HOW ’bout those Knicks!
The post-Marv Albert Era is upon us, meaning what’s heard on MSG Network often seems to come with a Dolan Approval Board certificate of transparency.
Friday night on MSG, with under a minute left and the Knicks about to lose to the Suns to go to 6-13, Al Trautwig, the night’s play-by-play man, asked Knick fans to rejoice with him:
“The Knicks are 6-12, but you have to say this: They’ve really only not been in two games, all season. Been in every game.”
The Knicks are a financially advantaged franchise that plays in the NBA’s worst division and they’re headed for their fifth straight losing season.
But they don’t get blown out as often as they used to! Take that, Marv Albert!
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It helps to be an idiot: CBS, early in Raiders-Jets, saw fit to begin posting Fantasy League stats that included Colts K Mike Venderjagt, one for one on extra points, Jags RB Fred Taylor, four rushes for six yards and no TDs, and Texan QB David Carr, one of two passes for three yards, no TDs, no interceptions.
CBS, after Ty Law’s first half interception and run, missed an opportunity to show a most revealing scene on tape – Randy Moss jogging aimlessly to avoid getting involved in the tackle. But CBS did show lots of fans in funny hats . . . After the game, back in the studio, Boomer Esiason said, “Herman Edwards has been under intense pressure and scrutiny, here in New York.” Really? From whom?
Fox, during the first half of Giants-Eagles, employed sideline reporter Pam Oliver the way sideline reporters should be employed: To deliver pertinent, here-and-now info about injuries, as opposed to word as to how many tickets a player had to rustle up for family and friends.
Give ESPN and Chris Berman credit for consistency and even courage in the face of stupidity. As “The Swami,” Berman and ESPN waste time twice a week, first, when Berman picks a few NFL games against the points, then when he recaps his results.
Last week, Berman further emphasized that these sessions are a waste of good time when he noted that the week earlier he went 0-5. Still, he noted it. There are TV and radio big shots, after all, who make big weekly deals of their picks, but then, for some odd reason, never again say a word about them.
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I Just Called (Collect) To Say I Love You: First, tickets to Jan 12’s Mark Messier farewell game at the Garden very quickly slithered into the hands of scalpers. Even American Express quickly got in on the act as a Platinum Card concierge operator pitched $63 seats for $1,200 a piece.
Now the Rangers, in conjunction with Steiner Sports memorabilia, are selling a pile of stuff to squeeze every dime out of what might have otherwise been a classy event.
One Messier Farewell item being sold via the Internet by the Rangers and Steiner is an autographed photo of Messier, on the ice, in his Ranger uniform, his hands clasped in gratitude as he acknowledged Ranger fans in his final NHL game. The item is entitled, “Thank You Fans.”
“Thank You Fans,” before shipping and handling, will cost Messier fans $400 apiece.
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Saturday afternoon Yankee GM Brian Cashman, interviewed on WFAN by Ed Coleman and Sweeney Murti, stated that the first rule of the Winter Meetings is to “avoid the lobby, at any cost.”
Tiffany’s, a Jersey rib joint partly owned by Fox’s Tony Siragusa, is being sued for trademark infringement by Tiffany & Co., the internationally renowned high-end jeweler. Apparently, the confusion began when Siragusa’s eatery added the “Brisket and Bracelet” $175,000 special, while the other Tiffany began to place ketchup bottles atop its display cases.
The only time Sports Illustrated sees fit to note anything about pro wrestling is to have light-hearted fun with it, as it did, last week. But that pro wrestlers have regularly been dropping dead, the last 20 years, has never struck SI as even noteworthy, let alone newsworthy.
