Knick Knack

I have always been a New York Knickerbocker fan, albeit a closet one since Patrick Ewing retired. Regional loyalty, and a love for the game of basketball fueled my love for the Knicks. I did not care if they won or lost, they were my team. Wins and losses are not high on my priority list when it comes to securing my devotion. The Knicks acquiring Carmelo Anthony does not mean I'm going to return to the fanaticism of my youth when Dick Van Arsdale, Howard "Butch" Komives, and Walt Bellemy roamed the hallowed Madison Square Garden court. However, for Carmelo Anthony to come home to New York does breath a little life into my once near dormant zeal. What disturbs me is all the haters.

It seems, particularly down here in SoFla, that other teams fans are up in arms concerning the courting of Carmelo, and the way the Knicks went about getting his services. Sure, the frequency Anthony's name has been connected trade rumors for the past two seasons has been an annoyance, but to equate what the Knicks did, and are trying to do, with what the Miami Heat did is silly. Unless of course you're an idiot.

I hold no malice toward the Heat by shamelessly trying to buy a title, that's no different than the New York Yankees approach in baseball. I hold no animosity toward the Celtics for acquiring two aged stars toward the end of their careers to compliment a proven star and a rookie in the hope of forming a cohesive unit. Even a casual fan must see that Carmelo Anthony does not mean instant title contention, just like the signing of Amar'e Stoudemire did not mean the Knicks were now in a class with Boston or Miami. All these two players mean is maybe the Knicks can make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

There are no grandiose predictions. No 70 wins in a season as many sports pundits forecasted for another franchise. No title assurances as many commentators confidently portended when this team assembled looked like a juggernaut on paper. Based on all the hyperbole that was spewed, I'm surprised that David Stern the league commissioner didn't just cancel the season and hand out the championship trophy at a contrived made-for-TV "decision."

The Knicks defense has more leaks than an old inner tube. There is still a dire need for a legitimate center so Stoudemire can play his natural position at power forward. And there is no instant offense player to come off the bench to provide a much needed spark. An enforcer in the mold of Dave DeBusschere or later, Charles Oakley would be nice as well. All landing Carmelo Anthony did was makes the Knicks a more formidable foe. Just like when the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing.

Before the Knicks won the Ewing lottery, the team had Bernard King. He was fun to watch. He'd score fifty and the rest of the team would score fifty. However, sometimes their opponent would score more than one hundred. When Ewing arrived from Georgetown, the hated hometown St. John's rival, he was embraced as a savior, not the as the object of scorn as he was treated the prior four years. I hated Patrick Ewing as a Hoya, I loved him as a Knick. Later I would come to despise Isiah Thomas but still love the Knicks. Hate the ownership, but not the team.

So all you Knick haters continue to do so because of the intense rivalry your team may have with the Knicks, not because of how the Knicks are trying to become competitive. They still have a ways to go. It surprises me how a team can draw so much ire just for being mediocre. Why don't you worry why your team is not playing up to snuff, or why your team is not on track to win seventy games. Keep in mind, the Knicks lost to the lowly Cavaliers last night. So if I want to have my loyalty rewarded just a little, why don't you haters stop pissing in my cornflakes and be concerned your team is underachieving. Enduring Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, and Isiah Thomas was bad enough without the unfounded whining.