The Good & The Bad of LINsanity for Die-Hard Knick Fans

Being both a journalist & a Knicks fan, I couldn't avoid talking about LINsanity. LINsanity has swept across headlines around the world and has picked up on the bandwagon that "Melo-drama" started. So it's time to break down the good and the bad of LINsanity from a die-hard Knicks fan's point of view.

THE GOOD: 

Jeremy Lin's momentum brougut the Knickerbockers a nice 7 game win streak including a big win over the LA Lakers & a buzzer beater by Lin in Toronto. The Knicks are becoming more relevant now & even President Obama has complimented Lin. Lin (so far) is the point guard the Knicks were in desprate need of since the departure of Chauncey Billups. Baron Davis has been waiting for his recovery from injury to show New York what he's got but he may have to come off the bench to provide a spark because Lin is showing everyone he belongs in New York. Winning games and getting a high seed in the East is what seems likely if this momentum keeps up. If they reach the Eastern Conference Finals this year I'll be satisfied and if they reach the NBA Finals I'll be a mix of surprised and happy. This kind of excitement is what I've been waiting for since A'mare said "THE KNICKS ARE BACK!"

THE BAD:

ESPNarcade.com is on the money with this one. In any sport you will find band-wagoners (for those of you unaware with the term it means a fan who likes a team when they get hot) and especially in the case of the Knicks it makes me sick. I've heard people say "Jeremy Lin has me watching basketball, I've never been a fan but this kid is really good." And my favorite I heard while scorekeeping heard a coach tell his team after a game "Hey do you guys think the Knicks will win every game, No, you did good today" a parent said to the coach "The Knicks will win every game, they have Jeremy Lin and are unbeatable" I restrained myself not saying anything. I have nothing against Lin, I'm a fan, but I remember when the Knicks were the laughing stock of the NBA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj8-fsnV8nY) and when people would show me that Family Guy clip or the picture I have below. I'd like to share with everyone my Knicks memories.

I've been a Knicks fan since I could remember watching basketball, my first NBA jersey...a 90's Knicks Allan Houston jersey. I remember crying as a 5 year old when I watched the Spurs win Game 5 of the NBA Finals when they celebrated on the court at MSG. Reggie Miller use to rip my heart out and back in 2004 my dad showing me a broom after his Nets swept the Knicks in their last playoff appearance before the 2010-11 season. After 2004 the Knicks became a joke in the NBA with the arrival of Isiah Thomas. I could go on and on with all the players who played for the team in this time and most of these guys aren't remember for their time in New York. It wasn't until November 22, 2008 that I got to my first Knicks game after years of begging my parents & my uncle just to go to one game. I didn't care how bad they were or if they played a bad team, I wanted to be there. On that November night in 2008 I saw the Knicks beat the Wizards 122-117. When I got news of my uncle buying the tickets I bought a Jamal Crawford jersey at Modell's and all be it that Crawford was traded the night before the game. That night was so fun it became more of a common place for my uncle & I to purchase Knick tickets on StubHub.com and saw games that interested me or my brother(who's a Bulls fan but loves basketball). We went on April 4, 2009 to see the Knicks fall to the Raptors because I wanted to see Jason Kapono. The only Knick road game I attended was at iZod Center on November 21, 2009 when the Knicks were 2-9 and the Nets were 0-12, that game was the last time I saw a Knicks W in person. On February 27, 2010 it was Retro Night at MSG and the Knicks fell to the Grizzlies, I'll always remember that game because at halftime the Sugarhill Gang performed "Rapper's Delight" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKHEAylqDds). The next time I went to MSG was for the 2010 Open Practice and sat courtside at MSG for the first time and at the end of practice there was a "$10 ticket deal" announced. By the time my uncle, my brother and I reached the front of the line at the box-office with slim pickings for tickets vs good opponents: we got 3 tickets for the infamous asbestos game vs Orlando and I bought 2 tickets for my friend Brandon and I to see the Knicks take on his Mavs. I attended opening night at MSG on 10/30/10 and the Knicks fell to Portland. About half an hour before our train for the Orlando game, I got a text message saying the game was cancelled and my options were either refund or nothing so we went up the following Sunday for a matinee between the Knicks & 76ers ($7 tickets on StubHub). The last Knicks home game I attended was the 40 point loss to Dallas last year. It was a lonely time to be a Knick fan, the only other true Knick fan in my high school class was my good friend John. John and I went to school together since first grade and he was always someone I could talk Knicks to without someone asking me why I was a Knick fan and the only other guy in my class who wore Knicks gear with pride. In my family my fellow Knick fans were my Uncle Rich(who's the reason I'm a Knick fan) and my cousin Drew. When the Melo trade became official, I facebooked with Drew & John in excitement and called my Uncle saying the suffering was officially over. The day after the Melo trade, was a dress down at good ol Cardinal McCarrick High School and John and I were waiting on line for lunch when this kid Dan who was a Nets/Grizzlies fan came to lunch wearing a Melo Knicks t-shirt, John and I looked at each other and said "And so the bandwagon begins".

It's a sad but true reality in sports, people question your fan allegiance when your team does good because everyone gets on the bandwagon. When your team takes a downturn they leave and for the true fan that's the only ray of sunshine that you get during these times. As a fan I will ALWAYS stand by the Yankees, Jets, Rangers and Knicks. To me being a fan is like marriage, when you're a fan of a team it's for better or for worse. When championships are won, it feels more satisfying when you remember the bad times.

16 year old me, when I was convinced LeBron was going to save the Knicks

17 and satisfied with Stat & Gallo

18 and ready for NYK to return to being an Eastern Conference Powerhouse

That does it for my Knicks post, thanks for letting me share my memories of being a Knicks fan with everyone and hopefully the best ones are still to come! GO KNICKS!!

Why I Love Sports

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Today's all about love so I figured that today's post is going to be about the things in sports that I love & can't get enough of. I'm going to list some "Top 5's" in a few categories, which are:

1. Stadiums I love to go to
2. Stadiums I'd love to go to
3. Logos I Love
4. Jerseys I Love
5. Jerseys I'd Love to Buy
6. Sports Traditions I Love

TOP 5 STADIUMS I LOVE TO GO TO

1. Yankee Stadium- New or Old nothing beats the experience of going to the ballpark in the Bronx
2. Madison Square Garden- Knicks or Rangers I can't describe the feeling I get when I go to MSG
3. Citizens Bank Park- Not a Phillies fan but I've caught a couple games there & it's such a beauty
4. Citi Field- An improvement from Shea & I'll gladly go there to see some NL baseball for cheap
5. MetLife Stadium- home of the Jets!...and Giants, my hometown's stadium is where I watch football

TOP 5 STADIUM'S I'D LOVE TO GO TO

1. Fenway Park- I'm a Yankee fan but I really wanna go see this century old stadium just for 9 innings
2. AT&T Park- That Park just looks so beautiful on TV, I can only imagine what it's like in person
3. United Center- I'd love to go to a Blackhawks or Bulls game just to check out "The Madhouse"
4. Wrigley Field- It's Wrigley, that place just has so much history
5. Michigan Stadium/Cowboys Stadium- I couldn't pick one 100,000+ Stadium over the other so it's a tie

TOP 5 LOGOS I LOVE

1. New York Yankees- This hasn't left the team in 99 years under the Yankee name, it was even around for the Highlander days

2. Green Bay Packers- This is the iconic, time tested logo in the NFL nothing could ever replace this

3. New York Rangers- Since the team's inception the shield has been the representation of the NY Rangers

4. Chicago Bulls- The only logo the Bulls have ever used and should stay that way

5. San Jose Sharks- What's not to love about a shark biting a hockey stick, it's always been a favorite of mine

the next top 5 is gonna be broken down to 2 parts, my favorite teams jerseys & my other favorites

TOP 5 JERSEYS OF MY FAVORITE TEAMS THAT I OWN

1. My Derek Jeter jersey with GMS & Bob patches

2. My Rangers Heritage custom ordered Messier jersey (I know that's a Drury in the pic but replace the 23's with 11's & that's what i got)

3. My Mitchell & Ness Namath Throwback

4. My 2009 World Series CC Sabathia jersey

5. My Danilo Gallinari Knicks jersey

TOP 5 JERSEYS(NOT MY TEAMS') THAT I OWN

1. My Patrick Kane 2009 Winter Classic Jersey

2. My Joe Mauer 2010 Twins Road Jersey

3. My Jim Brown Jersey

4. My Dan Uggla FLORIDA Marlins Jersey

5. My Roy Halladay Phillies Alternate

TOP 5 JERSEY I'D LOVE TO BUY

1. NY Rangers Lady Liberty

2. SF Giants Orange Brian Wilson

3. Maple Leafs James Reimer

4. Knicks Carmelo Anthony
5. A Jets Super Bowl Jersey(wish I had a picture)

Last But not least...

TOP 5 SPORTS TRADITIONS I LOVE

1. Fan Sections- in any sport any fan section is great: Dawg Pound, Cameron Crazies or my favorite...the Eagle's nest of my high school in my senior year last year
2. Tailgating- Food & Sports go hand in hand
3. Music- nothing get's me more hyped up then music
4. Gatorade Baths- it's an accomplishment in and of itself
5. Shaking Hands after the game- sportsmanship, it's a great tradition that's stood the test of time

That's a few things I love about sports, Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

Farewell New Jersey

The Jason Kidd Jersey I wore to my first Nets game

As I posted the NBA preview, I forgot 1 teams new logo on purpose because I wanted to deticate a post to it. The team I'm talking about is my home state's team, the NEW JERSEY NETS. For their final season in the great state of New Jersey, the Nets have made their "35th anniversary in New Jersey" logo their primary. The logo is great as it combines all of the New Jersey Nets logos into one spectacular logo. However when you realize that after this season, we wont see a "40th anniversary in New Jersey" logo in 5 years. The Nets are on the move to Brooklyn and on their website shows the slogan "Jersey Strong, Brooklyn Ready" which, I.M.O is a slap across the face to Jersey's die hard fans such as my father. I personally will miss the Nets because over the years I have enjoyed going to see the Nets in person because I really don't see myself going to Brooklyn to see a game unless they're playing the Knicks or if I ever get paid to cover a game. Over the years I've been to countless Nets games whether they were playing at the Arena (or now called iZod Center) or now at Prudential Center in Newark. I remember my first Nets game back on February 6, 2004, I was in 5th grade and my mom got tickets from her old boss and asked me if I wanted to go. I remember driving up with my mom and calling my cousin Drew to tell him that I was going and asked him what it was like to go to a Nets game, he told me "when I went it was cool & the announcer says Jason Kidd's name really loud and fast when he scores". I was beyond excited to go, I was wearing a Red Nike Fauxback Jason Kidd jersey. The seats my mom got were unbelievable, they were right behind the basket and by the tunnel where the Orlando Magic came out. The Nets crushed the tanking for Dwight Howard Magic 120-99 and during the game I got Bill Walton's autograph. I've managed to make a few Nets games since then at the Arena since then including seeing their history making loss against the Mavericks on December 2, 2009. Other then that I've seen Nets play the Suns(on a few occasions such as the last game at iZod & D-Will's debut), Knicks (when they both were awful), Heat(when their only superstar was Wade) & Celtics(I was at the game when that fan went nuts when D-Will made that shot). I will be attending a few games at Prudential Center this year and it will be very upsetting for me when they move because I will miss just going up to see an NBA game in Jersey...well at least we still have the Devils(for now)

I will try to post tomorrow about players & teams I would like to see or have seen. STAY TUNED!

NBA logo & uni preview for 2011-2012

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days, I've had finals, a family birthday party for my cousin, work & Knicks open practice tickets. Speaking of the Knicks it's time to talk about the new logos and uniforms in the NBA for the 2011-2012 season.

NEW YORK KNICKS-  We'll start off with (IMO) the most confusing logo change to hit New York since the Islanders fisherman logo in the 90's, I'm talking about the new Knicks logo. Gone is the black drop shadow that I've seen since I watched my first basketball game back in '94 when i was a baby. I guess they've tried to combine the 90's logo with the 70's logo. I have heard from multiple sources that they did not submit an application for new uniforms on time so we'll be seeing the familiar white & blue jerseys with black stripes & the green versions for St. Patrick's Day and doubtful for Christmas due to the Celtics likely wearing green at MSG. Also the same for 2011-12 will be the court at MSG with the same logo, I know that because I attended the Blue & Orange Scrimmage last Sunday and noticed the unchanged court. The jury's still out on this logo for me, I guess I have to see what the new uniforms look like next year for me to either love or hate this logo. I pray they bring back a version of the throwbacks they used last year, if they do that I can see this logo sticking around for a long time.

MIAMI HEAT-  The Heat have added a new alternate for the 2011-2012 season. Gone is the red alternate that they wore when they won the NBA title back 2006 and is replaced by an all black jersey that reads "MIAMI" with white trim on the Miami & the numbers. As much as I dislike Pat Riley and the Heat, I don't like this jersey. LeBron says he "doesn't want the villain role" well with an all black uniform being worn, that won't help him. I was a fan of the red jersey, it was debuted back in the days when the Knicks-Heat rivalry was at its peak. It fit nicely for them & was one of few 90's uniforms, in all sports, that survived criticism and was accepted by many. Anything to make money I guess.

SACRAMENTO KINGS-  The Kings are "BACK IN BLACK" with new black alternates. With one team looking away from a nice looking 90's jersey another team is building upon one to fit their current uniform set. The Kings new alternates brings back the black that they used in the late 90's and early 2000's. The script on this jersey is beautiful and brings back the script from the team's Kansas City and early Sacramento days. Overall I love this alternate for the Kings, it fits and may go out and buy one when Jimmer has these sold in every market.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS-  According to NBA 2K12, which has been on the money for all the new alternate uniforms, the 76ers will be adding a blue version of their jerseys. It's nothing special but it fits for them it's just an inverse of their current red road uniforms.




DALLAS MAVERICKS- Yet again the Mark Cuban and the Mavs have a new alternate uniform, this is the third version of the P Diddy designed "MAVS" jersey. The original made its debut back in 04 and was green. That was retired back in 2009 in favor for the royal blue version for one season before being retired in 2010. The royal blue color replaced the navy blue on the "DALLAS" road uniforms and after a one year hiatus both navy blue and "MAVS" jerseys will return together for the 2011-2012 season. The only thing I know about these jerseys is that i need to find a size 48 Dirk by April 29th. Overall this jersey is great and I hope this is the last time Mr. Cuban makes a uniform alteration for a while, Dallas has a great set all around right now.


UTAH JAZZ-  Last but not least for new alternates is the Utah Jazz. I was upset when I heard they weren't bringing back the black 90's jersey that was a favorite of mine as a kid (i had a Stockton with matching shorts). But when I did see what they would use as alternates I was very impressed. I like the green jersey, it's a modern representation of the team's old uniforms that debuted when they were in New Orleans back in the 80's. It fits better then the current purple road uniform does and I wouldn't be surprised if this got elevated to road status in a few years. Great job Utah!

 WASHINGTON WIZARDS-  The Wizards have completely rebranded, we might as well call them the Bullets again. This rebrand is great for the Wizards because the great Ted Leonsis has yet again done a great job bringing back red, white and blue to the nation's capital. Like he did with the Capitals in the NHL, Mr Leonsis has brought back some familiar logos and uniforms to DC fans. We'll start with the new secondary "dc" logo which now looks like the Bullets logo. The uniforms are great, it brings back the unique striping pattern of the old Bullets jerseys. What I like on the script is that Mr. Leonsis has incorporated something into it, like the "L" in the Capitals jerseys incorporating a hockey stick, the "d" in Wizards and the "h" in Washington has incorporated the Washington Monument. Overall this is absolutely awesome and it may only be a matter of time before the Bullets name is brought back. check out the set at http://sportslogos.net/team.php?id=219

Other possible additions for `11-`12- The Cavs will likely add a new "Cavsfantatic" uniform like they've been doing that will put past eras in a blender and put out a good mix. The Raptors will wear military appreciation jerseys which are supposedly camouflage and maybe the old Toronto Huskies throwbacks. The Clippers may wear the ABA's LA Stars uniforms. The same NBA teams that have worn "green uniforms", "Noche de Latino uniforms"&"St. Patrick's Day uniforms" will use them again in 2011-2012.

I may have another post or 2 coming on the blog this week. STAY TUNED!