Saturday Night Hockey

With all three local teams in action, you get a taste of how things have become. First, you have the Islanders. The once proud franchise of the early 80's tried to turn back the clock and give their legendary head coach Al Arbour a chance to coach his 1,500th game. They were successful in granting this kind gesture to Arbour, but in doing so, they also managed to make a side show of the sport.

Since the end of their dynasty, they have invented new ways to try to demise the game and sport. Remember when con man John Spanos tried to buy the team? Then Charles Wang takes over and hands the reigns to Mike Milbury who trades away a wealth of talent capable of creating another dynasty. And who can forget when Wang tinkered with the idea of putting a sumo wrestler in goal for the team? I can't leave out the time when they decided to make their backup goalie the new GM and he inturn decides to give goalie Rick DiPietro a 15 year contract. Granted, he is the face of the franchise and a darn good goalie, but 15 years for crying out loud? I'm not even going to get into the Chris Simon slashing incident.

Then you have the Devils. Lou Lamoriello has made them the prototype franchise in hockey. Up until this season, the last 12 years have been very good to the folks out of the Garden State. Not only have they outplayed the rest of the league, they out-managed the league, out-scouted the league and even out coached the league. Perhaps the one issue they have had in Lou's run is the fact that he keeps firing good coaches at odd times, like a few days before the playoffs. Memo to Lou: If you want to coach too, then do it. But make your mind once and for all.

In the middle of the Devils success has been Martin Brodeur. When all is said and done, he will probably go down as the greatest goalie of all time, and rightfully so. But the one thing I can't seem to get over is the fact that he has become Cameron Diaz on hockey skates. Think about the similarities: They are both great to watch, they both have a flare for the dramatic and they both can look awfully silly at times. As great as he is, I can't respect a guy who flails his arms and throws himself all over the ice if an opponent comes near his crease. Marty, hockey's a rough sport. Take the hit like a man and focus on stopping the puck.

Then comes my beloved Rangers. Since i'm really just getting warmed up to this whole blogging thing, i'm not going to get crazy about them too soon. But after the 1994 season where they hoisted the cup and the sport to new heights, they saw a period of competitive teams in the mid-90's. Then came the dark ages, the period that lasted from the 1997-98 season through the lock out where they failed to make the playoffs in any season. But they emerged from the lockout a new team and Sather, who probably should have been fired after he traded Brian Leetch, has finally been able to live up to his billing. In case you forgot, Sather is the guy who as GM of the Oilers was quoted as saying that if he had the Rangers payroll he would win the cup every season. So far, he hasn't lived up to that promise yet but some of us are still hopeful.

Now, with Henrik Lundqvist in goal, they are ready for anyone. For the first tome in a long time, the Rangers are poised at making a run. The season has started slow, but the defense, which everyone thought would be the weak link for this team, has really held it together. Once the offense is able to click like we all expect it will, look out.

The A-Rod Situation

I consider myself a pretty big Mets fan and after seeing the second worst collapse in baseball history (I still think the Yankees blowing a 3-0 lead in the ALCS to the Red Sox is the worst!), you have to think they are in need of some change. Picking up Alou's option is a good move. I would love to see them move Delgado and get a number 3 or 4 starter via free agency. Should they re-sign LoDuca or make a play for Posada? We can debate that all day.

But the one move I would have definitely say they SHOULD NOT make is signing A-Rod. I don't care if he is willing to give a sentimental discount to the team he rooted for as a kid. Like Peter Gammons put it as the Red Sox were winning thw World Series, A-Rod is not a winner. He's a great player with all the right physical tools. But he is missing one element that is very important and that is character. Jeter has it, Messier had it, Tom Brady has it. A-Rod doesn't and no matter how much a team pays him, it's not something he will ever be able to buy either.

For all his gawdy stats and monster home runs, he is lacking the one thing that makes certain players legendary. Deciding to announce that he will opt out of his contract and become a free agent during the deciding game of the World Series is proof. It also shows he has no respect for the game.

No matter how many home runs he may hit at CitiField or how many RBI he may have as a Met, it won't be worth the disruption that will inevitably follow him. Shame on the Mets for not learning their lesson when they tried to get Reyes to move to second base for Kaz Matsui. Asking David Wright to move to second base or first base would be a huge error in judgement and probably ruin aruguably their best and most marketable player.

The Knicks Have Tipped Off

The debacle we call the NY Knicks has kicked off it's season. I think the most interesting thing about this season is going to be how they react to Isiah Thomas's offseason troubles. At some point you have to wonder how much Jim Dolan is going to allow Thomas to drag his team down even more.

Thomas is smart enough to know that winning resolves all problems but I don't think he realizes that some problems prevent winning. His off-the-court antics have created so many issues for the Knicks in and out of the court room that this team might be beyond repair. I think they will challenge for a playoff spot right up until the end of the season before the fade away.

After saying all this, I hope I am wrong. I was actually a pretty big fan back in the days of Ewing, Oakley and Starks but after seeing the team turn into a three ring circus, I lost interest. Maybe the cast of David Lee and Jamal Crawford can bring back some of the excitement.