Bay Area Sports Blog

The Chicago Blackhawks really, really love hotels. After spending a lot of time in those establishments over the last few weeks and consequently winning some key games, they’re attempting to replicate the experience before Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Friday.

After their morning skate tomorrow, they’ll check in to a hotel to nap before taking a bus to the United Center to play the San Jose Sharks. From the Chicago Tribune:

“Some of the guys probably get away from their home lives and just shut the door and get away from the kids,” winger Adam Burish said. “Some guys get excited, they get to play their video games again. If it makes us play like we’re on the road, perfect, I’m all for it.”

They think it will cut down on distractions, but what about the minibar? What about the hair dryer? You know Patrick Kane needs to fluff that mullet.

Meanwhile, the Sharks are hoping some encouraging words from a former Chicago great, Mike Singletary, will propel them past the napping Blackhawks. Singletary said he and Todd McLellan have been in contact and that he’s on board with the Sharks and this whole “hockey” business.

My son, my youngest son loves hockey. I don’t fully understand the game, but he loves hockey.

Wow, Singletary knows how to bring the hellfire. GET PUMPED! GO SHARKS!

Hey, it’s our newest feature: Athlete Tweet or Rapper Tweet? We’ll post the text of a random Tweet and you guess if was posted by a Bay Area athlete or a rapper.

DAMN GRANT HILL HOW OLD R U AGAIN GREAT GAME KID! I MIGHT GOT ORDER THE FILAS OUT OF A OLD EAST BAY

Click here to find out if this was Tweeted by an athlete or a rapper.

The Giants and A’s lost by a combined scored of 18-2 tonight, the Sharks are still down 2-0, and the Warriors, no matter how you spin it, got hosed in the NBA draft lottery. So how ’bout some good news?

Former Stanford closer Drew Storen, the No. 10 pick in last year’s draft, made his major league debut with the Nationals on Tuesday, much to the delight of his family’s dog.  Storen’s promotion was well deserved — he put up impressive numbers at each of his minor league stops — and a nice reward for his decision to sign immediately after the draft. No. 1 pick Stephen Strasburg, who made the Nationals sweat until the deadline, remains at Triple-A.

Storen worked 2/3 of an inning tonight and picked up a win in relief against the Mets. He received two shaving cream pies to the face during a post-game interview and later donned the Nationals’ Silver Fox in the clubhouse.

It’s a memorable week for a couple rookies from Cal, too. Detroit Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch, who is off to a record-setting start, will face A’s rookie and former Golden Bears teammate Tyson Ross on Thursday.

Let the jokes commence about how razor-sharp Dallas Braden was during his perfect game. Braden received the samurai sword below from his sponsor, Mizuno, following his epic performance. Now he can epically slice through bad guys (ahem, ahem, A-Rod) like he was in Kill Bill.

The inscription reads “Dallas Braden’s Perfect Game. May 9, 2010. Congratulations, Mizuno USA.” The photo was Tweeted by Brad Ziegler earlier today.

Mizuno sure is excited to have a perfect pitcher on its roster of athletes. They issued a congratulations press release following the game. But, likely because of copyright issues, they had to Photoshop out all the A’s logos. Congratulations, anonymous pitcher-guy!

Why yes, we did need a gimmick to tie together several different events in Bay Area sports tonight. And that gimmick is…

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Percent chance the Washington Wizards had to win the top pick in the NBA Draft lottery*. But they did, and the second big blow was the 76ers moving up, pushing Golden State from fourth to sixth. So there’s now a 90 percent chance the Warriors will draft a no-name or trade the pick.

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Innings it took for the San Francisco Giants to finally beat the San Diego Padres. The baseball gods thought about extending this one to 120 innings but decided the hearts of Giants fans probably couldn’t take it.

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The most exciting night of the Warriors’ season is upon us. The NBA Draft Lottery: Where Probability Happens. Golden State, which has picked where it was slotted to pick in each of the last six years, is in the No. 4 slot tonight. The Dubs have a 10 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 33 percent chance of moving up at least one spot.

The Warriors will move one step closer to welcoming a new addition to the team during tonight’s lottery while also saying goodbye to an old friend. The “Flying W” will adorn general manager Larry Riley’s podium in Seacaucus, NJ, before being retired forever. The team is launching an Easter Egg-style hunt for fans to participate in over the next month to reveal the Warriors’ new primary logo. The first challenge? Watch the draft lottery and enter the pick the Warriors are awarded.

The team adopted its current logo in 1997 and the thunderbolt-toting blue man has hardly been a symbol of success, so a change is welcome. The new logo may have been leaked (above), but we suppose you’ll have to complete the hunt to be sure. At least that’s what Chris Cohan would like you to believe.

49ers cornerback Nate Clements hit the books today:

Yes, knowledge is power. Knowledge of who tooted.

BASB’s weekly baseball roundup from both sides of the Bay — and an excuse to post a photo of Crazy Crab knocking Stomper off a tricycle.

CRABS UP

Final At-Bat: Baggs can’t remember a more riveting final at-bat during the regular season than Brian Wilson’s 15-pitch showdown against Kaz Matsui with the bases loaded Saturday. McCovey Chronicles gave it the poster treatment, while Bay City Ball broke it down, pitch by excruciating pitch.

Reasons 645 and 646 Barry Zito No Longer Sucks: He’s stronger and he’s throwing more changeups, according to FanHouse’s Jeff Fletcher. The $126 million man improved to 6-1 with another strong performance against the Astros.

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In a Game 1 loss that brings up haunting memories of … other Game 1 losses in the past, the San Jose Sharks fell 2-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks today. It was, literally, a tough loss, as the Blackhawks pushed the Sharks all over the ice.

If you watched the game on NBC you got insight, repeatedly, into the Sharks’ past playoff stumblings, the star power of Patrick Kane and Joe Thornton, and the Chicago cycle. But Pierre McGuire did notice one thing at the end of the game that blew our minds, and was probably the sole and only reason for the Sharks’ loss. Ray Ratto noticed it too:

One fascinating note at the end. Dave Bolland tripped Devin Setoguchi with 55.1 seconds left, but Kris Versteeg went to the box, allowing Bolland, a better penalty killer, to finish the game on the ice. Nobody noticed. Hmmm.

How did this happen? On the replay it was clear Bolland tripped Setoguchi. If one guy had been on the ice instead of the other, clearly Joe Thornton would have connected on that last shot that he whiffed. The Sharks probably would have scored five times in the last minute.

Actually, we’re just in denial that the Sharks lost AND Lacey Wilson didn’t win Miss USA. What a crappy day to be Doug Wilson. Every other day? Pretty good.

Occasionally we’ll post rebuses: word puzzles based on images. Put the images together and you’ve got a name.

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