Knicks Lose in OT

Nate giveth and Nate taketh away. That said, the reasons the Knicks lost are two-fold: they stopped getting the ball to Curry who was scoring at will and Zeke does not know how to use timeouts. Pathetic loss. We're not gonna make the playoffs, so we better hope the Bulls don't hit the jackpot with our lottery pick. Zeke was extended too soon.

Rangers Win 6-4!

Hank wasn't terribly sharp, nor were the Rangers, but they're the better team and they won fairly easily. 2 points! Jagr had two, Callahan, Prucha, Pock and Straka also scored. Pock is starting to show some offensive upside. Callahan looks like a real player.

Draft Videos!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/prospects Here are some prospect videos. Get familiar with the WR's, LB's, S's and CB's. BTW, Levi Brown's "highlights" will show you why he won't be a left tackle in the NFL.

Knicks Tonight

At NO, 8pm est. They have to get over the tough loss last night and win!

Rangers Tonight

at Philly, 7pm est. Must win. Rangers need to play hard and not fear the Flyers.

Knicks Lose a Heartbreaker in Dallas

Game turned on turnovers and some really bad reffing. Stephon was amazing and didn't deserve to lose.

Another Video of the Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRb8_4dQkBM
a bit of a comeback by the bro's

Video of the Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE5fNoJlx7Q

Great Books

The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence S. Ritter. This is the book that started the long term oral history projects in baseball history. In the early `60's Larry Ritter raced around America collecting the memories of lots of ballplayers from the first decades of the 20th century. Their stories are remarkable, while detailing for us a time where "love of the game" was the reason they played. Somewhat hilariously, they almost all of them make the case that the player of today (circa 1965) couldn't compare to the players of their era.

My grandfather gave me this book to read on the train back to NYC when I was about ten or eleven, and I've picked it up every few years since. If you don't have it, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You can do it through Amazon.

Knicks Tonight

at Dallas, 8:30 pm est. Quentin Richardson will have back surgery and is lost for the year. Stevie Francis has a sprained ankle and is out. Renaldo Balkman is a game time decision.

Video of the Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYgTAyIkpyg

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olson #141, by Jack Kirby. This one sort of speaks for itself, but notice that the Guardian has got a Jack Kirby head, but Superman's sporting a Curt Swan or someone else.

Stylus Magazines Top 50 One Hit Wonders

well, at least 40 of them!
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/stylus-magazines-top-50-one-hit-wonders.htm

How Pretty is Gwen Stefani?

I don't have a screen-cap of the show, but d'ag, the past two nights I have been struck by how pretty Gwen Stefani looks when she's not all glitzed up. Wow.

More Bones

I have railed about the "enlightened outsider" arcs in House, but they are running one now on Bones with Stephen Fry as an FBI shrink, and it is working brilliantly. I think there are two reasons for this, first, the Fry character doesn't have as much power over Booth as some of the outsiders have had over House on that show, and second, Stephen Fry is very funny, and very smart so there is an art to the info he's pulling out for the audience. This has been a really well done runner by the Bones folks, and they should be proud of being able to take a trite cliche and breathing life into it. Ironically, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry starred in sketch show over in England together for several years. Too bad he was never the enlightened outsider on House.

KNICKS WIN!!!!!!!

Curry and Starbury !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270328018 Even Randolph Morris played and got on the score sheet! Team win!

Knicks Tonight

Home against Cleveland, 7:30 pm est. They don't seem to care these days, should we?

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Kamandi #11, by Jack Kirby. It's been all sports and no comics around here lately. Kamandi was Jack's take on Planet of the Apers and it was a damn good take. Anyone else notice a Talky Tawny tribute in this one?

Video Of The Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTIb-mzxaeE

Rangers Tonight

at Montreal, 7:30 pm est. Rangers need to keep it going. Lundqvist has carried them over the last two, and they need to skate better score more and give him an easier night tonight. Go Rangers! Get 2 points!

UPDATE: After skating to a 2-0 lead in the first, the Rangers gave up 5, yes 5, unanswered goals in the 2nd (Lundqvist was lifted after 4) and never came all the way back. A PATHETIC meltdown.

What Next, Jerry?

With Kawika Mitchell now a Giant for one year and 1 million (250K signing bonus), Jerry's got some more to do before the draft. Word yesterday was that the Giants were giving physicals to several players. We'll if that amounts to any other signings.

UPDATE: Grey Ruegamer has signed his 2 year contract and is officially back.

Knicks Tonight

Host Orlando, 7:30 pm est. Everyone is sick or hurt, but they Must Win! Show some guts Knicks!

UPDATE: Knicks lose because the refs don't call two obvious goaltends. Pathetic.

Kawika Comin'?

The Giants will apparently be kicking the tires on UFA LB Kawika Mitchell. As blog readers will recall, he was one of the guys we were talking about on the first night of FA. He's basically a two down run force LB, but he's young and healthy and we can scheme coverage around his shortcomings.

UPDATE: I think Mitchell is a Giant. Also, he was not the only non-Giant at the Stadium today, so there may be other news.

FURTHER UPDATE: There were SEVERAL players in taking physicals for the Giants today. Could not confirm any names, but several implies a good number.

SOME GOOD NEWS: The Giants got a comp pick! #41 in the 7th round. We can't trade it, but we now have 8 overall picks with 2 in the 7th. I think we need 10 or 11 picks.

Yikes it's Spikes!

In a shocking development, there are strong rumors at this hour that Takeo Spikes, and NOT Al Wilson is on the way to the Giants for a second day pick. This is all about health. If healthy, Spikes is an elite `backer. But, over the past two years, he has suffered a torn achilles and a bad hammy. If his legs are fine, this could end up being a great bandage for the Giant linebacking core.

Rangers Win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Ranger win 2-1 in OT!!!!! Nylander scored a power play goal to put us over the top! It was a perfect pass from Shanny. Lundqvist was once again spectacular and the Colton Orr (the misunderstood enforcer) had the other Ranger goal! 2 POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rangers Today

At Islanders! And it has already started! Get two! Go Rangers!

Video of the Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F2euKX0u5Y
One of my favorites moments in TV history.

Rangers Win!

The Rangers came back on a goal by Pock with under two minutes left in the third period. Then they won the shootout on a goal by Jagr and a save by Lundqvist. It had been a frustrating game, but they pulled it out and took 2 points! Great win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rangers Today

at Boston, 1pm. Gotta keep beating them like drums!

Ouch!

Chien Ming Wang will be shut down for at least three weeks with a grade one strain in his hamstring. This is really bad news, but as long as it doesn't linger, the Yanks should be able to make up his starts in April with Igawa/Karstens or Rasner. This will probably increase the urgency of the Roger Clemens talks, though he likely wouldn't be ready to help until after Wang returns. Bad break for the Yanks.

Not Dead Yet?

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5505017

The article jibes with what I heard late this afternoon: that Reese would still be willing to take Wilson if Denver would come up with additional concessions. Let's see what happens.

More: http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2753988&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

The Knicks Have Collapsed

Eddy Curry and Renaldo Balkman are the only two Knicks who should be welcome on the plane ride home. I know they miss Crawford and Lee, but the play-offs were right there, and they are folding up instead of fighting on. It's disturbing, and you really do have wonder about how much of a disincentive re-signing Isiah when they did was. It seems that it was at that very moment that the Knicks lost all the urgency they had played with.

Video of the Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGvwgL1ueO0
That's Otis Redding introducing them, and all of them are showing us how we should be dressed!

The Knicks Get Their Man!

The Knicks took advantage of a loophole in the CBA which allowed them to today sign 6'11" 21 year old Randolph Morris from Kentucky to a 2 year 1.6M deal. Morris was a free agent because he had previously entered the draft only to not get drafted and return to Kentucky. This gives the Knicks yet another, really athletic young big. Things looked terrible last night, but this was an awfully bright move.

Close But No Cigar - The Jerry Reese Story

Jerry has had a pretty terrible time collecting players for the Giants. Today, it looks like he's lost out on Al Wilson (either failed physical or bait and switch Bronco tactics) and Vonta Leach (Texans match offer). These latest losses follow a number of other whiffs in the FA market. Picking up Droughns for Carter has been his only good move. What's more, cutting Luke shows no sign of having improved the team. I really wonder what the problem converting organizational will into roster improvements has been.

Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on the Giants draft, and they only have 7 picks.

Yikes.

Al Wilson In Town for his Physical

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5505017

This makes a deal getting done today far more likely. I don't know what we gave up, though, and I hope we didn't overpay. This is a big test for Jerry Reese.

Knicks Tonight

at Cleveland, 7:30 pm est. Seems like they're content just playing out the season. Who knows if they'll show up for this one.

Video of the Day

This is awesome, ABBA on Wonderama in full Kung Fu gear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMuMrI7YyU

Knicks Fail to Show

The Knicks have not shown the same desire since Dolan extended Isiah Thomas's contract. Tonight they didn't show up at all, and lost to a terribly inferior Portland team. Nate Robinson and Channing Frye showed up, but no one else did. An embarrassing loss for a team that's going nowhere, fast.

Giants: Show and Tell?

NFL Network's Adam Shefter reports that the Giants are trying to acquire Al Wilson from the Denver Broncos. Now this would jibe with Giant/Denver talk that's been discussed here, but we have to ask, what the Giants are thinking of giving up, or if this is just a corner of a larger deal.

Knicks Tonight

Home against Portland, 7:30 pm est. Must win!

Rangers Knock Out Flyers 5-0!

Colton Orr set the tone for the game by knocking out Fedoruk in the first minute of play with a great right hand. From there, Prucha, Jagr, Ortmeyer and Avery (2) did the damage. Shanny had two assists in his first game back working on a line with Callahan and Avery, who is a bit of a revelation at Center. Wow, gotta keep the Mick Line together. Lundqvist was once again brilliant, and for a change there was mostly very good D in front of him. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rangers Tonight!

Home against Philly, 7:30 pm est. Can't afford another let down against the Flyers. Win Rangers Win!

BTW, Shanny will be back tonight, but instead of dumping the useless Isbister, they sent down Dubinsky. The Youth Movement is moving in the wrong direction!

Knicks Tonight

Home against Dallas. 7:30 pm est. This could be brutal, but maybe the Knicks can surprise them. Go Knicks!

Rangers Win!!!!!!

Jaromir Jagr scored with under :34 seconds left in the third to give the Rangers a HUGE 2-1 victory! Go Rangers

Rangers Tonight

Home against the Penguins. Must Win. Must teach Crosby a lesson.

More Cash

Here's an excellent article about how Cold Hard Cash and co have rebuilt the farm.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/117428220780640.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing Spiderman #39, I think this is the last Steve Ditko. He and Stan Lee apparently battled over whether or not the unmasked Green Goblin would be someone we knew (Lee) or a completely anonymous psychopath (Ditko). Lee won, but we all lost something as result.

Knicks DESTROY Raptors!

Balkmania ran wild at the Garden today. They're still not getting the ball to Curry, but Balkman, and Jefferies are really emerging as valuable role players, and Nate is starting to contribute again, too. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270318018

Knicks Today

Home against the Raptors, noon. Must win.

The Zippy Rangers Get Their Irish Up!

The Rangers won 7 zip behind 2 goals from Irishmen Ryan Callahan, 2 more from Son of Erin Matt Cullen, another from Irish SOB Sean Avery, and 1 each for Prucha! and Rozsival. Lundy got a shutout and was awesome. Liffiton was terrific and Girardi is our best D. Go Rangers!

Whither Toomer?

The Giants recent interest in Kevin Davis and first round WR candidate Dwayne Jarrett, as well as Toomer's recent restructure should tell you something they're not telling you.

Erin Go Bragh!

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~walsh/mountain.html
http://www.irishsurnames.com/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?name=farley&capname=Farley&letter=f&user=
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/basil23/page4.html
Happy Saint Patrick's Day, All! Stay safe and have fun! God bless you all!

Rangers Today

home and scheduled to tie Boston at 7pm est.

Zippy Rangers Lose Again in OT

The Rangers picked up a point and a very typical loss, 2-1 in overtime. These MSG teams don't understand MUST WIN!

Knicks BLOW IT

The Knicks blew an 18 point first half lead and ended up losing by two cause they couldn't score with the ball and 14 seconds left in the game. They are now 0-2 since Isiah Thomas was extended. Lame.

Knicks Tonight

Home against NO, 7pm est. Must win!

Rangers Tonight

at Atlanta, 7:30 pm est. Must win.

Eagles Now Beating Us in Offseason, Too

The Eagles have come to terms with Giant free agent target Kevin Curtis. The big plan is looking like a big flop right now.

Knicks Lose.

Couldn't stop TJ Ford or a rain of 3's. Sad.

Knicks Tonight

Knicks at Raptors, 7pm est. Withouth David Lee for the forseeable future, and without QRich for tonight, the Knicks have to keep on keeping on, and win. Go Knicks!

Rangers Lose Mostly Cause

Marek Malik sucks. After blowing another 2 goal lead, the Rangers came out swarming in the 3rd. That was until this big stiff tipped yet another puck past Lundqvist. And it wasn't even a shot, it was a pass that got turned into a goal against. Lundqvist was mad about this very sort of thing after the win on Sunday, and I don't see this making him happy. It's amazing that he hasn't been benched yet.

Rangers Tonight

Home against the Sens, 7pm est. Let's see if they can win one without giving the other team a point, too.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Best of War and More (Priority, 1987) War. War, pictured above cause I couldn't find a decent pic of the album cover, were an influential multiracial band who can together with former Animals lead man Eric Burden in the late sixties to record Funk. Burden left after awhile, but the best stuff is all collected here including Spill the Wine, Slippin into Darkness, The World is a Ghetto, The Cisco Kid, Low Rider, and Why Can't We Be Friends? They were one of the great and underrated bands of the `70's and their music is still very influential today. Dig it.

Isiah Extended

The perennially controversial gm and coach of the Knicks will remain gm and coach of the Knicks for "multiyears" so I guess that'll be awhile. This is probably suboptimal, but the Knicks are an entertaining team, the guys on the Knicks say "we" instead of "I" and there's a lot of young talent on the team, most of which Isiah has collected. I don't know who else was out there, and I suspect the lack of compelling alternatives has as much to do with the extension as Zeke's up and down performance has. Meanwhile, Isiah has to do a better job with his in-game coaching, and needs to refrain from using the MLE on anyone with two J's in their initials. Hopefully he'll have another good draft, and unload some vets during the offseason.

Great Scott! What the --?

Ian Scott who has been thought to already be in the Giants pocket, is meeting with Denver and could then go meet with Minnesota. So much for the grapevine. Something's breaking down and I hope it is not the Giants offseason plan.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

This Perfect World (Elektra, 1994) Freedy Johnston. Freedy has been one of the best singer/songwriters to emerge in a looooong time, and this is my favorite Freedy record. Just great throughout. Here are the tracks:

Bad Reputation
04:10
Evie's Tears
03:02
Can't Sink This Town
03:37
This Perfect World
04:34
Cold Again
02:38
Two Lovers Stop
02:45
Across the Avenue
03:39
Gone Like the Water
02:43
Dolores
03:42
Evie's Garden
02:54
Disappointed Man
03:15
I Can Hear the Laughs
03:12

Check it out. You can probably get it at Amazon.

A Great New Yankee/Met Board

Free and open to all. Check it out, it will be what we make it!
http://newyorkbaseball.proboards56.com/index.cgi

TABATA!

While Phil Hughes lost his command today, Jose Tabata certainly did not. In his sole plate appearance Jose worked the count full against a major league pitcher than hit the pay off pitch over the right field wall. Mr. Tabata is 18 years old. He's got a fantastic swing and a professional approach. His fielding has been perfect. He's not that far off.

A few other prospects looked good today (and though Hughes struggled, he looked good). Bronson Sardinha had another few hits. Bret Gardner got called out on an RBI double when he was clearly safe at second. Kevin Thompson had a couple of walks. The Yanks probably would have won the game had Torre not overmanaged the offense in the bottom of the 8th inning. Anyway, it was a meaningless game on the record, but a meanigful game for these prospects. Yankee DNA was evident.

http://www.yesnetwork.com/media/mp_t...e=v_free&_mp=1

Check out the homer and the Sheffield finish on the Manny Swing!

Rangers Win by Way of Shoot Out!!!!!

Jagr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 points!

Rangers Today

Against Carolina at him. 12:30pm est! It's about to start! They've called up Dawes and one of their defensemen from the Pack. Hopefully, Malik and Rozsival are scratched but I think it's for Mara who tweaked something yesterday.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Best of Jerry Butler (Rhino, 1987) Jerry Butler. The Iceman, Jerry Butler always delivered. This is as good a place as any to start hearing his great works. It covers the first decade and change of his career, but is missing too many songs to really be a best of. So what you want to do, is go to the record store and see which of the best of type discs has the most songs on it. If you don't take this one, make sure the one you take has everything on this one PLUS Moody Woman. He's one of the great soul singers and really the only one from the Ray Charles/Sam Cooke group of original soul men who is still around. I feel like Ben E. King was just a little later, though a case could be made he belongs in that group. I'm sure they have this and a bunch of Jerry Butler collections at Amazon.

Stevie Franchise!!!!!!!!

Steve Francis killed the Knicks tonight and choked at the line with a chance to tie it at the end - Disgusting - I'M WRONG! He just hit a miracle 3 to win it at the buzzer! Awesome! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270310027

Typical Rangers

Up 2-0 after 2, they lose 3-2 in overtime. Zippy point, but really pathetic and the 3rd period follies won't play in the postseason.

Knicks Tonight

at Washington, 7pm est. Another must win road game. Go Knicks!

Rangers Today

at Pittsburgh, 1pm est. This is another must win against a team that's been better than the Rangers this year. I hope Dubinsky plays more. Go Rangers!

June Coming Early This Year?

As mentioned last week, the Giants have waited for the market to drop and now, in the next few days, they will be hosting weakside FA linebacker Cato June. June is not the most rockribbed guy in the league, but he is great in coverage and does create takeaways. I'd much rather add him a sane price, then overpay for Briggs or overdraft a linebacker at 20 who is not BPA. Go Giants!

Note: You can see the Jerry Reese is running free agency just like you run a draft. He wasn't interested in June for first round money, but now that we're in the third round, June becomes very interesting. He must have a board!

Look Who's Smiling

Jerry Reese, fresh off a strong first move ain't done yet. Seems like he's gonna wrap up Ian Scott, Ike Reese and Rod Hood, and possibly trade McQuarters in the next little while. Now, I like bringing in Scott and Reese (he can help Spags install the D) but have been against Rod Hood. However; if McQ can be traded, than Hood is not as objectionable because he won't create as much of a backlog for the other CB's, and could be the oldest CB on the team as soon as Madison is done. Keep it going, Mr. Reese!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Here's a Jerry Reese quote from Bob Glauber's latest piece:

"I realize the perception is that we haven’t done anything through the first week of free agency because we haven’t signed any unrestricted free agents,” he said. “The opposite is true. We have been working very hard to do what’s best for this franchise. The fact is we had a few guys we had targeted that would have made sense for us under the right circumstances. A couple of those simply didn’t work out, but there is a whole lot of the free agency period left and the draft and the rest of the off-season for us to continue to build this roster, and we’re going to work smartly in doing that.”

Ruben Droughns A Giant?

Uncomfirmed reports state that the Giants have acquired Ruben Droughns for Tim Carter, straight up. If this is true, then Jerry Reese has learned Brian Cashman's Jedi Mind Trick. This is a very good move. Look how many Raiders it takes to bring down our back-up tailback!

"I'm not into false hustle right now"

That's Cold Hard Cash on Clemens. Now this is a New York GM who is always making things happen. In the 24 or so months since he gained power over the Tampa faction, Cash has boldly changed the way the Yanks do business and restored the pride to the Yankee minor league system. Reese should emulate this guy.

Another One Bites the Dust...

Jerry "Nero" Reese lost two other FA targets over the last 24 hours of so as FS Deon Grant and RB Dominic Rhodes signer with other teams. Now, this would really be nothing to worry about, but Jerry is putting a lot of pressure on the draft (where he only have 7 picks) while he's sitting in Jersey doing nothing. It would be wise to at least trade for more picks if they have no plans to patch anything in FA.

Mini-Manny?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks0309,0,4710848.story Here's a pretty good article on Jose Tabata and how everyone is comparing him to Manny. The article also reveals a weird irony about the two: while Manny's favorite team was the Yanks when he was growing up, Jose, like Philip Hughes, was originally a Red Sox fan before becoming a Yankee. I wonder how they have Red Sox fans in Venzuela? Oh well, he put the things of childhood behind him and was 2-2 and made a great catch in today's win over the Braves.

Rangers Win!

They beat the Islanders 2-1 on a power play goal by Petr Prucha. The game was not without controversy as it looked like the Islanders scored with about 20 seconds left. However, the puck never got completely across the goalline before Hank swept it out. Close, close call. The game was also soiled by Chris Simone who tried to decapitate Ryan Hollweg with his stick. If he plays again this season the NHL's a joke. Big win for the Rangers. 2 points. Ironically, Mara had the first goal fort the Rangers and he is the only Mara making news in the NYC area this week.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

King of America (Columbia, 1986) and Blood and Chocolate (Columbia, 1986) Elvis Costello. In 1986, EC put out two fantastic, and stylistcally different records. King of America came out early in the year and featured:

"Brilliant Mistake" – 3:44
"Lovable" (MacManus, Cait O'Riordan) – 2:52
"Our Little Angel" – 4:06
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, Gloria Caldwell) – 3:17
"Glitter Gulch" – 3:14
"Indoor Fireworks" (Elvis Costello) – 4:10
"Little Palaces" – 3:51
"I'll Wear It Proudly" – 4:21
"American Without Tears" – 4:30
"Eisenhower Blues" (J. B. Lenoir) – 3:43
"Poisoned Rose" – 4:09
"Big Light" – 2:33
"Jack of All Parades" – 5:17
"Suit of Lights" – 4:02
"Sleep of the Just" – 3:48

That's 15 great songs. EC's record company, Columbia, made a terrible mistake at this point and issued Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, as the single and video, which quite mistakenly gave the impression that Elvis was in the cover song/decline portion of his career. Nothing could have been further from the truth, and just to prove it in September of 1986, Elvis Costello and the Attractions back with producer Nick Lowe released Blood and Chocolate which would have put any doubts about E's career direction to rest. However; Columbia did not promote the record and Elvis left the label. Here are the 11 great tracks:

Uncomplicated" – 3:26
"I Hope You're Happy Now" – 3:07
"Tokyo Storm Warning" (Costello, Cait O'Riordan) – 6:24
"Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head" – 5:04
"I Want You" – 6:40
"Honey Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" – 2:08
"Blue Chair" – 3:09
"Battered Old Bird" – 5:50
"Crimes of Paris" – 4:19
"Poor Napoleon" – 3:21
"Next Time Round" – 3:35

Awesome stuff for `86, and you can get it at Amazon.

Rangers Tonight

at Islanders, 7:30 pm est. Need the 2 points, DiPo is not as good as he seemed Monday Night, but generally, neither are the Rangers. The Rangers must win this one outright. No Zippy points.

Trade Strahan?

There's no buzz about this, but if the right offer came along, maybe a late 1, high 2 and stuff, it would absolutely make sense to deal Strahan. The Giants need all the picks they can get and would gain valuable cap room by passing on the opportunity to pay Strahan millions and millions to decline - he's already missed major parts of 2 of the last three years. Let's deal him now, if the right offer comes along.

More Yanks

Here's a preview of the Yankee Minor League system from MiLB.com
http://tinyurl.com/yvomse

New Giant?

I hear Ike Reese has probably signed and that Ian Scott may have as well. We won't know till the Giants announce and they are typically slow about that, but that news seems to be on the way. Reese is a good fit. He knows Spags and can help install the D, while contributing on specials, and NOT blocking any young talent.

Are the Giants Missing Out?

So far the hottest news in Giant land is that they have upped their contract offer to Cold Pizza star and erratic kicker Jay Feely. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if all the free agents the Giants end up with - and they will end up with some - will be as fungible and sadly overpaid as Feely is about to become.

Tough Loss for the Knicks

Steph had a monster game then missed a free throw that would have sent the game into over time. Tough, tough loss. The Knicks miss Lee, and Curry misses Craw.

Um, Jerry...

Stop twiddling your thumbs and DO SOMETHING!

I'm kidding. I'm sure the Giants will start getting some things done. I do; however, hope that we don't trade any of our draft picks, and if we do, that we find a way to replace them.

Knicks Tonight

Home against Seattle, 7:30 pm est. Another must win game. Go Knicks!

Rangers Win

The Rangers won the second point on a goal from Cullen and three good stops by Hank! Big Win!

Rangers Going to Overtime

they have totally outplayed the Islanders, but the Islanders scored a goal that once again bounced of our defense, and Prucha scored the only Ranger goal. The Rangers outshot them by a ton. They better get the other point.

Yankee DNA on Display!

The Yanks came from behind and won 6-5 on a walk of two run jack by long time prospect Bronson Sardinha today. Bronson has been very impressive since he finally settled on a position and got promoted to AAA last season. And he has continued to impress this Spring. You have to wonder how many Yankee prospects were broken during the years when the Yanks wouldn't bring them up. It seems like it's not too late for Bronson, and that's great to see!

The other big story was oft knocked pitching prospect Tyler Clippard. His fastball was 90-93 all day and his secondary stuff was filthy at times. I think it's time to put the "no fastball" knock away and start realizing all those #'s were the products of great stuff, pitchability and presence. I was very impressed when he didn't come complete apart after accidentally hitting a batter in the head with change that didn't break. He missed to more change-ups, then just got back to dominating. Really impressive. He had a fastball, change-up, curveball sequence to K the final batter he faced. Way to go, Ty Clip!!!!

More on the Minors: Pinstripes Plus is reporting that basically all of the prosopects showed up in much better shape when Minor League camp opened this morning. You have to think that the success of Wang, Cano and Melky and made them all hungry to be Yankees.

Kevin Curtis On the Way?

Speedy Ram WR Kevin Curtis will visit Giants Central tonight according to a web report. Regular blog contributor Dan has persuaded me that adding him would not preclude the Giants from taking one of the great receivers in the draft. It would certainly spell the end of Tim Carter, which is a plus. Additionally, as Ram under Martz he ran the sort of complex routes the Coughlin system calls for, and would therefore be a good fit and improve team speed.

UPDATE: Curtis has fired Tom Condon and as a result, may not show up at his Giants meeting tonight.

FURTHER UPDATE: There is an internet report stating that Curtis flew home to Salt Lake City, Utah, instead of visiting with the Giants.

STILL FURTHER UPDATE: There was a free agent visitor at Giants Stadium today, but he is as yet unknown. Could have been Ian Scott, and I'm praying it wasn't Rod Hood.

WHAT THE HECK, ANOTHER UPDATE: Dominic Rhodes is meeting with the Buffalo Bills tomorrow. Could Willis McGahee be going somewhere?

Kei Igawa Debuts!

Kei Igawa will make his Yankee debut in a game starting at 1:00 pm est on YES and ESPN. Go Yan-Kei!!!!!!

College Hoops Tonight!

Now we're getting down to it, the CAA, the MAAC and the WCC, among others will determine their champions tonight, don't miss it. On a side note: Go Zags! Go George Mason! http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/schedules

Rangers Tonight

at home against the Islanders, 7pm est. Do or die time for the Rangers. This is a must win game, so is their next game, Wednesday on the Island.

Giants Today

The Giants should finally start getting a few things done this week. Having missed on their larger targets, the Giants will now sure up their young roster with half a dozen or so 2nd tier signings, include some LB's and a DT, perhaps, Ian Scott. This isn't a bad tack to take given the market and the amount of good young talent on the roster. Why block them? Just sure up the holes and have a monster draft. Go Giants!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Abbey Road, Let It Be (Apple 1969, 1970) I don't need to tell you anything about these two. My big sister and I used to wear them OUT. I don't think we had any idea of how good they were in the big picture, we just knew how much we liked them. There was a lot of drama during the production of Let it Be which was actually recorded before Abbey Road, but released after it. People like Allen Klein, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector were involve at this point. It ended here, and pop music was never the same.

Giants Today

So, Leonard Davis, who was high on the Giants' wish list, is now a Cowboy. The only thing about that, other than having to play him twice a year, is that the Giants wanted to bring him in and he wouldn't even visit. Ultimately, I'd rather go with Diehl or Whimper and bring in a tackle/guard as a back-up. Diehl and Whimper both have the feet to mirror and slide and that's what you need against the plethora of speed rushing RDE's that populate the league. So far so good on the roster, but not on the manifestation of Organizational Will.

Also, yesterday Dominic Rhodes left without a deal. Apparently he wanted too much, and I'm glad the Giants drew the line. Sadly, I now think they will give up more than I would want to, in a trade for Tatum Bell or Willis McGahee. We shall see.

They still want 2 LB's and DT Ian Scott is sheduled to visit this week. Um, Go Giants.

Knicks Win!!!!!!!

The Knicks came from 16 down to win in overtime. They did this primarily because Starbury and Stevie Franchise suddenly jelled and went off! Renaldo Balkman did an excellent David Lee imitation and it was just a special comeback! WOW! Here's the boxscore:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270303001

Knicks Tonight

at Atlanta, 7pm est. Let's see if we can finally get two in a row. Curry should score 35 against these guys, Steph and whoever else we have at guard need to get him the ball. Go Knicks!

Rangers Win!

After a hideous and flat first period that found them down 2-0, the Rangers battled back in the final 9 minutes of the 3rd to tie it. Marcel Hossa was once again the hero: this time he scored the gamewinner in the shootout. 2 points!!!!!!

Rangers Today

Already down 1-0 in a must not lose game against the Blues. 210 will miss at least a month.

Hey, The Tournaments are Starting!

Hey, it's getting to be that time of year again. Some conference tournaments have already started, check `em out. You can find the schedule righte here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/schedules

Giants Today

The Giants should have Rhodes signed some time today, but apparently, Leonard Davis isn't coming in. The Giants will probably sign Mike Gandy for depth and let Diehl and Whimper compete at left tackle. That's far from bad in my book. Now the Giants have lots to spend on LB's, a DT and a TE. Go Giants.

UPDATE: Dominic Rhodes has left Giants Central without a contract! This could mean a few things: 1) the Giants realized they could do better in the draft. 2) the Giants got a call about one of their trade proposals or 3) Reese is as bad as closing a deal as Ernie was. All be 3 would be good news.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Escape Artist (Epic, 1981) Garland Jeffreys. Garland Jeffreys was one of the truly underrated singer/songwriters of the `70's. A mixture of Black, White and Puerto Rican, he was the embodiment of New York, and a great, great songwriter straight out of Brooklyn. Check this one out, if you can find it. The great songs include R.O.C.K (Rock), Mystery Kids and my favorite, Christine. As you can see, I couldn't even find a big picture of it on the net! But it's really worth finding and playing. Good luck.

Knicks Win!

Starbury, Q and Curry were all superb. Steve Francis did what he could, and so did the others. Let's see if we can finally make it two in a row tomorrow night in Atlanta. Here's the boxscore http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270302018

Fat Chance?

Leonard Davis, late of the Arizona Cardinals, is scheduled to visit the Giants tomorrow if he doesn't sign with the Cowboys or Redskins before then. This is a curious move by the Giants. When they cut Luke Petitgout last month, it seemed like they were gonna let David Diehl play Left Tackle until the super athletic Guy Whimper was ready. Now it looks like they will add Davis to either play Tackle or Guard, and it will limit their flexibility they had with the younger Diehl and Whimper on the left side of the line. Also, with the Cowboys and Redskins competing for his services, it seems unlikely that we will be able to structure a deal that would allow us to get rid of the big fellow once Whimper is ready.

On the plus side, the runblocking for Brandon Jacobs would be insane. Oh well, we'll see.

Knicks Tonight

Home against Golden State, 7:30 pm est. These guys thrashed the Knicks in California, and that's when the Knicks still had Crawford and Lee. Francis says he'll play tonight, but that might not be enough, even at home. Yikes!

Not So Fast

There are disconcerting rumors this morning that the Giants are in negotiations with slow Colt running back Dominic Rhodes. There are some red flags on this player. First, his regular season YPC was 3.0 in 2005 and 3.4 in 2006. That's the kind of performance you can find in a street free agent who doesn't need a multi-year contract. There seems also to be this idea that he's some kind of power back, since he ran hard in the playoffs. The man is 5' 9", 203. That's not a power back. What that should be is a fast back, and Dominic isn't. This would not be a strong move for the Giants.

Giants Today!

Okay, nothing has happened yet. I haven't heard any bad news either. Today should be interesting.

Giants Tonight!

As mentioned last night, and finally just leaked, Shaun O'Hara is back with the Giants. Terms have just been reached apparently. Now, as soon as FA starts, we are looking for 2 big splashes and 1 smaller splash. Let's talk Giants here tonight!

Zippy Point for the Rangers

The Rangers refused a two point win tonight, by allowing Pittsburgh to score 3 goals (2 shorthanded!!!!!!) in the 3rd to end regulation in a tie. The Rangers entered the 3rd with a 2 goal lead. This was last Sunday all over again, but in one period. I have no faith that they will get the other point, oh and 210 is hurt and will miss weeks.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing Spiderman #98 this is probably a Gil Kane, but it might be a Johnny Romita - could be both. Anyway, you'll notice it is one of the Spideys that dealt with amphetamine abuse by Harry Osborne, and you know that because the cover does not carry the seal of the comics code.

Rangers Tonight

home against Pitt, at 7pm est. Pitt has owned the Rangers lately. This could be another disaster.

Following Along Tonight

The Redzone is generally up to date. Here's a link http://theredzone.org/ they have occasionally spoken too soon, so beat that in mind.

Possibly Hip New Channel Started Today

It's called Chiller and it should be on your DTV channel 257. It's loaded with horror movies and shows, and is even showing Twin Peaks! Add it to your surf list!

More Giants

As free agency approaches, the latest rumor out of Jersey is that the Giants have, in fact, already produced jerseys for their two top targets. Now, honestly, I don't know what purpose this would serve, but it's fun to hear stuff like this!

Yankees Today!

1:15 pm est on YES. Phil Hughes and Ross Ohlendorf will pitch after CM Wang. Should be fun. It's always great to see the kids.