Sharknado! NHL's San Jose Sharks bite back at ESPN suggestion

Syfy/Syfy

Syfy's original movie 'Sharknado' causes an internet storm after wowing TV audiences Thursday.

Talk about jumping the shark.

After the low-budget horror movie "Sharknado" generated an intense internet storm Thursday night, ESPN tried to jump on the bandwagon for a few social media laughs.

Except the target of the joke decided to bite back.

In a tweet sent by the official account of the Worldwide Leader, the folks at ESPN offered this suggestion for San Jose's NHL club.

"Hey @SanJoseSharks, thoughts on changing your name to the San Jose #Sharknados?"

Apparently the suggestion wasn't as well received as the Syfy movie that wowed TV audiences (and the web) with the entertaining tale of a giant Pacific storm that sends thousands of flying sharks at L.A.

"Hey @espn, thoughts on showing more hockey highlights?"

Hey @espn, thoughts on showing more hockey highlights?

- San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) July 12, 2013

Boom! Score one for the hockey team.

The exchange also attracted a huge audience as Twitter was swimming with retweets of the humorous exchange.

While most sided with the hockey team, one Twitter user couldn't help but turn the attention back to the Sharks.

"SharkNada is the gripping horror film about the San Jose Sharks playoff history," tweeted @theroyalhalf.

STAR DOCTOR When Dwight Gooden watches Matt Harvey pitch in the All-Star Game this Tuesday, he is going to be a bit envious. Even though Gooden pitched in four All-Star games, he never had the honor of performing in front of his home fans. "I don't know whether Matt will start the game, but whatever happens, it'll be a big thrill for him since the game is at Citi Field," Gooden said. "It's something he'll remember for the rest of his life." Gooden, who won the Rookie of the Year in 1984 and the Cy Young in 1985, will also be honored by the Mets. The team will hand out his bobblehead to the first 25,000 fans on Sunday, July 21, when the Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field "It'll be an honor for me to have a Mets bobblehead," Gooden said. "I always will consider myself a Met." Gooden went 24-4 in 1985 and made the All-Star team in '84, '85, '86 and '88. He is part of an All-Star bobblehead series - along with John Franco, Ron Darling, David Wright and Tom Seaver - that the Mets are giving away this year at Citi Field. Gooden will also be signing his book, "Doc: A Memoir" for fans who buy it at the ballpark that day.LEITER SIDE OF POLITICSAl Leiter has never quite shaken the whole political tag, which he says started after he helped Michael Bloomberg's mayoral campaign in 2001. "One of the first things I did with Michael, I went down to Grand Central, took a train out to Jamaica, Queens, and got in the back of a rickety pickup truck," says the former Met and Yankee pitcher. "Michael and I are throwing out hats - 'Bloomberg for Mayor' - on the back of this truck. He's a multi-billionaire, I'm a Mets pitcher. There's a guy with a bullhorn speaking in Spanish. I looked at (Bloomberg) and was like, 'Why are you doing this again?'" Leiter says an article was written about him, hypothetically putting him in a senator's seat, and ever since then, he's been rumored to be looking into a political future. Leiter, 47, says "there's something in my DNA that says, 'This is interesting, why am I still attracted to it?'" But in the end, the lefty says he doesn't have it in him for a political run - at least for now. "I did a couple (campaign) stops with (New Jersey Gov. Chris) Christie, campaigned for him before he got elected," says Leiter, who is an analyst for the YES Network and MLB Network, and who will cover this week's All-Star Game. He adds that he was asked to replace Rep. Jim Saxton after the New Jersey congressman decided not to seek re-election in 2007. "I was living in Florida at the time. They said, 'We think you would be a good replacement.' First of all, I live in Florida, and I would be a good replacement?" says Leiter. "I went to D.C., to the (National Republican Congressional Committee), saw people running around, telling me, 'This is the playbook, this is our platform, this is how you run a campaign, this is how you go to chicken dinners, this is how you raise money, how much you need, here are pins, buttons, banners.'?" Leiter had seen enough. "In the end, I realize what it entails, so no. That was close enough."ALL-STAR LINKS BENEFIT Mets first baseman Ike Davis and Yankees reliever David Robertson are planning on playing golf during the All-Star break, and The Score hears the ballplayers will be working on more than their handicaps when they hit the Bethpage Black course on Long Island this week. On Wednesday, Davis and Robertson are hosting the Players Trust golf tournament, an All-Star event that will help raise funds for New York and New Jersey victims of Superstorm Sandy. Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Rice, former American League MVP Ken Griffey Jr., "Ball Four" author Jim Bouton and a long list of other former baseball stars - including Gary Sheffield, Ron Darling, Leiter and Jim Leyritz - also are expected to attend the event. WFAN's Mike Francesa is scheduled to broadcast his show from the Black course that day. The tournament is part of the non-profit Players Trust's disaster relief programming efforts. In addition to what many players have done individually, major leaguers have committed up to $500,000 in aid from the Players Trust to non-profit organizations helping victims of Sandy recover from the destruction. To date, the Players Trust has directly contributed more than $175,000 to various organizations providing needed assistance to storm victims. For more information, please visit MLBPlayers.com, call 888-714-0755 or send an email to PlayersTrust@mlbpa.org.ON THAT NOTE Hey, Noo Yawk basebawl fans, Opera Man is coming into town for the Awl-Stah Game and he thinks yaw accents are funny. Howard Greer - aka Opera Man - is one of the 11 All-Star vendors who won all-expenses paid trips to town, courtesy of their employer, Aramark, which operates concessions at Citi Field and 10 other Major League parks. Greer is a fan favorite at the Colorado Rockies' Coors Field, where he is known as Opera Man because he sings out his beer offerings in a baritone. He says he meets plenty of New Yorkers whenever the Mets or Yankees hit Denver and he likes the fact that Big Apple baseball fans are outgoing, funny and passionate about their teams. "Once you get over the peculiar accents, they are nice people," Opera Man tells The Score. "It cracks me up to hear it."