So it’s Wednesday morning and it’s just another routine day – I’m tooling around my house on my Hoveround like always, making myself one of those healthy breakfast shakes made of Lucky Charms, chocolate milk and a half dozen Yodels, when I suddenly realize it’s one of our great holidays – St. Patrick’s Day. With drinking, and uh, even more drinking, what’s not to like? Everybody grabs a pint of Guinness or a green beer, sings “Dirty Old Town,” wears their “Kiss me I’m Irish” shirt and at least pretends to be of Gaelic persuasion. I, on the other hand, am German, so I throw on my “Don’t kiss me I’m German – that would be inefficient, emotional and unsanitary” T-shirt, and head off to work. I’m not the only one around these parts who wears a variation on the “Kiss me I’m Irish” shirt, though; here are some like-themed T-shirts seen worn by local athletes past and present on St. Patty’s Day:

“Kiss me – I’m not Irish, but there’s a 98% chance you’ll end up pregnant” – Antonio Cromartie

“I’m Derek Jeter; you’ll kiss me when I tell you to kiss me” – Derek Jeter

“Kiss me, but you’ll have to wait until I’m finished making out with myself in the mirror” – Alex Rodriguez

“I’m Keith Hernandez; I won the 1979 MVP; I can kiss anybody I want” – Keith Hernandez

“Kiss me, I’m thin now and don’t have those old barbecue sauce stains on my face anymore” – Rex Ryan

“Kiss me and you’ll get the best fist pump of your life” – Joba Chamberlain

“Kiss me but don’t smudge my goggles” – Frankie Rodriguez

“Kiss me I’m Irish – really, I am, I’ll even introduce you to the Dropkick Murphys” – Daniel Murphy

“Um, yeah, ya know, ok, kiss me, know what I’m sayin’?” – Omar Minaya

“Holy Cow! She kissed me, White! Can you believe that?! I’m not even Irish, I’m Italian. Anybody who wants to kiss me must be a huckleberry! I hope Cora doesn’t find out about this. Unbelievable!” – Phil Rizzuto

“Kiss me – oh come on, I’m not that creepy, am I?” – John Sterling

“Kiss me, Roger Clemens, oh please God, let him kiss me” – Suzyn Waldman

“Kiss me . . . oh, my knee!” – Tracy McGrady

“Kiss me . . . oh my knee!” – Rick DiPietro

“Kiss me . . . oh my knee! – Carlos Beltran

“Kiss me – and then get in the truck” – Stephon Marbury

“Kiss me, no really, I’ll kiss anybody, come on, I mean it” – Steve Phillips

“I already kissed her” – Sean Avery

“Don’t even think about it” – John Tortorella

Here are the top stories in the world of New York sports this past week:

There’s Only One LT: The Jets signed LaDainian Tomlinson to a two-year contract to replace Thomas Jones. Shouldn’t they have just re-signed Jones? He’s actually more durable and more productive than the former Charger these days. But maybe Tomlinson will work out better as a backup and third-down option. The real controversy, though, involves his stolen nickname. There’s only one LT around here, and we all know that’s Lawrence Taylor. So Tomlinson better start coming up with ideas for a new nickname, because the real LT can eat shrimps like him for breakfast.

Port St. Lucie Roundup: What do you know − Oliver Perez pitched eight innings this week and only gave up two runs. Does that mean there’s a glimmer of hope for him yet? Johan Santana bounced back in his second outing of the spring, to throw four shutout innings. Mike Pelfrey also pitched four quality innings, while mainly using his secondary pitches. John Maine, though, showed his Kevin McReynolds−like passion by admitting he “wasn’t into it” when he came into a game in relief and got lit up. Jon Niese and Fernando Nieve haven’t really impressed anybody so far in the battle for the fifth spot, but Rod Barajas would disagree with that assessment, as he compared Niese to Cliff Lee and Jon Lester. We’ll settle for an Al Jackson comparison and a healthy season. But is Hisanori Takahashi squeezing his way into the fifth-starter conversation? Frankie Rodriguez made his spring debut on Monday and blew the Cardinals hitters away on seven pitches. The Jenrry Mejia debate is heating up as he continues to shine. And Angel Pagan got us all excited for the season when he provided some fireworks with a walk-off two-run homer on Monday.

Tampa Roundup: CC Sabathia performed better than his previous two outings (4.1 IP, three runs, three hits), as his mechanics are starting to fall into place. Andy Pettitte and Chan Ho Park made their first appearances of the spring this week. As for the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation, is dark-horse Alfredo Aceves taking the lead? Joba Chamberlain has pretty much stunk but pitched better on Wednesday, while Phil Hughes has been excellent but not as good as Aceves, who has 0.90 ERA this spring (though it’s only spring training of course, so take all the stats with a grain of salt). A bullpen of Mariano Rivera (who made his spring debut on Tuesday), Chamberlain and Hughes doesn’t look too bad, though.

Now They Start Winning: The Islanders upset the Devils, 4-2, on Saturday, defeated the Maple Leafs, 4-1, on Sunday and kicked Vancouver’s butts, 5-2, on Tuesday for their first winning streak in two months. John Tavares broke out of a slump in a big way, with two goals and three assists vs. the Canucks. They’re out of the playoff picture so it’s all about the kids now for the Isles. But shouldn’t it always be about the kids? For I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside, give them a sense of pride, to make it easier, let the children’s laughter remind us how it used to be . . . because the greatest gift of all is happening to me (well, it’s happening to Scott Gordon).

Now They Start Winning (Sort of): The Knicks went 2-1 this week. They killed Dallas, 128-94, on Saturday night ending the Mavs’ 13-game winning streak and getting revenge in the process for the 50-point beat down that occurred the last time these two teams met. As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served in Texas with a biscuit and a side of mac ’n’ cheese. This week’s point guard (and maybe for longer – “This time, we mean it”) Toney Douglas was the star, with 21 points, eight assists and no turnovers. He did it again on Monday, leading the Knicks to a win over Philly, with 20 points and seven assists. And just as importantly as his offensive contributions, he plays defense. But St. Patrick’s Day was a Boston massacre for the Knicks, as the Celtics stomped them, and then the ghost of Red Auerbach blew cigar smoke in their faces for good measure.

Now They Start Winning (and Then They Start Losing): The Rangers won their first two games of the week, and then lost their last two. They beat Atlanta, 5-2, on Friday with help from their usually non-productive power play. They whipped Philly, 3-1, with Sean Avery leading the way by being Sean Avery. Poor Daniel Carcillo was pretty much ignored all night, but the not-so-great-fighter Brandon Dubinsky gave Mike Richards a beating. That’s something you don’t see every day – the Rangers acting tougher than the Flyers. Of course, the Rangers couldn’t find any consistency and were beaten in every aspect of the game by Montreal, and Henrik Lundqvist had a rare bad outing against St. Louis, which means only one thing for this team − a loss.

They Never Stopped Wining: After losing to the Islanders earlier in the week, the Devils beat Boston, 3-2, on Monday to clinch their 18^th straight winning season (they also defeated Pittsburgh for a season sweep of their division rivals and lost in a shootout to Toronto). It’s the longest active streak in sports (unless you count the Mean Machine in The Longest Yard, because every time that movie’s on, they always seem to beat the prison guards, year after year after year). The all-time record is held by the Montreal Canadiens, who had 32 consecutive winning seasons, from 1951-’52 to ’82-’83. As soon as the season ended, the ’83-’84 team, which went 35-40-5, were all lined up on the ice in the old Montreal Forum, blindfolded,  then shot and killed. They take their hockey seriously up there in Canada.

They Can’t Stop Losing: The Nets went 0-4 this week. No need for details.

R.I.P. Peter Graves: This week’s post is dedicated to actor Peter Graves, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 83. Sure, he had a long and illustrious career, but he’ll forever be remembered for one line: “You ever seen a grown man naked?”

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.

Buck Williams was Mr. Net, Mr. Rebound and Mr. Class. Julius Erving may have been the most talented player the Nets have ever had, but Williams was the best NBA player the franchise has known. In order to afford the fee to enter the NBA, the Nets had to sell Dr. J to Philadelphia. It was a classic Catch-22 situation. And the team suffered for it. They had five straight losing seasons in their first five years in the league (though they did squeak into the playoffs one year), but that finally changed when Williams arrived in New Jersey. Known for his relentless rebounding, he was also a proficient and accurate scorer. Williams was an all-around great player, who was the leader of the Nets in one of their few successful eras, in the first half of the 1980s. After three years at the University of Maryland (and a berth on the 1980 Olympic squad – but because of the boycott, the team didn’t get a chance to play), the Nets nabbed him with the third overall pick in the 1981 draft.

The North Carolina native was a success right out of the gate. With Williams on the team, the Nets won 20 more games than the previous season and he led them to their second-ever NBA playoff appearance. He won the Rookie of the Year award, and was the first player to represent the Nets in the NBA All-Star game. The next season, he made the All-Star team again, the Nets made the playoffs again (they would make the postseason in Williams’ first five seasons) and Buck was named to the All-NBA second team. The highlight of the 1983-’84 campaign came in the first round of the playoffs, when the Nets upset the defending champion 76ers, three games to two. It was the only time the Nets would get past the initial round until the Jason Kidd years.

Williams played a total of eight seasons with the Nets. He was in the top three in league rebounding for six of those years. He made three All-Star teams. He led the league in offensive rebounding in 1983-’84. He made the All-Defense second team in 1988. In his first six years with the team, he only missed one game (due to a suspension), never averaged less than 12 rebounds and usually averaged between 15 to 18 points per game. His Net career ended when he was traded to Portland after the 1989 season for Sam Bowie and a draft pick (which turned into Mookie Blaylock). He went to two NBA Finals with the Trailblazers, twice led the league in field-goal percentage, made the NBA’s All-Defense team twice and the All-Defense second team once while in Portland. He finished his career as a solid backup for a season and a half with the Knicks, retiring in January of 1999.

Williams played 17 seasons in the NBA. He’s only one of seven players in NBA history to score more than 16,000 points while grabbing over 13,000 rebounds. He’s 10^th on the league’s all-time rebounding list. He served as the president of the NBA Players Association from 1994 to ’97. And he had his #52 retired by the Nets. Williams was a rebounding machine, and was one of the best power forwards of his era. He was popular. He was likable. He was dignified. He was an outstanding basketball player. And it’s impossible to say a bad word about Buck Williams.

(Click on the names to read the other bios in the series: Steve Vickers, John Olerud, Al Toon, Brad Van Pelt, Dick Barnett, Mickey Rivers, Butch Goring/Ron Duguay/Ken Daneyko and Rusty Staub.)

Week 21 (March 15-21) Teams playing four games: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, L.A. Lakers, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Utah, Washington Teams playing three games: L.A. Clippers, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Sacramento, Toronto Teams playing two games: Dallas, Orlando, Portland

Toney Douglas (Knicks)- The last time Douglas started was on November 18th. Last Saturday he started and scored 21 points in helping the Knicks defeat the Mavs. He has played in at least 22 minutes the past four games and has 7 three-pointers in this span.

Jannero Pargo (Bulls)- Pargo started his first game of the season due to a wrist injury suffered to Derrick Rose. Pargo, scored a season high 20 points with 4 assists and 2 three-pointers. Rose should return tomorrow vs. the Grizziles.

Johan Petro (Nuggets)- Petro has started four straight games because of the injury to Keynon Martin. He is averaging 5.8 points, 7.8 rebounds .8 blocks as a starter.

Honorable mention: James Johnson (Bulls)

Baseball season is right around the corner (hey, three weeks is like four days when you’re my age, so twentysomething days is “right around the corner” to me), and after all the snow this winter, I’m ready. But here comes one of those “the old days were better” ramblings – they don’t call me Old Man Freier in my neighborhood for nothing (actually they pretty much just ignore me because I start every sentence with “Back in my day”). I was recently watching part of game five of the 1976 Yankees-Royals LCS that YES always seems to show and an episode of The Bronx Is Burning on MSG (the one about the 1977 LCS, which intersperses real highlights from the series), and it’s safe to say that baseball has changed since then. It may not have been better, but it was different. It’s lost a lot of its toughness and boys-will-be-boys attitude. In the 1976 game, the first pitch thrown by Grant Jackson right after George Brett hits his game-tying three-run homer in the top of the eighth is aimed right for John Mayberry’s head. It was clearly 100% intentional, but nobody batted an eye. Mayberry ducked out the way, but didn’t even look at Jackson, let alone stand and glare at him or shout at him. The announcers barely mentioned it – just that it was ball one. And there were no stupid umpire warnings, thank god. If that happened today, alarms would go off and the batter would run and hide until it was safe to come back on the field.

In the 1977 LCS, Graig Nettles broke up a double play by putting his shoulder down and running over Frank White, sending him to into oblivion. He made no effort to slide. Of course, the rules have changed since then, and players now have to at least pretend to slide. The rulebook was mainly rewritten because of what Royal Hal McRae did to Willie Randolph, when he body blocked him into left field. Second basemen were just waiting to get killed back then. Again, maybe that’s not better, but different. And then there was the famous fight between Nettles and Brett. Punches were thrown, bodies were slammed, Nettles even kicked Brett – but no one was thrown out of the game. Boys will be boys. There’s even a scene in the miniseries where Billy Martin/John Turturro stands on the top step of the dugout yelling expletives at Royals pitcher Larry Gura (I’m assuming that it’s based on a true incident). Can you imagine Joe Girardi cursing at John Lackey? Today’s players are so much more sensitive and fragile than the old-timers, with their taking offense to any pitch that comes near them, their body armor, pitch counts, delicately sliding around catchers, manicured hair, dancing and handshakes, the disappearance of bench jockeying, coddling by the union and owners, wearing batting helmets while running the bases – you get the picture. And they’re so much nicer to their enemies, with all the fraternizing that goes on. Sure, today’s spoiled players are more athletic, faster, bigger and stronger (wink, wink), but little by little, the game is turning into softball, with no contact, and god help you if you hurt anyone’s feelings. As the Hanson Brothers might have said: “Old-time baseball! Thurman Munson! Cookie Rojas! Lou Piniella!”

Ok, the boring sermon is over, and now back to 2010. Here are the top stories in the world of New York sports this past week:

Comings and Goings: The NFL free-agent frenzy has begun. Say good-bye to Thomas Jones (Chiefs), Kerry Rhodes (Cardinals), David Carr (49ers) and Fred Robbins (Rams), and say hello to Antrel Rolle, Jim Sorgi, Brodney Pool and Antonio Cromartie. The Jets kindly gave $500,000 up front to their new cornerback so he can clear up the many, many, many (many) paternity issues he has going. He’s the Brady Bunch, Eight Is Enough, With Six You Get Eggroll, Yours, Mine and Ours and My Three Sons all rolled into one.

The Week in Port St. Lucie: Thyroids, pink eye, sore shoulders, pitchers getting hit in the knee with line drives, Oliver Perez getting hammered, front office miscommunications and buffoonery – it’s just another routine week for the Mets. John Maine had a promising outing, though when healthy, he’s usually good, while Perez and Mike Pelfrey were lit up. Any bad performance by one of those guys and we’re in “the sky is falling” territory, but with Johan Santana it’s all about how he feels. Statistically, his first start didn’t go so well (1.2 innings pitched, four runs, six hits, one K, one BB), but as long as he’s healthy, who cares? Frankie Rodriguez is back in camp after suffering from pink eye and the slings and arrows of Goose Gossage calling him a clown (I’m not sure which is worse). Clowns everywhere will come out of the woodwork to criticize Gossage because the Hall-of-Fame reliever used the word “clown” in a derogatory manner. We’re only days away from a press conference/formal apology from the former Yankee great: “I apologize to any clowns I may have offended. I regret my choice of words. I should said ‘bonehead’ instead.” And because the Mets can’t seem to pull off the simplest of tasks, for a few days we had Thyroid-Gate, starring Jose Reyes’ overactive thyroid (“It’s not overactive!” “Yes it is!”). Of course, now he’ll be out for weeks or even months before he can resume any kind of baseball activity. But kids Jenrry Meija and Ike Davis along with not-so-young Chris Carter keep on impressing everybody – so they have that going for them.

The Week in Tampa: The Phil Hughes/Joba Chamberlain duel began this past week, and the verdict so far: Hughes pretty good, Joba very bad (27.05 ERA). Francisco Cervelli was drilled in the melon and got a concussion on Saturday. Thankfully, he seems to be doing fine now. And speaking of doing fine, Nick Johnson’s back on the field and homered twice on Tuesday. CC Sabathia looked a lot like Santana on Tuesday, when he went 2.2 innings and let in five runs on seven hits. Meanwhile, the Alex Rodriguez/Dr. Tony Galea controversy continues. The shady doctor treated A-Rod without permission from the Yankees, and now, unlike Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, he’s refusing to come clean on what went on. The feds may be twisting his arm, but if he’s not guilty of anything then just say so. Of course, A-Rod can’t trust himself to not stick his own foot in his mouth. He’s walking around camp muttering advice to himself, “Don’t say anything stupid. Just pretend you’re somebody else.”

The Race for the Worst: The Nets beat the Knicks this week but they’re still in a race against time for the worst record ever. If they win three more games, will the 1972-’73 Philadelphia 76ers pop the champagne and celebrate like the ’72 Miami Dolphins? The worst record in Nets franchise history is 17-65, by the way. The 1989-’90 team, coached by Bill Fitch, set that mark. Dennis Hopson was their leading scorer (15.8), while Sam Bowie was their top rebounder (10.1 per game). That pretty much says it all. Other players on that team: Chris Morris, Mookie Blaylock, Roy Hinson, Purvis Short, Lester Conner, Charles Shackleford, Chris Dudley, Derrick Gervin, and even Anthony Mason and Rick Carlisle. Looking to the future, though, there was a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday in Brooklyn for the team’s new arena, with Jay-Z and other luminaries grabbing a shovel. But there was no sign of Joe Barry Carroll.

Not Much Better: The woeful Knicks lost to the Nets, and missed all of their three pointers along the way. They did beat Atlanta by one point, though, to try and regain some dignity. But their loss on Wednesday to San Antonio clinched their ninth straight losing season, setting a franchise record (they had eight consecutive losing seasons from 1959-’60 to ’66-’67). Thanks James Dolan. Now please just go away.

Momentum Changer: So, an aging, balding drunk who’s kind of a jerk walks into a bar (this sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? But it’s just what I did on Sunday night), and at that same moment Brandon Dubinsky scores the tying goal against Buffalo. But before I even had a bottle of beer in my hand, the Sabres scored in overtime to beat the Rangers. And just like that, another point gets away from them. Even the usually reliable Henrik Lundqvist/Martin Brodeur matchup let them down, when the Devils crushed the Blueshirts in a sloppily played game by both teams. Points are quickly slipping away. Is this the beginning of the end for the Rangers (or did that happen on opening day?) and the beginning of a turnaround for New Jersey, who hadn’t been winning consistently in a few months? It’s getting late fast for the Rangers. And it’s all over for the Islanders, as they lost all three of their games this week.

Week 20 (March 8-14)

Teams playing four games: Boston, Charlotte, L.A. Clippers, Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, Toronto, Washington
Teams playing three games: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Indiana, Golden State, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City
Teams playing two games: Houston, L.A. Lakers, Phoenix

Reggie Williams (Warriors)- Williams signed a 10-day contract because of the lack of healthy bodies for the Warriors. He scored a career high 28 points yesterday against the Hornets. If Monta Ellis returns on Thursday, it lowers the value of Williams but he has a pedigree of scoring history. He the led nation in back to back years for VMI (28.1 in 06-07 and 27.8 in 07-08)

Sonny Weems (Raptors)- Weems has scored in double-figures in four of past five games. He scored a season high 20 points vs. the Knicks last Friday. In three games this month he is shooting 58% from the field and has value if he starts for the Raptors.

Terrence Williams (Nets)- In four games this month Williams is averaging 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists in 29 minutes per game. He is playing more because of injuries to the Nets rotation.

Will Bynum (Pistons)-  Bynum started his first game of the season last Sunday and scored 12 points with 11 assists and 4 rebounds. He filled in for Rodney Stuckey who collapsed on the court last Friday against the Cavs.

Honorable mention:  Jose Juan Barea (Mavs)

The Knicks recently celebrated the 40^th anniversary of their first championship, which got me to thinking – and yes, this is what I think about while cracking open my ninth beer of the night: New York-area teams have a seven-decade championship streak on the line this year. For the last seven decades (and eight out of nine) a New York team has played in a championship game when the year ends in a zero. Sometimes they lost, sometimes they won, but they reached the final game or series. Coincidence? Yeah, but so what? Let’s look back anyway.

The year 2000 was a bonanza. The Yankees and Mets squared off in the World Series, the Devils won the Stanley Cup and the Giants made it to the Super Bowl but lost to Baltimore (the game was played in 2001 but it was the 2000 season). In 1990, the Giants beat Buffalo in the Super Bowl (wide right!). The Islanders won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups in 1980. The Knicks, of course, won their first championship in 1970. The Yankees lost a heartbreaker to Bill Mazeroski and the Pirates in 1960. 1950 saw the Yanks defeat the Whiz Kid Phillies for their second of five Series wins in a row, and the Rangers were defeated by Detroit in the Stanley Cup. 1940? The Rangers won, of course, beating Toronto for their third Stanley Cup victory. The streak’s broken link is 1930. Native New Yorkers the Marx Brothers released Animal Crackers that year – does that count? The Brooklyn Dodgers (or Robins, as they were sometimes known as back then, when they temporarily changed their name in honor of their manager, Wilbert Robinson) lost to Cleveland in 1920. I don’t know what happened in 1910. None of the three local baseball teams reached the World Series, and the football, basketball and hockey teams didn’t exist yet. Maybe Theodore Roosevelt won a bear wrestling championship or Christy Mathewson was victorious in a design-the-most-creative-straw-hat-and-win-a-Victrola contest.

So who will keep the streak alive this year? I think we can count out the Nets, Knicks and Islanders, and the Rangers would be a real, real long shot (ok, a real, real, real long shot). The Yankees, of course, have to be the favorite. David Wright thinks the Mets can make it to the World Series. The Devils always have a shot (but maybe Martin Brodeur is too depressed after being benched in the Olympics). And the Jets and Giants may get there if things break right for them. But it’s almost a guarantee that one of our teams will make it, right? Well, after you drink nine beers, it will seem like a lock.

Here are the top stories in the world of New York sports this past week:

Close But No Cigar: The Friday snow storm and shovel-fest worked out so I could watch the U.S.-Finland game instead of going to work (after getting a foot and a half of snow, it was sunny out at my house on Friday afternoon – go figure), and the US of A gave those Finnish bastards a 6-1 stomping (they’re not really bastards but I don’t know enough about Finland to come up with a more fitting derogatory term). Canada won a thriller against Slovakia, setting up the gold medal game. I never thought I would root for Zach Parise, but when he scored that goal with 24 seconds left, there I was rooting for a Devil. It was shades of his father, Islander J.P. Parise, scoring the overtime goal that beat the Rangers in the first round of the 1975 playoffs. Why did Sidney Crosby of all people have to be the one to score the winning goal? Right after he put the puck in the net, he took a dive for old time’s sake and complained to the ref before celebrating with his teammates. It was fun while it lasted. And I guess it was all worth it just to listen to the sagacious ramblings of the always-insane William Shatner later that night. But why couldn’t he have sung “Rocket Man”? Now that would have been the perfect ending to the Winter Olympics.

Good News/Bad News: The good news: The Knicks destroyed Detroit on Wednesday, with four players scoring over 20 points (that hasn’t happened since the 1971 Baltimore Orioles – no wait, that was four 20-game winners on the same team; four 20-point scorers on the same team probably happened last week some time); the bad news: They were humiliated and embarrassed by Cleveland in the previous game. The good news: The Knicks beat Washington in overtime on Friday; the bad news: They followed that up with a loss to Memphis. The bad news: Tracy McGrady’s knees have been bothering him all week; the good news: The Knicks traded for his expiring contract, not his knees (and now he’s the point guard du jour). The good news: The Knicks won two out of four games this week; the bad news: Those are the only two games they’ve won in their last 12. The bad news: Eddy Curry is coming back; the good news: He can stand in the lane and distract the other team by having them stop and say, “Hey, I though you retired about 15 years ago.” The good news: Both Mike D’Antoni and Donnie Walsh manned up and took the blame for the Knicks defenseless, pathetic play of late; the bad news: The Knicks stink.

Do You Believe in Miracles?! No, I’m not talking about Olympic hockey, but the Nets beating the Celtics in Boston on Saturday. That’s pretty much as miraculous as it gets. Kevin Garnett wasn’t feeling so good about the loss: “I got nothing to say. I feel disgusted.” But the Nets still couldn’t manage to come up with their first winning streak of the year, when they blew a lead to Washington on Sunday. But they’ve won games two weeks in a row, now. That’s a miracle for them. In their last game of the week, they were blown out by Cleveland. So the Cavs beat the two local teams by a combined 50 points.

Dr. HGH: It’s probably much ado about nothing (though we shouldn’t believe anything players say these days, should we?), but the FBI recently questioned Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran and want to speak to Alex Rodriguez. They all have tenuous ties to Dr. Tony Galea, who is under investigation for conspiring to smuggle HGH into the U.S. from Canada. Reyes used the doctor’s shaken-not-stirred blood-spinning procedure last year, when he was trying to put his hamstring back together. At least Beltran answered all their questions without pulling a Sammy Sosa – “No inglés, señor.” No word on A-Rod’s link to the good doctor, but he’s already a steroid cheat as it is, so the damage is already done for him. Every day a new name comes out. Who’s next? Horace Clarke? Bill Sudakis? On the field, Reyes took the first pitch he saw this spring in game action and hammered it down the line for a two-run triple. And Jon Niese threw two innings without falling down while writhing in pain, so that’s some good news for the Mets so far this spring. Of course, the Mets were just playing against themselves. But the next day, they beat a real live actual team (the Braves), for their first win of the grapefruit league season, with talk-of-the-camp Ike Davis belting two doubles. Yesterday he smashed a grand slam in the Mets’ win over the Cards, and the team picked up reliever Kiki Calero to help with the bullpen depth. As for the Yankees, Joe Girardi took his players on an arcade outing to do some team bonding, loosen the guys up and take a break from those grueling three-hour days spent lounging around in perfectly ideal sunny weather. Two months of negotiations preceded the trip, as the Players’ Union haggled with the Yankees over who would supply the quarters. A.J. Burnett won the Indy Car racing competition, Andrew Brackman was the Skee-Ball champion and Royce Ring won the Pop-A-Shot event. Andy Pettitte and A-Rod were barred from taking part in the games because they failed a drug test. The Yankees won their first spring training game, too, but they win every game, don’t they? And oh yeah, Nick Johnson’s already injured.

They’re Back: Well, most of the Rangers are. Marian Gaborik came down with a lower body injury that somehow involved back bacon in Vancouver and is out indefinitely. I kind of enjoyed the break. How many times can you write that the Rangers don’t have a lot of talent, can’t score, don’t consistently play hard and their GM stinks? But they did come storming out of the gate with a 4-1 win over Ottawa, which was their third victory in a row. But on Friday, they lost to Pittsburgh in overtime despite Henrik Lundqvist’s heroic performance. Though he let in five goals, he made 50 saves (50!) and was the best player on the ice. The Islanders put poor Rick DiPietro back on the all-too-familiar injured reserve list, soundly beat Chicago, 5-3, and then got hammered last night by Atlanta, 6-3. And the Devils also won their first game back, beating San Jose, 4-3, but Brodeur let in three quick goals as fast as you can say the words “Roberto Luongo.”

Trade Deadline: The Rangers picked up peripatetic backup goalie Alex Auld off waivers last week, and the local teams only made minor trades leading up to the deadline: The Islanders sent Greg Moore to Columbus for Dylan Reese, and Andy Sutton was shipped off to Ottawa for a second-round draft pick; the Devils picked up Martin Skoula from Toronto for a fifth-round pick; and the Rangers traded minor leaguer Jordan Owens to Detroit for Kris Newbury and sent Miika Wiikman (and a 2011 seventh-round pick) to Phoenix for Anders Eriksson. The big deals were made a few weeks ago – for Ilya Kovalchuk and Olli Jokinen. The Blueshirts probably should have been sellers, but at least they didn’t do anything stupid.

What Have You Done For Us Lately (A Lot, Actually): The Jets are all set to release Thomas Jones today. He rushed for a career-high 1,402 yards and scored a personal best 14 touchdowns last season. The team is taking a gamble by dispatching the veteran leader. He may have been injured at the end of the season, but so were Shonn Greene and Leon Washington (his future is up in the air, too). “It’s not you, it’s us,” stated the Jets to Jones. But now they may be having second thoughts, as they’re contemplating releasing and then re-signing the popular running back. Lito Sheppard is gone, though. “It’s you, not us,” they told him. And in late-breaking news, the Jets traded a 2011 draft pick for Antonio Cromartie.

“Before his high school career ended he was the first player to attend the Adidas ABCD Camp in New Jersey three times, and won the MVP his final season, an award given out to the likes of Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.”

Bill Walker was a Top 10 high school recruit and made the EA Sports High School Boys Basketball team in 2006. He was also a teammate of current Memphis Grizzle and former first-round pick (3rd overall) O.J Mayo. He received interest from top programs such as Connecticut, Syracuse, Texas but elected to go to Kansas State.

Walker elected to go to Kansas State and averaged 16.1 (5th in the Big 12) points, 6.3 rebounds and shot 46% (10th in the Big 12) in his second season. He played alongside Michael Beasley who was drafted second overall in the 2008 draft.

His knee injuries affected his draft stock but the talent, athleticism and size had scouts compare him to Vince Carter. His leaping ability, strength and competitiveness would have made him a first-round pick if he did not have knee issues.

Because of two ACL surgeries he was a second round pick by the Wizards in 2008 (47th overall) but was traded to the Celtics for cash. He was never given the opportunity to play for Boston appearing in only 34 games including last season and this year. However, he has showed the potential to score averaging  18.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and shot 47% from the field, 94% from the free throw line in 24 career NBDL games.

The Knicks acquired him in the Nate Robinson trade which could turn out to be a very savvy decision by Donnie Walsh. Walker has shown the ability to finish above the rim and his athleticism allows him to get to the basket.

Walker started his first game of his career last night (for Wilson Chandler-out due  to personal reasons) and scored a career-high 22 points. This marks the second straight game of at least 21+ points as he has played 36 and 35 minutes minutes. He is only 22 years old and showing why he drew comparisons to Vince Carter. Walker has a team option for $854,389 next season and $916,100 the year after.

Week 19 (March 1-7)

Teams playing four games: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Memphis, New York, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento
Teams playing three games: Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Toronto, Utah, Washington
Teams playing two games: Minnesota

Jerry Stackhouse (Bucks)- Stackhouse has stepped up his play recently. The Bucks were one of the league’s hottest team that won 6 straight games before yesterday’s loss to the Hawks. Stack has scored double-figures and played at least 24 minutes in four straight games. He scored a season high 20 points yesterday and also is a good source for threes and free throw percentage.

Bill Walker (Knicks)- Walker has appeared in three games for the Knicks and played 25 minutes in last Saturday’s game. Wilson Chandler is expected to miss tonight’s game (personal reasons) and Tracy McGrady is dealing with a sore knee which means Walker could sustain minutes in the rotation.

Ronny Turiaf (Warriors)- Starting center Andris Biedrins left the last game with a groin injury and did not return. In the least two games Turiaf has 23 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Darko Milicic (Timberwolves)- The former Knick has three games of at least 3 blocks for his new team. Starting center Al Jefferson is suspended (DWI) for the next two games which means Darko could get more run.

Honorable mention: Nicolas Batum (Trailblazers)

“If they get Lebron James (it was worth it),” Randolph says. “If they don’t get him, I wonder. I don’t know.”- Zach Randolph

The Knicks traded Randolph in November 2008 to the Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley. The Knicks were not looking for any premium players back just, for another team to take his long and expensive contract. Donnie Walsh has worked very hard to get the Knicks under the cap but he could have waited and deal Zebo or even Jamal Crawford this year for more talent or draft picks.

Randolph is blossoming for his new team (Memphis Grizzlies) averaging 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds (second highest of his career) and is shooting 49.5 % from the field (second highest of his career). His shooting percentage has gone up because his three point attempts have gone down. He has attempted only 30 this season (59 games) compared to the 104 in 80 games with the Knicks. More importantly he leads the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (4.4) and the 28 year old was named to his first All-Star game this season. The team is 30-29 and 3.5 games  from the 8th seed.

Zebo lit up the Knicks over the weekend scoring 31 points with 25 rebounds (career high). He has become a less selfish player and one can say has been a good influence on center Marc Gasol. He has had troubles in the past and his reputation has been challenged but this season has been a re-birth. The Knicks really miss his size and toughness in the paint.

Ok, so I’m at Penn Station in the men’s room the other day (and no, I wasn’t “loitering” or “hanging out” or “experimenting” – I was just “freshening up” before my train ride home), and this guy is holding a fancy Victoria’s Secret gift bag with a wrapped present sticking out of it, when he drops it on the floor as he’s zipping up. Now, of course, the floor in there is, shall we say, wet. In fact, it’s sort of like a pond. A pond filled with scum. And other things that you don’t even want to be stepping in, let alone dropping a fancy present in. The guy picks up his bag, gives it a wipe or two with his hand, splashing the run-off on himself now, and then goes on his merry way. Oh, that poor, poor girlfriend or wife. Little does she know the journey that her thoughtful gift has traveled. The only way she could find out, is if that schlemiel boyfriend of hers came home and announced, “Happy birthday, Honey! Your gift is drenched in authentic Penn Station men’s room urine! Enjoy!” Or maybe he did it on purpose: “Happy birthday, Honey! Your gift is drenched in authentic Penn Station men’s room urine – just the way you like it! Enjoy!” That story has nothing to do with the week in New York sports; I just thought it was a nice, little slice of life story that I found amusing and wanted to share.

Now on to sports (sort of). Olympic fever is finally spreading through my house. My daughter watched some of the speed skating, and she decided that she needed to win a Gold medal in that event. So she pulled on her Rollerblades, and proceeded to slowly skate around our basement a few times, and then declared herself the Gold medalist. What she was really interested in, though, was the pomp and circumstance of the medal-winning ceremony. She stood on the couch, which acted as the podium the winner stands on, with her stuffed Winnie the Pooh being the Silver medal winner sitting (he can’t really stand) a level below her, and SpongeBob winning the Bronze. I formally presented my daughter with her Gold medal (ok, a toy necklace), and, yes, she then made me sing the National Anthem. The whole thing. And if you’ve never sung it, it’s a tough song to sing, spanning a range of octaves and all. But, fortunately, I didn’t have to sing the Hundred Acre Wood or Bikini Bottom anthems. Of course, my daughter inherited that kind of monkey-see-monkey-do behavior from her father and her uncles. After watching the James Caan classic Rollerball on TV once when we were kids, the next day, my brothers and I plus a group of friends tried to play our own version of the game. There were some bicycles, roller skates, hockey gloves and a softball involved, but it just didn’t quite work out for some reason. It’s too bad my daughter didn’t get caught up in curling the last two weeks. Maybe that would have led to her sweeping or vacuuming the house.

Now on to sports (really). Here are the biggest stories in the world of New York sports this week:

Dawning of a New Era: It was a newsworthy week for the Knicks, but unfortunately, they didn’t win any games. The Tracy McGrady era (as short as it may be) began on Saturday (along with the Sergio Rodriguez era, as he’s now the team’s new point guard). McGrady starred, pouring in 26 points, but he and the team ran out of steam and lost in OT to Oklahoma City. On Monday, the Knicks honored their first-ever world champion team from 1970. The ongoing interviews during the game were a good distraction from what went on out on the court. The 2010 Knicks are not in the same universe as their 1970 forefathers. Chemistry and teamwork were the buzz words of that champion team, and those aspects of the game were nowhere to found during the Knicks-Bucks game. Of course, their recent trades had a lot to do with that, and they lost a lot of defense and size. McGrady had to leave the game with an injured knee. That didn’t take long. He looked rusty, tentative and out of game shape in their loss to Nate Robinson and Boston on Wednesday. It looks like he may have peaked on Saturday.

Down in FLA: The Mets signed Rod Barajas to a reasonably cheap one-year contract. One year for him is better than Bengie Molina for two or three years at $12 million or whatever it would have been. They both play defense, they both hit home runs, and that’s about it. I feel bad for Omir Santos. He went from major league starter to Triple A backup in one stroke of the pen. It looks like Jerry Manuel may bat Jose Reyes third to start the season. If it’s only until Carlos Beltran comes back, why bother? Reyes is sensitive enough as it is, so shouldn’t Manuel make him as comfortable as possible coming back from his injury? Jenrry Mejia has impressed Manuel in camp so far. And Sandy Koufax is the next in line to take a stab at fixing the mysterious Oliver Perez. Over in Tampa, the Yankees signed Chan Ho Park – throw another reliever on the pile. Jorge Posada and A.J. Burnett began working together after last year’s disastrous partnership. Shouldn’t Posada be a DH at this point in his career? In last year’s playoffs he couldn’t catch the ball no matter who was pitching. Johnny Damon officially became a Tiger, and Derek Jeter declared he wants to be a Yankee forever. Where else is he going to go?

Do You Believe in Slight Upsets?! It wasn’t exactly a miracle, but it was an upset nonetheless. The U.S. beat Canada in a great game, almost 30 years to the day of the Miracle on Ice. Hey, even Chris Drury scored – he’s obviously been pacing himself with the Rangers, saving his offensive output for the Olympics. Jamie Langenbrunner scored (and assisted on another), and ex-Devil Brian Rafalski netted two goals. Whenever I think of a Devil or ex-Devil’s name, in my mind it’s always said in Mike Emrick’s excitable voice. He’s so ubiquitous, he’s now doing the play-by-play of my everyday life in my head, which isn’t so bad really. Maybe it’s a new undiagnosed disease – Emrick Syndrome. It could be worse – it could be Suzyn Waldman’s voice I’m hearing. Ryan Miller saved the day for the USA, while poor Martin Brodeur looked like he just lost to the Rangers again, and then he was benched for Canada’s game against Germany. He now has to slink back to New Jersey, as he has all of Canada wanting to come after him with torches and pitchforks. Canada recovered to beat Germany and steamroll over Russia, though. And the USA kept their dream alive with a win over Switzerland, with Zach Parise providing all the offense they would need. Debate time: With the Miracle on Ice on everybody’s mind, who was the better Herb Brooks – Kurt Russell or Karl Malden?