The U.S. Open rainout is the only thing that made this a Saturday where I could manage my sports intake (thanks Rafa for dispensing with Gonzalez in about 32 minutes this morning before the rain started) and participate in the rest of my life.

The day’s big news: the Sharks finally delivered on their longtime promise of Big Changes.  They acquired Dany Heatley, giving up Cheeeeeeech and Milan Michalek.  And Richard Seymour finally arrived in Raiders camp.

The Heatley trade is a good one for a several reasons: some obvious, some not so.  The Sharks couldn’t very well open training camp today (Why, oh why is the NHL such a numbskull league: media day on the same day as NFL opening Sunday????) without having done anything of note. Not after all the big promises, the anger, the autopsy.

So it’s good for that reason alone: they had to do something. It’s good because Heatley is a heckuva player – at least when he’s gruntled as opposed to disgrunteled, which he has been too often in his career. He’s asked to be traded from his last two teams: Atlanta you can understand because it had too many tragic memories after the car accident that killed his teammate. Still some mystery about his hate-on for Ottawa. Supposedly something about his “diminished role” but in his conference call he dropped hints that there may have been other issues.

This is also a good trade because it takes the heat off of Patrick Marleau, while keeping his talent on the roster. He doesn’t have to share the load with Thornton – he gets bumped down to third now in expectation of offensive output. He doesn’t have the C on his sweater, which means he’s allowed to disappear every once inawhile.

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Seymour’s arrival meant a treat: a Saturday night Al Davis press conference, which was broadcast live on Comcast. Seymour seemed like a great guy – making you believe him when he said that his priorities were as a husband and a father and that, after being blindsided by the trade, he had to figure out what was best for his family.

Davis was high theater as always, calling out the “eastern” media, calling B.S. on all the rumors about Seymour, questioning reporters about what “analysts” they were quoting, answering questions directed at others.

The legend still has it. And now he has a run stopper who, as Seymour pointed out, “Now, I can rush the passer too.”

Let’s see what he can do in Monday night’s opener against L.T. (which – more news – is a sell out as of Saturday night and will be televised).

And to top things off: Dodgers and Giants tied 1-1,  and Dodgers fans making plenty of noise at AT&T. And USC-Ohio State tied 10-10 at the half.

The Raiders – who thought they traded a 2011 first-round pick for Seymour on Sunday – are still waiting for Seymour to appear in Oakland. Seymour is laying very low, though there have been reports that he’s still at home in New England.

The Raiders will practice tonight at the Oakland Coliseum, in an attempt to prepare for their Monday night opening game against the San Diego Chargers and LaDanian Tomlinson. Tomlinson has averaged 111 yards per game against the Raiders over the past eight years – emblematic of the Raiders overall problems against the run.

That’s why they wanted Seymour – they stink agains the run. That’s why Seymour doesn’t want to come – they stink. And he’s accustomed to excellence. He must be understandably horrified at the thought of not only playing for the Raiders – after spending his career with one of the league’s best – but at the thought the team could use the franchise tag on him.

It’s a standoff, directed by agent/magician Eugene Parker, who is also in a standoff with the other Bay Area NFL team. He’s Michael Crabtree’s agent and Crabtree to has vanished into thin air. He has yet to report to the 49ers, who open in Arizona on Sunday. It is harder to figure out his thinking than Seymour’s. Does Crabtree really want to leave a year of his career and millions of dollars on the table?

Here is a column I wrote earlier in this week for SI.com about how Parker has become the most important man in the Bay Area’s NFL scene. Pretty sad comedown for the land of Walsh, DeBartolo, Madden and Davis. Used to be players wanted to come to the Raiders or 49ers.

Seems like a very long time ago. Now our teams are only good for lame magic tricks. Can either team pull a potential superstar out of a hat?