Here's todays sports news...

-The Sharkies lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-3. It's the second consecutive loss against the Stars this week and who does the NHL scheduling anyways? It's also the Sharks third consecutive home loss. Their main culprit? Lousy power plays. So, does all this mean the Sharks need to bring in some more veteran guys? ...

-The Warriors beat the SuperSonics at the Oracle, 108-104 as the Warriors fended off a rampaging Ray Allen. Don Nelson really likes Kelenna Azubuike. ...

It was announced today that Art Shell would not return as the Raiders head coach in 2007. Fired? Resigned? Stepped down? Stripped of his title? Whatever, it was Al's decision....

In the spirit of New Year's Eve, we present to you the bad idea that is the Art Shell drink....

-The Warriors beat up on an Allen Iverson-less 76ers last night, 116-97 as Matt Barnes led the way with seven three-pointers and twenty-five points. Monta Ellis, meanwhile, isn't as injured as everyone thought he was. And the next run of seven games looks pretty good for the Warriors. ...

-Sharks lose to the Dallas Stars 3-0. Not really a surprise considering the Stars were looking to open up a can of whoop-as and the Sharkies were coming off a four-game break. It's the Sharks second loss to the Stars and the third time they've been blanked in the past fourteen games. ...

During the pregame of Thursday's MIN/GB game, NFL.com's Adam Schefter reported that the Raiders will let Head Coach Art Shell go after the end of the season. No source was named to have given this statement....

-Rams 20, Raiders 0- On ESPN's Sports Guy column, they joked about the Raiders' season. The punch line was the title of Art Shell's book: "It Worked So Well In Practice: The Art Shell Story." Which sums up the Raiders season--. comedy gold, Jerry, comedy gold. ...

O, those Oakland Raiders. A team so historically shot through with internal strife that we just expect it at this point. It's ordinary. But as of Wednesday, the Raiders' 2006 regular season strife is on some next-level Shakespearean tragedy stuff: At a press conference yesterday, Head Coach Art Shell said that he believes there is someone inside the Raider organization who has been speaking maliciously about the franchise to the news media....

Pacers 108 Warriors 106: In detailing the game, the Chron's Janny Hu actually uses the word "upset" to describe the Warriors loss. Now when was the last time those words have ever been said about a Warriors loss? Probably sometime last century. In this game, Al Harrington (who Chris Mullin tried to get in the off-season) sunk a last second three pointer to lead the Pacers over Golden State. ...

Out of the wreckage of last wnkd's wacktacular loss to the San Diego SuperChargers comes the Raiders' decision to demote offensive coordinator Tom Walsh in favor of tight end coach John Shoop....

-Students at UC Santa Cruz clash with police during a visit by the UC Regents. At UC Santa Cruz? We thought that the only thing students did there is run around naked in the woods on mushrooms and do drum circles? -Hey, here's good news: the rental market is heating up. It's back to the days of rising rental prices and too many people looking. Yay!...

Ahh, signs of Summer in the Bay Area: Blackberries ripening at creekside. Long lines of cars headed to Stinson Beach. Warm evenings as the sun lingers above the Pacific. And fresh dissent rising within your Raiders' camp. ...

In continuing with the Raiders retro feel, they recently announced the hiring of new offensive coordinator Tom Walsh to replace whatever offensive coordinator they had before. Walsh, otherwise known as The Other Walsh, has actually been the Offensive Coordinator for the Rai-duhs before. In 1994. When current Head Coach Art Shell was the coach. It was also the last time Walsh held a coaching job in the NFL. How long before Jay Schroeder is signed as the new Raiders QB? ...

When the A's left the Bay Area for nine games against Tampa Bay and Cleveland, we at A's Brand Baseball wrote: Such a break from major league competition could be just what the doctor ordered . . . We were right, too: those games against the A's really helped out the Devil Rays and Indians. Until Monday night's 11-inning comeback win over Tampa Bay, the A's had lost 9 games in a row; it......