Who's Next

Buried deep in SI.com’s “Hot Clicks” page is the totally awesome news that the Who, the greatest rock band ever assembled, is scheduled to play the Super Bowl. Fuck. Yeah. If this is true, it just kicks the crap out of the alternative, Bon Jovi, whose worldwide fame continues to confound. Speaking of which, even at Pete's and Roger's advanced ages, the Who should put on a better show than Springsteen's embarrassing debacle last year. Here's the band, which now features Zach Starkey, Ringo's kid, on drums, rocking out last March to "Won't Get Fooled Again" in Brisbane, Australia.  

Fat Chance

It's nice to see Eddy Curry finally get back down to his fighting weight, particularly after all he's been through in recent years. But I can't really get too excited about it, one way or another. Once considered the centerpiece of the Knicks, Curry has been nothing short of a disaster ever since he arrived in New York, practically dogging it from day one. He alienated fans and members of the Knicks' front office to such an extent people started to seriously question his desire to play professional basketball. His off-the-court issues didn't exactly help dispel this perception. To his credit, though, Curry's always said he wants to have a long career in the NBA. Judging by his appearance alone, he's finally doing something to help him reach his stated goal, even if it's way too late to make good on the promise he once demonstrated as a teenager. 

I doubt very much Curry can make much of difference this season. A bad team is a bad team, after all. Ironically, Curry's only real chance of helping the team that basically mortgaged its future for him is to show the rest of the NBA that he can still perform on the court, so the Knicks can trade him and his salary to make a real run at LeBron or any other free agent from the celebrated class of 2010. Regardless of his body shape, Curry's playing days in New York are probably numbered. 

Good As Gold

As if winning the World Series weren't enough, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira each also got themselves an American League Gold Glove. The awards, voted on by league managers and coaches, were well deserved. This season, Teixeira made only four errors in 1,275 chances, while saving about two or three dozen other Yankee errors with his nifty glove work at first. The Gold Glove is Tex's third overall, and the first since 2006, when he was still working cheap for the Texas Rangers.

Jeter, who committed only eight errors in 554 chances, picked up his fourth Gold Glove, the first since he won the award three years' straight, from 2004-2006. Of the two, I'm more pleased with Jeter's win. Tex is a phenomenal defender; everybody knows that. Jeter, on the other hand, has been knocked for his play at short for years. Sabermetrics, baseball's answer to the Cato Institute, seems to have it in for him, even going so far as to label him the worst defensive short stop in the league. Total nonsense. Jeter, though, took this criticism to heart, and spent this past offseason working on his footwork, speed and agility. 

I have to say, I wouldn't have had the discipline, especially if Minka had been waiting for me at home. But Jeter put in his work, and produced one of his best seasons to date.

San Francisco, Chronicled

I spent last week in San Francisco. I’ve visited the city a number of times, but never experienced it through the eyes of a native. The experience is vastly different and much more rewarding. For four days, I knocked around the Richmond District, which runs along Golden Gate Park until the Pacific, and is home to one of the best sushi places in the Western world. I also ate my weight in Mexican food at a tacqueria in the Mission and stopped by City Lights, where I picked up a copy of William Carlos William's In the American Grain and Ron Hansen's Desperadoes. Two solid purchases. 

Speaking of literature, while cutting across Haight Street, I came up with a short story about a gang of affluent kids who go around beating up hippies. If I ever get around to writing it, I'm going to call it "Nixon's Holiday." 

Later, my mind once again clear, I took in this stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge at Baker Beach, which I captured on my cell phone, before reluctantly heading back to New York Saturday evening. 

This was my fourth trip to San Francisco, and it really is an amazing, beautiful city. It's such a calm, inviting place. A fact that was further illuminated almost immediately after I landed, when I was scrunched in the back of a smelly New York City cab, while the driver, screaming into his headset, raced on adrenaline, instinct and blind luck across the Belt Parkway through Queens. 

I can't say I missed New York, at least not entirely. Although I would have liked to have been in town during the World Series. I did manage to catch Game 6 in San Francisco. I have to say, having a World Series game wrapped up before 9 p.m. is an odd feeling. I honestly didn’t know what to do after the final out. I felt a little bit cheated when I couldn’t turn to the YES’s postgame show to see the locker room celebration. I got over it, though, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying my new favorite city. The next morning, still on East Coast time, I fired a final salvo at my co-conspirator. My post elicited the desired response. 

Afterward, enshrouded in fog and heavily caffeinated, I started to feel like blogging, particularly blogging about sports, is undignified, and a total waste of time and energy. It probably is, and silly, too. I’ve come to terms with this. I expect to get back into a regular schedule this week.

You Know He Ain’t Gonna Die

I recently made a not-so-friendly wager with my buddy and co-blogger about Danilo Gallinari’s scoring average. Somewhere along the way, (Ed. a bar, probably), I confidently predicted that the man known as “The Rooster,” or “The Cock,” depending on where your seats are located, would finish the season averaging no less than 16 points per game. Last night, he scored a healthy 22 in the Knicks’ horrible loss to the Miami Heat.

Yes, it’s come to this as a Knicks fan. My interests in the team exists almost exclusively in the offensive progress of a 21-year-old, semi-walled-eyed kid from Sant’Angelo Lodigiano.

Incidentally, Sant’Angelo Lodigiano is also the native home of Mother Cabrini, the Vatican’s favorite American saint.

Isn’t that interesting?

Anyway, in honor of my new favorite Knickerbocker, here’s the studio clip of Alice in Chains’ “The Rooster,” which was recorded in 1992, when Gallinari was four.

“I Sure Ended Up With My Name in Yankee Stadium.”

Marshall Fogel is one of the top sports memorabilia collectors in the country. His collection includes a mirror from the home of Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb’s passport, Lou Gehrig’s watch, and a mint 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card, worth an estimated $2 million, among countless other historical gems.

Fogel, a Denver attorney, started collecting in 1989, right around the same time a nascent sports memorabilia industry caught fire, and in this four-minute clip from CNBC.com, he explains how buying high-end, one-of-kind pieces helped make him one of the most successful—and wealthy—collectors in the industry.

And helped earn him a place in the new Yankee Stadium.

No, New York, No, New York, No

I'm not going to lie. This year's Knicks team doesn't really excite me. I watched a number of their preseason games, including the bizarre exhibition against Maccabi Tel Aviv, and to borrow a phrase, this team don't look too f*cking good. 

Although they do work hard on both ends of the court, the team lacks a go-to offensive weapon, a reliable defensive presence, a consistent shooter and a vocal, veteran leader. In theory, Al Harrington is supposed to fill these various roles, but if anyone expects Harrington to do this, they haven't exactly been paying close attention to Al throughout his career.   

Headed into the season, the Knicks have a ton more questions than they do answers: Is David Lee worth the long-term investment? Is Wilson Chandler a foundational piece, or is he just a role player? Can Danilo Gallinari play in the NBA? Is Nate Robinson anything more than a sideshow? Has Darko Milicic finally figured it out? Was Jordan Hill worth drafting? Is Toney Douglas any good? Is there any team desperate enough to want Jared Jeffries and/or Eddy Curry?

If the Knicks can answer half of these questions in the affirmative, I'll consider the season a resounding success. Going forward, though, the future fortunes of the Knicks, no matter how much progress they show on the court, will rise and fall based on one question and one question only: Will they land LeBron?