Suddenly, positive developments abound

Oh my, it’s a Bay Area sports holiday miracle!

Joe Thornton’s a Shark! The A’s sign Esteban Loaiza! John McEnroe’s coming to town! The Warriors are 11-6!

The Giants are bringing back Tim Worrell! (Sorry, no exclamation needed for this last point. Got carried away.)

Anyway, it has been bleak here for a few months, filled with drizzly football and deep losing-streak hockey.

But now Thornton! Now McEnroe! Now Adonal Foyle, flying at the rim!

Friends, though I’m a noted sports grinch — noted and noted by wonderful e-mailers — I won’t miss this cue. This is the time to be totally festive, supportive and . . . POS-ITIVE!

Let’s start with those gritty, go- for-it-all Sharks, because hockey fans know that if I’m talking NHL with a lilt in my voice, warm and fuzzy moments are inevitable.

My No. 1 positive development: Hoobaby. The Sharks gave up a bunch, but they landed Thornton, a consensus top 10 player,

who, paired with

Patrick Marleau,

could turn the

Sharks into a

deadly double-superstar team.

Would the

Sharks have given

up Brad Stuart,

Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau if they weren’t dropping like a stone in the Pacific? I don’t know.

But the Sharks were sliding to irrelevance and Wednesday’s trade made every serious Bay Area sports fan think about taking a trip to the Shark Tank, starting Tuesday against Atlanta. That’s priceless.

I read that Boston was disappointed with Thornton’s effort this season, but he had 33 points in 23 games. I think Sharks fans would be cool with him being just that disappointing all season long. (That’s a 115-point pace; the franchise record is Owen Nolan’s 84 in 1999-2000.)

No. 2:

Another miracle! Yes, I looked up a hockey statistic!

No. 3:

Doug Wilson, you have arrived.