The Knicks won a game this week! And The Answer may be coming to New York (so the question must be: Will a desperate team do anything to keep their fans interested?). But with last Friday’s loss, the Knicks established the worst 10-game start in franchise history. Things could be a lot worse, though; here are some other bad starts throughout history that may help them feel better about themselves: The Hindenburg blew up over New Jersey on the first of its 10 scheduled round-trips between Europe and the United States, killing 36 people; the Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk four days into its maiden voyage; William Henry Harrison died of a cold one month into his presidency in 1841; Wally Backman lasted four days as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks before he was unceremoniously shown the door; Gilligan’s three-hour tour got off to an inauspicious start, getting stranded on a deserted island for 15 years, until the castaways were miraculously rescued, followed by them buying …

The Yankees win the World Series and as soon as you can say the words “Johnny Damon wants a four-year contract” the rest of the New York–area teams go down the tubes. They went a combined 5-11 this past week. It must be a hangover. Are all the local teams riding on the Yankees’ coattails and going to all of their parties? It’s also possible that many of the area teams just stink. The Knicks and Nets went a combined 0-7 this week, and are 1-16 for the year, for instance. It was only the always-good Devils that skewed the combined record by going 4-0, and they barely count as a local team.

Here’s a day-by-day look at the past seven days.

Friday: The injury-riddled Nets lost to Philly, which kept them winless for the season, and the Devils beat the Islanders in a continuation of the New Jersey–Long Island War of 1801, in which it was so cold and icey out during the Battle of Massapequa that both sides just gave up …

It was a brutal week for the New York football teams, as the Giants got killed and the Jets fell to lowly Buffalo and lost Kris Jenkins for the rest of the season. Even the hockey teams mixed in some debacles with a few wins. And something bad probably happened to the Mets even though their season is long over.

But even after last night’s loss, the Yankees are sitting pretty, with a 3-2 lead in the series and heading back home. With a budget as high as our country’s deficit, the Yanks had two options this offseason: Use their money to cure the U.S. economy or buy a whole bunch of free agents. They chose the latter, and it’s working out just fine (well, for them). Unfortunately, the one aspect of the playoffs that has stood out the most is the atrocious umpiring. The horrible umpiring in this year’s postseason is unprecedented, but there are things out there that are actually worse, if you can believe it. …

Now that the Great Balloon Hoax of Aught-Nine is over, we can concentrate on sports again (CC Sabathia’s uniform is so big and baggy, it could probably be filled with helium and flown across the country, too). This past week in New York sports, the Yankees swept the Twins and now have to take on those pesky, team-of-destiny Angels, the Giants killed the Raiders to stay undefeated, the Jets suffered their second consecutive loss, the Rangers kept on winning, the Devils heated up, but the poor Islanders still couldn’t manage to notch their first victory of the year. The most bizarre moment of the week, though, was the Mickey Rourke sighting on the Giants sideline. And Kevin Bacon showed up at the Garden for the Knicks preseason home opener. Is the cast of Diner making the rounds of the local sports teams to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the movie?

Besides being at the Knicks game, Bacon could also be seen hiding in the Yankees dugout on Friday because, unbeknownst to A. J. Burnett, that was Shrevie’s wife, donned in curly …

This was a week of records being broken, World Baseball Classic excitement and drinking until you turned green on St. Patrick’s Day, but it may have all been overshadowed by the weirdness that is Alex Rodriguez. Pictures were released of him pretty much making out with himself and rolling around on a mattress. Did he finally sweep himself off his feet? What’s next? Cloning? Maybe he got divorced so he can marry himself. He’s just getting more and more bizarre. “What was he thinking?” and “A-Rod” go to together like peanut butter and jelly these days. This week’s Hot Stove Player of the Week, Martin Brodeur, has turned down his prize: “I don’t need a prize. Just working and living in New Jersey is an award in and of itself.”

Winner

Martin Brodeur: The Devils goalie tied Patrick Roy’s all-time wins record on Saturday in his hometwon of Montreal and then broke it in New Jersey on Tuesday night. Next up is the all-time shutouts record, currently held by Terry Sawchuk, though it …

Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.

1. The Devils’ first season in New Jersey was 1982-83.

2. Aaron Broten was the team’s leading scorer in their inaugural season (16 goals, 39 assists, 55 points).

3. Bep Guidolin was the first coach in franchise history, in Kansas City from 1974-76.

4. John MacLean is the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer, with 347.

5. Ken Daneyko is the franchise’s all-time leading games played leader, with 1,283.

6. Patrik Elias is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists, with 410 (and counting).

7. Chris Terreri is second in games played (302) and wins (118) for franchise goalies.

8. Jacques Lemaire (1995), Larry Robinson (2000 – replaced Robbie Ftorek that season) and Pat Burns (2003) have led the Devils to Stanley Cups.

9. Brian Gionta holds the franchise single-season record for goals scored, with 48 in 2005-06.

10. The New Jersey Devils first made the playoffs in 1987-88. They made it all the way to the conference finals, but lost to Boston.

The Devils started out in Kansas City, moved to Colorado and have settled in Newark (”Gateway to Secaucus”). See how much you know about the third (but best) team in the area. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. When was their first season in New Jersey?

2. Who was the team’s leading scorer in their inaugural season in Jersey?

3. Who was the first coach in franchise history?

4. Who is the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer?

5. Who is the franchise’s all-time games played leader?

6. Who is the franchise’s all-time assists leader?

7. Martin Brodeur is the all-time games played and wins leader for franchise goalies (obviously). Who is second in those categories?

8. The Devils have had three different coaches lead them to Stanley Cups. Who are they?

9. Who holds the franchise single-season goals record?

10. In which season did the team first qualify for the playoffs after moving to New Jersey?

Welcome to New York (or welcome back, in some cases). This week saw a plethora of new players entering the New York sports scene – free agent acquisitions for the Giants and Jets, players acquired at the NHL trading deadline, a prodigal son returned and a future hall-of-famer is back from injury. The prize for this week’s Hot Stove Player of the Week, Martin Brodeur, is the return of Sean Avery to the area. Enjoy!

Winner

Martin Brodeur: The Devils goalie made his triumphant return, and has won all four games he’s played. He threw two shutouts in those games, and only let in a total of four goals. He’s about to break every goaltending record there is. And now his old nemesis is back. The new kinder and gentler Avery wouldn’t dare call the goalie Fatso again, would he?

Runners Up

Bart Scott/Jim Leonhard/Lito Sheppard: The Jets improved their D with two former Ravens joining their old coach, and an ex-Eagle thrown on the pile for good measure.

Chris …

Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.

1. The Rangers debut season was 1926-27.

2. The Devils franchise began as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974, and after two seasons moved to Colorado, where they played as the Rockies from 1976-82.

3. The one other NHL team to play in New York was the New York/Brooklyn Americans. They played in the league from 1925 to 1942.

4. The New York Raiders/Golden Blades/New Jersey Knights (one team, many names) played two seasons in the WHA before becoming the San Diego Mariners.

5. The Rangers acquired their name when newspaper writers started calling the team Tex’s Rangers, after original owner Tex Rickard.

6. New York/New Jersey teams have won 11 Stanley Cups – the Rangers won in 1928, 1933, 1940 and 1994; the Islanders in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and the Devils in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

7. Andy Bathgate (1959), Bryan Trottier (1979) and Mark Messier (1992) all won the Hart Trophy.

8. Bryan Trottier is the only New York-area player to win the …

See how much you know about the history of the local hockey franchises. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. What year did the Rangers debut?

2. Before the Devils moved to New Jersey, they played in two other locations. Name them.

3. Besides the Rangers, Islanders and Devils, what other NHL franchises have played in the New York area?

4. What WHA franchise played in the New York area?

5. How did the Rangers get their name?

6. How many Stanley Cups have New York/New Jersey teams won?

7. In the past 50 years, only three New York-area players have won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Name them.

8. How many New York-area players have won the Art Ross Trophy (leading scorer; first handed out for the 1947-48 season)?

9. How many New York-area players have won the James Norris Trophy (top defenseman; first handed out for the 1953-54 season)?

10. Which center of the New York-area’s WHA franchise was named a first team All-Star for the 1973-74 season?

Thanks, Devils. They seem to solve all the Rangers’ problems, don’t they? The Blueshirts defeated David Puddy’s favorite team (el diablo!) out at the Rock yet again, by a score of 5-2. New Jersey was sorely undermanned (John MacLean had to fill in and take a few shifts), but it still counts in the standings. It was the first time the Rangers faced the Devils franchise without Martin Brodeur in goal since they were the Kansas City Scouts back in 1976.

After (another) slow start and falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Blueshirts just completely turned it on in the second. New Jersey aided the Rangers immensely by having one player after another take turns sitting in the penalty box (four infractions in all in the second). New York ended up with two five-on-threes in the period and scored on both of them. That would be routine for most teams, but five-on-threes haven’t been the Rangers’ best friend this season. Michal Rozsival scored the first one, slapping it …

Is Aaron Voros the new Sean Avery (but without the annoying personality)? He stood in front of Martin Brodeur all game long, as the two got to know each other. And in the process, the Rangers free-agent acquisition from Minnesota scored two goals and assisted on another. It looks like we have a new fan favorite. The Blueshirts picked up where they left off last season by beating the Devils yet again, 4-1, to remain unbeaten for the year.

The Voros/Dubinsky/Zherdev line dominated again. Brandon Dubinsky had a goal (that Brodeur helplessly waved at) and two assists, and Nikolai Zherdev pitched in with an assist. That’s the second game this year that line has racked up seven points. They’re the best line on the team so far, and they’re fun to watch. It looks like Brodeur has found his new Rangers nemesis in Voros. After Avery interned at Vogue for part of the summer, he and Brodeur actually spent a month together working on a sitcom pilot, Fatso …