Via The Knicks Wall

By Joe Schackman

The year that Jeremy Lin captivated a nation and brought one lapsed Knicks fan back into the fold. Part of a short series on the best moments of 2012.

2012 A.D. taught me one important lesson. I’m a shitty Knicks fan.

During the most recent dark age of the storied New York franchise, I was nowhere to be found. Isiah Thomas was busy stuffing his roster with the likes of Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis and Zach Randolph, and I was busy doing... well... other things. The Knicks were lifeless, rudderless and couldn’t get out of their own way. I was in no mood to go along for that ride. Sorry, New York, but things were complicated. It was me, not you.

Yet lo and behold, the orange and blue eventually found their way back into my life. First Amar’e came to town, and that piqued my interest. Then the excitement grew when Melo arrived home. But the one who finally convinced me to give it another go was not one of the Knicks’ superstars. It was a slightly awkward, couch-dwelling kid named Jeremy Lin.

At least half the adjectives in the English language have been slapped onto Linsanity, but none have stuck. It’s still a hard concept to express in words. I mean, really think about what happened. A 23-year-old Asian American, Ivy League grad, who even the biggest basketball diehards had never heard of, suddenly finds himself at the epicenter of the sports world. Look at his resume and you’d think he had a better chance of owning an NBA team than running its offense. And yet here he was.

And there I was, in at the ground level, having casually turned on the February Knicks-Nets game that would put Lin on the map. He carried the team, scoring 25 en route to a win. Then in his first professional start he scored 28 against the Jazz. He was must-see TV, and I was giving a crap again. Rushing home to watch games. Yelling about how Lin defied all of sports’ truisms. He was a throwback to the time when some anonymous young kid could stumble off the farm with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball and a ticket to the Majors. Lin was the kind of out-of-nowhere star that you simply don’t see anymore, and because of that, I cared whether the Knicks won or lost for the first time in a long time.

The hyperbole surrounding Lin’s play was intense, of course. Everyone knew that what he was doing was unsustainable. But at the same time, his success wasn’t all smoke and mirrors. You don’t fall ass backwards into 38 points against Kobe and the Lakers. You don’t hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating shot against the Raptors. Not if you don’t have some serious chops. Lin played the best ball of his life, yes, but he did it long enough to prove he belonged.

Then came the injury, the early playoff exit and then the off-season move to the Rockets. I was crushed. I’d grown attached to the Lin-led Knicks, and it didn’t matter what it took to keep that going. I could justify the cap hits and wish away Jim Dolan’s money like it was nothing. The men in charge saw it differently. Soon Lin was packing his bags.

As 2012 turned to 2013, the Knicks showed that they are better than ever. Their play is still infectious, but without Lin it hasn’t been the same for me. Maybe it never will. Maybe I’ll always look back at 2012 as the year that set the bar too high, that haunts my fandom.

Or maybe I’ll just stop caring about the Knicks again. It worked the first time.

Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.

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Via The Urban Daily

By Frank Flores

The year that LeBron won everything. Part of a short series on the best moments of 2012.

Ask even the most casual sports fan in a few years about the most memorable sports moments of 2012, and you’ll get a bunch of different answers. But the one I think will stay with everybody for the next few decades and even longer is that 2012 was the year that LeBron James won his first NBA championship. It was the year that the best player in the league ticked the top task off his to-do list, the year that the King received his crown. And when he was done with that, he went ahead and won his third MVP and second Olympic gold medal for good measure. LeBron simply had one of the greatest years in basketball history.

The title was the culmination of a journey for the most hyped man in sports. From gaining national fame in high school to going first overall to his hometown Cavaliers, to winning three MVPs in four seasons and uttering those poorly planned words about “talents” and “South Beach,” high expectations surrounded and engulfed LeBron. No matter how well he played, it was never quite good enough for our liking. Nine years into his NBA career, that finally changed.

***

The game always came easily to LeBron, that much is for sure. But there’s a crucial sliver of difference in the NBA between playing the game well and playing the game successfully. Nowhere was that more apparent than in the aftermath of the Heat’s 2011 finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. LeBron was in disbelief. He’d worked so hard to get to this point, and then when it mattered most, came up small. The numbers were there, and the Heat were clearly the most talented in the league. But numbers and talent only went so far. LeBron would have to improve as a leader and teammate; he’d have to drag his squad through that championship barrier.

When the lockout-shortened next season began, the Heat promptly beat the Mavericks and then took off from there. They cruised to a 46-20 record that put them second in the Eastern Conference. LeBron led the charge, putting up typical LeBron/MVP numbers (27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists) and shooting 53% from the field. More than any other year, though, this season wasn’t about the award.

LeBron, and by extension, the Heat, hit full stride in the playoffs. A 4-1 series win against the Knicks. Down 2-1 to the Pacers, he put up 40/18/9 to tie that series. Two games later, it was over. In the Eastern Conference Finals, a 45/15/5 night staved off elimination. By comparison, game seven was a formality. LeBron, and by extension, the Heat, were back in the finals.

This time, Miami faced Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Heat dropped the first game, and those familiar whispers got louder. Nine years, and no ring to show for all that work. LeBron stamped them out, and quick. It’d been nine years, he didn’t have time to play around. A series that many thought would go the distance went just five. There were competitive moments, but rarely competitive games. LeBron in the deciding game racked up a triple double, and finished the series averaging 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists. The burden lifted, the whispers melted away. Finals MVP. Check. NBA championship. Check plus.

***

For many, that’d be a great year’s work. But days later, LeBron was off to London to play for the Olympic team. On a squad full of the best players in the world, he was the best of the best, and also the most versatile. LeBron started out of position at power forward, and against Spain even tooled around a bit at center. He scored at will, and yet knew when to take a back seat to the rest of his fellow all-stars. Like the MVP race and NBA finals, the gold medal at some point became an inevitability. LeBron became just the second player ever to win the regular season and finals MVPs, NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same year. In late 2012, he added Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year to that haul.

Perhaps best of all, though, he closed the book on the Old LeBron, the one with all the numbers and none of the accomplishments. The one who played the game well, but not successfully. Here was LeBron James, triumphant and unburdened, a king with his crown at the end of a truly terrific year.

Frank Flores is a contributor for Began in '96, and writes about the Knicks at Why is it taking so long.

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By Joe Schackman

Jeremy Lin made it in New York, but New York didn't make him. 

Loyalty is as dead a sports term as the flying wedge and Big East football.

The moment free agency went mainstream, athletes became mercenaries, hired help acquired by the highest bidder. The business side of sports came bursting through our black-and-white TVs, eventually leaving us with what is now a system where the concept of loyalty between player and franchise is worth about as much as a Zimbabwean dollar. 

This isn’t some misguided call for the return of loyalty. No, teams make far too much money to even pretend like that could happen. And the athletes shouldn’t factor it into their decisions, either. For stars like Peyton Manning and LeBron James, life is governed by one Jay-Z quote: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.”

Jeremy Lin is one of the most organically interesting sports stories ever. An Asian-American and Harvard grad, he broke into a league where few from either background have thrived before. Then he lit up Madison Square Garden in a way that no one has for decades. And now it is over.

Lin is not returning to the New York Knicks. He took his talents to the open market and negotiated the highest contract he could. It was a deal that the Knicks were unwilling to match. His departure prompted an angry uprising against owner James Dolan and the Knicks’ front office, but in the fray Lin hasn’t escaped unscathed either. Many fans feel that he “owed” it to the Knicks to return to the team. They believed he should be grateful for the Knicks’ willingness to play him when two teams had already passed.

But does he really owe the Knicks anything? It’s not as if the Knicks took a flier on him in the draft, patiently groomed him and then stuck with him when he struggled on the court. Rather, they picked up a discarded player at a position where they were thin. He snuck his way into some late-game action against the Nets in February and exploded. His mercurial play in subsequent games basically made it impossible for the Knicks NOT to play him. It was an easy decision, and one they made solely for the good of the team, not out of any particular desire to see Lin succeed.

So when it came time for Lin to negotiate a contract, he took the Knicks to business school. He agreed to an initial offer with the Rockets, and then the Knicks played their hand too early, with one unnamed official saying the team would match a contract up to “one billion dollars.” Lin used it as leverage to get a better deal with the Rockets that included more guaranteed money. Everything spiraled from there.

Some Knicks fans are stunned by that move. They can’t believe their budding star would leverage the team that birthed his career just to make a bit more money. But can you blame him? Who are we to tell another individual how much money they should make? Who are we to meddle in their finances? It’s not as if Dwight Howard is sitting at the conference table when you ask your boss for a promotion. If you’re appalled by the millions that the athletes make, then here’s an easy fix for you: turn off the TV.

At the same time those fans were begrudging Lin and his extra millions, they were getting on board with the idea of a “stretch provision.” Simply, it’s a new CBA rule that would allow the Knicks to mitigate their losses if Lin ended up a bust. That’s right. Fans were bashing Lin for signing a higher contract while discussing how to cut him from the team if he was not successful.

Come on. This is an industry where the Colts cut Peyton Manning, arguably one of the top five quarterbacks of all time. The Colts, who owe all of their recent success (and probably a new stadium) to Peyton, released him to make room for a rookie quarterback because Manning’s health represented too big of a risk. That would be on par with Berkshire Hathaway firing Warren Buffett to hire some 20-something head of the Yale investment club.

Despite all the evidence, we fans still operate under this facade of loyalty. We recognize that sports is just another industry, but we still want our players to feel the same connection to us that we do to them. Lin gave Knicks fans a reason to watch, and Knicks fans want to be the reason Lin plays. They want him to stand up and say, “I love New York, especially you guys, so much that I’m giving up millions to play here.” But the cold truth is that that’s naive. Because shit, this is a business, man.

Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.

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By James Epstein

The New York Knicks were sometimes successful but always memorable. Now they go into the offseason needing to answer a number of big questions.

The New York Knicks. Talk about a roller coaster ride for the ages.

The season started with the Tyson Chandler signing and championship aspirations, hit its first major drop with an 8-15 start, then twisted and turned as Jeremy Lin took the world by storm, Mike D’Antoni left, Mike Woodson stepped in, and Carmelo Anthony took over. And after all that, Amar’e Stoudemire fought a fire extinguisher. 

What a ride. Would you sign up for another season? I’d hesitate too. So where do we go from here? These are the most important questions that the Knicks must answer this offseason:

Who will be the head coach?

Finishing the season on an 18-6 run and snapping New York’s playoff win drought gave Mike Woodson a strong case for the permanent coaching gig. Not only did he implement a system that helped the Knicks finish in the top five in defensive efficiency, he won the respect of his players with his emphasis on accountability.

However, the Knicks should nevertheless explore the possibility of signing Phil Jackson. The Zen Master is just one year into retirement, but wife Jenny Buss is already saying that she wouldn’t be surprised if Jackson was back on the sidelines soon. Chandler, Stoudemire and Anthony are perfect pieces for Jackson’s triangle offense. And best of all, James Dolan could do what he can’t do with players and grossly outbid the competition.

While hiring Jackson would make for quite the scene in New York, though, it’s likely too much of a gamble for a team just starting to find its identity. Jackson would require full autonomy over the team, which would clash with Dolan’s controlling persona, and there’s no guarantee he would be on board for more than a couple years. Considering all of that, expect Woodson to officially take the helm in what reports are saying would be a four-year deal. He’s already improved the Knicks in the locker room, now he just has to do the same with them on the court.

Prediction: Mike Woodson signs for four Years

What will the Knicks do at point guard?

New York is already over the salary cap, which means it only has its exceptions ($5.0 million, $2.5 million bi-annual and four $1.9 million veteran contracts) to use on free agents. That’s not a lot of wiggle room, but the $5.0 million exception should be earmarked for the franchise’s next floor general. Point guard is a crucial position, and for the Knicks, the choice could come down to upstart Jeremy Lin or aging two-time MVP Steve Nash.

Jeremy Lin took over the city midway through he season. In 25 starts, he averaged 18.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and yes, 4.7 turnovers. He will be just 24 years old going into next season, and while teams everywhere will try to steal Lin, the Knicks can match any offer others might make. They just first have to decide if he’s the face of the future or a brief sensation on the verge of falling back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Steve Nash has already spent years living in New York City during the offseason. He even holds his annual soccer tournament at Chelsea Piers. And on the court, he’s been clear about his willingness to leave Phoenix in search of a championship contender. The Knicks could argue that they fit his needs, and as a result will almost certainly factor into his decision on where to play next year. However, more established teams like the Heat, Lakers and Grizzlies will pursue Nash as well, and he might prove too expensive for New York.

On this question, the difference maker is Jeremy Lin’s returns at the box office. Dolan will not be able to ignore his star power and the immediate impact he had on the enthusiasm surrounding the team. As long as Lin has the confidence to play as an equal alongside Stoudemire and Anthony, rather than defer to them, he’ll likely continue to be effective. Expect the Knicks to lock Lin up for at least four years.

Prediction: Jeremy Lin signs for four years, $30 million

Resigning The Supporting Cast

Filling out the roster will once again take some clever maneuvering. The first issue is whether J.R. Smith will pick up his option. The enigmatic sixth man had a rough playoff run that turned some fans against him. However, Smith is from Newark, N.J., and has always had a love for New York.

"Without a doubt, hands down, I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else," Smith said on Trash-Bag Day Thursday. "It’s the greatest place to play. It’s the greatest city in the world. This is my ultimate home."

Should he return, and it certainly sounds like he will, the Knicks will be getting a talented role player at a steal of a price.

Next up is Steve Novak, who became the discount double-check demon of the arc this season. Novak led the league in three-point percentage, and the Knicks would love to have him back. But it won’t be easy to match the money he could make elsewhere. Popular thought is that any offer for more than $3 million a year could convince him to leave, meaning it may take a discount to get the double-check man back in Gotham. 

Landry Fields also presents a complicated situation. The Knicks hold his Bird rights, but still have to worry about exceeding the luxury tax threshold should Lin and Smith return.* That means New York would only be able to offer and match a contract up to $3 million. Prior to the playoffs, Fields looked primed to earn much more than that, but a lackluster postseason hurt his market value. Look for him to accept the Knicks’ qualifying offer and provide much-needed depth at shooting guard.

The last player the Knicks will look to resign is Jared Jeffries. Already locked into a clear role and with limited demand for his services, Jeffries to return should be back and earning the veteran’s minimum.

*There is still some debate between the league and the players union over Bird rights, which allow players to resign with their team without worrying about the salary cap. Depending on how this plays out, the Knicks could conceivably keep Lin and Novak and still have the mid-level exception available. If New York stays under the $74 million luxury tax threshold, that exception would be worth $5.0 million. But if they were to sign Fields and Smith, they would be over the threshold and the exception would fall to $3.0 million. It's a complicated debate with major implications for the Knicks' decisions on who to keep.

What to do in the NBA Draft?

The Houston Rockets own the Knicks’ first round pick this year, thanks to the ill-fated 2009 trade for Tracy McGrady. But this is a deep draft, and their second-round pick might still yield some talent.

As the offseason unfolds, the Knicks’ needs will become apparent. If JR Smith leaves, New York will look to add a shooting guard. Memphis’ Will Barton, IUPUI’s Alex Young or Fairfield’s Rakim Sanders could fill that role.

Should he return, the focus then becomes finding a small forward to spell Carmelo Anthony. The dream is that Syracuse’s Kris Joseph falls to the 48th slot. He would give Carmelo the spurts of rest he needs, as well as help push him up to power forward when Stoudemire needs a break. Pull that off, and the Knicks would gain a good measure of toughness and offensive creativity. 

Don’t rule out New York purchasing another second round pick, too. They did it to acquire Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan, and it would help add some depth.

Prediction: Knicks draft small forward Kris Joseph at 48 and buy an additional second round pick so they can draft point guard Malik Wayns 

Trades, free agency and development

Let’s get this out of the way first. There is no chance that the Knicks part with Stoudemire. He has an uninsurable contract that looks worse by the day thanks to a balky back, teetering knees and an eye injury, and New York has already used up its amnesty clause. 

Toney Douglas, on the other hand, is very likely to be traded. Douglas’ value fell precipitously this year, partly because of a shoulder injury that helped bury him on the depth chart. Look for him to be dealt for a role player or a second-round pick. 

Coach Mike Woodson has always preferred veterans over younger players, so the Knicks will likely try to find an experienced point guard to back up Lin. The likes of Kirk Hinrich, Johnny Flynn, A.J. Price or Gary Neal could fill that role, with Hinrich getting the advantage due to a past history with Woodson. Others to consider are Raymond Felton and Andre Miller, depending on the kinds of offers they command from others. 

As far as the back end of the bench, Bill Walker could join the Knicks for the league minimum. The team might also try to beef up down low by adding Marcus Camby, Aaron Gray or Jamaal MaGloire. Power forwards Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans and Troy Murphy could also be good fits.

Prediction: Toney Douglas is traded, Kirk Hinrich, Marcus Camby and Bill Walker are signed

Final Projected Roster

PG: Jeremy Lin, Kirk Hinrich and Malik Wayns

SG: Landry Fields, JR Smith and Iman Shumpert (upon returning from injury)

SF: Carmelo Anthony, Kris Joseph and Bill Walker

PF: Amar’e Stoudemire, Jared Jeffries and Josh Harrelson

C: Tyson Chandler, Marcus Camby and Jerome Jordan

The roster would be balanced, affordable and have plenty of talent on paper. It will still take some ingenuity from Woodson to make those pieces fit, but the potential is there. While leadership, injuries and fights over playing time always loom large over the Knicks, as long as Anthony and Stoudemire can co-exist, the team should be ready to battle for a top four seed. 

James Epstein is a contributor to Began in '96.

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via El Tecolote

By Adam Cancryn

Remembering Baron Davis, and that one magical spring of freshman year.

Baron Davis came into our lives in the spring of 2007.

At the time, we were college freshmen, and more importantly, newly inducted fraternity members. Life was good. We had successfully endured eight weeks of pledgeship and come out the other side with a new group of friends and suddenly more free time than we knew what to do with.

But life was also a bit strange. After all, we had just spent eight weeks focused solely on pledgeship and schoolwork, and it was because of that daily slog that we had bonded with our new group of friends. Now, that crutch was gone. Would we remain as close? Without all of our mandated responsibilities, what would we do together?

The answer for many of us was to hang out in the basement of our new fraternity house, getting to know each other again the best way guys know how: over sports and cheap beer. We would sit and joke and watch TV, all the while trying to confirm that yes, this is where we were meant to be.

That spring, the basketball world belonged to the Golden State Warriors. An assortment of loud personalities and flashy skills loosely supervised by coach/mad scientist Don Nelson, the Warriors barnstormed through the Western Conference. They shunned the plodding, cerebral style popularized by the Spurs and Pistons. There were few set plays, and holding the ball more than 10 seconds without a shot qualified as a lengthy possession. Whomever got the first open look got to take that look. Golden State led the league in field goal attempts and three-point attempts, and finished second in points per game. Seven players that year averaged double-digits in points.

The Warriors' style was so disruptive, so anti-establishment, that it worked more often than not. And along the way, it never failed to entertain the group of guys sitting in the frat house basement, sipping Natty Lights and watching basketball on weeknights.

At the center of the team was Baron Davis. A 6'3" brick of a human being, he led the Warriors with a defiant swagger and a beard fit for a king. He looked like a Spartan out of the recently released 300, and played like one too, and soon we'd adopted him. He was no longer Baron Davis. Around the basement, he was BD, or more aptly, Beard.

By the time Beard and his band of shoot-first misfits took on the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round, we were fully invested. The Warriors were heavy underdogs going up against the best team in the league, and yet they won the first game. Then five days later, while we snuck in and out of a fraternity-sorority mixer to peek at the game, they cruised to another win. And then another. The Warriors took Dallas down in six games, to the delight of the biggest Golden State fans in Virginia. For us, the Warriors had become appointment viewing.

Then in the next series, it happened. Already down two games to none to the Utah Jazz, Beard drove the lane, only to encounter 6'9" shot-blocker Andrei Kirilenko. The smart move was to dump the ball off or pull up for a jumper. But that wasn't the Warrior way. To this day, I can't remember who was watching with me. My friend Mike was there, I think. And surely there were others. But when Baron Davis — BD, Beard — launched into Kirilenko and windmilled a vicious dunk over him, that room in the basement of the fraternity house exploded. It was a devastating blow, punctuated by Davis' What now? celebration.

In the basement, we sputtered and shrieked and made our best bitter beer faces.

The Warriors would eventually succumb to the fundamentally sound Jazz in five games, but few remember that. It was Beard's dunk that endured.

Our friendships endured too. I can't tell you when we all became true friends; it could've happened before that dunk or sometime after. Most likely, it happend at different times for all of us. But five years later, I know exactly how everyone would react to the name Baron Davis. Mike chuckles softly, still in disbelief over that season. Parker goes wide-eyed, replaying all of the team's absurdities in his head. Brian responds with a knowing smile and sublime, "Dude."

The Warriors' magic would evaporate soon after that season, and a string of injuries robbed Baron Davis of much of what made him the revered Beard. On the Madison Square Garden parquet Sunday, going full speed as always, his knee gave out and he crumpled, in what was likely the last play of an up-and-down career.

But for one season, Davis was magical. He was a leader. He was the Beard. And he was just what one group of new friends needed.

Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.

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By Adam Cancryn

Faced with a choice between the team's well-being and their star player's happiness, the New York Knicks made it clear that Carmelo Anthony is one that really runs the franchise.

Carmelo Anthony has compiled a long list of accomplishments during his time in the NBA. He's got the points, the rebounds, the assists. He's got the extensive catalog of highlight-reel dunks and dagger threes. But where there's a huge hole in his resume, what he's been missing all along, is a coaching win. Carmelo Anthony has never won a game as a coach, and in fact, he's never even had the experience of donning a suit, drawing up the plays and leading his own team.

So with that in mind, it's puzzling that when confronted with conflicting philosophies on how best to run the team, the New York Knicks sided with Anthony over Mike D'Antoni, a longtime coach and the man who orchestrated the prettiest and most coherent offense Madison Square Garden has seen in more than a decade.

But that's precisely what the Knicks did when they gave D'Antoni the boot this past week. Facing a situation that came down to system versus style, long-term success versus short-term returns, coach versus star player, the organization stuck with their money maker. And as a result, they sent a message that the fundamental coach-player hierarchy is dead.

That the Knicks kept Anthony and canned D'Antoni is no surprise, yet the mere fact that it was a simple choice underscores the shift that has taken place within the team. Where team decisions traditionally flow from owner to general manager to coach to players, for the Knicks that pecking order has been superseded by their star player. Anthony plays the system he wants, with whom he wants and under the coach that he wants. Anyone who gets in the way of that will soon find themselves out of a job.

The Knicks aren't the only team held prisoner by their star. Portland Blazers players Raymond Felton and Jamal Crawford organized a "mutiny" to get their coach fired. Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown is on the hot seat because Kobe Bryant reportedly doesn't like him. The Orlando Magic effectively castrated their entire management team when they told Dwight Howard he could hire and fire coaches and GMs if he stayed with the team.

Yet while those are all egregious cases in their own right, it is clear that every one of those star players makes his team better when he's on the floor. When it comes to the Knicks, there is more than half a season worth of evidence that Anthony is a "star" only in reputation. With him at the helm, the team is stagnant. The offense is awkward and passive, and the defense nonexistent. Unsurprisingly, it's translated into little success, especially during Anthony's latest stint.

D'Antoni, meanwhile, spent much of his tenure cobbling together bit players, plugging them into his system, and churning out something resembling success. He turned bench players like Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler into valuable assets, and during Anthony's absence this season, had the Knicks in playoff contention with a starting five led by the Erie Bayhawks former point guard. It wasn't a championship team by any stretch; only a select few teams are in today's NBA. But it was a squad whose special brand of organized chaos could steal series win in the first round of the playoffs.

That on-court product doesn't matter to this organization, though. That much was made clear over the past few weeks, when Anthony sauntered back into the starting rotation, decided he didn't much like all this non-Carmelo centered play, and did the equivalent of threatening to take his ball and go home if changes weren't made. D'Antoni and the rest of the team would have to break from the unselfish style that made them the NBA's darlings for the past month and adapt to Anthony's tedious, ball-stopping system, or risk upsetting the man responsible for putting fans in seats and lining the owners' pockets. The Knicks, forever putting profits and hype over wins and pride, obliged.

So now we are left with a team that looks great on paper and miserable by any other measure. A briefly magical season is in shambles, and a Knicks team that had clear direction just a year ago is once again rudderless. But at least Carmelo is happy. And in the end, this organization has made it clear that that's all that matters.

Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.

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By Parker Swenson

It's March Madness, that time of year when everyone and their mother pretends to have paid attention to college basketball all along.

Ready for March Madness? Time to break out the brackets and enter that office pool. Time for every college’s wireless Internet to get overloaded by the 95% of students watching ESPN3 in class. Time for the inevitable “Cinderella story,” where some mid-major wins a game or two over an overachieving high-profile team that probably didn’t deserve that high of a seed in the first place. And time for all those bandwagon fans to emerge from the woodwork and start cheering for “their team.”

We all know that person. The one who loudly, arrogantly, and often drunkenly announces, “I called it. Those are my boys, right there!”

This is not to be confused with that other guy, the one who proclaims, “I’ve been rooting for these guys all along. I knew they were gonna win.”

We’ve probably all been that person at some point, and will be again this year. No matter how much ESPNU you watch or how often you bust out the Dick Vitale impression, you don’t know everything about college basketball. At some point, you’ll find yourself cheering for a team just because they have the tougher mascot or the hotter cheerleaders.

The question is, just how much of a bandwagon fan are you? Find out by taking the quiz below, and best of luck not being that guy in the bar simultaneously declaring your wisdom and tweeting about the latest #cinderellastory.

1. Which team did you pick to win it all? Now name their starting five. (1 point per correct player)

2. Name your “favorite” team in the tournament. Now name their starting five. (1 point per correct player)

3. List the “big six” conferences. (1 point per conference)

4. Name the top five NCAA Division I schools by all-time wins. (1 point per team)

5. Name where these “one and done” players went school (1 point per team):

      a. Dwayne Wade

      b. Derrick Rose

      c. Mike Conley, Jr

      d. DeMar DeRozen

      e. Kevin Durant

6. Pick any region of the NCAA tournament. Now list all the mascots in that region. (1 point per mascot)

7. Name Dick Vitale’s alma mater and the NCAA and NBA teams where he was the head coach. (2 points per team)

8. Who are the last five NCAA champions? (1 point per team)

9. Name the only school to win the men’s and women’s championships in the same year. (3 points)

10. Name the seven schools with at least three NCAA championships. (1 point per school)


Now check the answers below, add up your score and see how you did:

65 points: Did you really do this? Really? Nothing wrong? Somebody needs a job or a girlfriend.

55 - 64 points: Seriously, job or girlfriend.

45 - 54 points: Not bad. You know your stuff. But you probably overthink your bracket and have never won before, right?

35 – 44 points: Looks like someone knows who the popular teams are. Nice guessing there, champ. You’re the type of guy who never picks upsets and regularly has all four #1 seeds in the Final Four.

25 – 34 points: You only watch college basketball because your friends do. Your favorite teams are George Mason, VCU, and Gonzaga. Nothing makes you happier than picking against the grain. You are the hipster of March Madness.

15 – 24 points: Your only claim to fame is winning the office Women’s March Madness bracket.

Below 15 points: You are that guy in the bar claiming foresight. Go ahead and start tweeting your victory now. 

––––––––––––––––––––––

Answers:

1) TBD

2) TBD

3) Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12

4) Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse

5) Marquette, Memphis, Ohio State, USC, Texas

6) TBD

7) St. Johns, University of Detroit, Detroit Pistons

8) UConn, Duke, UNC, Kansas, Florida

9) UConn

10) UCLA, Kentucky, UNC, Indiana, Duke, UConn, Kansas

Note: Author only scored 41. The perfect mix of knowledge and ignorance to pick my way to another bracket win.

Parker Swenson is Began in '96's senior quizmaster and an expert on bandwagon culture.

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By Adam Cancryn

New York Knicks small forward Steve Novak has only one job: hit three-pointers.

About two minutes into the fourth quarter of the Sunday matinee between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, small forward Steve Novak took a pass from J.R. Smith, set himself, and calmly nailed a 25-foot jumper. It was his fourth three-pointer of the day, and his 113th in a season that ranks among the most specialized in NBA history.

To understand Steve Novak, it's best to first explain what he does not do. He does not play basketball, at least not in the traditional sense. He rarely dribbles or passes; Novak is utilized just 18% of the time he's on the floor, and averages a meager 0.2 assists per game. Despite standing nearly seven feet tall, he does not rebound (1.6 per game), plays subpar perimeter defense and nonexistent interior defense. Creating with the ball is a foreign act, and as a result, Novak rarely draws fouls. The fact that he hasn't missed a foul shot in two years sounds impressive, until you realize that he's only taken 16 of them. By comparison, 21 players made 16 free throws in a single game last season.

But he does do one thing. Steve Novak hits threes, and he often hits them at the most opportune moments. In the drive-and-kick offense that the Knicks now employ under point guard Jeremy Lin, that skill is as valuable as ever. 

Novak has always played the role of three-point specialist. At Marquette, more than seven out of every 10 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc. That trend continued through his first four pro seasons, where Novak hoisted a three about 71 percent of the time he shot the ball, the highest rate in NBA history. 

The results have been similarly consistent. Novak makes threes at nearly the same clip he does two-point field goals (46.9 percent from three versus 51.9 percent from two this year), and in fact shot a better three-point percentage than two-point percentage during the 2010-11 season. 

Despite his shooting prowess, though, Novak never found a steady role with a team until this year. He spent time as a little-used role player for four teams, eventually getting cut by the Sacramento Kings. For those organizations, his three-point contributions simply didn't outweigh his deficiencies everywhere else. 

However, Novak appears to have found a home in New York, mainly because the Knicks already have an abundance of penetrators and paint guys. Where Novak's unwillingness to leave the three-point line was a weakness elsewhere, here it stretches the floor and gives players like Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Landry Fields more room to dribble and drive. If they get doubled inside, Novak is a reliable and dangerous outlet. Add in Lin, the distributor, and you have a well-balanced team and the perfect environment for Novak to thrive. Through 25 games, Novak has taken an unprecedented 80.7 percent of his total shots from three, and made those attempts at the fourth-highest rate in the NBA. 

Of course, balance is just one of many attributes needed to win in the NBA, and the Knicks are still tinkering. The signing of sharpshooter J.R. Smith was a tacit admission that Novak is one cold streak away from the far end of the bench, and Baron Davis' return has further crowded the backcourt. 

But Novak has held his ground by doing what he has always done, hitting three after three like a sweet-shooting savant. And when the Knicks need their next big late-game basket, you can be sure Novak will be sitting in the corner, waiting for a pass he can turn into the latest of his long-range daggers.

The Week Ahead (all times EST)- Your guide to what to watch-- and what to watch for-- this coming week

College Basketball- Championship Week
Gonzaga v. St. Mary's- March 5 at 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Pittsburgh at St. John's- March 6 at 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Big East Tournament- March 6-10 (TBD)
Big 12 Tournament- March 7-10 (TBD)
ACC Tournament- March 8-11 (TBD)
Big 10 Tournament- March 8-11 (TBD)
NBA
Mavericks at Thunder- March 5 at 8 p.m. (NBATV)
Hawks at Heat- March 7 at 7:30 p.m. (NBATV)
Magic at Bulls- March 8 at 8 p.m. (TNT)
76ers at Knicks- March 11 at noon (NBATV)

NHL
Rangers at Devils- March 6 at 7 p.m. (MSG+)
Lightning at Capitals- March 8 at 7 p.m. (NHLNET)
Rangers at Blackhawks- March 9 at 8:30 p.m. (NHLNET)
Bruins at Penguins- March 11 at 12:30 p.m. (NBC)
Golf
World Golf Championships- Cadillac Championship- March 8-11 (NBC/TGC)
Baseball Spring Training
Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is scheduled to start against the New York Mets March 5 at 6:10 p.m. The game will be televised on MLB Network.

In the Kitchen- Tracking the major hot stove stories

• The Green Bay Packers have until 4 p.m. on March 5 to place the franchise tag on backup quarterback Matt Flynn or else allow him to become an unrestricted free agent. There are arguments to be made for either action, but the majority opinion is that Green Bay will cut Flynn loose unless they already have a sign-and-trade deal in place. If he becomes a free agent, the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns are expected to take a hard look at him, among others.
• The San Diego Padres signed 24-year-old outfielder Cameron Maybin to a five-year extension worth $25 million, with a sixth year option that could pay $7 million to $8 million. The contract is the first extension longer than three years the Padres have given a player since Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young in 2007, MLBTradeRumors.com said.
• The Texas Rangers also signed an outfielder, 17-year-old Dominican Jairo Beras. However, there is a possibility the MLB will nullify the contract because of questions about whether he is 17 or 16 years old. If he's 16, he's ineligible to sign.
• Catcher Bengie Molina has retired after playing 13 seasons for four seasons. Molina didn't play during the 2011 season, but had remained eligible until now. the 37-year-old finishes his career with a .274/.307/.411 split and 144 home runs.

Web Gems- The week's best, worst or strangest Internet sports finds

Only 19, Harper is dealing with expectations as the next big thing- The latest on Nationals phenom Bryce Harper and his adjustment to Major League life.

B.S. Report transcript: Barack Obama- Bill Simmons interviewed President Obama about a number of sports topics, including Jeremy Lin, Chicago sports and the stress of throwing out the first pitch.

UGA soccer player charged with stealing hashbrowns- "A University of Georgia soccer player is charged with trying to steal an order of hashbrown potatoes in her pants."

The Sacramento Bee's captivating images from the first weeks of MLB Spring Training.

Coming Up- What's next at Began in '96

• Tuesday: The NFL and the bounty system by Joe Schackman.
• Thursday: Breaking down the odd case that is Matt Flynn, by Adam Cancryn.
• Friday: Joe Schackman on the new playoff system in the MLB

Read more »

By Adam Cancryn, Joe Schackman and Neill Thupari

The year 2012 is a big one in the sports universe. There's the Olympics and the Euro Cup, not to mention two dream teams, multiple new storylines and a bunch of athletes waiting to make their mark on the world. The Began in '96 staff took time to gaze into their crystal ball and answer 10 questions about what this year will hold.

1. Let's start off easy: Name the 2012 winners of the upcoming Super Bowl, the NBA and NHL championships and the World Series.

Joe: The NFC is just kicking the shit out of each other. The Giants downed the Packers and the Niners beat the Saints. Who knows what is coming out of that championship game? So I’m going with the Ravens. They are a dangerous pick because they have the ability to lay an egg out of nowhere. But their defense is menacing. Ray Rice is one of the most complete backs in the league and should absolutely gash New England's defense. If Joe Flacco can get hot (lukewarm for most QBs) then they can battle with the best of them.

NBA- Oklahoma City Thunder, baby. Youth is the X-factor in this year’s condensed season. Kevin Durant is maybe the best pure scorer in the league right now, and Russell Westbrook is that perfect complementary piece you need to survive in the current superstar format of the league. The only question is whether Westbrook is mature enough to accept that role.

World Series- It's so easy to pick the Angels, but goddamn are they good. So yeah, those guys.

Neill: I’m so angry Joe took the Ravens. THE REVERSE JINX COMETH! I would love to pick my hometown Purple and Black, but I can’t do it. I’m mentally preparing myself for the evil empire from the Northeast to rain all over our parade in Foxboro. That being said, while my heart will be rooting hard for the Ravens, I’m going to go with the NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS to win it all.

Why? Why the hell not? Just like Baltimore, they can come into a game and look like a team that is completely and utterly lost. They can be dysfunctional, unpredictable, and a heart attack in waiting for their fan base. Still, when they come into a game focused and playing up to their potential, I don’t think anyone’s better. Much the way Green Bay got hot last year, I see all the pieces coming together for a healthy Giants team. In the Super Bowl, they’ll beat the Pats, just like they did in 2008.

I’m not going to pretend like I know what is actually going to happen in the NBA this year, because I doubt anyone could reasonably predict anything with any sort of particularity. We have a 66-game schedule where older teams will struggle (see Lakers, Spurs, Celtics and Mavs) and younger teams will flourish (Thunder, Bulls, Knicks, Clippers and, believe it or not, the Indiana Pacers). That being said, most, if not all of the teams I’ve mentioned above will make the playoffs, and regardless of whatever crazy things happen this regular season, I think order will be restored come playoff time.

While I will enjoy rooting against them each playoff game, I’ll take the Miami Heat over the OKC Thunder in a fiercely contested NBA Finals, Russell Westbrook will cost the Thunder a championship because he can’t handle playing second fiddle.

While normally my NHL predictions consist of picking which team the Caps will have another playoff collapse against, I think I've got a pretty good chance at predicting who will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup this spring. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the next dynasty in the NHL: The Boston Bruins. Move over, 90’s Redwings and Avalanche, there’s a new dynasty in town.

People are taking the Angels in the MLB, right? Well, if there’s anything that the Eagles and Heat superteams have taught me, it takes more than a year to put it all together. Then again, baseball is such an individualistic sport that it can be broken down into the Moneyball-esque sabermetrics so that things like team chemistry and clubhouse personnel become practically obsolete. Let’s just keep this jinx thing going and take the Red Sox.

Adam: In the NFL, I like the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl. They would have never been my pick even a few weeks ago, much less at the beginning of the season, but the playoffs so far have shown us that good defense still beats good offense. Of the teams remaining, the Niners have the best defense by far. The offense is no slouch either, thanks to a relentless running game and the Alex Smith we've been waiting to see for six years.

I see the Chicago Bulls pulling it off in the NBA Finals this year. Like Joe said, youth is key in a condensed season, but you need experience to go along with that youth. The Bulls have all the pieces in place, led by Derrick Rose, one of the best guards in the league. With all the attention paid to the Heat, Clippers and Lakers, Chicago hs had the luxury of flying under the radar a bit. They'll cruise to a high playoff seed, then turn it on and beat the Thunder in six.

Though I won't go as far as calling them a dynasty, the Boston Bruins sure do have the look of a repeat champion. Tim Thomas is as consistent as you'll get in goal, and the offense has incredible depth. That doesn't mean it'll be easy, though. Two teams to watch are the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings. Both weren't supposed to be anywhere near as good as they are, but the Rangers have a top notch defense and Detroit has a its next franchise goaltender in Jimmy Howard.

Lastly, the World Series. The Yankees are officially scary again now that they've added Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda to the rotation. They've slowly remolded themselves to resemble the championship teams of the late '90s, and have the firepower to beat the Angels as long as they stay healthy.

2. Which team in each of those four leagues will be the biggest surprise, and which will be the biggest disappointment in their upcoming seasons?

Joe: I have no idea who will surprise, which is the beauty of the NFL. But as far as disappointments, I think the Jets continue down their path of doom. Right now, they're like that surreal scene after a car crash, where everything is scattered on the ground and people are standing around in disbelief waiting for someone else to call 911. The Jets have a serious lack of leadership right now, and Rex Ryan will have to take a HUGE step forward as a head coach and leader to save next season.

Unless they get Peyton Manning. Then wow, will they be good.

I think this year’s surprise NBA team will end up being the Warriors. They beat the Heat in overtime last week, and Steph Curry's  shot is just so so pretty. Disappointment? The Knicks. I hate James Dolan.

In the MLB, the Nationals are going to be filthy. It'is kind of cheating to pick them because the team is stacked, but no one is talking about them thanks to the Marlins and Angels making the big moves and the Phillies’ and Braves’ firm grip on the division.

The Marlins will disappoint everyone. Mark Buehrle can’t be a workhorse forever, Jose Reyes’ legs are made of glass and Hanley Ramierez' pouting will be a giant fun sponge.

Neill: I think the Eagles will be back next year. It’s contingent on a man named Vick staying healthy, but for some reason, I’m inclined to give the Eagles a pass on their season this year. When you create a “dream team," as Vince Young so eloquently put it, you’re going to have some growing pains. They had those at first, and then in the last month they went 4-0, outscoring opponents 125-46.

I can only hope the disappointment will involve the Patriots, Cowboys or Steelers or Rex Ryan’s wife’s feet. But I think our biggest disappointment next year, unfortunately, will be a serious, life-altering injury in an NFL game. There are just too many hits these days where players are violently launching themselves at one another. It’s not healthy, it’s almost always unnecessary, and it’s downright dangerous. I used to get pumped and jacked up as much as the next guy when a big hit was laid out, but now I find myself cringing at the sight of these receivers and defenders cracking skulls. I have never wanted to be more wrong about a prediction in my life, but I just have a sick feeling in my stomach about this one.

Adam: In the NFL, the wheels will finally fall off for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've held on admirably over the past few seasons despite injuries and an aging defense, but the division is getting tougher while Pittsburgh spins its wheels. 

The Dolphins showed serious improvement over the back half of this past season, and that should continue as the rebuilding effort gains momentum. Matt Moore, Reggie Bush and Brandon Marshall are a solid core. 

I think the Boston Red Sox will take a big step back this year as well. I'm not convinced last year's collapse won't stretch into this season, and personnel-wise they haven't kept up with the Yankees. Just by virtue of the fact that a big chunk of their schedule comes against New York and the Tampa Bay Rays, the Sox could have major struggles. 

On the other end of the spectrum, the Cincinnati Reds might finally put it all together. They've been the trendy pick for a few years now, and for good reason. If the Reds get their rotation in sync, they could threaten deep into the postseason. 

If the Heat don't win an NBA championship, they're the league's biggest disappointment once again, hands down. And it's hard to call this a surprise given how much attention they've gotten, but the Los Angeles Clippers can go deep into the playoffs. From what we've seen so far this year, they've already meshed and are firing on all cylinders.

On the ice, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had trouble keeping up with the rest of their talented division. Even with Sydney Crosby still working his way back to full strength, the Pens should have enough talent compete for a Stanley Cup. Instead, they've had to battle it out with the rest of the pack.

This has been a season of surprises so far, from the Rangers and Red Wings to the St. Louis Blues. Even the Winnipeg Jets are not nearly as terrible as was predicted. 

3. Within those four sports, what will be 2012's single biggest storyline?

Neill: I believe that the first well known, active athlete in one of the four major sports will announce that he’s gay. Amid all the homosexual, pedophiliac sex scandals that have come to light this year, I truly believe that an athlete will reveal his homosexuality and then proceed to speak out about gays in sports. He'll become an advocate in sports, so to speak, educating many on the struggles and realities of homosexual existence in professional sports. The most interesting part of this will be to see how teammates, opponents, fans and the always mindful media will react to an active athlete coming out.

Adam: Peyton or Pujols, take your pick. How the Indianapolis Colts handle Peyton Manning will grab headlines throughout the NFL offseason because of the league-wide implications. If he stays, the Colts will have to delicately balance the Manning-Andrew Luck relationship (or maybe they won't even take Luck in the draft?) and if he leaves he makes his new team an instant contender.

Pujols, meanwhile, will be the most scrutinized athlete since LeBron. His mega contract comes with expectations the Angels will win a championship immediately.

4. What about the biggest storyline outside the traditional big four?

Joe: Tiger Woods getting back into the winner's circle. This is the year he returns to form. He will never be early 2000s Tiger, but he is going to start winning again. A lot.

Neill: This summer, all of Europe will be captivated for three weeks by UEFA European Cup. Spain comes in as the returning champion, after having dominated the international football scene for the past  six years and become just the second team in history to simultaneously hold the World Cup title and the European Cup. The scary thing? Spain might be even better than they were four years ago. They could start nine out of 11 players from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, with Spain’s attack led by Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas in the midfield. Other contenders include a young German squad and a French team that’s full of talent but still reeling from its internal meltdown two years ago in South Africa.

Adam: The Federer/Nadal/Djokovic battle for supremacy will rule tennis once again. Each have something to prove this year, and they'll have to do it during a golden era for the sport. And there's always the potential that Jo Wilfried Tsonga crashes the party. 

5. Scandals dominated the sports landscape in 2011. Where will we see the controversy come from this year?

Joe: I think in 2012 we see the first serious threat to the credibility of the NCAA. The Atlantic fired a warning shot in 2011 with their fantastic piece on the corruption in the organization. The NCAA in response allowed a $2,000 stipend to be added to the scholarship, basically admitting the current deal is inadequate. With O’Bannon v. the NCAA (now In re: NCAA Student Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation) coming down the pipeline in 2013, the NCAA is in a precarious position. One day a championship team will refuse to take the field/floor and the NCAA will crumble. 2012 could be the year. 

Neill: In 2011, fans were clued in to the darker realities of booster payments, illegal benefits, NCAA violations, child pornography, child sex abuse and, worst of all, the multiple cover-ups that took place at institutions of higher learning. These shadowy acts were hidden for years to preserve the millions of dollars poured into college athletics. Meanwhile, the players remain unpaid, forced to kill themselves for sports where less than 5% of athletes turn professional. But rest assured people, as long as schools' programs keep winning, all shall be forgiven.

In 2012, in addition to the horrifying, gory and troubling details continuing to emerge from the Sandusky and Bernie Fine prosecutions, the sports world will have to endure more of these controversies across college (and possibly high school and youth) athletics as more victims come forward to call out their abuser. I truly do not believe that Americans realize how prevalent of a problem sexual abuse is in youth sports. 

Adam: It seems like it's been a while since someone took aim at AAU athletics, and it's not like those teams have cleaned up their act one bit. I wouldn't be surprised to see an investigation into pay-for-play arrangements or high schools that are essentially diploma mills.

6. There's always a subject or story that get completely overblown. What will we never want to hear about again after 2012?

Joe: Tim Tebow. He is getting overblown right now and it will only continue through the summer and next season. I am so tired of hearing about Tim Tebo. Sportscenter is on right now and Herm Edwards Live is breaking down Tebow. The next three topics? America is Tebowing, then Tebow Bio, followed by Urban on Tebow. Not to mention the fact that they are running fan tweets about Tebow on the bottom of the screen.

Neill: There are a lot of obvious things jumping out at me right now: Timothy Richard Tebow, Gerry Sandusky, the Miami Heat, Kobe Bryant’s wrist, Tim Tebow, Pacquiao-Mayweather, hey, did I mention Jesus H. Tebow? But I think I have a good one. In August, London is scheduled to host the Olympics which means MICHAEL PHELPS! MICHAEL PHELPS MICHAEL PHELPS MICHAEL PHELPS. Not sure if anyone knows this, but Mr. Phelps is a swimmer. He likes to swim, rip bong hits, drive drunk and then somehow become the symbol of all that is heroically American. I’m already sick of seeing his name in print. And the thought of Bob Costas saying his name 6,980 times an hour? I’m done. I will never want to hear about Michael Phelps after 2012. May he breaststroke his way off into the sunset, never to return.

Adam: Peyton Manning and his neck. It already screams "Ed Werder reporting live from Manning's front lawn," and the coverage should ramp up as soon as the NFL season is over. We'll get minute-by-minute updates on what exercises he's doing and BREAKING NEWS ALERTS every time he turns his head a half-inch farther to the right and left.

7. Any story you think will be undercovered this year?

Neill: I already spoke a bit about soccer, but there is a renaissance of sorts taking place in European club soccer. Just last year we were treated to an incredible stretch of soccer where FC Barcelona played its fiercest, most hated rival Real Madrid four times in three weeks, with three different trophies on the line. To give you an idea of what Real Madrid/Barcelona is like, imagine the Red Sox and Yankees on 10 years of steroids. Even UNC/Duke is like 1986 Barry Bonds, and Barca/Real is 2006 Bonds. The hatred. The disgust. The gamesmanship. I’m literally salivating right now. Just give soccer a chance, people. Watch Barcelona play Real Madrid at the Camp Nou on April 22, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. EST. I promise you won’t regret it.

Adam: Drowned out by the attention given to Michael Phelps will be the rest of the talented US Olympic swim team. Missy Franklin is the new name to know, but the entire men' and women's squads have the chance to take home multiple golds. And gear up for the team relays, which are the most intense five minutes in sport.

8. There are rule changes ever year, some subtle and some—like all the NFL's recent changes—not so subtle. What rule change would you like to see in 2012?

Joe: It is time the MLB embraces video review. How many important calls can umpires get wrong before baseball stops living in the past? Umpires are absurdly good at their job, but they are still human. When you have the option to get these calls right, you need to embrace it.

Neill: Joe’s answer regarding MLB video review is right on target. My rule change? I want CBS to stop putting the crappiest play-by-play commentators on air each NFL Sunday. I want Gus Johnson to call each and every single NCAA Tournament game, even if that means the games will be tape delayed and he’ll do them afterwards. That’s the rule I want.

Adam: I agree wholeheartedly with Joe, but I'd settle with fixing the replay system we do have. The NFL challenge system is unnecessary; the officials should just review all controversial plays. Teams shouldn't be penalized for wanting to get the referees to do their jobs right. 

9. A sports media question: Yahoo! Sports arguably won the 2011, breaking a string of huge stories. What media outlet will rule the coming year?

Neill: I’m going with a big underdog. I’m betting that none other than ESPN makes a huge comeback! Believe in the underdogs, people!

Joe: Is it cheating to say Yahoo! again? I am a conspiracy theorist, and I just don’t see the CBS’ and Fox’s of the worlds taking down major sports organizations and figures while they televise the games and make so much money off the product. For example, no way ESPN goes after USC like Yahoo! did when it stands to gain so much from a potential USC title run.

The good news is the door is now open to sites like Yahoo! and Outkick the Coverage to go after these big stories that the giant outlets don’t want to break. I’m also excited to see Deadspin’s new look under Tommy Craggs.

Adam: I'm also going to cheat a little bit and say Twitter will rule 2012. Already we're seeing more athletes find out they've been traded on the social media platform before anyone tells them in person, and Twitter's accessibility and speed means everyone is a reporter and anyone can break news. While professional outlets are the ones that do the in-depth reporting and confirming, more of those stories will be started by rumors that originated on Twitter.

10. Finally, let's get three predictions about anything within the sports universe. The first one should have a good chance of happening, the second one should be plausible and the third should be downright outlandish.

Joe: 1) The New York Mets will be the worst team in baseball. 

2) Peyton Manning restructures his contract so Colts can draft Andrew Luck, who doesn’t play anything outside of garbage time in 2012 season.

3) Mr. Irrelevant, the final pick in the 2012 NFL draft, wins Rookie of the Year.

Neill: 1) Tiger Woods wins two Majors in 2012.

2) Tiger Woods wins four Majors in 2012.

3) Tiger Woods strolls into the PGA Championship this year at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, S.C., having won the first three majors. He shows up Thursday morning with 12 gorgeous supermodels from all over the world, one wearing the 2012 Green jacket as she chain smokes, and the others fighting over carrying the Claret jug and the U.S. Open trophy. Tiger roars to a wire-to-wire win, reducing Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy to tears in the process. After accepting the Wannamaker trophy, Tiger thanks no one but himself, blasts Stevie Williams and pours out champagne for his father. A guy can dream.

Adam: 1) An SEC team will play for the NCAA football championship for the seventh straight year.

2) Yu Darvish will secure a $100+ million contract, and then be a major, Hideki Irabu-level disappointment.

3) The Heat get knocked out of the playoffs again, prompting LeBron James to say "screw it" and go out for the NFL. He's signed by the Redskins.

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An Aug. 16 Drew League basketball game was tied with under 20 seconds to go in the fourth quarter when Kobe Bryant took the inbounds pass. A breakdown of what happened next:

There is Kobe. He wanders down the floor, slapping aimlessly at the ball in front of him. A walking 2:30 feeling infused with a bit of that self-satisfied strut.

He’s making everyone wait: the crowd, cheering at once for the man and the moment; his teammates, four no-names with no chance of getting the ball; time, flickering down to 9, now 8, from their spot atop the scoreboard reading 137-137; the defender, crouched and wide-eyed, expecting everything and ready for nothing.

Kobe’s past half court now. His 6’6” frame descends a few flights, coming level with his challenger, the basketball now held selfishly close.

A teammate parks himself in the key. He means well, offering himself up as an outlet or a diversion, but in this case he is a mere intrusion. Kobe swats him away. This will be a fair fight, or at least something resembling fair.

Mere seconds now. The crowd is still cheering for Kobe, they’re still behind him ‘til the end, sure. But there’s that edge of panic creeping in, like “Go, Kobe” could soon turn into “Kobe, GO.”

He switches the ball left, fakes a drive left once and fakes left once more. The defender sticks close, at maybe just an arms length. He’s balanced and well positioned. The fear in his eyes hasn’t yet reached his feet.

A final half drive. It’s an unconvincing feint, but it doesn’t matter. He never needed it to work. Two quick steps and a hop left now, and Kobe ascends. Billions of dollars are made off of copying this image: ball cocked, right elbow jutting at an angle a math teacher would love, body reclined just so. Posters, trading cards, commercials, how-to videos, all based on the re-creation of this one image. For the hundreds in a dusty gymnasium, it’s a free first edition.

And the defender, well, the defender has nearly matched him. He stayed step for step the whole way, timing the shot well and leaping and stretching an arm out as far as possible, searching for a piece of the ball.

And when he comes down and feet touch hardwood, he comes down with a story to tell. One summer day in 2011, in a dusty gymnasium, with everyone watching, he nearly stopped Kobe Bryant.

Image via Hoopmixtape.com

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By Joe Schackman

In most sports, an athlete's championship wins are the most important part of his resume. So why don't we care that some of baseball's so-called greats never claimed a title?

Sometimes facts, especially sports facts, are so obvious that when you finally stumble upon that well-known truth, you feel like an idiot for taking so long. You cringe at the thought of admitting it to friends and you sure as hell don’t want to post it on the Internet. I mean, how did I not know that Ted Williams, arguably the best hitter of all time, never won a World Series? No career Red Sox player from 1918 to 2004 slid a championship ring onto his finger. So how the hell would Williams have won a title? But if we are being honest here, I had no idea.

“Best player without a championship” is one of the most bittersweet titles in sports. On the one hand, it means you are truly a star player; no one cares that Channing Frye has never won in an NBA championship. But it's also a deep, painful reminder that you have not achieved one of the most important milestones of any athlete’s professional career.

It is a title that haunts the likes of Eric Dickerson, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Colin Montgomerie and Dan Marino. All of these guys are true superstars in their respective sports, but… you know what comes next.

The list goes on and on, but somehow baseball players never enter the mix. The “best to never win a championship/ring/major” distinction seems to skip over those guys who took to the diamond, and it's certainly not because all of baseball’s greats secured championships. Just to name a few without a ring: Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Gaylord Perry, Tony Gwynn, Ty Cobb, Harmon Killebrew and, of course, Ted Williams.

These guys are serious titans of the game. If you stop for a second and think about it, it may not surprise you they are ring-less, but it’s not on the tip of your tongue, either. It's not hanging over their heads like it does for Sir Charles.

The real question is, What makes baseball so special? What prevents the greatest titleless players from “paying” for it like the other guys? Why does Dan Marino suffer, while Griffey gets off without a scratch?

The simple answer seems to be in the very nature of the game. Baseball, unlike football or basketball, is a culmination of individual battles. It is hitter versus pitcher, hitter versus fielder or catcher versus baserunner. Fans and writers acknowledge this, so they do not hold it against Ty Cobb that his team lost the World Series three years in a row in the early 1900s. They don’t blame Gwynn, who couldn’t close the deal for the Padres in 1984 or 1998.

This makes perfect sense. In baseball, there is no assist and there sure is no fluidity. Patrick Ewing might be able to help his teammates get an open look from three late in the game, but baseball doesn’t work that way. Even Albert Pujols can’t hit a home run from the on-deck circle.

But can it be that simple? Is that really everything? Is it solely because a hitter doesn’t appear to have the same control over a game's outcome that an NFL quarterback has? Or are baseball greats excused from this distinction because, when you boil it down, the “best to never win a ring” label is based on flawed logic?

This past year, Derek Jeter was named to his 12th All-Star team, despite the fact that every statistical indicator says he is not anywhere near being a top player in the American League. He was voted in because he is one of the most popular baseball players in the league. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It was the fans who voted and it is not their responsibility to decipher who the best shortstop is in the AL. Rather, they pick the shortstop they want to see play in the All-Star Game. And we, as fans, have no problem acknowledging that fact. For the meantime, at least.

But problems arise once people start to use these once meaningless titles to make an argument for the player down the road, to measure their greatness and place amongst baseball’s best.

Today, even the most die-hard Yankees fan would admit that Jeter is not one of the best shortstops in the game and that he did not deserve to be on the 2011 All-Star team based on his numbers. But I guarantee you that in ten years, when asked about Derek Jeter’s talent, fans will gladly tell you he was voted to 12 All-Star teams (and likely more as his career continues). They will ignore the fact that he wasn’t always voted onto that team because he was among the top players in the league.

The same holds true for the “best player without a championship” title. In baseball, we can easily see the impact of teammates and different strategic situations, but we ignore it in other sports. If LeBron James does not win an NBA championship before his career is finished, he will be hammered for it. We recall now how he carried a mediocre Cavaliers team in 2007 to the NBA Finals but lost to a fantastic Spurs team. We remember Dirk Nowitzki's unstoppable performance in the 2011 finals that crushed James and the Heat. We acknowledge these things right now. But in 2030, if Lebron never wins that ring, I guarantee fans won’t shower him with praise for just getting his teams to the finals.

The individual nature of baseball also allows us to measure the game with countless statistics. We can tell how much each isolated event–a hit, a walk, a strikeout–increases or decreases a team’s chances of winning down to the decimal. We cannot do the same in other sports. We can count and quantify a large amount of each game, but we leave the rest to intangibles and fall back on ideas that aren’t based in fact. We slap labels on players because they seem to make sense and they help us settle arguments.

Just look at the debate over Dan Marino and Brett Favre. You could go on for days trying to determine which quarterback was better. In almost every major passing statistic, Favre and Marino finish one-two. Favre, with a few extra seasons under his belt, edges Marino in passing touchdowns, passing yards and pass completions. However, Marino was more efficient, throwing significantly less picks and with a slightly higher passer rating. What’s more important? How do you say which player is better? I mean Dan Marino was truly fantastic, but...

You know what comes next.

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