Training camp is barely underway and Stephon Marbury is already causing headaches for everyone in Knick Land. You’ve already seen the reports of his Media Day comments. Now his teammates are struggling to find ways to say they want him gone.
…”I just feel like, I guess right now that’s the story – if he’s gonna be here or if he’s not, or does he come off the bench if he is here and all that stuff. That’s all fine and well, but we just need to focus more on winning games.”
“We should be more focused on restoring order to the Knicks,” [Jamal] Crawford said.
That can’t happen, and won’t happen, as long as No. 3 – “Coney Island’s Finest,” as the tattoo on his left biceps says – remains the center of the universe. “It’s bigger than just one person, this organization,” Crawford said.
Newsday’s Ken Berger reports that coach Mike D’Antoni polled the team on Starbury and he lost in a landslide. They want him gone yesterday.
Berger already has Starbury praying for him so that means his mind is somewhere else already. Take the malcontent and add a little sciatica and we have the makings of another quality Knickerbocker season. This should end well for Knick haters such as myself.
It sure seem like he is. Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni may be in charge but September 2008 looks an awful lot like September 2007. It’s pretty much the same team from last season. Starbury’s still around and Allan Houston is attempting a comeback.
Yeah you read that right. When training camp opens next week, Houston will join Starbury at Knicks training camp. What can anyone say about the Knicks? They broke my heart when they ruthlessly dumped Isiah but there could be some hope for this team after all.
Last year, Houston quit after one exhibition game. Let’s see if he can make it through a full exhibition season. He’d do well to remember Sir Charles’ Pippen Theory. You retire because you can’t play anymore.
Donnie Walsh and the Knicks are hedging their bets and praying to Jesus, Buddha and Allah that Stephon Marbury won’t be a problem this upcoming season. Don’t count on it.
Perhaps an Aztec or Mayan sacrifice would do the trick. Here’s a thought. Use Starbury for the sacrifice. If that’s too messy, pour BBQ and hot sauce on him and let Eddy Curry eat him like a boa on a small mammal. He must have a detachable jaw. Problem solved either way. A salary cap hit is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Stop the presses! Tom Brokaw is giving up his Knicks tickets. Brokaw was recently on Jim Gray’s XM Radio show and Newsday’s Neil Best transcribed what he had this to say about the state of the Knicks franchise and of his season tickets:
Gray: “And you have such a large voice, I’m wondering if you have spoken to the commissioner or team officials.”
Brokaw: “No…..He certainly knows how I feel about the Knicks…and their ownership. As a season ticket holder for a long time, I won’t renew because I don’t like the attitude that that ownership has brought to the community.”
Gray: “And you have been in the front row or close to it for a long time.”
Brokaw: “I was in the front row for a while and then three rows back but not next year. I just think that they have failed their obligation to the city. I think that we have great sports franchises in New York. I think Fred Wilpon of the Mets and George Steinbrenner of the Yankees measure up and they bring to the community winning teams as best they can and make real statements about being supportive of the community. I don’t think that the Dolans have done that and I think the Garden has lost a lot of its luster as a result of their ownership and this is the first time that I have really said that out loud. But I feel very strongly about it and I think that it’s the least we can expect. They get these huge prices for people to sit in those seats, all kinds of tax advantages to owning the Garden and yet they operate as if they were a sovereign country and want to play only by their own rules. So I’m not very happy about that.”
Tom…you aren’t the only one. The Dolans have pissed off a very well connected fan base. When the rich season ticket holders are upset, something has to be done. You can crap on the poor fans as much as you want, look at the Lerners and the Washington Nationals (have you seen the ticket prices, damn they are pricey for a crap team…and yet i love them), but ticking off those people that pay thousands for seats is a sure fire way to kill off a club, even a storied franchise like the New York Knicks. The question is, is it too late?
