I’m resurrecting an old column idea I once had.  It was an ambitious effort at trying to do something that Peter King does so excellently which is the Monday Morning QB.  This being the lazy eye of sports I won’t promise my loyal readership (thanks mom), anything but I hope this to once again be a regular column.  Let’s see how long it goes on this time.

This week we saw the end of Linsanity and the beginning of the spin job by the good folks at MSG.  We saw Kobe Bryant call an idea by NBA Commissioner David Stern “stupid” and we saw the Mets begin to come down to earth, get buried and then have a foot of crap laid on top.  I have thoughts on the Dwight-mare that exists and what I feel should happen.  We also will talk some about Penn State and the “unprecedented sanctions” that CBS is reporting will be handed down on Monday when the NCAA announces what they will do.

He’s LIN-ding in Houston after all.

Where do we begin?  ESPN did a fantastic piece on it detailing all the particulars including the family, the Knicks, the Rockets, the Poison Pill, the financials, and the Lin camp.  In all, six different writers went in depth to bring you unprecedented coverage on a player who came, saw, and conquered while creating a buzz that had never before been witnessed in the sport of basketball.  The reaction to the Lin news was expected: it wasn’t good for the Knicks.

The Knicks were never really in the running and now the NY media is doing the predictable spin cycle of stories meant not exactly to tarnish Lin’s reputation but to soften the blow of James Dolan’s stupidity.  Look, Dolan made this personal by taking offense to Lin seeking a market value contract.  Do we think that Lin’s worth $25 million? Hell….no one knows for sure what he’s worth.  What we do know for sure that his market value and marketing potential are exponentially higher….in New York.

It remains to be seen how much money he can make making his base in Houston but its clear that his reach goes far beyond just the Asian market.  The Asian American population is booming and the effect on that sector of just New York’s population was remarkable.  Basketball interest peaked during the month of February and drew amazing crowds.  People talk about the buzz and electricity that was in MSG but that came from a newer crowd buying tickets to come see the spectacle of Linsanity at its peak.  Like any great Broadway play, while in a limited run, games at Madison Square Garden were a hot ticket.  That new blood in MSG came in fresh.  Freed from the bondage of bad management and poor play- all they knew was by virtue of reputation.  A reputation made glossy by a story not even the tabloids could fudge up or make into anything but what it was: a come from out of nowhere superstar who for some reason chose to descend upon New York.  That the fan base began to be galvanized by this kid was refreshing because that’s what the diehards wanted anyway: a team they could cheer for and root for and everyone credited Lin with bringing the Knicks together and playing as a team while Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire were out.  While both came back and played with Lin during the peak of the Linsanity era, most assumed that Melo and Lin could NOT get along; creating the stereotypical storyline of the selfish ball hog superstar who couldn’t possibly lower himself to play with an Asian point guard who would rather pass to the open man than just feed it to Melo and clear out.

The problem with Lin wasn’t that he was selfish, its that his style directly conflicted with the style that many presume will be the Knicks future as long as Carmelo Anthony is on the roster: dump it to Melo in the post and everyone clear out.  Now, we’ll never know if that was indeed the system that Woodson planned on running.  What we do know is that Woody had met with Lin, Landry Fields, Melo and Tyson Chandler, a meeting I would add could never have happened if such a rift existed between Melo and Lin, in Los Angeles to describe the system they planned on running and up until that Saturday Woodson spoke in the media like a guy who knew for sure that Lin was coming back, naming him the starter multiple times.

But words don’t necessarily mean actions especially in New York where personal agendas and feelings of the owner are weighed heavily upon the proceedings.  We have to remember that the trade for Carmelo Anthony was a result of Dolan wanting to net a star so he could raise ticket prices again for long suffering fans who paid exorbitant prices to come watch a sub .500 team play.  Now, with Knick ticket prices at an all time high, if this team performs better than last year (win two playoff games as opposed to one- and let’s remember that would be considered progress in these parts), where do you think those ticket prices will be going?  MSG’s renovation is close to $800 million and somebody’s gotta pay for it right?

In the end Lin’s absence or presence wasn’t going to affect the final outcome: the Miami Heat are still the best team in the NBA and will always be a stumbling block for any team.  The Celtics upgraded from Ray Allen by signing Jason Terry and stole Courtney Lee without a mask.  They have Jeff Green resigned to a ridiculous deal (the guy had heart failure prior to last season and that netted the Celtics a 2nd round draft pick from OKC after an investigation revealed that Thunder doctors were not forthcoming with information regarding Jeff Green prior to trading him.), Avery Bradley will be back from two shoulder procedures that sidelined him for the playoffs, and they brought back Kevin Garnett which is a huge boost as well.  The Bulls are still better with the nucleus they have.  Indiana is a 5-7 seed while it remains to be seen what the Sixers do, we know that the Nets aren’t going to be lottery team not with the team they have currently.  We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out but it will be interesting to see with all the new bench players the Knicks have how all of this will fit.  All we now for sure is that Dolan took what was once pure luck and a gift from the gods and managed to fudge it up as only Dolan could.

Kobe calls the commissioner’s idea “stupid”.

What idea would that be you ask?  With the NBA world focusing its attention on the London Olympics and the US team off to a rollicking start, Kobe Bryant has had some strong sentiments when it comes to the Olympics.  Dream Team euphoria is higher than it ever was- thanks to NBA Tv’s documentary and Jack McCallum’s excellent book of the same subject, the idea that perhaps the team should be comprised of under 23 talent was brought up by Commissioner Stern.  Kobe Bryant called the idea stupid saying that it should be a player’s choice.

While I haven’t been in favor of all of the Fuhrer’s decisions, I am in favor of this with just a small wrinkle added: it should be under 25 and it should be a new team every four years.  2008’s Redeem Team was great.  They came out looking to wipe the floor with the world and they brought back gold thanks to unselfish play by the best players in the NBA.  The 2012 version gets fans excited as well but to me its unfair to put 30 year old and 32 year old players bodies through the rigors of an almost 90 game schedule and then the travel and fan fare of Olympic competition.  Kobe’s opinion that its better to be somewhere that teams can monitor their players and get treatment around the clock rings kind of hollow unless Kobe goes to worst neighborhoods known to mankind and judging by his comments sounds like he does to play pick up basketball: “They could be playing against a bunch of bums — no, really — guys that feel like they have something to prove and all of a sudden, a (star player) goes to the rim and a guy takes them out and now he’s hurt”, the stars will still get the best treatment when they need it.

I’m not one of those fans that get amped to see the Olympic games.  The only time I was super excited was in 1992 and I was just getting into the sport and my appetite for constant exposure to basketball was at an all time high.  Nowadays watching the Olympic teams compete is like watching a game between a big brother and a brother 3 or 4 years younger and 3 inches shorter and about 20 pounds lighter, you know big brother will win but will it completely surprise you that little brother steals a game here or there? NO.  For me its about what happens after.  What affect does Lebron watching Kobe’s work ethic have on his game?  Evidently it made him realize he wasn’t working hard enough.  What affect will Lebron, basking in the afterglow of his championship, have on the three OKC Thunder teammates who have to live with him for the next few weeks?  Apparently Kevin Durant can’t stand it.  What affect will Lebron’s title have on CP3 and Carmelo Anthony? Surprisingly Melo showed up 12 pounds leaner perhaps a tip of the cap to Lebron and a sign that Melo is finally taking conditioning serious.  Will I watch a game or two? Sure, but the idea that I’m excited to see the same team every four years is stale.

I’d much rather see Anthony Davis on a world stage.  I’d rather see Michael Kidd Gilchrist.  People say he needs development in the Las Vegas leagues, well my counterargument is why then was he a number 2 draft pick if he wasn’t prepared?  I would rather see Erick Gordon.  I would rather see Kevin Love (oh wait he IS there but he can’t seem to get much burn).  I would rather see the younger stars of the game that most fans won’t have much exposure to.  Don’t you think Lebron, Kobe and company have enough exposure as it is?  You may not but I think it creates a fresher product and amps up the competition and creates an excitement for the world because the United States who clearly has the superior talent, throw together a team of talented players to go against the world.  THAT to me would make it far more interesting for viewership.  Look, the telecasts by NBC are sure to get huge ratings because its the Olympics and everyone in the US has a pony in the race.

Quick Hits

– The NCAA, at 9Am this morning is set to hand down unprecedented sanctions against Penn State but sources are indicating that they will NOT hand out a “death sentence” (banishing the football program competitively for a year), but will make the punishment so severe that they would wish they had.  This is coming on the heels of a damning Freeh Report done by the former FBI director detailing Penn State’s misgivings and implicating several figures in Penn State, namely Joe Paterno as having knowledge about what was going on there yet not doing anything to stop it.  I can’t imagine anyone seeing things any differently outside of the bubble that exists in Happy Valley.  Students there are protesting and hoping to keep construction workers from tearing down the statue but its clear that if that statue isn’t taken down it only creates this idea in everyone’s head that Penn State is completely delusional about the existence of such a terrible system that puts college football ahead of everything else.  Ultimately its the money that the school and the community around it will lose from NOT having a competitive college program.  I don’t know what kind of punitive measures will ultimately stop this cycle of nonsense that exists in that community but its clear that its rotten to the core and the only way to get rid of a rotten core is to uproot it.  A death sentence sounds harsh but you have to view the nature of the student population that still somehow gathered around the Joe Paterno statue almost blindly to support their fallen hero.  How can you support a man who willfully shielded himself from the knowledge that kids were being molested under his watch by a friend?  How then can you resolve the fact that when he realized he was taking the fall for this that he was able to renegotiate his contract and get more money?  This was not a man conflicted by his decision to rat on his friend this was a man who knew what went on and made a calculated decision to absorb a fat paycheck on his way out.  That man doesn’t deserve to have his memory preserved it deserves to have his name erased.  That will not happen, and so regardless of what measures the NCAA takes on Penn State and what length they will go in that punishment the only thing that I want answered is this: how do you reprogram an entire community to come back to their senses?

– The Mets are now a game under .500 and all the good feelings from their win over the Phillies is gone and perhaps with it is any hope of them making moves to strengthen their bullpen and be buyers despite the company line being that they are still in this thing.  That’s good for the fans to hear but the non-action in getting any help for what is the leakiest bullpen in all of baseball tells you all you need to know.  Alderson questioned whether this team was good enough to make a run and now he sees what I have this entire season: an overachieving team now finally coming down to join the mediocrity that we all expected out of them.  This is not Terry Collins’ fault.  This is not Sandy Alderson’s fault.  There were so many things to love about the first half, but the good feeling is gone and its replaced by a feeling of helplessness that perhaps this team isn’t destined to do anything this year; and I’m ok with it.  I’d rather Sandy sell off parts like Scott Hairston or some other players in order to get better pieces moving forward.  I say bring up your minor leaguers, starting with Matt Harvey thursday.  Its time to see what they have and what we have in the minor leagues.  Bring up Matt Den Dekker.  Bring up Wilmer Flores.  Bring up Cory Vaughn.  Bring up Aderlin Rodriguez.  Bring up those bats you have favored for so long.  I love Jordanny Valdespin and if there are more Valdespins’ in the system bring them up because in the end: what do you have to lose?  The only way for the Mets to go from a 8 game losing streak is up right?

– At this point do we care where Dwight Howard ends up?  Lakers seem to be the logical fit and they seem content in waiting this thing out.  The longer they wait however the better it gets for the Nets since if the Lakers wait till January, the Nets can trade some of those contracts away.  That’s a long time away and Orlando officials have indicated they would like a resolution prior to opening camp so the sooner the better.  Any construct of the deal would have to include Andrew Bynum and ultimately will come down to whether any team is willing to take either of these guys without a contract extension in tow despite it not being a preference issue, rather, an issue of being able to make more money by signing a deal at the end of next year, up to $25 million more.

– See explanation above for all you Knick fans who think there is some link to the Knicks letting Lin walk and Chris Paul not signing an extension with the Clippers.

– Those of you who want to overanalyze and point to the US ONLY winning by 6 over Argentina (a team who figures to give them a whole lot of problems before the eventuality of a Spain-US Gold medal game), let’s remember that the team Argentina fielded in 92 wasn’t nearly as good as the one they do this year.  Its a testament to the lasting global impact of the original Dream Team.

– The Oakland Athletics are scripting the Moneyball sequel as we speak.  Impressive sweep of the juggernaut Yankees.  That Yoenis Cespedes kid is the real deal and the A’s are as well.

– HUGE week for the Mets.  If the Mets are to bring back discussion of them being contenders they HAVE to sweep the Nats this week.  Sweep, not 2 of 3, SWEEP THEM.