"The Knicks' Next Moves" by CBoh

Here is what I believe, as a fan, that the Knicks should do to improve their team going forward.

1.  Re-sign Carmelo Anthony.

     Carmelo is a great player and an amazing scorer. What would be a more fitting scenario for the Knicks than if they let him walk only to see him find huge success on a good team and bring a championship to another city.

     I feel Carmelo is in a position that has been seen many times in the NBA before. A score-first player who has began to grow a little sour on his fan base. The media and fans alike are saying that he is not a player who will be able to bring a championship to the city.

     I compare this situation to those of Paul Peirce and Dirk Nowitzki. Both players were in similar situations, taking the blame for the lack of playoff wins for the respective teams. Both players stayed loyal to their teams and when the proper team was built around them were able to lead their teams to championships. Carmelo given the right team around him can absolutely lead the Knicks to a championship, and Phil Jackson is in a position to build that team. Letting him walk would only set the franchise back many years, on account of having one first round pick in the next three years.

2. Fire Mike Woodson.

     While I was a fan of Woodson, he has proven that he’s lost the team and has made way to many mistakes with everything from player development to his rotations.

3. Develop the young talent on the team.

     There is a potential starter in Tim Hardaway Jr. and a very good, athletic swing man (a position that is so important in the NBA today) in Iman Shumpert if his confidence can ever be restored after years of trade rumors and mishandling by Woodson. And keep developing Toure' Murry, who has shown glimpses of being a good backup point guard who always brings energy and defense, although Woodson pulls him at every small mistake.

4. Sign Rajon in 2015.

     While the Knicks are stuck for one more year with the roster they currently have, almost everyone becomes a free agent in 2015. This means that they will have huge cap space in a summer where there will be a lot of great free agents.

     The Knicks #1 priority should be Rajon Rondo. As much as I have hated him on the Celtics, I would love him equally as much on the Knicks. He would be the perfect point guard for a 

Carmelo-led Knicks team. He is a defensive stud and true point guard, two things that are the opposite of Raymond Felton. He can control the offensive perfectly. In fact, he is amazing at running a offense. He could balance getting Carmelo good shots while keeping everyone else in the game.

     And defensively, the Knicks would go from having arguably the worst defensive point guard ever in Raymond Felton to one of the elite defenders in the league. No more point guards penetrating with ease. No more career nights for almost every point guard they play. No more giving up 31 points to the likes of Jarret freakin Jack in must win, maybe season ending losses. Rajon Rondo wouldn’t solve every problem, but he would be the perfect complement to Carmelo Anthony. 

"11 Rings, and Now What?" by Bojo

As my brother will gladly tell anyone who will listen to him, I have been about as mean-spirited toward the Knicks as possible in recent years while still considering yourself a fan. Carmelo, JR Smith, and most of all James Dolan have all drawn large amounts of scorn from me, but now, just when I think they can’t be any more inept, the Knicks go and do something like this…and completely redeem themselves?

Well, not yet, obviously.  But unlike every other Knicks move in recent years this is a huge step in the right direction.

What I have seen and heard from Phil Jackson and James Dolan in the time since they announced he would become President of Knicks basketball has been basically exactly what I wanted to hear as a fan. Dolan has said he is going to relinquish control, and Phil handled the infamous New York media very well in his press conference I thought. On top of that, the Knicks seemed to play inspired in their first game with him in the Garden. And in a truly weird turn of events, I actually have a small glimmer of hope about the Knicks and their chances to win a title for the first time in longer than I would like to admit. But, it is still the Knicks, and they are still owned by the front man from JD and the Straight Shots.

However, before I get ahead of myself and actually let myself get excited about New York basketball, it is important to keep in mind how big a hole the Knicks have dug for themselves. I’m no cap-ologist but a decade-plus of mismanagement of any business is going to result in a disaster.

But if anyone can clean up the Knicks it’s the Zen Master himself, and I personally am excited to see how it all shakes out, for better or (if possible) worse. 

"Mariano Rivera -- An Unpopular Opinion" by Dad

     Let me first say flat out: I have huge personal respect for Mariano Rivera. Through a long career in a tough town, he carried himself with the greatest possible class. I am moved by the story of his asking Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, whether it was okay with her that he was the last player still wearing Jackie’s number 42. Her response, and I paraphrase, “I’m so pleased you’re the last player ever to wear Jackie’s number. You are the greatest possible ambassador for Jackie’s values."  




     And I agree completely.

     That said, I’m afraid it also has to be said that to be the greatest closer ever is simply to be the best pitcher not good enough to be an elite starter.

     Let’s go back to the mid ‘90s. At the beginning of their careers, it wasn’t clear for either Rivera or Andy Pettitte whether they’d be starters or relievers. In fact, at that early point, it seemed more likely that Rivera would be groomed to be a starter and Pettitte relegated to the bullpen. And relegated was the word back then. 

     Then a few things happened, the most important for Pettitte being that he developed a curve, which rounded out the assortment of pitches he needed to be a starter.  Rivera never mastered the 2 or 3 plus-pitches a starter needs, which left him the bullpen as his only option, where of course he mastered the cutter that became his ticket to closing. And as closers go, there’s never been a better one than Rivera.

     But does anyone really believe that any elite starter couldn’t close? Is there anyone who doesn’t think that Clayton Kershaw or Steven Strasburg couldn’t save 45 games a year?

     Doubters need only consider the cases of John Smoltz and Dennis Eckersley, the only pitchers ever to have won 20 games in one season and saved 50 in another. Smoltz was an elite starter who had Tommy John surgery and spent the next three years as the best closer in the National League. Then, when he’d regained sufficient arm strength, he went back to starting and had a good, long second run as a starter. And Eckersley went to the bullpen only after reaching the end of a long and successful run as a starter. His bullpen numbers may well have been the more important factor in his induction to the Hall of Fame.

     To close (pun intended), there are just a few simple truths at work here: First, if you have a Clayton Kershaw, you’d rather run him out there for 200 innings a year than for 60.  Second, a pitcher with one pitch can’t face a batting order twice in the same game, and so can’t be a starter. But third and finally, if that one pitch is a dominant one, it may still be enough to be a closer.

   Which all leads to the simplest truth of all: A dominant closer isn’t as good a pitcher as an elite starter.

"Derek Jeter: One Player Worthy of the Man, Myth, Legend Moniker" by Bojo

I grew up as a baseball player in the greater NYC area in the 1990s, so admittedly I’m a bit biased. But Derek Jeter is absolutely one of the legendary Yankees, shortstops, and baseball players ever to lace ‘em up. In an era of baseball now as tarnished (more tarnished realistically) than any other in history, Jeter is not only someone who played the game right, but he did it with pizzazz, flair, and passion that few others could.

Derek Jeter played for the most iconic team, in the biggest city, in a very successful era. And throughout that time, more importantly than stats or other numbers, Jeter managed to produce a number of amazing memories. Not the least of which, was the following:

That was one of the most instinctual, amazing plays ever, and it came in the American League Division Final. Classic Jeter. I say classic Jeter, because unlike a lot of other great players who might produce more numbers or play better defense, Jeter managed to place himself into the legend of baseball, like Babe Ruth "calling" his home run, or Willie Mays catching the no-look ball over his shoulder.

Jeter produced that caliber of baseball moment. From the flip play, to him flying into the stands behind 3rd base (this time in the World Series), Derek Jeter did something that a very rare number of players made, and truly made himself a legend.

At least in the eyes of one generation of baseball fan. 

"Jeter 2... A Boomer View" by Dad

     Well, okay, there was Honus Wagner, who proved you could play shortstop and be an offensive force. But he was before my time… and my father’s… and his father’s. So who played shortstop between Honus Wagner and Derek Jeter?
     For the most part, they were defensive gymnasts – skinny, quick glove men whose offensive shortcomings weren’t just accepted, they were nearly expected.
     In the 50s, a golden era for New York baseball, the reigning shortstops were PeeWee Reese on the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Phil Rizzuto on the Yankees. PeeWee’s nickname says it all when it comes to describing size and power from the shortstop position. (He will, however, always be a giant in the eyes of those of us who care about racial equality, after this Southern guy famously put his arms around his new double play partner in 1947, Jackie Robinson.)
     As for Phil Rizzuto, there isn’t a less deserving player in the Hall of Fame, as much as we loved his play calling later as a Yankee broadcaster.
     In my own baseball-loving New York boyhood, the two reigning shortstops were Bud Harrelson on the Mets and Gene Michaels on the Yankees. Harrelson’s playing weight didn’t much clear 150, and he didn’t bat much more than 100 points above his playing weight. And Michaels’ nickname was The Stick, not because of his bat, but because of his build.
     In the 80s, defense was so prized at the shortstop position that the Cardinals traded the best hitting shortstop of his year, Garry Templeton, to the Padres for the lighter hitting but awesome fielding Ozzie Smith. That Smith ultimately hit as well as he did, and he turned out to be pretty good, was considered to be icing on the shortstop cake.
    So then we had Yount and Ripken, the first wave of shortstops who could hit, but they each were switched from shortstop to other positions by their early 30s.
    Which led to the late 90s Three Amigos – Jeter, Garciaparra, and ARod. Three hard-hitting shortstops who we were told would redefine the position, except that Garciaparra’s career was crippled by injuries and we all know about ARod.
    Which leaves Jeter as the guy who redefined the position – for the ages, and for the future. He proved that a shortstop could be big and strong, and still be quick and durable enough to play the position well, and well into his late thirties. (I’m rooting hard for his turn 40 year).
    More than anyone, it’s been Jeter who’s set the stage for Hanley Ramirez, and beyond Hanley for an amazing new generation that includes names like Starlin Castro, Andrelton Simmons and Jean Segura.        
    And along the way, Jeter has been a role model to warm the heart of every father of boys (yes, including me). Jeter’s is an amazing and important baseball story, and this dad and Met fan will miss him when the season ends.

"2gens Jeter... a millenial view" by CBoh

     Derek Jeter announced that he is retiring at the end of this upcoming season. He is the captain and the last man standing of those dominant Yankee teams of the 1990’s and early 00’s.  As a Mets fan, every bone in my body is programmed to hate everything Yankees. Their holier-than-you attitude, their no facial hair rule, their spoiled fan base and championship or bust mentality. They consistently field very hateable teams, for obnoxious payrolls, to get cheered on by fair weather fans. However, through all that hate, Derek Jeter managed to come out clean. Pretty much the closest thing to a universally respected athlete -- maybe not liked, but respected by all fan bases. He played the game the right way on the field and kept his life incredibly private off the field, no easy feat when you are young, rich, and famous in Manhattan. 

     On the field, he was one of the most clutch players to ever play the game.  The one play that sticks out to me when thinking of Derek Jeter was against the Oakland A’s in during game 3 of the 2001 ALDS.  I forget the exact specifics of the game but will never forget what happened. The right fielder misses his cut off man and Jeter comes out of nowhere from across the field to scoop up the ball along the first base line and blindly throw out Jeremy Giambi at home to save the game and the series.  Even as a Yankee hater, 10 year old me could not have been more impressed.  That was the play every Little Leaguer dreamed of making and practiced in their backyard over and over. Going above and beyond his duties on the field to make a game saving play in a crucial situation -- plays like that made Derek Jeter a very special player and deserving to be called Captain. 

     Off the field Jeter never opened his mouth and give anyone a reason not to like him. He has lived his life the way every person who was thrown into money and fame would dream of living it.  He parties with models but never puts himself in compromising situations. He is respectful and smart with the media. He never talks about himself as a brand like so many athletes do today.  He is a tough guy to not respect both on and off the field. 

     Matt Harvey keeps saying he wants to be the next Derek Jeter in the way he handles the New York media, but in his young career has not handled himself in the Jeter mold, making some questionable decisions with both the marketing of himself and the handling of the media. I dream of Matt Harvey becoming a dominant New York Met for the next decade and to only hear stories of his dominance on the field as we did with Jeter. 

     Jeter announcing his retirement a year early is the first thing he has ever done that I have disliked.  I was sick of the Mariano Rivera retirement saga about two seconds into it, and having to relive another Yankee farewell tour is going to make this baseball season even more miserable. However, if one player deserves a year long celebration of himself, I would concede that Jeter is that man. 

"Rotisserie Baseball... I Love The 80s" by Dad

     Rotisserie Baseball dates back to about 1981. You may now know of it as fantasy baseball, but more on that later.

    

     A league called the Universal Baseball Association, or UBA, dates back to 1984.

    

     I have been playing in the UBA since 1986. So while I won’t claim to have been present at the creation, I was just 3 blocks south and 5 years late. There can’t be more than a couple of hundred guys who have played this fanatical game longer than I have. In fact, I do believe that the UBA founder actually has an aging sheet of paper, laced with the requisite faux self-importance, certifying the UBA as one of the first ten, or dozen, or hundred, rotisserie leagues ever formed, and signed by the game’s inventors.

     A (very) little history first.  The game was named Rotisserie Baseball because it was conceived by a bunch of Manhattan magazine guys (and one woman) at a restaurant called La Rotisserie Francaise. As I recall, it was on Third Avenue at 52^nd Street. I worked back then at an advertising agency on Third Avenue and 49^th Street.  I don’t think most of us can claim to have heard of this game until 1983, when the founders published a very entertaining rulebook that included a history of their first few seasons. These were, remember, magazine writers and editors.

     Apart from developing the rules, known now by millions, they also created a legacy involving showering the season’s winner with Yoo Hoo, a watery chocolate drink once hawked by Yogi Berra, and oddly clever team names. These were, remember, magazine guys. They were not, however, clever enough to have figured out a way to monetize this huge, game-changing, world-changing creation. They own the rights to the name Rotisserie Baseball, and apparently not much else.  This is why the world at large now plays something called fantasy baseball, no royalties required.

     Fast forward, no doubt on a VHS tape, to 1984. One of my ad agency’s music directors, and a great baseball fan, founds the UBA.  He was also quite well-read, and those who are similarly well-read will already have noted to themselves that The Universal Baseball Association is the title of a terrific Robert Coover novel about a boy who invents… an imaginary baseball game. The original UBA comprised the founder, a couple of other guys in our agency’s creative department, and a bunch of New York studio musicians who had a lot of time on their hands between gigs and sessions. These were very good music guys. One was in one of the incarnations of Blood, Sweat and Tears. Another was in The Knack, but only after “My Sharona.” Still another was one of the great jazz trombonists in New York – sadly, he passed away a few years ago. And one is still in Conan O’Brien’s band.

     None of them are still in the UBA. It is today a league of younger guys whose jobs I’m not really for the most part clear about. I do know that they are ferociously well-informed baseball guys – one is even the editor/director of one of the best fantasy baseball info sites, called Fake Teams. Check it out sometime.

     But I digress, because what I want to do now is describe what playing roto ball was like in the prehistoric, pre-web days.

     First, stats, because this game is nothing if not stats-driven. The bible, small b, was USA Today. This was where we each turned each morning to see how our team had done.  Many of us kept a notebook in which we would update, by hand, our stats for that week. Once a week, we would get a tally of stats from our crack stats service, comprised of standings and roster moves for the week that had actually ended three or four days before this all came in the mail. Or by snail mail as it’s now snidely, snarkily called.

     The other important thing about USA Today was that no claim could be made, or roster move approved, until the player’s or players’ own actual movement had been duly noted in the pages of America’s national newspaper. If you simply heard on the radio that the Reds had called up a catcher from Triple A, you couldn’t act on it until USA Today had published that fact.

     Another thing to note about no ‘net is that the huge amount of information to be found online was actually hard to dig up back then. The game today is one of making good guesses and sound judgments based on a ton of info that everybody has. Back then, proprietary info could be a huge trading advantage.  If you knew that the Padres were thinking of making a change at closer, that was a great piece of intelligence. But how could you get that before it appeared in USA Today or that other key source, The Sporting News? Here’s how: We all surreptitiously hit out-of-town newspaper stands. There was one just north of the main branch of the public library, on 43^rd Street just west of Fifth Avenue. Many a rainy night, I dropped ten bucks on papers from places like Cincinnati, Houston, and San Diego.

     And weekend box scores? USA Today didn’t publish on weekends, leaving us all to figure out what local papers were most likely to have even west coast box scores. The New York Times was hopeless, The Post was a little better. The Bergen Record was quite good.

     So now, say you think you have a trading advantage, or simply a need to unload some spare offense for some pitching. How did we trade without email? By phone, of course.  We would close the doors to our offices – yes, we had offices back then – and barter over lunch or between meetings. I would have piles of phone message note sheets with cryptic notations like:

CALLER: The Compozas

MESSAGE: Steve Sax?

     It could have been a message from a music production company, a completely legitimate business hours message in an ad agency. But it wasn’t.

     And when I speak of phones, of course I mean land lines. I have no idea how much of my phone bill went to roto ball trades, or how many quarters I dropped into pay phones. But I do believe that pay phones were no less important to roto ball players than they were to Superman.

      Today, the game is a web-based information extravaganza, and that happy fact is what has kept me playing. It’s also of course why fantasy sports have exploded. There aren’t ten million maniacs willing to walk in the New York rain to buy an Atlanta newspaper.