Thursday, June 29, 2006
I cannot believe it...
Although I've never stated here, I am a rabid sports fan. My loyalty is given to the Jets, Yankees, Knicks, and Rangers. Although only the Yanks and Rangers have won a title while I was old enough to understand the proceedings, all have played well while growing up and in to adulthood. All have sucked at some point as well. All that being said, the sad sack of the bunch for some time have been the Knicks. First run in to the ground by Scott Layden, the Knicks sent his Mormon ass packing back to Salt Lake City. I hope he drowns. Anyway, fresh with an opportunity to imporve the club, the Knickerbockers hire the worst possible choice on earth: Isiah Thomas. This fucking idiot has literally ruined every organization he's ever run. Case in point? The CBA. The Continental Basketball Association was a minor league that acted as a league of its own, as well as being a feeder league for the NBA. It was always successful and profitable. Thomas bought in and changed the entire structure. It was bankrupt and disbanded in less than 2 years. Naturally, he was the hired as a coach of the Indiana Pacers. This was one of the best teams in the NBA, but could barely make the playoffs. When IT left, they played for the title. When NY hired him, my heart sank. NYC loves the Knicks, possibly more than any other team; though you may not know it. Couple this with 4 coaches in 5 years, and the Knicks were terribel on all level. Anyway, the team finally hired a decent coach, Larry Brown, but was so undercut by the owner and GM (Thomas), that the team was the second worst in the NBA. Sometimes that is not a bad thing, as you get high draft picks. However, Thomas traded the 2006 first round pick for Eddy Curry. Moreover, he did not lottery protect the pick, so a team that went to the playoffs can pick the second best player available. Meanwhile, the Knicks still suck. When the Bulls hoist yet another trophy within the next 4 years or so, make sure Jerry Reinsdorf thanks Isiah. Note that I'm not even bothering to mention the horrible trades and free-agent signings that have destroyed the team's ability to get better players from now until... say 2011.
Despite the loss of the 2nd pick, the team did hold 2 picks at 20 and 29, so at least some hope was in evidence. As the draft was held in Manhattan, Knick fans were in the hizzy, so to speak. Naturally, they were in near riot mode. As the Knicks were prepared to pick, the home crowd was rooting for Marcus Williams; a point guard from UConn with questionable judgement but the best pure PG available. This was not meant to be. Instead we heard: Renaldo Blankman. Bill Simmons said it best when he stated that sometimes in sports you expect something great to happen, and it does. Then there are moments that you expect something great to happen and someting greater happens. The italics are his; I would not use the terms great or greater. Moreover, I don't consider the pick "greater". I consider it transcedent, even epic. The willful stupdity needed to pick an undersized forward who, according to everyone else in sports would have been available in the second round, is so horrible as to defy understanding. Natually the Garden went berserk to the point I was ready for civil unrest. I imagined Thomas running though the streets of Manhattan with angry Knick fans holding torches and farm implements. This begs a question: would any jury convict them? I'd vote for an acquittal out of principle. I was in my car after buying cigars for a camping trip, and I was screaming at the streering wheel. "Are you fucking kdding me!??!?!?!?!?!" People were staring, but I did not care. My interest in this, aside from the fact that I love Da Knicks, is an academic one. What will people be writing about this team 10 or even 5 years from now? Moreover, has a tipping point been reached where I root against the Knicks just to get rid of Thomas? Oh yeah! Can I enjoy watching this team get smoked so I can count down the days until Thomas leave the Garden in disgrace only to be murdered by an angry mob? Oh yes, I most certainly can.
My prediction of the this team is as follows: the Knicks will be a bit better than last year, but that is damning with faint praise. In the interest of clarity, I'll phrase it this way: they will suck slightly less, and Thomas will get fired. This won't help the Knicks, as the team also traded the first round pick for the '07 draft in the Eddy Curry trade. My prediction for the Thomas era is a little more dire. I full expect this span of (mis)management to be considered one of the biggest blunders in business history. As such, it will be studied, disceted, and otherwise beaten to death. So long as Thomas is given his full share of blame, I appluad this academic pursuit. The Knicks will recover at some point, but not any time soon. Until then? GO BULLS!!!!!
Despite the loss of the 2nd pick, the team did hold 2 picks at 20 and 29, so at least some hope was in evidence. As the draft was held in Manhattan, Knick fans were in the hizzy, so to speak. Naturally, they were in near riot mode. As the Knicks were prepared to pick, the home crowd was rooting for Marcus Williams; a point guard from UConn with questionable judgement but the best pure PG available. This was not meant to be. Instead we heard: Renaldo Blankman. Bill Simmons said it best when he stated that sometimes in sports you expect something great to happen, and it does. Then there are moments that you expect something great to happen and someting greater happens. The italics are his; I would not use the terms great or greater. Moreover, I don't consider the pick "greater". I consider it transcedent, even epic. The willful stupdity needed to pick an undersized forward who, according to everyone else in sports would have been available in the second round, is so horrible as to defy understanding. Natually the Garden went berserk to the point I was ready for civil unrest. I imagined Thomas running though the streets of Manhattan with angry Knick fans holding torches and farm implements. This begs a question: would any jury convict them? I'd vote for an acquittal out of principle. I was in my car after buying cigars for a camping trip, and I was screaming at the streering wheel. "Are you fucking kdding me!??!?!?!?!?!" People were staring, but I did not care. My interest in this, aside from the fact that I love Da Knicks, is an academic one. What will people be writing about this team 10 or even 5 years from now? Moreover, has a tipping point been reached where I root against the Knicks just to get rid of Thomas? Oh yeah! Can I enjoy watching this team get smoked so I can count down the days until Thomas leave the Garden in disgrace only to be murdered by an angry mob? Oh yes, I most certainly can.
My prediction of the this team is as follows: the Knicks will be a bit better than last year, but that is damning with faint praise. In the interest of clarity, I'll phrase it this way: they will suck slightly less, and Thomas will get fired. This won't help the Knicks, as the team also traded the first round pick for the '07 draft in the Eddy Curry trade. My prediction for the Thomas era is a little more dire. I full expect this span of (mis)management to be considered one of the biggest blunders in business history. As such, it will be studied, disceted, and otherwise beaten to death. So long as Thomas is given his full share of blame, I appluad this academic pursuit. The Knicks will recover at some point, but not any time soon. Until then? GO BULLS!!!!!
