SF Bay Area Sports Pride

We've come a long way from Ken "the snake" Stabler, Rick Barry and Joe Montana. We've come even further in our college sports competition with Cal, Stanford, St. Mary's and SJ State.

And while our college sports competition has been competitive at best, our professional teams haven't put a dent into a championship run since the Oakland A's were swept in the 2006 ALCS by Detroit. But that's only if we're still calling our professional hockey team an expansion team with professional promise.

News Flash: Expansion team they are no more. Our San Jose Sharks of the NHL are not only contending for the league's championship title this season, they're favored to possibly take it all. Yes, the Sharks of San HO! The team that has gained respect since they're inaugural season in 1991 is now looking like a league powerhouse on the brink of their first NFL championship.

Well, they may not be on the brink yet, but like barbarians at the gates you can smell the scent of desire rolling off they're hardened sweaty faces. They've actually been contenders in the past four seasons, making the playoffs in all four. But the closest they've come to the championship is their 2003-04 season where they lost the conference finals to the Calgary Flames two games to four.

Yes, the Sharks who set a franchise record with their 26th home win of the season last night against the Atlanta Thrashers are atop their conference and positioned to have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

As we get over our dismal football season showing in the bay area and head into spring training with prayerful hopes of competitive baseball, let's not ignore the strides made by our hockey team, the San Jose Sharks, who appear to be on the brink of greatness.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating WE STOP BELIEVING in the future of Golden State Warriors Basketball, but the Warriors simply "are who we thought they were," a young team needing a bit more veteran leadership and defensive play. Hopefully they'll get it down the road.

SF BAY AREA SPORTS FANS, do not sleep on this season's San Jose Sharks. They are by far having the best season of any Bay Area professional sports team since names like Bonds, Gannon, T.O. and Giambi were suiting up in the Bay.

GO SHARKS!