rock the casbah...

'the king told the boogeyman, you better let the ragga drop...'

there is a lot of ways to interpret the words of Joe Strummer, i choose, in the context of this post, to interpret them this way...

fiscal conservatives unite, and let the Bush tax cuts fade off into the sunset...

mr. Obama, you have lost a vote today. that deal you have tentaively made with republican party leaders will drive this country further into debt, eliminating the what's left of the middle class in 10 years and effectively drive this Democratic Republic into an oligarchy. in the great tradition of blind supply side economics score yet another one for the upper 2 percent. That's two more years of swiping the credit card for free...

Obama has effectively given a bump in the credit limit for the wealthiest people in this country, with no interest rate, and no payments to make ever. America, the lower 98, will make the payments for them. That's us—U.S...

our payback?, the shiny apple? The unemployed will not lose their benefits over the next year. Wow, thanks, guy, but i'll tell you what. You can have my benefits. Take 'em, i don't want them anymore. i'd rather lose my dignity and take a job swabbing up jizz at the Bunny Ranch, then to put this country in $900 Billion more in debt over THE NEXT TWO YEARS!...

that's TWO YEARS!! nan one of us got that kind of scratch on this rock!...

i guess you are going to roll over and let them kibosh the newly minted health care bill so we can add another $10 billion to the bill. yea, that's the part they didn't tell you about 'Obamacare' folks, that it kind of pays for itself. de-funding it would lose the billions of dollars in medical industry payments that are part of the bill. so the minute we finally got the free market to actually foot the bill for something we grab the check from their hands, real nice, morons. Pray tell, what is in that tea of yours?...

but really, TWO FUCKING YEARS!!..

unemployment insurance has been proven to stimulate local economies. this money is not saved by folks, it goes to grocery stores, and pharmacies and the like and nieghborhoods get to keep their local market rather than get another abandoned building. continuing to approve unemployment insurance extensions is a no brainer. its stimulus money, as far as the nation's budget is concerned, its already been spent, but republicans have chosen to use it as a bargaining chip...

some of you might believe that by calling someone a fiscal conservative that they are republican. not so. the republican party has not been fiscally conservative since the days of Jefferson, not that his rebublican party was in any shape of form similar to today's or even Goldwater's republican party. jefferson had the caveman lawyer John Adams and the free market mercenary Alexander Hamilton still kicking around the halls and making trouble. No, a fiscal conservative, in the context of the American economy, is to pay down and ultimately eliminate the deficit so the country's currency remains strong and provides all Americans with purchasing power. Imported goods will become more accessible, people will have the ability to own their land and live their life filled with liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Currently we have 'fiscal conservatives' telling us that extending the Bush-era tax cuts will stimulate businesses to expand and therefore create jobs and stimulate the economy. Really, what they are saying is that they want to continue to keep the dollar weak so they can export cheap goods and collect profit, and in the event that they actually expand, they will hire you but a a dirt wage to make sure you live hand-to-mouth waiting for your liberty and your pursuit of sort of OK. Republicans, and i say this generally, think you're stupid, and guess what you are, but apparently that's what Obama thinks we are too...

i'm not a socialist, and i don't play one on TV. i simply believe in taxation without representation. don't you? i'm not being represented. if you are reading this, chance are you are not being represented either. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates Sr. are being represented, and they are more than willing if not begging the the government to tax them. Haliburton, JP Morgan, Chevron, Phillip Morris, Disney, etc. they are all represented, but you don't here much from them do you. Probably because they are too busy smarting from the amount of money they put in electing some of these tea party freaks while hiding behind the feckless McCain-Feingold (both for extending the tax cuts) capaign finance farce, i mean law...

point is, isn't THIS why we our forefathers threw a bunch of tea into Boston Harbor? Isn't THIS why Crispus Attucks dies for us white people?! Sorry Crispus, we've all failed you, even one of your own, that is if he isn't really and Arab, i mean they said he was on TV, he must be right...

i don't think mr. Obama is an Arab, i think he's a republican...

i was happy in 2008, not because of Obama, or the landslide change in the House or the Senate. i was happy because i thought, 'finally, we can get rid of these goddamned tax cuts.' i have never been a man of means and i don't benefit from any tax cut, 3 percent of shit is still shit, but i know when my country is fiscally healthy, then problems get solved...

so this is my call to all. fiscal conservatives unite! middle class unite! those with a soul unite! let's do everything in our power, while we still have what little is left to fight extending these extensions. vote against this deal with the devil and let the tax cuts lapse, let the republicans explain why the they are cutting our social security benefits (oh, they didn't tell you when you get a 'break' on your FICA tax that means you lose out on that portion of your benefits for the future as well—oops!), our health care and giving the 2 percent a pass, $200 and a get out of jail free card...

let's have a REAL tea party...

'sheriff don't like it. ROCK THE CASBAH, ROCK THE CASBAH!'...

gulag nouveau...

don't cry for me Jamaica, Queens, i was nothing more than a shadow across the Ave. in self imposed exile, i walked the streets one last night before finally, penultimately, i departed from my gulag...

one last sojourn through the air to reach my destination. home. you know, where the heart is...

true dreams of flyover states passing underneath, to a faux-promised land for a final wait and a short jump to a place rapt with as much guarantee as apprehension.

this is gulag in the 21st century...

one night in mineola...

i laid there, alone, after all false-faces and pudgy's chicken. after my parents had gone and my school had been cancelled, my life put on hold. the lights went down, but there wasn't any sleep to be had that night, only worry. i'm not sure how it was on the outside, we tend not to talk about these things but i can tell you now that i've never been so scared...

she was just a little baby. Casey was her name, that was about all i knew about her. shrouded there next to me, there was an emergency. she had been clinging to life, i laid petrified. there was so much to take in now, the nurses scrambled to prep little Casey for whatever the doctors, well on their way, would need to keep her alive. time seemed to ache as i listened to them working, i didn't have a choice but to hear. i was left to wonder what she might look like, small but precious, strong but at the mercy of this mortal coil. perhaps selfishly, my thoughts shifted to my own fate. it was to unfold over the coming days. i was unprepared for this plague, i had no training, no merit badge for such a diagnosis. i had no inkling of what would happen to me, i was overcome, alone in that bed, half-scared for Casey struggling to make it another day, one of the few she had even experienced...

the din had finally ended, Casey stabilized for the moment, i laid there in quiet desperation, hoping that someone, anyone, would tell me it was going to be alright. Casey laid there recuperating from her fight, quiet. she couldn't yet understand what she was fighting for, or whether it was even worth it. i wonder whether i could tell her 'it is' with a straight face...

i wonder tonight about whatever happened to Casey. in better days i recalled asking, the nurses were all very attached to her as they had become to me. i don't know if they were protecting me or themselves, but i never received an answer...

its been 21 years since that night in Winthrop. my second self is old enough to drink...

here's to Casey...

do you remember...

its september, and i have lost my way.

where was i going, why do i stay?

what the fuck am i doing...HERE?

maybe october will have the answer, but i'm not feeling too optimistic.

where have i been? fuck off...

in memorium...

my Smith Serpicos...we battled the elements together and fought the good fight. you were valiant to the end, and i thank you...

you will be replaced but never forgotten..

requiem...

'I mean; what are they going to say, man, when he's gone, huh? Cause he dies, when it dies, man. When it dies, he dies. What are they going to say about him—what; he was a kind man, he was a wise man, he had plans, he had wisdom—Bullshit man! Am I going to be the one that's gonna set them straight—wrong!...You."

that's goddamned right...

R.I.P.

"Hi, I'm Rajon Rondo...

Chances are, you haven't heard of me. I realize it is difficult to keep track of little old me when there are LeBron Jameses, Dwight Howards, Kevin Durants, and Kobe Bryants of the worlds breathing all the air out of ESPN and TNT basketball coverage, but I've just been revitalizing a team of veterans into kicking the shit out of the Eastern Conference..."

i'm not one to boast (especially when i'm only half-right) but i did have the Celtics in this position when the rest of the NBA pundits did not. Rondo is a revelation, that in fairness, i never thought much of when he was attending the university of Kentucky, but after the Celtics won the title a few years back it became apparent that Rondo was becoming an elite point guard. During this years NBA playoffs, after almost single handedly dispatching of the Miami Heat and then burying the Hype in Cleveland with the help of my old friend KG, the Celtics are running over the Orlando magic, looking younger and healthier than they did when they won the title in 2008. In what could be the final run for the likes of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and newcomer-though experienced Rasheed Wallace, Rondo is making himself into an absolute superstar.

the first in line...

a lot can be said of Ronnie James Dio, I choose to defer...

"Always the one alone longs for mercy, the Maker’s mildness, though, troubled in mind, across the ocean-ways he has long been forced to stir with his hands the frost-cold sea, and walk in exile’s paths. Wyrd is fully fixed!"
Thus spoke the Wanderer, mindful of troubles,
of cruel slaughters and the fall of dear kinsmen:
“Often alone, every first light of dawn, I have lamented my sorrows. There is no one living to whom I would dare to reveal clearly my deepest thoughts. I know it is true that it is in the lordly nature of a nobleman to closely bind his spirit’s coffer,
hold his treasure-hoard, whatever he may think. The weary mind cannot withstand wyrd, the troubled heart can offer no help,
and so those eager for fame often bind fast in their breast-coffers a sorrowing soul, just as I have had to take my own heart —
often wretched, cut off from my homeland, far from dear kinsmen — and bind it in fetters,
ever since long ago I hid my gold-giving friend in the darkness of earth, and went wretched, winter-sad, over the binding waves, sought, hall-sick, a treasure-giver, wherever I might find, far or near, someone in a meadhall who knew of my people, or who’d want to comfort me, friendless, accustom me to joy. He who has come to know how cruel a companion is sorrow
to one who has few dear protectors, will understand this: the path of exile claims him, not patterned gold, a winter-bound spirit, not the wealth of earth. He remembers hall-holders and treasure-taking, how in his youth his gold-giving lord
accustomed him to the feast—that joy has all faded.
"And so he who has long been forced to forego his dear lord’s beloved words of counsel will understand: when sorrow and sleep both together often bind up the wretched exile, it seems in his mind that he clasps and kisses his lord of men, and on his knee lays hands and head, as he sometimes long ago in earlier days enjoyed the gift-throne. But when the friendless man awakens again and sees before him the fallow waves, seabirds bathing, spreading their feathers, frost falling and snow, mingled with hail, then the heart’s wounds are that much heavier, pain after pleasure. Sorrow is renewed when the memory of kinsmen flies through the mind; he greets them with great joy, greedily surveys hall-companions — they always swim away;
the floating spirits bring too few well-known voices. Cares are renewed for one who must send, over and over,
a weary heart across the binding of the waves.
"And so I cannot imagine for all this world why my spirit should not grow dark when I think through all this life of men,
how they suddenly gave up the hall-floor, mighty young retainers. Thus this middle-earth droops and decays every single day;
and so a man cannot become wise, before he has weathered his share of winters in this world. A wise man must be patient,
neither too hot-hearted nor too hasty with words, nor too weak in war nor too unwise in thoughts, neither fretting nor frivolous nor greedy for wealth, never eager for boasting before he truly understands; a man must wait, when he makes a boast, until the brave spirit understands truly whither the thoughts of his heart will turn.
"The wise man must realize how ghostly it will be when all the wealth of this world stands waste, as now here and there throughout this middle-earth walls stand blasted by wind, beaten by frost, the buildings crumbling.
The wine halls topple, their rulers lie deprived of all joys; the proud old troops all fell by the wall. War carried off some, sent them on the way, one a bird carried off over the high seas, one the gray wolf shared with death—and one a sad-faced man covered in an earthen grave. The Creator of men thus wrecked this enclosure, until the old works of giants stood empty,
without the sounds of their former citizens.
"He who deeply considers, with wise thoughts, this foundation and this dark life, old in spirit, often remembers
so many ancient slaughters, and says these words:

‘Where has the horse gone? where is the rider? where is the giver of gold? Where are the seats of the feast? where are the joys of the hall? O the bright cup! O the brave warrior! O the glory of princes! How the time passed away, slipped into nightfall as if it had never been!’

"There still stands in the path of the dear warriors a wall wondrously high, with serpentine stains. A torrent of spears took away the warriors, bloodthirsty weapons, wyrd the mighty, and storms batter these stone walls, frost falling binds up the earth, the howl of winter, when blackness comes, night’s shadow looms, sends down from the north harsh hailstones in hatred of men. All is toilsome in the earthly kingdom, the working of wyrd changes the world under heaven. Here wealth is fleeting, here friends are fleeting, here man is fleeting, here woman is fleeting, all the framework of this earth will stand empty.”
"So said the wise one in his mind, sitting apart in meditation.
He is good who keeps his word,7 and the man who never too quickly
shows the anger in his breast, unless he already knows the remedy,
how a nobleman can bravely bring it about. It will be well for one who seeks mercy,
consolation from the Father in heaven, where for us all stability stands.

The Wanderer—Exeter Book 975 A.D.

rules of engagement...

i live by a few simple edicts...

Silence is foo. And it is...

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Its all you ever need know...

If i have to follow the rules, everybody has to follow the rules...

There is a lot of yammering about banking reform these days, probably because there is a need for banking reform. Serious reform. Of course, the Hamilton Hawks (named after Alexander Hamilton) will tell you that there is a need for a strong central bank that answers to no one. While us Jeffersonians (and you know how i feel about Thomas Jefferson) point out over and over (and over) again that money=greed=power grab. In other words give 'em enough rope and the banking industry would rather hang us from the Statue of Liberty (that's what we get for accepting a gift from those socialist French pigs!!) then allow for some regulation over how wealth is managed in this country...

There is a scene towards the end of the film Platoon when bodies of dead Vietnamese are being summarily shoveled into the craters formed by the recent napalm drop. We learned that when left to their own devices the Federal Reserve, and the banking and finance industry will bury this country in the craters left behind by their carpet bombing of toxic derivatives and rampant borrowing. Changing the rules of economics to suit a profit margin almost cripples the entire banking system, but instead of jumping on the grenade, Wall Street decided to throw it back, except it landed in our laps, no pin, no chance. Capitalism run amok...

i would not consider my self a socialist. I'm a pragmatic anarchist, which is to say with all things being equal there should be no rules, except that i know that human nature will facilitate the need for regulation, so, henceforth...

The idea that regulating the Health Care Industry or the Pharmaceutical Industry or the Automobile Industry and especially the Banking industry would reek of socialism is a pathetic attempt to cloak the fact that all of these industries have taken taxpayer money in the past year whether they needed it or not. Is that not socialism. Well, i've been through this...

i was enjoying a martini and some mac and cheese a la Famous Daves when a Nicaraguan gentlemen and i struck a conversation about the Mets. It slowly developed into him railing into socialists in this country. How we are already socialist, giving hand outs to the unemployed and those in the throws of poverty. I asked him, isn't it welfare when banks accept taxpayer money to stay afloat from a free market tidal wave? He shrugged me off. It occurred to me that he was of age where he would have been a teenager in the 1980's. Probably living poorly in an urban area of his home country when the big bad Reagan machine came in to wipe the floor with the evil communists. Like they were the savages forming death squads. The Reagan administration used cold war fear to make us believe that communism and socialism would ruin this country and the world. This gentlemen drank the kool aid. When he said to me that he watched "all the news anchors—Hannity and Glen Beck" as if to say "Country and Western," i quickly looked for an exit strategy and broke north, like Oliver's neck—how apropos...

You see, what most people don't understand, other than the fact that this is a Republic and not a democracy, is that we live 75% or so of our lives like socialists. Ever time you buy a beer for someone and in turn that person buys you one back along the way, that's socialism. When you pass that joint, its socialism. Borrow that drill, cook that meal, shovel that neighbor's walk, or help that person on the side of the road change that tire—socialism. Its the bar that's capitalist, the dope dealer, the Home Depot, the restaurant, the kid looking for $10, or the wrecker that is called. We as a people are inherently socialist. It is simply the structure of our society that is capitalist...

now there's nothing wrong with making a buck. There's nothing wrong with making a lot of bucks, but when there is an opportunity to fix what's wrong, chance to repair a system that has collapsed, why not? What's wrong with a little regulation? Regulation makes sure the pipes don't burst, the roof doesn't leak, your 401K doesn't disappear and YOUR OIL TANKER DOESN'T EXPLODE AND SPILL TONS OF OIL INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO!! Like New Orleans hasn't already seen the ass-end of governmental reform, now they have a puddle of mud the size of Delaware heading towards the French Quarter—WHO DAT? Oh, its just Standard Oil, sorry...

A year and a half ago there was the equivalent of an oil spill on Wall Street. One year and a half after a global economic meltdown we're still wiping off penguins. What's wrong with a little regulation? Would you rather a little revolution?...

There are 41 Senators that would like you to think that shoring up credit card interest rates, making it affordable to buy a home, and having a safe place to invest your money and allow it to grow rather than be—wait for it—regulated through countless fees and conditions—is evil and utterly socialist. That any reform on the banking industry will lead to the strangulation of your freedom, the formation of death squads, or statues of Lenin being erected in town squares all over America. Heaven forbid Lenin takes the place of the John Calvin statues they have planned to erect or their secret plan to replace the Jefferson Memorial with one of that heretic and SOCIALIST FRENCH PIG—how's that for irony Texas?...

The era of Reaganonomics is over. It failed. And it was an epic failure. Alexander Hamilton is dead and buried a block and a half away from the scene of the crime, but Jefferson...

Jefferson Lives!...

Let's move on up...

night of the living baseheads...

Ladies, if you see this guy in a bar/club/dark alley, do yourself a favor and walk the other way...

This is the culture we have wrought. Jocks with wallets full of excuses and entourages full of yes men. Gun-toting, making-it-rain attitudes all the way to their vehicular manslaughters. Let's stop acting like its ok that people like this exist. Moreover, let's stop acting like its ok that people raised people like this. Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. Roethlisberger, you are responsible. Mr. and Mrs. Vick, Woods, et al. All the coaches boosters, drunk vagrants who used to be someone, back when. Every AAU coach with a shoe deal in his or her back pocket. Every Uncle who ever told you where the money was, when he was taking it behind your back. Every teacher, guidance counselor and other school administrator who turned a blind eye for the sake of the golden child. You are all to blame...

the team owner who has taken every step to ensure the TV slot, fannies in the seat, a beer and hot dog for each hand. Laughing all the way to their luxury box...

all of us who turn on the TV, buy the ticket, or the jersey. All of us who let this culture run out of control, whether under the Friday Night Lights, Sneaker Camps or Sunday morning gag-a-thons. Its our fault as well...

its getting harder and harder to enjoy the games i love. But when i look beyond them i see the same patterns in everyday life. The double standards, the sweeping under the rug and the looking the other way—the getting away with murder. This is the culture we wrought for ourselves in this land of the free and home of the brave. It seems you don't have to smoke crack to be a basehead...

how low can you go?...

silence is foo...

is that a peep from the constellation? Not really—'tis but a whimper...

i guess, i've been on vacation, except i haven't been anywhere, done anything of note or cared much about letting you in on the details. That happens. Silence is foo...

occasionally i submit and idea or two under the moniker Tavares Lives! here. Its baseball season so i suppose i'm in early season meditation. It stands to reason that most of my work would channel there...

besides that I'm looking for ways to expand the constellation—take it global as it were...

we'll see, there's work to do, and miles to go before i sleep...

midnight movies vol 3...

alms

i glided like the flame-sparked fuse on a stick of dynamite,

i was screaming acetylene at you, did you hear me?...

i would break your neck with the pure sonic force, call me Blackbolt with a throat full of fire—

its the principle...

you think that's harsh, but what good are you? selling alms from the poor...

there's no promise you'll get yours...

the wheel goes round like the man sang and such and i'm watching, but there's no telling...

roses on a mosaic, he's still waiting...

i'll probably wait forever.

smoking bones...

...needless to say, i'm a ball of fire.

i decided to take the day to get my head back. Temporarily it is affixed, for how long is anyone's guess. Keep back 100 feet. While your at it, run the fuck away...

i stopped by the Fatty Cue, A-Cue had reached out and asked me by to be fed. i agreed it was time...

after my flesh and organs have melted away from the funeral pyre in my honor, i would like my bones brought to A-Cue, so he can deposit them in his smokers, where they can live peacefully evermore...

i am a ball of fire, needless to say—stop and smell the smoke...

the death of cool...

i hit the streets today to check out gallery showing of friend of mine you can get to know here. Him and i go back, he once drove the getaway car. Its a long story and none of your business. He's been exploring his creative side for the last few years and has found himself at the School of Visual Arts studying photography, but if you had gone here already you would know that...

i've helped him out a few times with photo shoots, whether it was lashing this guy's legs to a board and hanging him upside down, or celebrating a creepy birthday with a lovely young lady. This time i offered up my first aid skills...
So i hit the streets to check out the reception...

i made my way to the west side and i realized how the meat packing district hasn't changed all that much. Plenty of meat, its just now it is packed into dresses one size too small and pants that are on the verge of falling down...

i approached my destination and avoided the pillars of youthful disdain hanging on by the scaffolding that shrouded the entrance, smoking cigarettes like they came up with the idea. It was then i knew that i was in for it...

Hipster faggots, i hate 'em—even if i shouldn't say things like that. I mean; the last thing i want to do is offend homosexuals by pairing them with hipsters, they already have enough people condemning them...

as the elevator strained to open its doors, a stringy haired sort dressed in half-couture/half-couture made to look like thrift store, exited with two terriers and two dogs in open topped shoes, showing the tattoos on top of each. By the time i made it to the 15th floor i had reconciled that she'd probably went through a lot of unnecessary pain only to someday wonder is that gangrene setting in or if she really did think it would be cool to permanently scar her feet...

there was a time when getting a tattoo was considered subversive, taboo, a sign of rebellion—even cool. But when you decide to go through the trouble of paying someone to tattoo your feet, well, that's just plain silly...

Upon arriving at the Visual Arts Gallery, i wandered through the packed space, heated from all the hot air of ambivalence and scanned through each project room, looking for my friends, only to find retread and the overdone. The live-still-life of woman sitting in bed was especially lacking originality. Continuing through a pool of the desperately coiffed and the unfortunately dressed, i found my intended targets. i congratulated him on his work—i had seen some early mock-ups, but seeing the final product, i was again reminded with the way his mind works. His filter is unique...

i chatted with his wife, the Lovely Miss Anne (who would no longer be called Miss, i suppose), who i have known longer than him by quite a stretch. One of the few people i could and would be willing to rob a bank with. We talked about their honeymoon and then my lot of recent times, and the need to drink and frolic amongst our crew, then i bid them farewell. You see, it occurred to me that i couldn't take it any longer...

i hoped that along with the new decade would come a rebirth of cool. Something fresh and brand new, in music, film, art, science—anything. i stood there and realized, that at least for the moment, my hopes would be dashed. There will be no rebirth of cool from this generation. Only a rebirth of drab...

It was comforting to see a Stormtrooper there. i guess that's what's passing for art these days...

It also seems there was a Shane Macgowan look-a-like there, as well. After all that pestering for him to belt out a verse of Cracklin' Rosie, it turns out it wasn't Shane at all...

Oh, well—there's always youtube...

—check out the Mentor Show at the Visual Arts Gallery. 601 W 26th, 15th Floor, through April 3rd...

and no, its not those Mentors...

a picture is worth 1,000 words vol2...

i only see...

i only see in infra-red...

see me, feel me, touch me, and while your at it...

Is it so far fetched that this Tiger Woods scandal is a sham?...

Is it possible that rather than a sex scandal we are dealing with something else?...

What do you think is more acceptable, cheating on your wife or abusing pain meds?...

How about gambling? A bunch of years back Michael Jordan retired from basketball. He was in his prime in the middle of a contentious conference finals versus the New York Knicks when a story came out that he spent the time between games in that series losing a ton of cash in Atlantic City. He then won his third NBA Finals a few weeks later. Not long after that his father was found murdered an apparent victim of a car jacking—only problem is that the two kids, who are still doing time, forgot to jack the car and left it there with James Jordan's body still in it. Charles Barkley was on record telling stories of Michael's wagering excess on the golf course. And there he was talking about how he had nothing to prove. Nothing to prove?! Bill Russell is still trying to find someone to prove something to him and his 11 championship rings and 5 Finals MVP's. Jordan for all his airness, never came close to that even after coming back a year and half later and winning three more titles! It was always my belief that NBA Commissioner David Stern, rather then suspend the man who single handily revitalized and transcended the game of professional basketball, chose to give Jordan a reprieve—"Sit out, Mike, call it retirement—no big deal. Come back in a year or so, it'll be great. We'll get balloons and everything"...

The murder of James Jordan was always a screwy to me. The crime scene was a mess, there were no leads and then all of a sudden to kids were in custody. In a flash they were tried and convicted and now doing the better part of their lives in the slam. The "crime scene" in Windemere, Fla is a little screwy as well...

The town police are clamoring to talk to Woods, who basically, through his lawyer, tells Matlock and Barney to fuck off. Then he shows up and they give a ticket. A fucking ticket. "All done Mr. Woods!"...

Woods had knee surgery in the middle of 2008. Came back in 2009 and had a decent run early in the schedule before bottoming out and looking more than mortal by the end of the year. Some would say he came back to fast from the surgery, that the knee might not be properly healed. Look, Tiger has had four knees surgeries on the same knee. He had torn ligaments and a double stress fracture in his leg and played through it for 10 months...

Isn't there anyone else who thinks this guy has been abusing pain meds for the past two years? That maybe, just maybe, he spent the lions share at the Pine Grove Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ being treated for his addiction to pain meds?...

Funny thing, Arizona is a hotbed for off season golf, the Scottsdale/Phoenix area in particular, much like Florida. Is so hard to believe that in between detox and group Tiger has been shagging 400 footers on the Biltmore Estate?...

I don't doubt the rest of this story, that he's been cheating on his wife and this and that. Acting erratically with these ladies and his wife, but if the dude has been high as a Limbaugh for the past two years could you really blame him. When he crashed into that hydrant outside of his driveway, do you really think he knew what day it is? If Tiger has been abusing pain meds for a long stretch than he might as well have been Tommy...

Tiger, can you hear me?...

I bring it all up because its been about 4 and a half months since the incident and the exposure of his "indiscretions." Less than a month since he stood up in front of a gaggle of wafer-brained reporters hand picked by Ari Fleischer, who just reeks of integrity coming off his last gig, stating that he had no idea if or when he would come back to professional golf, announced today that he would return to the Masters—IN THREE WEEKS!!...

So, I get it, you're all broken up, and your family is a mess. Check. You are going to try and repair the damage you inflicted on your wife and babies. Check. "Alright boys, let's hit the links!"...

Watch him rock it out in Augusta, like nothing happened...

Conspiracy theory? Sure. I'm crazy? Probably. Am i wrong? Doubt it...

Shit, Don't get me started on the Ben Roethlisberger, Rooney Family/ESPN cover up—part deux...

i got your madness right here...

Beware the ides of March? Forget it, unless you're name is Julius or Caesar you'll probably make it through the day. It just so happens that one of the most infamous dates in history turns out to be selection Monday. Millions of people will spend most of the day wagering their hard earned money on sheets of paper. March Madness has been in its pace laps but tomorrow the green flag flies on the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament...

St. Patty's Day, New Years Eve and Thanksgiving Eve are often identified as "amateur nights," mostly because folks who normally don't go out, always seem to find themselves gallivanting to an eventual ditch off the Belt Pkwy after abusing themselves with alcohol and any number of controlled and uncontrolled substances (and uncontrolled tolerances). While today is not one of those days it does reek of that amateur scent. All of a sudden everyone is a college basketball expert, or filling out their brackets by uniform color, or who has the best legs or any other manner of choosing the winner of each game leading to the penultimate on April 5th Championship Game. To be fair, i would say well over half of these people do have some knowledge of the game and the majority of the participants, but even then most of those people probably only watched 20-40% of all the college basketball available to them, leaving a minuscule number of well-informed men and women who have watched over 50% and more. While i wouldn't call myself an expert, per say, i have been unemployed for a year and have had the benefit of watching a lot of college basketball. More than most, in fact, unless you work for ESPN, Fox Sports or any other cable or media sports outlet, chances are i've caught a couple of more games then you. That said, i'm here with some guidelines and helpful hints to help you through the jungle that is your bracket...

If you watch or listen to any of the pundits and talking heads out there, you will hear a ton of talk about parity. In other words, overall throughout division basketball there weren't many good teams, let alone great teams. I have 5 by my count—Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse and West Virginia, so let's start there...

Kansas—What can i tell you about Kansas? Not much, every time i attempted to watch a Jayhawk game i found myself bored to death as they opened up a can of 20 point whoop ass on their opponents. That, in itself tells you more than you need to know. While they are not flashy they are well coached, experienced and can beat their own schools football team in a fight. All that said, in a round robin with the other 4 teams i named above, they have the best chance of going winless. They were never really tested in their conference, which always gets a lot of good publicity, but always leaves me flat—Missouri?!—Really?! Facing the talent of Kentucky, the workmanlike precision of Duke, the one-of-a-kind 2-3 match-up zone of Syracuse or the monumental scrap of West Virginia i think the Jayhawks will be out of their comfort zone, but by all means add them into your final eight, and if you think they can take Georgetown, then put them in your final four...

Kentucky—John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, say it with me—Wall and Cousins. They are the number 1 and 2 pick in the 2010 NBA draft. They are only freshman. Sure, Patrick Patterson is the team's best returning player, and he is lottery pick talent as well, if not for the emergence of Wall and Cousins taking his touches away. And yeah, Coach John Calipari is a great tourney coach, but there's something missing. The Wildcats could very well win the tournament in a walk, they are that good. Depending on which bracket i refer to (i've filled out 5), I have them anywhere from in the final to losing versus West Virginia in the Elite 8. The talent is in place, but is the heart, because Wall and Cousins may already be in love with the idea of their NBA careers...

Duke—Those who know me are well aware that i am a huge fan of the Blue Devils. They won the first college game i ever watched in 1986, which directly led to me rooting for them. Those who know me also are well aware that i haven't pick Duke to get to the Final Four let alone the final game since 2004. This year i have them winning in every one of my brackets. The Blue Devils are a machine. The shoot well, handle well, defend and rebound well. In the past Duke has brought teams to the tournament with 2 or 3 good-to-great back-court and wing players players but no depth to speak of, hence their early exits the last few years. This year, along with two all-americans and a third who will be one next year, the Devils bring size. Four strapping young brick houses to clog the middle, rebound, block shots and cause havoc in the paint for anyone who dares to enter. If you are going to beat Duke you have to shoot well from deep and even then, you'd better shoot over 45% from the three point line. The only thing that can derail Duke, in my opinion is fatigue, as coach Mike Krzyzeski rarely goes past 7 on his bench, but watch for neophyte Andre Dawkins to get some time if he gets hot early in the tourney. A gift seeding in the South instead of the West does wonders for their constitution, as does the Friday Sunday schedule—guaranteeing some heavy rest for an exhausted Senior Jon Scheyer and company. Put them in your Final Four...

Syracuse—No one plays the 2-3 zone like the Orangmen—no one. It can't be duplicated at practice and watching it on film does not do it justice. It is an x-factor. Beyond that, the Orange are a lean mean big east machine with, as Bobby Knight says, seven starters. They might wear down if the game s get tight, but an early exit from the Big East Tournament gave them some extra rest. There is a good combo of experience, talent and desire. They are battle tested and dangerous. Put Syracuse anywhere from the Elite 8 to Champion...

West Virginia—There is nothing special about this team, the Mountaineers just keep winning. They do have length and and a nasty 1-3-1 zone to deal with. They have shooters, and scorers but more than anything they have workers. They force their tempo but can thrive in yours and they have been playing in cliffhangers all year only strengthening their nerves of steel. Coach Bob Huggins came home to his Alma Mater and instead of enforcing his will, took head to his seniors, who had success before his arrival the result is a shot at the Final Four, they should be in your Elite 8 and could take Kentucky out, or walk to Indianapolis if Kentucky falls off earlier...

as for the rest? Looking to fill out the rest of your Elite 8 or some first round surprises? Both...

Siena—You want to make a splash? Put Siena in your Elite 8. Purdue was a very good team before their best player went down to injury, now they are a team in crisis. The Boilermakers received a gift 4 seed and they will pay for it via the Siena Saints, who are no strangers to winning games in the tournament. Siena could also roll over Texas A & M, if Utah State doesn't beat them first in a battle of the Aggies. i don't think much of the Big 12 conference, to which Texas A & M belongs, but while Siena isn't a lock, i do believe they are smart money for a Cinderella...

Baylor—Of the Big 12 teams i do like, (that would include Kansas and uh...Kansas), Baylor is interesting. The program has improved year by year and they have a truckload of height and length and they shoot well, which make them a dangerous squad to have to face. i know Villanova is in there sights, but i haven't been overly impressed with 'Nova in big games, the Baylor Bears might just beat them to the Elite 8...

Butler, UTEP, and Murray St—All three of these Mid-Majors could make it to the Sweet 16 if not the Elite 8, the problem is, they'd all have to play each other to get there. Flip a coin or read some tea leaves. i have them rated Murray St., then UTEP then Butler, but that could change by tomorrow night...

Xavier—A lock for the Sweet 16, and could make a run for the Elite 8 is Pittsburgh falters...

Temple—Another perennial member of the Sweet 16. After a stretch where the program went through a face lift, the Owls are back and will give Kentucky all they want...

Notre Dame, New Mexico and Washington—All interesting teams who should win a game, picking them to win two is up to you. Depending on my which bracket I consult, we're talking sweet sixteen for New Mexico and Notre Dame and the Elite 8 for Mew Mexico...

Louisville—Only because if there is one team that can beat Duke before the Final Four in the South region it will be Rick Pitino's Cardinals. He's been waiting almost 20 years to excise the ghost of Christian Laetner, and wipe that ridiculous expression off the face of Thomas Hill...

Don't believe the hype...

Kansas St.—They had their chance to impress the country in the Big 12 Final Saturday night on a neutral court—epic fail. They could still settle into to the Elite 8 simply because their end of the West region looks like the Suffolk County High School Playoffs...

Villanova—The Wildcats are good, and at one point this year i thought they were the real deal. Those days are gone. An Elite 8 finish isn't out of the question, but be wary...

Cornell—i'll have the Big Red over to build my super-collider, but almost beating Kansas, losing to Seton Hall and barely beating St. John's doesn't really exciting. You know who else almost beat Kansas? Kansas St. and you know how I feel about them. They face Temple in the first round, and i just don't see it...

You want more help, then take a flier on Richmond into the Sweet Sixteen and get enough pigs in the blanket for me at your party—and make sure you get the good mustard...

an open letter to the Rev Donald J. Harrington C.M...

note: Rev Harrington is the President of St John's University, Jamaica, Queens, NY.

Dear Reverend Harrington,

i apologize for my tardiness in writing you back. i have indeed received your bi-annual request for my money since my graduation from your fine institution in 1996. You might remember me, i gave you the gas face upon receiving my diploma. You even sent me a picture of it. Nothing? Maybe you remember shutting down the production of the student newspaper, in which i was part of, due to our refusal, as an Editorial Board (on which i sat), to run an add for a "student government" anti-choice group, called "Students For Life". Nothing still? Do you even remember the group, because they don't even exist anymore, and i'm not so sure they ever did...

Maybe you remember me when i used to attend basketball games. i purchased season tickets for several years and sat courtside at Alumni Hall and behind the home basket at Madison Square Garden, i don't attend anymore. i really don't expect you to remember me or any of the hundred of thousands of students you have glad-handed on the way out the door, our cash in your back pocket—but brother, you sure are an elephant when it comes to home addresses...

i know its been years since someone called you brother, the seminary i imagine, but since you know where i live, i figure we can talk as friends. And simply put, if you want my money, and anyone else's for that matter, you need start listening to alumni like myself. I know you have cash flow problems, even though you've raised tuition to ivy-like heights, you have done a lot of redecorating since i left. A cafeteria, a soccer field, a baseball field, a chapel, an athletic facility, a new student facility and you even gussied up Alumni Hall. That most have cost a mint. No wonder you have your hand out. I also hear you have some academic issues of late as well, in fact, your own students wrote it up...

So i have some advice. If you want your University's matriculation to improve both in numbers and quality of person, and your coffers to bulge there are two things you can do. You can either fix your basketball program, or you can resign...

Not going to resign? i understand, if i were you i'd keep my gig too, its pretty rough out there right now. So let's focus on your other choice, fixing a once storied program that celebrated the greatness of the City's game...

Due to personal issues, i was forced to stay local for my choice of institution. Ultimately, i chose between St. John's and Queens College, a school less than 2 miles away from SJU's Jamaica campus, and ultimately the choice came down to having access to a NCAA Division 1 basketball program. Finishing my freshman year i had just been christened sports editor of The TORCH, the Official Student Newspaper of your University, the evening that the legendary Lou Carnesseca retired from coaching the Redmen and you and your staff hired his long time assistant Brian Mahoney. i was there for the Felipe Lopez years and, though a graduate at the time, the absolute excitement of the Ron Artest/Erick Barkley years through a surprise NIT Championship with the remarkable Marcus Hatten, but this is not about the past. Most of us know by now why Fran Frischilla was dismissed, and we all know about that night in Pittsburgh and Mike Jarvis' disdain for the NYC PSAL and CHSAA leagues, all factors in the current downturn of the Johnnies' mens basketball program...

For the sake of protecting the social and ethical face of the University you hired Norm Roberts to clean up the program. A first step in healing the local wounds left wide open by the former regime. No one could argue with you for this decision and it has worked to this point. There are enough schools in Division 1 basketball that have no issue in turning a blind eye to shenanigans in return for a buck. You showed restraint in the Vincentian tradition and whether we like it or not, you did the right thing. Now the program is at a crossroads. Roberts, for all of his charm and can-do attitude, cannot coach the game of basketball. Its not that his style doesn't work or that his players do or do not like him, its that he is technically deficient. And it is time to relieve him of his duties as head coach of St. John's Basketball...

i don't want you to fire him, Roberts is a good soldier and a better man, and he deserves a job, and since he has three years left on his contract, you might as well keep him in the Athletic Department where i think he could be put to good use. But if you want my money in the form of an Alumni grant or if you are looking to increase the notoriety of the University, fostering a higher profile for admissions and earning potential then take my advice, and remove Roberts from head coach and hire someone who can facilitate the remaking of the University's basketball program...

i know, you don't want to spend a lot of money, that's understood, as i said before, times are rough, but is it much of a stretch to hire a guy like Mark Jackson? An alumnus of the University as well as an icon from the program's 1980's heyday, Jackson is currently being paid by Disney to analyze the game at the pro level. I'm sure he could be lured to coach at his old stomping grounds, especially if Carnesseca were to knock on his door. While i'm not completely sold on Jackson's ability to coach individuals to a team concept, he certainly would grab the front page of every New York City newspaper and certainly open some eyes, in city high schools, and more importantly New York City kitchen tables...

If you want to go cheaper, that's fine, there are any number of Division 1 benches to file through, Chris Collins or Steve Wojciechowski from the Duke bench bring scrap, basketball know-how and integrity to any job. How about a kid named Richard Pitino down on the Florida Gator bench. You might know his father, you turned him down when he reportedly came calling a few years back...

Cheaper still? How about Danny Hurley, son of the legendary Bob Hurley, coach of St. Anthony's in New Jersey. Danny is currently putting together a resume at St. Benedicts High School. He might be a little green but so was Roberts when you hired him, but in this case you know you are getting a basketball guy, a kid who knows the game, the city and the conference...

i'm a realist, i understand that in a conference that still fancies itself a football power, its difficult to maneuver through BCS propaganda and find your place amongst those schools who benefit from College Football money, maybe there is way to navigate your way through, say, by joining forces with perennial basketball powers with like minded ideals such Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova among others...

i know this; there is a lot of chatter coming down from I-95 that University of Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun may be stepping down from his position at the end of the year. There has been a contract extension on his desk for some time now, and he has yet to sign. Even if he does sign, the performance of his current Huskie squad is a strong indication that his days as a viable voice on the bench maybe be over. Either way this leaves an open door for this University to step through and take back the influence it once held over City basketball. It was Calhoun among others like Jamie Dixon in Pittsburgh and Jay Wright of Villanova that pilfered and in some cases plundered recruits from our backyard, when we folded up and licked our wounds...

Run a program with integrity, by all means, i have no issue with that. Just don't let it run itself into the ground, never to be heard of again...

If you want people like me back, that's how you get us, and that's how St. John's can be an integral part in the future of this City and beyond. We are St. John's, now give us a listen...

sincerely,

the constellation...

midnight movies vol 2...

social tea...

sandwiched by impending and prior,

rocks, hard places—you get it,

everyday is hard on death row, its true,

even if i didn't say that shit.

i read it somewhere, or heard it, can't remember, its been awhile.

waiting for the good foot, dropping for a nickel—dime—something,

lordy knows, the view from the breadline is stark,

bleak is not strong enough a word.

its not the lifestyle,

i've lived on three cookies and a cup of popcorn—soda on fridays,

adam smith ain't built a wing i can't dwell in,

shit...i can make fire.

its what i keep hearing.

i heard that was you,

talking about this and that,

doesn't matter,

its nonsense. you're good at that, real good.

nah, you say, 'it couldn't have been me!'

but i know better—i know you,

full of vinegar, rage, full of cloak and dagger,

it had to be,

it could be no one else—only a fool would say that.

so?

eat the rich and burn their carcasses but it'll never come to that, you think?

they'll pay someone to make their fire.

it won't be me.

i'll be where the wild things go, proennecke—like.

stumbled and broken, then you can erase my ass,

i'm on that first trail to serenity,

the trail's full, bitch, and i'ma leave it as i found it.

see, i'm long past the point where i've lost my shit.

hey, old man winter!...

go fuck yourself!!...

this just in...

i created a word...

himp-hopster—noun—1. musician/lyricist who passes his or her sound or style off as Hip-Hop when it is more closely related to pop music.

2. A fraud or sham in the Hip-Hop genre.

usage—Man, Wil.I.Am is such a himp-hopster he almost makes Fred Durst look like he has Hip-Hop cred.

pardon the interruption...

Upon driving home from my swim this afternoon, i was enlightened to find out that, Tony Kornheiser, the co-host of ESPN's 'Pardon the Interruption' has been suspended for on-air comments he made on his ESPN Radio show regarding Sportscenter anchor Hannah Storm...

The Washington Post, (incidentally Kornheiser's other day job—he is a columnist), reports about the incident here. It seems Kornheiser commented on the wardrobe of Storm, while she anchored the morning program that runs live, and back to back on the network. ESPN, in the infinite wisdom, took the knee jerk/politcally correct route in suspending Kornheiser from his late afternoon TV program which he hosts with friend and co-writer Michael Wilbom. Kornheiser has personally apologized to Storm for his comments and continues to host his own radio show...

While i have multiple issues with ESPN, and its parent company Disney, i do not have an issue with Kornheiser or PTI. Its one the few produced programs i watch on the network. As for Storm, i find her to be a conscientious anchor and reporter, as she has been throughout her career which began on NBC as an anchor of that networks sports updates, and my issue is not with her. She is free to wear what she or whatever her wardrobe assistant decides is appropriate for her work on-air. My issue is with ESPN for propagating a classic example of a double standard...

sex sells, like it or not, sex sells like pancakes at IHOP. If we are to believe that Storm's wardrobe is not picked out with the issue of aesthetic, including sexuality, in mind, then we must be made to believe that the Brooklyn Bridge is indeed for sale. Not many among us walk out of our doors without thinking or at least wanting to look good to others, let alone stand in front of a television camera for three hours...

the question is whether this would be an issue if, say, Joan Rivers, or Tyra Banks made mention of the appropriateness of Storm's outfit? How about Isaac Mizrahi or Michael Kors?...

Woman reporters and anchors in sports have to eat a lot of misogyny, to be sure, but don't you think Storm should be insulted that the policy thugs at ESPN have to fight her battle for her because of a wardrobe comment? i'm insulted and you should be too...

Kornheiser is paid for his commentary, just as Storm is paid for her effort and expertise in reporting. Am i to think that if Storm had commented on Kornheiser's wardrobe or hairline she would have been suspended?...

Storm has not commented on the suspension, which is par for the course if she wants to keep her job, ESPN is all over this. This is yet another reason why i have been fading ESPN out of my television viewing routine. The network has become an entity above sports—even to the point of eating itself. It has overshadowed the sports it covers and created a generation of athletes that care more about the highlight than the sport they play, or the team they play for. This has led to a deficiency in the sports we love. The Me-Generation personified. The idolizing of a Michael Jordan led to the lack of fundamentals in younger players in the game of basketball. The network's cannonizing of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa led to the eventual demise of those player's integrity and then quickly jumped ship to burn them at the stake of the steroids scandal. They dress up broken down ex-players to report on the NFL in May, two months before any meaningful workouts will take place, four months before any meaningful game and so on, i mean; the network is just as responsible for the floundering of hockey as the 1995 lockout was...

Now ESPN suspends Kornheiser for making a comment that, i would think, some people would find valid. But then again moral superiority is hypocritical. Disney doesn't mind trotting out pop tart after pop tart for the young boys and girls to fawn over, knowing full well what sort of kind Freudian-stew they are creating, only to allow its arm, ESPN, strike down any comment against it machine...

Do as i say, not as i do...

Well, here's to you Tony, for speaking out about a skirt that was indeed shorter than the Cat Mom's camo skirt i love so much (and believe you me, its short), that a Sportscenter anchor was wearing at 9 am in the morning. While i think you be hard pressed to find a male viewer outraged by it, you still have the right to voice your opinion, even if your bosses think you should keep your mouth shut to their hypocrisy...

good night Cananda...

are you listening? vol 6...sunday soundtrack trois

as i made my way through the gardens i was invulnerable, and full of asha...

basking in the tremors of a sonic trio, shuffling with aggression...

Bombs over Baghdad—Outkast

Yeah X 3—24/7 Spyz

Boom—The Roots

what are you listening to?...

now what?...

this is probably the best day the Knicks have had since that fateful day in May, 1985, when David Stern announced, in the NBA's first Draft Lottery, that the Knicks would receive the first pick in that year's player draft. With that pick the Knicks chose, center and Knick-icon, Patrick Ewing...

a lot of people have intimated that the lottery process was a fixed event. That Stern and the NBA brain trust, conspired to give the Knicks the first pick in the draft and give them a clear shot at drafting far and away the best college player in the nation in Ewing. Apparently there is Zabruder-like evidence of such a conspiracy...

i can see how some people would think that garnering Ewing would be a boon to the Knicks franchise, based in the largest media market in the country, and in turn, aid the NBA in becoming the most popular sport in the world, which it was, with the help of a guy named Jordan who played in the second largest media market. Ultimately, i see the choice of Ewing to be the albatross the Knicks would wear for the last 15 years. Sure, Ewing made the Knicks a playoff team, and brought myself and other long time fans closer to a championship then we had been since before i was born, but those of us who live and die with the Knicks, those of us who know better, are cursed to remember only a mistaken shot—the finger roll...

some people remember that 1995 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals as Reggie Miller "choke" series, or the most egregious piece of non-officiating since 1993. i and others like me recall that game as the last time we wanted to see Ewing in a Knick uniform...

you see, drafting Ewing was not a gift, it was a well placed curse, meant to torment the Knick fan into thinking that we would ever be anything more than the team that propped up the Chicago Bulls to three straight titles and made Michael Jordan. An unwitting pawn in Stern's master plan. Maybe it was a conspiracy and the Knicks merely made a deal with the devil. And make no mistake, Stern is the devil...

it would take another 5 years to shed the physical nature of the franchise's albatross, only to descend deeper into the abyss through the work of Isiah Thomas and the wreckage he made of the once proud Knicks. It wasn't until a year and half ago that the sun finally peaked through the dark clouds to present Donnie Walsh, a respected basketball man, originally from this fine city, to begin to wash away the filth left behind by that day in 1986...

Yesterday, Walsh consummated a three-way deal to obtain Tracy McGrady and his $23 million-expiring contract for what, in my opinion, amounts to a bag of basketballs and a pair of old Chuck Taylor's. Sure, pundits on ESPN and TNT are worried that the Knicks might very well be mortgaging the team's future by giving the Houston Rockets access to what could be two basically unprotected lottery picks in 2011 and 2012, for nothing more than a decent shot at LeBron James, arguably the games best player, and other NBA Superstars that will be available as of July 1st. i would take any two of those guys over anyone who will be eligible for the NBA draft in 2011 or 2012, let alone lottery-worth...

in McGrady, the Knicks get a two month rental on a guy the Knick fans have always fawned over, ever since the Knicks won their last playoff series to date against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors sported two great young players that year, Vince Carter and his cousin, rookie Tracy McGrady. During the series, Vincanity played like Vince Cortho, but McGrady, only 22 at the time, made the series competitive and announced his entrance into the NBA elite...

much has been made of McGrady's health in the later part of his career with the Oralndo Magic and then Houston Rockets. Back troubles and knee surgeries have plagued him, leading to micro-fracture surgery last February. But it seems to me if he didn't have to carry those franchises on his back all these years he would be healthier. The Knicks don't need McGrady to carry them anywhere. The Knicks merely need the clock to tick and the days to turn, until 1995 is but a memory and the clock strike midnight July 1st...

so...now what? Of course, the prize of this years free agent class is James, but i'm here to tell you—don't be fooled by a wolf in sheep's clothing...

while watching the early match-up on TNT last night between James' Cleveland Cavaliers and my pick to come out of the western conference Denver Nuggets, i noticed something that just might change minds at Two Pennsylvania Plaza, and reveal something i've always suspected. King James might not be ready for prime time...

with the game on the line James and Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony played each other on both ends of the floor. Both teams ran their offenses through their superstars. Anthony, used the dribble to create offense for himself and his teammates including a wonderful circus finish beyond the broken ankles of his defender, James, and the eventual game winner, an 18-footer right in the eye of the King. Over the same stretch of time, James while covered by Melo, settled for three straight 23-foot+ jump shots, netting one. On the final play of the game it wasn't until the Cavs used a ball screen to free James from Melo, as the Nuggets switched on defense leaving Aaron Affalo to check the Cleveland star. James then thought it prudent to use the dribble to create a chance at the tying bucket. Affalo was able to provide stout defense and James forced a poor shot resulting in the Nuggets win on the road. James stalked off the court hastily and seemingly in a huff about a foul that wasn't there let alone called...

it was a telling minute of basketball. Faced with the prospect of driving against a player of equal height and skill (more or less) James deferred to his jumper, which can be erratic, rather than challenge his equal. That's not the kind of attitude i want out of one of my max-contract players...

this is not to say that James isn't a great finisher, i once saw him go toe-to-toe with Gilbert Arenas, long before his current troubles, beating the Washington Bullets into submission in a Conference Semifinal in the Spring of 2006, but it seems to me that James cowers in the face of comparable defenders, say like, Melo, or Kobe Bryant...

regardless, i believe the Knicks have finally turned the corner. Next season will be the first season of the rest of our Knick lives. LeBron or not. I just hope that Walsh, coach Mike D'Antoni take heed to what is clearly in front of them. Nothing in the NBA, including one of its best players is cut and dry...

i was born a mere month and a half after the Knicks last championship season, so there are few Knick fans that have waited longer for the the franchise to once again stand atop the NBA as Champions. Today is the day, the beginning of what should wipe away the pain and torment of the last 36...