ALL STAR FOWARD - GARNETT OVER STOUDEMIRE? REALLY?

How is it possible that Garnett is leading in votes over Stoudemire? This solidifies the theory that people from Boston have no lives and must be voting throught out the day! Let's go Knicks fan and as a matter of fact any basketball fan, period, should be voting for Amar'e Stoudemire.

VOTE AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE

HOPE! CHANGE!............. AMAR'E!

Who would've thunk it! The NY Knicks are playing their best basketball in over a decade! The GARDEN is beginning to renew the aura that players and fans loved to experience in the 90's. The recent additions of Amar'e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton have helped elevate a team that was once in distress. The future looks bright for the NY Knicks, but we always live in the present and can the Knicks sustain their current level of playing for the whole year?

THE CHOSEN ONE? REALLY?

LeBron is no longer the centerpiece, the king, or even the chosen one. As Skip Bayless states, "He is Robin and Dwayne Wade is Batman." Not only did he make a poor decision with the all about me "Decision," he also hurt his image by no longer being the leader of the team. Everyone that supports his decisions claims he did the right thing because he just wants to win championships. Well, can we ever consider him as one of the all time greats because of championships, if that's the case Robert Horry is an all time great with 7 rings. It's not just about the rings and there's where LeBron's inner circle influenced him to make a poor decision. It's all about the competition, the drive, the ability to lift your teammates expectations and talents. There is no way that you can even put LeBron James in the same sentence as Kobe Bryant and even Dwayne Wade (who performed with the will to win during the 2006 playoffs). His performance in this year's recent loss to the Celtics proves that he doesn't have that drive. Bill Simmons hits it right on the money when he states, "If he owned that cutthroat Jordan chromosome, or Magic's leadership chromosome, it would have surfaced by now." He continues, "I mentioned how there comes a point in every great player's career when you have to pour the cement, let it harden and see what you have. We poured the cement for LeBron in this series. It hardened last night. We know what we have."

A statement by Bryant Gumble of Real Sports:

“Finally tonight, a few words about championship rings. Just when did they become the all-important barometer of who does or doesn’t count in sports? When did they supersede personal excellence or exemplary character as a standard of greatness?

“I got to thinking about that the other night after the self-anointed chosen one, LeBron James, embarrassed himself as he tried to make his decision to seek rings in Miami sound like a search for the Holy Grail. It’s when he essentially admitted to placing a higher priority on winning than anything else.

“LeBron’s decision is typical of our immediate gratification era, but it flies in the face of history. Even though he never won a title, Dan Marino is still the biggest hero in Florida. And in Boston, all those Celtics championships are dimmed by the unforgettable brilliance of Ted Williams, who never won anything. In Chicago, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus have legendary status despite playing on losing teams. And even in the NBA, where guys seem obsessed with being viewed as ‘the man’, real men like Barkley, Ewing and Baylor are ringless, but revered.

“Despite such evidence to the contrary, LeBron James seems to think he needs a ring to change his life and secure his legacy. Maybe he’ll get one, maybe he won’t, but it’s probable that no amount of rings will ever remove the stench he wallowed in last week. LeBron may yet find that in the court of public opinion, just as putting on a tux can’t make a guy a gentleman, winning a ring can’t make one truly a champion.”

Well LeBron, let us know how it feels to be in the back for once and not the center of attention. The picture states it all, you will forever be in Dwayne Wade's shadow!

MEET THE METS!

After an up and down first half of the season, can the NY Mets pull it together in the second half to make the playoffs this year? The NY Mets did not come into the season with high expectations from fans. Fans did not know how long it would take Reyes to get into game shape, whether Wright will be more productive than last year's 10 HR's and 72 RBI's, can Jason Bay meet expectations, how will pitching hold up this year, and lastly when will they see Beltran back in the line up? The answers to those questions have been answered, however can they shake off old habits and get into the playoff (maybe even win a series)?

The first half assessment:

Pitching: Although it was up and down, some performances were clearly not expected. R.A. Dickey, the knuckleballer, for one had no expectations coming into the season. Oliver Perez disappeared into oblivion so they needed a fifth starter. There was definitely doubts as to how can he be successful with only a 82-85 mph fastball. Well, he's 6-2 and batters still can't figure him out. As far as the closer, well K-Rod is no longer K-Rod! He has four blown saves and clearly does not have the "stuff" he was once known for. He needs to locate his pitches better and not be afraid of getting hit! Takahashi was a great surprise for the bullpen. Although the plan to give him some starts are not reaping it's rewards as of late, the move back to the bullpen further solidifies their innings eater in case someone blows up early. Neise had a productive first half going 6-3 another 5 to 6 wins in the second half will be a fair assessment since he's still young. The biggest surprise has been Pelfrey starting off on fire and as of late starting to cool off. If Pelfrey can find himself once again and give you another 6-8 wins that will be more than acceptable. Santana has had a tumultuous first half and unlike Pelfrey, has significantly picked it up winning his last three games. Santana has always been known as a second half pitcher and will clearly be needed in the end as he tries to erase the earlier notions that he is no longer the number one pitcher on the NY Mets!

Infield:

The infield started started shaky but the move to bring up Ike Davis gave them a boost and provided a long ball hitter to the line up. Although Davis has been just average, that is more than enough from a young batter playing in the majors for the first time. The catchers have all been clutch especially Barajas, started off hot but since cooled down. Blanco and Thole's situational hitting have helped keep the line up strong when sometimes the bottom of the order is snoozing away. Castillo is well Castillo, let's hope that Ruben Tejada and Alex Cora can continue to help in that position. Tejada is young and they are just working him into the line up to get some at bats. Jose Reyes started off slowly but only because he was adjusting to the game speed after coming back from an injury. Reyes is not producing numbers as he was two seasons ago but fans should be happy that he is actually playing (although this oblique injury can phantomly get worse, NY Mets medical staff is known for botching injuries). As for David Wright, what more can you say other than he has taken leadership of this team and the numbers are clearly where they should be. He's leading the NL in RBI's and has been boosting his average as of late.

Outfield:

Two word "Polar Opposites!" Coming into the season everyone was expecting Jason Bay to produce the same numbers that he usually puts up. Of course, Citi Field is not batter friendly but no one expected such a slump from him. On the other hand, Angel Pagan, who was suppose to be a temporary fill in until Beltran returned has provided the Mets with clutch hitting and an overall great peformance. His performance has clearly made an impression with the manager because he is sticking with him when Beltran gets back and benching Francoeur. After getting Francoeur in a trade last year, his role was merely a role player that brings a toughness and attitude to the team. As much as they would like to keep his toughness in the line up, he still needs to produce numbers which for the first half have been absent. The decision to keep Pagan in the line up is a no brainer, let's just hope his replacement in center field, Beltran can produce! Beltran's injury has been keeping him from joining the Mets week after week but today will FINALLY be in the line up!

If the NY Mets can continue to pitch well and if the big three (Wright, Reyes and Beltran) all start to hit and perform as they are capable of, there's no way this team can miss the playoffs. The injury bug devastated this team last year and the two years prior to that, they blew division leads. Well this year they are in the mix for the division lead and also for wild card and none of this was expected of them this year. Maybe they perform better as UNDERDOGS!

LET THE WAITING BEGIN!

Is it really Lebron or Bust for NY Knick fans? I kept my promise on not writing about the Knicks this season, in order to save myself the aggravation and turmoil (also tax season is officially over). The season for the Knicks is officially over and now the writing, speculation and hope begins for all NY Knick fans. Will it really be a horrible summer if they do not land LeBron James? Donnie Walsh has given every indication that he merely set up the franchise to be able to sign free agents within the next two years. LeBron James is CLEARLY not leaving Cleveland! He has been quoted as saying, "I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland,' James said. 'And I won't stop until I get it." Maybe he does get it this year or maybe not either way he is not leaving Cleveland. A whole city (maybe even state) is depending on him being there. We all know the Cleveland Browns and Indians are not winning anytime soon so the city is fully dependent on the Cavaliers and LeBron James. How bad will LeBron James look if he were to leave Cleveland for more money (or as he states a better team)? How bad will the economy in Cleveland suffer if he were to leave? Cleveland fans constantly heckle and boo the Brown's players every season, now just imagine when LeBron comes into Quicken Arena sporting a NY Knicks jersey (any other city for that matter), do you really think that Cleveland will give him a standing ovation, highly doubt it. Donnie Walsh has put the Knicks in position to attract all free agents to the New York market, not just LeBron James. So while all the writers, bloggers, and analyst crave for LeBron James they are making the other free agents almost feel not wanted. Just look at the case of Dwayne Wade stating that he wants to be "wooed" as well. We can't forget that there are other free agents that can make the Knicks competitive again. Take any combination of Joe Johnson, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and let's not forget 2011 free agent Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have a better chance of landing a combination of the 2010 top tier players mentioned or getting one in 2010 and landing Melo in 2011 (what's another year to wait for....right). New York City has been waiting for this for over a decade. It's time to establish NYC as the mecca of all basketball again! SO LET'S ALL SIT BACK AND HOPE THAT "YES WE CAN" BECOME A BETTER TEAM NEXT YEAR!

IN SANCHEZ WE TRUST?

Can the NY Jets win with the arm of Mark Sanchez? There is no doubt that Sanchez will be asked to make plays this Sunday as the Chargers will do everything possible to eliminate the running game. After a tumultuous regular season, Mark Sanchez showed better poise and confidence in last weeks win over the Cincinnati Bengals. This is a whole different monster though, the Chargers clearly present a lot of mismatches on the offensive end and definsively they're in the middle of the pact as far as yards per game allowed. The playmaking of Gates and Sproles will have to be limited and if they NY Jets have trouble stopping either of them, they will most likely be playing catch up the whole game. Which leaves us to the point, will the Jets be forced to unleash Mark Sanchez and have him throw 25-30 attempts, with the hopes of keeping the interceptions down? Tune in Sunday................