harbaugh and his team seemed to be satisfied with just crawling into the NFC Championship. It was fitting, seeing as San Francisco has had ugly, gut-checking wins throughout the season
The San Francisco 49ers released their final injury report on Friday before their clash with the New Orleans Saints today. The report listed five players that were all listed as questionable, leaving it up to the public (and the Saints) who will play and who will sit in the 49ers' first playoff game in nine seasons.
It does not matter what the San Francisco 49ers' defense has done this year or what kind of a mastermind Jim Harbaugh is. It seems to be an overall consensus that the New Orleans Saints are the overwhelmingly better team heading into the game on Saturday.
It is amazing what a new year can do to a team's self-esteem. After ending 2011 on a two-game losing streak, the San Jose Sharks have turned over a new leaf in 2012 and now ride a four-game win streak into a four-game road trip in the midst of playing 17 of their next 23 games away from HP Pavilion.
With all the ups and downs the San Jose Sharks have gone through this season, it is intriguing to see how this team will finish the season. Even with all the line changes and injuries, San Jose is still one of the better teams in the Western Conference and competing nearly every night for the top spot in the Pacific division.
The court was Stephen Curry's on New Year's Eve against the Philadelphia 76ers. Monta Ellis was attending his grandmother's funeral in Mississippi, and Curry was set to be the main scorer for the Warriors.
Curry finished with 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting and looked less like a go-to player and more of someone attempting to be just that. David Lee would