The National Hockey League season is under way. Tonight the Anaheim Ducks of Southern California near Los Angeles visit the Tank for the home opener against the Sharks of San Jose.

The Sharks will begin their quest to make it past the second round of the playoffs. Last season everyone and their puppy said the Sharks would be Stanley Cup champions. That assumption, I believe, was based on the outcome of a video game. This season the so-called experts have them dueling it out in the Pacific with Anaheim and Dallas.

But wait, do not despair. The Sharks have added three new defensemen to help improve on last season’s suspect defense. Dan Boyle, Brad Lukowich, and Rob Blake are the new additions. You remember the L.A. Kings’ Rob Blake; he is the guy you booed every time he stepped out on the ice.

If Marleau plays as he did last season after the trade deadline, Cheechoo finally gets off to an early start scoring, and Joe is, well Joe, then there is an excellent chance to see some exciting hockey. No, I was not going to say they would make it to the finals. I no longer hold my breath in anticipation.

Jeremy Roenick is back! Kyle McLaren is gone.

We will once again be mesmerized by the outstanding saves by Evgeni Nabokov.

We will cheer for Ron Wilson and Vesa Toskala in Toronto.

With the current economic situation, some of you may need to watch the pocket book and stay home. At least you can listen to Randy Hahn, Drew Remenda (TV) and Dan Rusanowsky (radio).

For the real story about the Sharks visit the Sharks’ website, Broadcaster Blog, and our friends at Sharkspage.

To the runners preparing for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Half-Marathon this Saturday, Oct. 5: Good luck!

To the motorists planning on driving through the city this weekend: Good luck! You will meet plenty of road closures, clogged freeway exits and a lot of athletic-type people running around. They get their exercise while you continue to pollute, which makes these traffic headaches even more guilt-inducing.

But never fear! Here’s a map to help you avoid running over those athletic-types with your SUV (click to enlarge, and notice I said AVOID):

And here’s more traffic information I got via the marathon’s Web site:

Freeway Information

No freeways will be closed on race day; however, expect delays on Highway 87 near downtown and Highway 880 near Bascom Avenue due to the close proximity of the race course to those roads.

Specific Access Routes
Fairmount Hotel / St. Joseph’s Basilica:
Due to close proximity to the finish line at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, allow extra time for alternate access and expect delays before the race starts (7- 8:00 am). Use the following access route during the race (8:00 am – 12 Noon): From San Carlos Street, use 1st and 2nd Street to connect with San Fernando Street. Hotel guests will be metered in/out on Market Street.

Hotel DeAnza
Please notify the hotel’s valet parking service on Saturday night if you will
be leaving between 7:00 and 10:00 am. The race organizers have arranged
for hotel parking on Notre Dame, between Santa Clara and Carlysle
Streets. From this parking area, you will be able to drive north on Notre
Dame, turn left on Julian Street, and access Highway 87/Guadalupe
Parkway. To access the San Jose airport, follow directions above to
Highway 87 north and follow signs to airport. Prior to the complete
reopening of Santa Clara Street/The Alameda at 12:30 pm, use Highway 87
to return to the Hotel De Anza before 10:00 am. From Highway 87, exit east
on Julian Street, turn right on North Almaden Blvd, left on Carlysle Street
and right onto Notre Dame Ave.

Cory Neighborhood
Residents between Newhall and Hedding, Monroe and Bascom, can use
Cherrystone Drive to exit this part of the route between 7:00-11:30 am.
Roiscrucian Neighborhood – YMCA, Calvary & Scientology Churches
Residents, YMCA patrons and church visitors can use Park Avenue for
inbound access and The Alameda for outbound access between 8:00 am
and 12 Noon.

For more assistance regarding road closures and alternate access routes, please
email SJCommunity@eliteracing.com. Please provide as much information as pos-
sible, including your starting and ending destinations, so that we can more readily
assist you.

For those who want to get drunk for a good cause Saturday night: Starting at 10 p.m. at the Britannia Arms in downtown San Jose, the San Jose Earthquakes’ soccer stars will be guest bartending at the outdoor patio bar. For a small tip, Earthquakes players will make you a drink, and for a larger tip, they will pose for pictures, sign autographs, and who knows, do a little jiggity-jig or something. All the funds go straight to the Earthquakes Community Fund, and all these festivities are following the game they will have just played (and hopefully emerge as the victors).

Oh yes, the game. For those who don’t know/remember, the Earthquakes left the area for 2 years, migrating to Houston and changing its team colors, logo and name to the Dynamo. Well now we have our Quakes back, and now they’re playing their Texified former selves Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara University, at 7 p.m.

The Quakes are unbeaten in eight games, which is a tiny miracle thanks to our boy Darren Huckerby. But the Dynamo are dynamite at the moment, sitting comfortably at the perch on top of the Western conference. Should be a tense and dramatic game, and the Quakes need to win as many games as they possibly can to earn a spot in the playoffs. The problem is, with so many of our old quality players decked out in Dynamo orange, which side will the fans be cheering for?

And who would have thought our little expansion newbie team would be considering the playoffs in its first season back? Wow…

Last night I attended the first bout for the Silicon Valley Roller Girls (SVRG), our very own roller derby team here in the south bay! It was an action-packed game and close score the last half — but our girls demolished Port City Roller Girls! SVRG won their first game! Go girls!

Established in 2007, SVRG is an all-female flat track roller derby league. Their dedication, while not only to kick major you-know-what during the games, is to empower their skaters to improve their skating ability through training and teamwork and help Silicon Valley by participating in various community services.

It was my first game, any kind of roller derby exposure I had before last night only came from television programs or movies. Before the game started they had a few players from each team do a pretend round while the announcer explained the game.

In brief, you have 5 members of each team on the floor. You have 1 Pivot, 3 Blockers, 1 Jammer. Pivots are at the front and they set the pace. Blockers are behind and they cannot go infront of the Pivots and their job is to keep the opposing team’s jammer from passing. One whistle is blown, the Pivots and Blockers start off — a second whistle for the jammers to start. When the first jammer breaks through the pack, they’re the Point Jammer and get points for every time they pass an opposing team member. Jams last 2 minutes or when the jammer declares they’re over (by placing their hands on their hips.) This is all a very quick way to describe it - learn more about it here.

Roller derby is an awesome sport and a great way to spend your time and money! Go out and support these girls.

Upcoming Games:
Saturday, Sept. 20th - SVRG vs. Bakersfield Rollergirls @ Bakersfield, CA
Saturday, Oct 25th - SVRG HOME BOUT @ SAN JOSE SKATE
Saturday, Nov 15th - SVRG vs. Sonoma County Roller Derby @ Rohnert Park, CA

Find out more about the team at:
www.svrollergirls.com
www.myspace.com/svrollergirls

Click the photo.

I spotted this beautiful ‘US Airways - Airbus A319 -132 - Arizona Cardinals’ waiting for take-off at SJC this morning. The Cardinals are scheduled to meet-up with the Oakland Raiders (McAfee Coliseum) on Aug. 23. I wonder which of the local fields the Cardinals will be using for practice?

The Official Site - Cardinals

Darren Huckerby - Photo by Joe Nuxoll / centerlinesoccer.com / isiphoto.com

San Jose, meet Darren Huckerby.

Or rather, Hucker-Hucker-Hucker-byyyyyyy. (0:55)

Largely unknown here but practically worshipped in Norwich, England, the soccer striker moved to our side of the universe less than a month ago to play with the San Jose Earthquakes. Considering he’s good enough to play in every league in a country that is unbelievably INSANE about soccer, you have to ask yourself, “Um, yeah, WHAT?”

Fans of the Norwich City Football Club were shocked, to say the least. Norwich City management unexpectedly released their hero in May without even giving them a proper chance for goodbye. And because of the loyal gentleman he is, Hucker-Hucker-Huckerby refused to play on any other English team that could possibly play against Norwich.

Their loss is our gain, soccer fan or not. And this is why:

(more…)

Happy Birthday Peggy Fleming, born July 27, 1948 in San Jose.

Ms. Fleming, a figure skater, was the only American to win a gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. Her energy and unique style left a lasting impression on all who watched her performances, especially the free-skating program.

After the Olympics, she starred in five television specials, toured the U.S. as a special guest star in the Ice Follies ice show, and has been a commentator on figure skating for ABC Sports for over 20 years.

Fleming and her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins, own and operate Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery in Los Gatos. Profits from a Rosé go towards charities that support breast cancer research; she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. The Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery Tasting Room is located at 45 West Main Street in downtown Los Gatos.

Photo courtesy Peggy Fleming Website

NBC11, along with San Jose Park & Recreation, San Jose Sports Authority, San Jose State University, and The Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee, will host an open-air big-screen presentation of the Olympics opening ceremonies at Saint James Park in downtown San Jose.

In addition to the screening of the opening ceremonies from Beijing, features include

• Special appearances from Local Olympians
• Olympic Trivia Contest
• Live Cultural Music & Entertainment
• Food and Community Booths
• Chinese Fortune Telling
• Baseball & Football Toss
• Junior Olympics Championship Activities
• Special “Meal or No Meal” Game
• Numerous Individual Booths

The event begins at 5 pm on Friday, Aug. 8 and runs to 10:30 PM. St. James Park is at 1st and St. James in downtown San Jose.

Thanks to Don on nnasj for bringing this event to our attention.

Pinball may be an amusement lost on most of the Wii generation; however, there are enough players around the world to make up leagues. If you would like to experience pinball, San Jose will be the site for ‘California Extreme’ an arcade game - pinball show and tournament this weekend.

California Extreme
July 19 - 20
Parkside Hall - 180 Park Ave.
Saturday - 11:00 am - 12 midnight
Sunday - 11:00 am - 9 pm
tickets at the door - @ 10:30 am

How the little silver ball got rolling - Wikipedia

BAPA - Bay Area Pinball Association

Stern Pinball

Elton John - Pinball Wizard

It is going to be another hot weekend. Time to head for the beach. This weekend there will be more than just hanging out at the Boardwalk for entertainment. There is the Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championship Saturday and Sunday in Santa Cruz.

Wait a minute; soccer on the beach? The ball will just sit there stuck in the sand! Nope, the ball is kept in the air and not dribbled on the sand. The “field” is much small than a regular soccer grass field and there are five players per team.

Next thing you know there will be sand fields popping up everywhere; in backyards, at work, and in parks.

Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championship
Main beach below the Boardwalk and Seabright Beach, Santa Cruz

Saturday and Sunday, June 21 – 22
Beginning 8:00 am

Schedule, field map, parking, and more information here.