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 …

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 …

The Knicks recently celebrated the 40th 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. …

“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 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 …

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, …

This is the 40th anniversary of the 1970 World Champion New York Knicks, and the franchise will honor that outstanding team tomorrow night at the Garden. By now we all know about the May 8, 1970, heroics of Knick captain Willis Reed, who hobbled onto the court, scored the team’s first four points while basically playing with one leg and led his team to its first championship. Just the sight of him on the floor intimidated the Lakers and inspired the Knicks to victory.

Reed’s performance in the series was good enough to earn him the Finals MVP (and by the way, he had to guard three Hall-of-Fame centers during the playoff run: Wes Unseld, the artist formerly known as Lew Alcindor and Wilt Chamberlain). That season Reed also won the regular season MVP, the All-Star game MVP (he was the first player to win all three awards in the same season), was on the All-NBA first team, the Defensive first team, was the Sporting News MVP and …

The first-ever slam dunk competition was held this week during halftime of the ABA All-Star game at McNichols Arena in Denver. Julius Erving of the New York Nets wowed everybody with his running dunk from the foul line. Dr. J bested Denver’s David Thompson, Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels, and San Antonio’s George Gervin and Larry Kenon. As for the game itself (after some pregame entertainment by top-of-the-chart recording artists Glen Campbell and Charlie Rich), the league eschewed its former format of East vs. West, instead having the first place team at the break taking on a group of ABA All-Stars. The Denver Nuggets, coached by Larry Brown, scored 52 points in the fourth quarter to overtake the All-Star squad by a final score of 144-138. Thompson was named the game’s MVP, scoring 29 points, and Dr. J led the All-Stars with 23 points. In the NBA All-Star game, Dave Bing was named MVP (16 points, four assists) after leading the East to a 123-109 victory …

“Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez to NYK; Kevin Martin/Jared Jeffries/swap of 2011 first with Knicks and 2012 first from Knicks to Houston AND Kings get Carl Landry, Joey Dorsey and Larry Hughes‘ expiring contract . . . all just filed to ESPN.com.”

Sources say Houston gets Kevin Martin, Jared Jeffries and Jordan Hill. Also the right to swap first-round picks with NYK in 2011 and New York’s first-rounder in 2012.”

It was reported that Donnie Walsh did not want to trade Jordan Hill but he was desperate to move Jared Jeffries and his $6.9 million dollar contract for next season. The Knicks have saved $9.4 million in cap savings and can go after two max players in the off-season.

Tracy McGrady has been working with trainer Tim Grover to get back into shape. Grover,  who trained Michael Jordan, says “put him in uniform and get him out there, T-Mac is ready.” McGrady, has an expiring contract and is only 30 years-old. He  should put fans into the seats and his jersey should be a quick seller.

Sergio Rodriguez was …

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.

With the Knicks celebrating their 1970 World Champion team this coming Monday, let’s take a look at the forgotten man on that squad – Dick Barnett. Everybody knows about Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley, and even the additions to the early-’70s powerhouse team, Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas, but not a lot of fans may …

“The Knicks and Rockets are getting closer to a deal that would send Tracy McGrady, Joey Dorsey and Brian Cook to New York in exchange for Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill, and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes.”-Yahoo Sports

Draft picks being swapped have also been rumored. The Knicks do not have a first round pick this year but could deal one in 2011 or 2012. New York needs to move Jeffries because he is owed $6.9 million dollars next season.

T-Mac would see minutes in the rotation because he is playing for another contract. Also the  rotation would get thinner due to the trade. He is turning 31 years-old in May and may have some skills left in the tank.

Super Bowl Sunday combines everything that’s great about our country: Drinking, eating 15 pounds of Buffalo wings, gambling and British classic rock. Why, oh why is this day not a national holiday? Here in New York, did we care who won? Well, if you had a wager on the game you did. Or did one of those squares things at work. So even if you don’t have a true rooting interest, it’s still hard to watch the game in a nice, relaxing manner when you’re yelling at the TV for the Colts to get a safety so they could end up with a score that ends in 5. The halftime show is always fun. The Who (or what’s left of them) rocked as only senior citizens can. Let’s give them credit, though, when I’m their age I’ll be lucky if can eat solid food and remember where I live. But the band is getting too rickety to smash their own equipment, so they have roadies do that …