“If you don’t play this game with a big heart and a big bag o’ knuckles in front of the net, you don’t got dinky do.” Donnie Shulzhoffer (aka Mike Myers) in Mystery, Alaska

Some things just seem out of place or don’t go together, like the time Chris Drury hosted Soul Train for a year, and the Rangers playing a full 60 minutes, battling in front of the net and doing all the little things to win seems out of character for this year’s edition of the Rangers. But their rivalry with New Jersey seems to bring out the best in this team, so maybe if the Rangers played the Devils every game they would have a lot more “dinky do.” Or maybe they should just pretend every other team is the Devils.

Sure, it was near the end of the game on Saturday night, but at one point almost every player on the ice was piled up in a big heap in front of the Rangers’ net …

We sports fans are a dramatic bunch when it comes to our teams – everything is life and death – but in real life we shrug sadness and tragedy off like it’s nothing. “My Uncle Maury died? What are ya gonna do? He had a good run. Can you pass the ketchup?” But if the team we root for goes into a slump or, God forbid, gets knocked out of the playoffs, we’re screaming, tears are falling like Niagara Falls and we’re pulling what’s left of our hair out. Think back to the 1994 Stanley Cup and tears of joy start falling. Think of the Wilpons or James Dolan owning your team, and tears of sadness reign down. And if you’re like me and Rip Torn, you’ll get so drunk you’ll mistakenly take a local bank for your house, break in and pass out as I did when the 2007 baseball season ended and the Mets pulled off the collapse hear round the world. I was in such bad shape that I was nearly fired …

We all know about the great athletes in New York sports history – Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Namath, Mark Messier, Walt Frazier – and even the busts – Ed Whitson, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Stephon Marbury, Scott Gomez. But what about the slightly-to-highly-above-average athlete? The kind-of-great but not all-timer? They may not have been Hall-of-Famers, but they were All-Stars, fan favorites, cogs on a championship team or maybe even just pretty darn good. They’re the little brother that didn’t hog all the attention. But they’re certainly worth talking about and remembering. So when do they get their due? Well, now they will. Here is a series of the not-quite-legendary in New York sports history.

Al Toon was the antithesis of Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens and other receivers cut from the aggrandizing, look-at-me cloth. He proved that all receivers don’t have to be showboating boneheads. Toon wouldn’t even spike the ball after scoring a touchdown. Instead, #88 played eight productive, classy seasons for the New York Jets, ducking the attention that he deserved. Besides …

Glen Sather did his Cal Naughton Jr./Magic Man impression by making Scott Gomez disappear in the offseason, and now he’s taken part of that bounty (ok, bust/underachiever/good-for-nothing, take your pick) that he stole from Montreal and shipped off Chris Higgins along with free-agent blunder Ales Kotalik to Calgary for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust. It seems like a good trade for the Rangers, but how many times is Sather going to have to get rid of his mistakes (Gomez, Kotalik, etc.)? I guess we’ll just have to hope it’s not the last time.

The main positive of this trade for the Rangers is the jettisoning of Kotalik’s three-year $9 million contract. They also erase Higgins from the roster (he’s an unrestricted free agent after this season). Whether fair or not, Kotalik was a healthy scratch much of the time lately, and Higgins didn’t do much of anything after given chance after chance and plenty of ice time. Maybe they’ve both just been unlucky, but all the Blueshirts lose …

The dream is over. This year’s version of the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets certainly doesn’t look like “the same old Jets,” though. They’re more like the 1973 Ya Gotta Believe Mets, arriving out of nowhere to come oh-so-close to a championship. They’re a team we’ll look back on with positive feelings and one worth celebrating. They went further than anyone imagined, and have a future that certainly looks bright, with a successful coach and franchise quarterback in place (though Mark Sanchez now needs surgery on one knee and will be rehabbing the other – maybe he really is the reincarnation of Joe Namath). The whole weekend was pretty much a nightmare for New York sports, though: the Rangers were embarrassed by Montreal on Saturday night, 6-0, the Knicks were humiliated by Dallas, 128-78, the Nets lost to Utah, 116-83, the Islanders lost to New Jersey (ok, one local team won, but one of them had to) and, of course, the Jets were knocked out of playoffs.

Unfortunately, I can think …

We all know about the great athletes in New York sports history – Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Namath, Mark Messier, Walt Frazier – and even the busts – Ed Whitson, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Stephon Marbury, Scott Gomez. But what about the slightly-to-highly-above-average athlete? The kind-of-great but not all-timer? They may not have been Hall-of-Famers, but they were All-Stars, fan favorites, cogs on a championship team or maybe even just pretty darn good. They’re the little brother that didn’t hog all the attention. But they’re certainly worth talking about and remembering. So when do they get their due? Well, now they will. Here is a series of the not-quite-legendary in New York sports history.

On December 20th, 1996, John Olerud was traded to the Mets for Robert Person. It was one of the greatest trades in franchise history (New York’s, not Toronto’s). The big first baseman was cool and calm, had a sweet, graceful swing and rode the 7 train to Shea (and refrained from …

The only good thing you can say about last night’s game was at least the Rangers didn’t embarrass themselves. After 156+ scoreless minutes, Artem Anisimov came through with a goal, and we all let out a sigh of relief. But, as usual, the Blueshirts fell to the Penguins (0-4 against them this season). It looks like they’re back to the days of if Henrik Lundqvist makes one mistake and Marian Gaborik doesn’t score, the Rangers don’t have a chance (where have you gone, Marian? Ranger fans turn their lonely eyes to you).

Like clockwork, after the Rangers teased us with those 6-2 and 8-2 victories, they followed them up with the “Carcillo Incident” game, the complete shellacking in Montreal and last night’s “well, we played better” game. They may slip into the playoffs, but it’s doubtful there will be any “getting on a roll” or “turning it around” or “finding themselves” this season. A little successful stretch is always followed by a disaster, or at least a losing …

I’m not a Jets fan, but Rex Ryan has everyone in this city so inspired and pumped up, even I’d run through a wall for him. In fact, I tried to do just that. Unfortunately, I slipped on a bag of Funyuns and flew through the plate-glass window in my living room. Now I have cuts and bruises all over my face and body, one of my ears was sliced off, my wife is furious at me and it’s really, really cold in our living room. Ryan’s infectious motivating style is being packaged into a new self-help, confidence-building program, with books and DVDS – The Rex Ryan Method: Swaggering, Boasting and Eating Your Way to a Newer, More Confident You. Here are his three top keys to turning yourself into a more successful person:

       1. Declare yourself the favorite in any situation; and then make yourself a nice, big sandwich.

       2. Declare that you will be invited to the White House and meet the President; he will …

We all know about the great athletes in New York sports history – Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Namath, Mark Messier, Walt Frazier – and even the busts – Ed Whitson, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Stephon Marbury, Scott Gomez. But what about the slightly-to-highly-above-average athlete? The kind-of-great but not all-timer? They may not have been Hall-of-Famers, but they were All-Stars, fan favorites, cogs on a championship team or maybe even just pretty darn good. They’re the little brother that didn’t hog all the attention. But they’re certainly worth talking about and remembering. So when do they get their due? Well, now they will. Here is a series of the not-quite-legendary in New York sports history.

After starring in Juniors and one year in the minors, New York Ranger left winger Steve Vickers burst onto the NHL scene in the 1972-’73 season by scoring 30 goals and winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year. He netted 30 or more goals in his first four seasons, with a career high of 4…

Wade Redden’s fighting. Chris Drury’s scoring. They totaled six goals. In one game. They’re relentless. They swarm to the net. They’re physical. They stand up for themselves. Who are these guys? Are they the Rangers? Or are they imposters? Ok, we now know they can play a game like they did vs. Montreal and even one such as last week’s contest against the Devils. But then they squeeze in a couple of snoozers in St. Louis and against Ottawa. They have multiple personalities. They have an identity crisis. Not every team is consistent night in and night out, but this is ridiculous.

The Rangers are a team filled with a mix of young and old, and part of the learning curve for inexperienced players is learning to be consistent on a nightly basis, and for the crusty vets on the team, let’s face it, they periodically, and sadly, can’t be bothered to try every single game at this stage of their careers (I don’t think I need to name …

Confidence. The Jets have it. In fact, the Jets are so confident after whooping Cincinnati’s butt on Saturday, that Rex Ryan feels his team should not only be the favorite in the Super Bowl but also in the NBA playoffs. The first-year coach has his players believing that they can accomplish anything. He’s dispatched Dustin Keller to solve the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien conundrum. The offensive line is drafting a health-care bill that will make everyone happy. And Bart Scott will be stepping in to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol. To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Sports are 90% mental, the other half is physical. And the Jets are not having any problems with the mental aspect of the game right now (nor the physical side either). Some feel there may be a little too much braggadocio in Jet land, but so far it’s working. Sitting at the other end of the confidence meter is the Nets. They do nothing but lose, and can’t even sniff a victory. Do …

The calendar says it’s 2010, but for the Mets 2009 keeps on rolling along. To the surprise of the Mets (or maybe not), Carlos Beltran had knee surgery yesterday. He may not be able to resume baseball activities for up to 12 weeks. I’m no math whiz, but 12 weeks is about three months, which puts us into April. And only then can he start running, hitting and not sliding, so it looks like his return to the lineup wouldn’t be until May. But like last season, I’ll believe he’ll be back when I actually see him on the field.

And since this is the Mets we’re talking about, this news comes with controversy. Beltran’s agent, the always honest Scott Boras, claims, “This was necessary surgery, necessary surgery to work.” But the Mets feel it was done without their permission, though they were kept abreast of the center fielder’s condition since the end of last season, and they are even threatening to take some sort of action with …