1997-2000: When 'Hating' the Miami Heat Made Sense

Having something to say about the woes of the Miami Heat is as easy as breathing in the blogosphere. This team of Superfriends or the new and rapidly-overdone “Two and a Half Men” has hit some bumps, even being overshadowed by an opponent whose pursuit of excellence eclipsed their significant win that broke a five-game losing streak.

When Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra told the media that at least one player began crying after the loss to the Chicago Bulls, it seemed as if there was a far greater reason to not only ‘hate’ on them, but to bring out the Dr. Drew types of the sports world; pop psychiatrists who want to gain some deeper analysis of the mental states of the players. And of course, many of you have come across this through Twitter, where the jokes have been non-stop (though some are rather funny).

There’s no need to do the rundown of how affixed, agitated and admittedly attracted we’ve become to the Heat. From the media coverage to the social media schadenfreude, we’ve taken such a liking to the suffering of this collection of players that not a day goes by without a new meme circling the Internet that further demeans them. Or just Chris Bosh.

It’s gotten absurd to the point that this longtime Knicks fan wishes for the days when ‘hating’ the Miami Heat actually made sense.

For those who need a history refresher, let’s take it back to where it all started. A fax machine at Madison Square Garden.

Courtesy of MSG.com

On June 15th, 1995, Pat Riley – the original persona non grata to NYK fans before Larry Brown, Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas – faxed an unexpected resignation as head coach to the team brass. Unexpected because no matter what media may say in retrospect (because they always know all along, right?), there was not a fan across the globe that could understand why Riley would leave the team. After missing out on the team’s first NBA crown since 1973 in the 1994 Finals, New York lost a bitter seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinal series to the Indiana Pacers, a team that the Knicks would have unquestionably met again had Riley not left after the infamous Patrick Ewing missed finger roll.

It wasn’t just that he resigned; having been so close to a title after winning championships with the Los Angeles Lakers might have driven him over the edge in a city obsessed with the Orange and Blue at the time. It was that he resigned to obtain more power with a franchise desperate for relevance.

Now, Miami has never been revered as a passionate sports town, adulation for those championship Dolphins teams and the walking first & second rounds of the NFL Draft called the Hurricanes withstanding. It’s probably gotten worse when you consider that in the past fourteen years, the Florida Marlins won two World Series championships, the Florida Panthers made a Stanley Cup Final in 1996 and only thirty people can recall getting title fever for either team.

Contrast that to a city not known for great weather, unbridled optimism, five borough unity and pristine beaches. A championship parade in New York would have been the biggest, loudest and most joyous New York City had ever held.

After being swept in the first round by arguably the best NBA team of all time, the 1998 Chicago Bulls, Riley reimaged his new empire in a similar mold to his former fiefdom up north. The entire playbook was built around a true center (Alonzo Mourning as Patrick Ewing), a heady point guard with hand-checking skills (Tim Hardaway as Derek Harper), an enforcer at power forward (P.J. Brown as Charles Oakley) and a borderline mad man on the perimeter shooting threes (Dan Majerle as John Starks). There were many other interchangeable parts, mostly at small forward (Jamal Mashburn as a less rugged, better shooting version of Anthony Mason) and key bench positions.

In what became the defining rivalry of the 1990s, the Knicks and Heat played some the ugliest, but honestly enthralling basketball you may ever see in your life. Both teams were vilified for what was suddenly termed “Rileyball”; a physically punishing, defensively-driven, “Lane? What lane?” game. Never mind that neither team possessed the offensive talents of Riley’s Laker squads of the 1980s; in fact, few teams in NBA history could roll out three Hall of Famers on the starting lineup (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy). Never mind that defensive bullies ran shop in the league long before Riley taught Majerle how to foul or Starks how to head butt Reggie Miller.

The pieces did change over the years. Don Nelson – who couldn’t trade Ewing and made Mason a point forward in his Nellieball scheme – quickly became Jeff Van Gundy, a famed Riley lieutenant. The Heat rolled out several foils off the bench for New York; Voshon Leonard, Isaac Austin, Anthony Carter (current Knick), Clarence Weatherspoon (eventual former Knick) and Bruce Bowen. These guys annoyed the hell out of Knicks fans because of singular moments from behind the backboard shots to hard fouls that were sparingly called.

The Knicks had guys that still tick off Heat fans to this day: the Save Patrick campaign of the late 1990s introduced Miami to Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas (who gave Mourning hell during practices as a member of the Heat), Chris Childs and Charlie Ward. Yet, no players boiled the blood of Heat fans quite like the triumvirate of Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson.

Their moments speak for themselves.







There were few times in the NBA annals that two teams could claim an absolute hatred for one another. The Heat-Knicks rivalry was so intense that not this been a regulated professional league, individual contributions on either side could have started riots in senior leagues at Boca Raton and middle schools in Syosset. Save for the Georgetown men of Ewing and Mourning – longtime friends that still had dinner with each other after playoff games – these guys could have held mixed martial arts matches just as well as basketball games to release their rage towards one another.

They shared space in the same Atlantic Division, with Miami winning the division crown four years in a row from 1997-2000. They also met in four straight postseasons during that span of Heat regular season dominance; with each series going the full limit of games. In those Aprils and Mays, New York got the upper hand when it counted; three series wins and 13-11 record in all 24 games). You know the moments, even if you want to erase them from your memory. It wasn’t basketball at its purest or most aesthetically pleasing for those fawning for Michael Jordan’s fade away jumpers. It was like watching the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers playing each other every other day for two weeks; entertainingly violent, hideous and enthralling.

Probably the best words ever spoken on those days come from the outstanding Free Darko book, “The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History”. Joey Litman said of the rivalry:

“This ugly, malevolent basketball nonetheless aroused so much passion because the theater was authentic and the enmity real. Miami’s Tim Hardaway once said of the Knicks, “I hate them with all the hate you can hate with”. Michael Jordan and the other pretty things of the 1990s may have been pretty and esteemed, but they also held themselves beyond reach, sacrosanct like works of art. The Knicks and Heat played different basketball, the sort that for all of its flaws, was terrestrial, tangible, attainable. It invited fans to experience the rivalry in a more personal manner. Knicks-Heat had an emphatic quality: The players didn’t do anything special – they were just like us, only more so. A common fan couldn’t bang with Charles Oakley, but he certainly understood the floor-bound brutishness in a way he couldn’t understand David Robinson’s assault on physical laws. Fans were free to see the Knicks and Heat as human – humans engaging in a conflict filled with raw, recognizable emotion, especially anger.”

And goodness, there was anger.

So, why the walk down memory lane?

When LeBron James signed with the Heat, he took on American sports’ public enemy number one; for better or worse. For many, it would have been easy to ‘hate’ if he signed with the Knicks; all things New York unearth an often irrational resentment from the rest of the country, but the City itself can take that in stride.

If he signed with a team like the Los Angeles Clippers, despite the potentially great young nucleus of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Gordon, he would have been a part of the NBA’s longest-running punch line. After all, how often do you find yourselves saying “but it’s the Clippers”?

If he signed with Chicago, it would have been ego running rampant. He just had to play in the House Michael Built. He just had to one-up the living legend. He just had to be a global icon where Jordan became an actual global icon.

No matter what reporters have said in retrospect, not a soul outside of James, Riley, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh knew that James would sign with Miami. Remember, the Heat was supposed to lose Wade to Chicago and Bosh was supposed to be a compliment player to anywhere either Wade or James would go to, right? Yet, the Heat, with an apparently apathetic fan base and far too many warm-weather distractions to inspire passions like their northern neighbors, nabbed all three of them for the next six seasons.

‘Hating’ the Heat in 2011 seems too easy, contrived and without roots. It’s the NBA’s version of culture vulturism; something people latch onto in order to get attention or feel part of the inside joke so many seem to be in on. There’s no question that The Decision, Riley’s history and the Miami sports fan base make for an interesting brew while we as fans and media (bloggers count) happily stir the pot.

Yet, not too long ago, there was an actual reason to ‘hate’ the Miami Heat. It had less to do with ill-fated announcements, Trending Topics and arenas not being filled to capacity. It had to do with one slick-haired, Armani suit wearing, brilliantly conniving Hall of Fame head coach that wanted more than another legacy-enhancing championship.

Could Prokhorov's War on the Knicks Be Misguided?

The question has been asked because he fired off another salvo.

What do you think of the NBA trading deadline?

Overall, no one expected this kind of activity, however there were two moves made by teams that were never truly rivals until one Mikhail Prokhorov showed up to Newark… err, Northern New Jersey.

See, the Gerald Wallace trade to Portland will be a huge lift for the Blazers and Kendrick Perkins was a major get by Oklahoma City. The Free Mo Williams Movement didn’t bring him back to LeBron James, but netting Blake Griffin and the Erics* (Bledsoe and at some point, Gordon) isn’t too shabby.

Yet, the move that has this Scribe a bit perplexed is how Deron Williams ended up on the Nets not to improve their playoff hopes (they’re 17-41), but to one-up the New York Knicks.

You heard that all of Prokhorov’s machinations leading to the trading deadline were to drive up the price for the Knicks’ eventual acquisition of Carmelo Anthony. Unquestionably, it worked as Knicks owner James Dolan was convinced to hover over team president Donnie Walsh to make it happen; compelling New York to give up about half of its active roster. Yet, when the Nets quietly traded Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and send some cash to the Utah Jazz for Williams, Prokhorov called a gangsta (or a G), labeled a genius and heralded as a badass.

Courtesy of NBA.com

I was amused, then annoyed and eventually disgusted by the comparisons between both trades, both teams and both players. Williams has been my favorite point guard in the Association since he arrived. While the high wattage smile and Isiah Thomas comparisons made New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul the most beloved and automatic "best PG in the league" by salivating mainstream media, Williams has been equally, if not more impressive in some respects (a better scorer at that position).

Williams has had more playoff success and while the belief persists that Paul is better because he has less to work with; something has to be said about a young PG having to lead veteran players experienced in the iron-fisted system of former coach Jerry Sloan.

Yet, because of the media-spun Melodrama - there was more talk about the opinions and opinions of the opinions than what Anthony actually said publicly, which wasn't much - it seems as if people were quick to make the statements of how Williams is a better player than Anthony despite the fact that they play two entirely different positions and games.

Never mind that people were still slighting Williams because of the comparisons to the other great floor generals in the league today; Paul, Chicago’s Derrick Rose, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Boston’s Rajon Rondo and the old guard in Steve Nash & Jason Kidd. At least for a few days, he was given respect in a backhanded manner by people who decided that all things ‘Melo deserve an extra slice of derision.

Let’s be for real here; saying Deron Williams is better than Carmelo Anthony would have been akin to saying that Gary Payton was better than Scottie Pippen, despite different circumstances and demands on their styles.

That the Nets - a lottery team because of the lack of pieces to help Williams and Brook Lopez - made off better than the Knicks right now is a major stretch. There’s no doubt that players of those skill sets; whether a big PG with lead scorer ability or a SF with an array of offensive & rebounding gifts are not easy to find. Even more difficult is to anticipate that a franchise is going to find worthwhile players in the collegiate ranks, especially with the prevailing opinion that the 2011 draft class is one of the weakest in recent memory.

In fact, these deals proved that the cultures between the Nets and Knicks couldn’t be more different. The Knicks are trying to return to glory after a decade of front office debacles and player misery. The Nets, save for four years of unexpected bliss in the Kidd era, have spent most of its existence struggling for relevance from Long Island to East Rutherford to Newark.

It appears that Prokhorov is trying to bring a Yankees/Red Sox like war to NBA ball here in this area, yet he's approaching it the wrong way. You can afford to do that in other sports where there are more players, therefore more interchangeable pieces. In basketball, moving TWO rotational players (starters or top depth players) is a complete culture shock to a team.

Yes, Prokhorov is the more media savvy of the two NBA owners in this area. Some people love the idea of him being this badass Russian out of the mold of a Guy Ritchie film (could that be more stereotypical?) and starting a war with the Knicks. There is probably an actual plan towards building something around Williams, who despite just six seasons in the league, has missed the playoffs only once (his rookie season). However, trying to one up the rival for the sake of doing it is a far more dangerous gamble for a franchise with no roots.

Say What?!?!: * For those of us who remember the great Louis Sachar book, Sideway Stories from Wayside School, that Erics reference was for you.

The Insanity of NBA Trade Talk



Credit: Eye on Basketball


A long time ago, ESPN’s Colin Cowherd said that NBA trade rumors and the offseason are more interesting than the games themselves.

And that was one of the last times I intentionally listened to nationally-syndicated sports radio.

Whether it comes from media or the creativity of our own minds, the analysis of potential moves in the NBA inspires efforts like the ESPN staple trade machine, prematurely customized jerseys and obligatory blog posts discussing our opinions on the opinions of these dreamt-up transactions. (You love this, don't you?) If there’s something in sports that truly defines ‘insanity’ – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result – the NBA rumor mill fits the bill.

This is why on so many levels; the chatter around Carmelo Anthony is pretty amusing. It’s full of the expected irrationality that makes the rumor mill spin so wildly day after day.

So before going further, let this excerpt from the latest from The Perpetual Post stay with you throughout the rest of this Scribe post:

“… for at least the next few seasons, any significant NBA player who has a chance to write his own ticket now will be placed under the same microscope as (LeBron) James. It’s a shortsighted perspective because no other player took on nor was bestowed such hype around his every move as James was.”

And that’s the nature of trade talk, isn’t it? No matter what the situation is, player movement will naturally be compared to yesterday’s blockbuster.

There’s something about the NBA, rather than other sports, that allows for the trade rumors to stick around as long as they do.

What keeps the rumor mill less insane in baseball is the length of the season. It’s long enough all fans have the same sense of hope about their teams in April and May, no matter how dire reality might be. When teams fade in June, the chatter will reign because a) the higher profile teams are always looking and/or b) like the Nuggets, a mediocre-to-bad team can’t let a free agent star just walk away without trying to get something in return. In addition, there are about a gazillion players in a baseball organization with the major league club and several minor league teams, giving managers there wherewithal to essentially trade one fan base’s fervor for right here, right now with another’s deep reserves of hope and patience.

With baseball, you have a media culture that seeks out anything to be a story because they spend about as much time with the players as the coaches and managers do. Some will sound the five-alarm bell around the trading deadline, but more often than not, stories about slumps, hot streaks and tired bullpens tend to linger over the course of a season.

In football, trades are a big deal because of their relative rarity. I say relative because while moves such as Clinton Portis-for-Champ Bailey are pretty rare, moving players for draft picks happens slightly more frequently (see Moss, Randy). In the NFL, you’re moving draft picks because while a roster has 53 active players and a handful more for the practice squad will be veteran-laden, football is a sport that ravages men quickly as they age. Draft picks, more so than existing players, are vital because of the meat grinder the sport I truly is.

With the intense and short season, the media in general tends to be focused on the present. After all, a majority of the active roster hits the field during a given game, compelling reporters to seek out multiple players and coaches in order to meet their deadlines. The most far reaching it gets is the postseason thanks to the wild cards and division titles on the line. Only after the Super Bowl does it get heavy into player movement and as we evidence these days, lockout talk.

Ah, the NBA. Fifteen guys per roster. Even with the growth of the D-League, you still have less than twenty players officially affiliated with a NBA club. Maybe it’s the lack of anonymity of the players on the court. Maybe it’s the image questions that have forever swirled around the league. Maybe it the painful dearth of credible basketball reporters (some are better than others, but those with an agenda make themselves heard over the respectable ones in the field). A combination of this let rumors drench NBA coverage like Patrick Ewing’s sweat.

[It’s hard to speak on other leagues such as the NHL and international soccer brands, but they must share some traits with the three most popular American sports leagues.]

So for those who seem to be fatigued by the latest spin on Carmelo’s future, consider that we’ve been down this road far too often. Though it’s easy to believe that this is a recent phenomenon, it’s the nature of the league, dating back generations to when the NBA first began to gain a foothold in the popular sports landscape. Sadly, it’s not going to change any time soon.

Insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Phil or Pat? Who Would You Take?

Color me amazed!

A question to Scribe’s Twitter followers got the attention of @NBA_on_ESPN_RV and has inspired a pretty good debate. To elaborate on those 140 characters:

You’re given a team that has been in the middle of the road for some time. There’s playoff potential, but equal potential for them to get embarrassed in the first round. Because of that treading-water phase of the franchise, you haven’t been able to draft a can’t-miss player and cap space is preciously thin. However, while your squad doesn’t have superstars, some players are on the radar of contending teams.

You have a chance to grab one of these two all-time great coaches. Which would you take: Phil Jackson or Pat Riley?

Of course, the question was inspired by Jackson passing Riley as the winningest coach in Los Angeles Lakers history last night.

Personally, I know who I’d make the case for, but I would hear what you have to say first.

State your case in a comment here, Facebook or on Twitter.

Cumbersome

This LeBron in 2010 talk is quite cumbersome.

As they do daily, the NBA sends a digest of team and player news from the night before. Below the main story, they have a section devoted to stories from local and national media outlets.

You would think that the league would try not to add on to or at least curtail the swarms of misinformation and speculation, yet, lo and behold...

The title of the email is actually "Lakers on a Roll, Knicks Await LeBron, Power Rankings and More!‏"

If you're a fan of the NBA and you have no investment in either LeBron James, the New York Knicks or even the Cleveland Cavailiers, you must be feeling like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day right about now.

Even though there is a post drafted that basically questions the logic of both the New York Knicks' current regime and the league at large for fanning the flames of this discussion... it's just exhausting to even finish at this point.

However, one of the most insightful writings about this subject comes from Kelly Dwyer, veteran blogger for Ball Don't Lie. Dwyer asks the one question that only the coveted player himself seems to be asking these days; Can we let him play?

He asserts:

"This thing is so far away from even getting to the point of developing a part of a picture that we can observe and then ably guess at that it is borderline ridiculous to offer anything more than a shrug of the shoulders and a "could happen" between now and the latter part of the 2009-10 season."

While Dwyer hits the nail on the head with each point, he misses one completely that even the most ardent NBA fan doesn't think about very often. One of the worst aspects about the NBA is trade speculation, especially when it comes to this very metropolis this Scribe calls the hometown. Every superstar player save for the late George Mikan - and who knows, this may be true of him as well - has been rumored to be traded to or sign as a free agent to the Knicks. Very few of these rumors have ever come true (Latrell Sprewell's trade to New York after his suspension was at least five years after early whispers) or come within a whisker to fruition (apparently, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was almost a Knick back in 1975). Yet, the rumors persist because someone has a jonesing for the Five Boroughs or a disdain for everyone else outside of them (New Jersey, included).

And now, you have twenty months to tell yourself that after years of Michael Jordan-to-the-Knicks rumors from Peter Vescey that number 23 will blaze on the Madison Square Garden hardwood after all.

Don't you think the Knicks should figure out who is going to be the starting shooting guard for the next twenty months without Jamal Crawford?

Don't you think the media around here should pay attention to the current roster as it tries to salvage any semblance of order for the next five months?

Don't you think that LeBron should tell everyone to back off until the time comes? Or, to borrow Dwyer's eloquence: "So chill. Please, everyone, just cool out. COOL OUT!"

Dimes

Honestly, the return of the NBA has taken over the mind, body and soul... along with complete exhaustion.

In lieu of a preview or an elaborate post this evening, here are a few quick passes until a heavy day on Scribe tomorrow:

• From New York Magazine, Chris Smith delves into how Bronx native, Donnie Walsh, is hoping to resurrect his hometown franchise. This shall be interesting considering a) that this magazine rarely ventures into sports unless there's something 'sexy' and b) no one really knows where this path will lead, no matter how well Walsh is regarded.
  
  
• Sticking with the Five Boroughs somewhat is an article from this weekend's New York Times Magazine. Bruce Schoenfeld chronicles the long and bizarre (mostly bizarre) road to have professional basketball... in Oklahoma City.
  
  
• From Advertising Age, Rich Thomaselli adds another comparison of one number 23 to another; this time, in relation to Madison Avenue. Hey, it's the fulltime job talking over here.
  
  
• From The Biz of Basketball, Maury Brown highlights the special shoe that Kevin Garnett took to the floor during tonight's opener. You should now want your face to adorn a shoe.
  
  
• Finally, this breaks from Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports. Anyone who has mentioned the New Jersey Nets in person to me has heard me rant somewhat about their tenable situation in trying to move to Brooklyn. This may further prove the point that I've been making... no one's coming to Brooklyn. More on this later.

Hungry?

Some food for thought in these nutty times.

There would be more on this space this evening, but sometimes, if you can sleep early, you'd be a fool not to.

• From Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan revisits the greatest rant in sports history. Oh yes, better than Dennis Green's "Crowning". Better than Jim Mora's playoff outlook. Better than Hal McRae's extreme makeover. Tops anything from the Lou Pinella vault. By the way, whether fans like it or not, everything said in that three-plus minute, profanity-laced tirade is 100% truth... even 25 years later... but more on that tomorrow.
  
  
• From a favorite blog of Scribe's, Sports Media Watch, how the New York Knicks' head coaching and general manager searches can possibly ruin NBA television. And, no, it's not another "this is how the Knicks suck" piece. Thank goodness.
  
  
• From the New York Times (yesterday), a somewhat disturbing, yet intriguing look at how War Emblem isn't exactly producing anymore Kentucky Derby winners. Disturbing in the sense of how the horse's bounty of male-tinged fantasies can seem a little too... shallow and human. Intriguing in the sense that people still debate if horse racing is even a sport.
  
  
• And for those of you who like a little scandal and controversy that does not involve the names of Obama, Clinton, McCain, Bush, Wright, Clemens, McNamee, (Josh) Howard, New or York (you like that?)... enjoy... or cringe... or whatever you want to do.

Finally, you may notice a couple of names below mine on the right hand side. It's time to mix things up a bit and Scribe can only be better because of their contributions. Looking forward to them.

Say What?!?!: By the way, Mr. Elia? I am PROUD to be part of the 85% who make a living everyday. However, thanks to your classic diatribe, I will play for your baseball team ANYTIME.

Thirteen

For those who recall when music was (at least it appeared to be) a comparable passion to sports, consider this a slight return to those days.

Having a fulltime job is kind of getting in the way of keeping the sports gig fresh – I’m kidding, folks. Yet, because there is a ton going on at the moment, it was better to share a few thoughts in the same manner that I did a while back. The titles come from one of the few rap albums I cared to acknowledge over the past three years; One Hunid the debut album from The Product. Please acquire for your musical collection.

Thirteen thoughts, thirteen tracks. Consume.

Get Out: that was the rally cry of several General Managers since the end of the NBA regular season. The most discussed, of course, has been the exit of Isiah Thomas. It would just be wasted space to add any commentary to this – wasted that is if others weren’t so eloquently brilliant about it – but anyone who considers him/herself a Knicks fan should prepare for the media circus that will envelop the head coaching search. Yet, if there is one more that proves to be more puzzling, it is dismissal of Larry Krystkowviak from the Milwaukee Bucks.
While the Knicks have been the national punch line (funny they didn’t get this much attention when they were perennial title contenders in the 1990s), it seems as if the Bucks have gone unscathed outside of the greater Milwaukee area. They have had three different head coaches since George Karl left after the 2003 postseason (Terry Porter for two years, Terry Stotts for 2 ½ and just one year for Krystkowviak). They have more power forwards than a NBA Live free agency pool. They have a little bit of a consistency problem and made a few “WTF” trades (Charlie Villanueva is a nice player, but T.J. Ford – injury aside – was such a great compliment for Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut). If the Knicks weren’t such an albatross, more heads would be swerving towards Wisconsin. Yet, whoever takes over as the next coach will have to deal with an impatient owner who has a slightly more important day job (Sen. Herb Kohl), an injury-riddled roster and an identity crisis. This new coach will have to figure out what kind of team the Bucks want to be.

2 Real: More so about the 2. What’s with the early baseball scheduling? Can anyone recall seeing this many two-game series in April, or at any point in the season before?

In the Hood: Over the years, much has been made about the so-called tanking ratings of the NBA. Despite the fact that anything on network television not called American Idol or the NFL has experienced a dip in that three-digit number, the NBA was the one sporting entity that faced greater scrutiny. Yet, it was always strange to hear that apparently no one was watching the games because I came up in the ‘hood. Every conversation on every corner on every block will start or end with something about how San Antonio and Phoenix played a double-OT thriller or how Boston won’t make it to the Finals, let alone win them. If you are an NBA fan in the ‘hood, this may be quite possibly your favorite time of year.
Of course, you don’t have to be from the Polo Grounds, northeast Philly or Watts to appreciate this time of year. We like you, too.

Read this and this.

Hustle: Shameless promotion – if you are in Midtown, Harlem or anywhere with a somewhat decent newsstand, grab the New York Beacon. PLEASE! That is a major part of my hustle, you know.

G Type: As in John Gibbons, Toronto Blue Jays manager. Not sure if he’s irascible or there’s a very contentious mix up north, but somehow, another player critical to the team’s success has been booted from the team. However, Dave Bush, Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly don’t have resumes comparable to Frank Thomas. If “Gibby” just has bad luck with a few players over a long managerial career, that’s not a big deal. Yet, he has managed to have four confrontations (that the public knows of) in just over three years in the big leagues.
Whoever picks up the Big Hurt won’t be too worried about that .167 batting average to start the season, but will focus on those three homers and eleven RBI in just sixteen games If he was right about Gibbons and GM J.P. Ricciardi purposely limiting his plate appearances in order to avoid paying him a bonus later this year remains to be seen. Expect him to be picked up within the next three days, but also expect him to spout off about his former employer. Just ask Kenny Williams in Chicago (White Sox).

Not a Word about Hopkins/Calzaghe… except that the former middleweight champion has one decision to make: stop BSin’ in the ring (Scribe says he won the fight until the tenth round) or start promoting outside of the ring.

I’m A fan of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Watch them.

Pride: No matter how much media attention, dollars or photo spreads she got, everything could have been deemed irrelevant if Danica Patrick didn’t win a race. Maybe after all the glitter, only pride remains for someone with such hype with little to no success to validate a career. Patrick finally took a race over the weekend with the Indy Japan 300, just at the start of her fourth season in the circuit. It’s been said that it takes three years to get a win under the belt, but many of her critics have said that she spent those years focused more on looking good than being good. It could be an unfair statement, especially having to work so hard to be one of the few women to successfully gain a spot in an uber-male sport. There was definitely some hard work along the way. Yet, the work's far from done. While it may be unrealistic considering the difficulty of the sport, Patrick should heed the words of one of the all-time great baseball managers, the fictional Cleveland Indians skipper, Lou Brown:
“We won yesterday. If we win today, that’s two-in-a-row. If we win tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak; it has happened before “.

The Love of Money: If I had a few dollars, I’d pay top dollar to see Deron Williams. Look, Chris Paul should win the MVP award and I’d Superkick someone if that’s what it took to see Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett. However, Williams is the truth. Pay close attention to the Rockets/Jazz series and see how difficult of a time Houston will have stopping or slowing him down outside of putting Shane Battier (more of a big small forward or small power forward) on him.

Dead Broke: Yet, this Scribe is dead broke thanks to MLB Extra Innings. Order it. Trust me.

Don’t Matter: “It don’t matter, I got a ring!” – Keyshawn Johnson, after winning his lone Super Bowl title as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Random, I know.

Life’s Been Good: Or at least manageable. Hope yours is going well.

Ridiculous

It's been a bit laborous, surprisingly, as 2008 gets underway. While the final two installations of the Forward series are in draft mode (this craft means too much to just throw something incomplete just to be updated), here's a dose of what Part 6 will discuss.

In the words of Rasheed Wallace, "it's just a little bit of hoop."

And this move was just ridiculous.

Sideshow

A couple of posts coming soon need permissions. In the meanwhile, for this evening, here's your assignment.

Because I try my hardest to not discuss a ton related to northeastern sports unless the topic warrants it, I rather post the first articles of note that discusses the sideshow that has become the New York Knicks... fan base. Yes, you read that correctly.

It's something when I'm actually referring to Bill Simmons. Yes, you also read that correctly.

From Brian Mahoney, AP Sports

From Bill Simmons, ESPN

And while we're at it, I wanted to add what is likely the most truthful article written about the NBA... ever... courtesy of Chuck Klosterman.

Enjoy.