User Blog: leftvet Posts made by leftvet on My Take on Jeremy Lin (for what it's worth) leftvet Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:35:20 -0400 <p> </p> I've tried to stay out of the discussions on Jeremy since it started being leaked that the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Knicks</a> wouldn't match, and, since the discussion threads on the subject jacked up into the thousands pretty quickly, rendering them essentially unloadable on my computer, it was pretty easy. I expect what I have to say has probably been said by others numerous times, but I just gotta say it myself to get it off my chest so I can move on.<br> <br> <p>When I root for a team, I root for the PLAYERS, not some corporate logo. I wish there was some sort of loyalty in sports between the players and the teams, but the reality is there isn't any loyalty in either direction. I understand the business end of things. They traded Seaver, they traded Ewing, hell, the Yankees traded Babe way back when. The Yanks will trade Jeter if they think it's in their corporate interests. That's the nature of sports. Even if we don't like it , that's the way it IS.</p> <p> </p> <p>So I get it that there was a business decision made not to keep Lin. I may agreee or disagree with any individual personnel move of teams I root for, but that's part of being a fan. But there was something more, here. Someone in the Knicks organization took it on themselves to BADMOUTH Jeremy on the way out. The media orchestration of anonymous sources leading up to the final decision was disgusting. And make no mistake, SOMEBODY orchestrated the Jeremy badmouthing, it wasn't a spontaneous outpouring of pent-up media dislike for the guy, it wasn't just SAS (although he was the most virulent and disgusting in his comments), it was a consistent and orchestrated message that <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Jeremy Lin</a> was not a nice person and not a good player and we were lucky to be rid of him. Jeremy Lin is greedy, he doesn't think of the team, he's not that good, he's not worth it, he has no heart. I don't know who orchestrated this (I have my suspicions, but I won't voice them); I just know that the kid didn't deserve it. He was a brief breath of fresh air in the all-too-cynical world of NY sports, a total change of pace from the me-first, chest-thumping, ego-strutting assholes we have to stomach in order to watch basketball at a high level. Look at the interviews he gave in the middle of Linsanity. Anytime a reporter tried to focus on his individual accomplishments, he always deflected it back to the TEAM. "Look at what Shump did, look at what Tyson did, look at what Jared did." Are we really going to believe that the modest, humble overachiever most of us fell in love with during Linsanity was just a charade, a false front for someone who is just as greedy and cynical as the rest of them? I'm not.</p> <p> </p> <p>So we're left with a bunch of geriatric gunslingers to root for -- some of whom can't hold their liquor and others who can't hold their tongues -- who will not win a championship and will all be gone in three years or less. Would we have won a championship with Lin? Probably not, but at least there might have been a player we could actually CARE about, one we could hold up to our children as a role model.</p> <p> </p> <p>But, hey, this is the NY Knicks, Jimmy Dolan's management-challenged plaything. They've been making bonehead moves for years. Why did we ever think they would change?</p> <p> </p> <p>I could declare that I'm done with 'em, but that wouldn't be true. I don't own MSG stock, I don't put any money in Jimmy-boy's pocket. I haven't been to the Garden in years, I watch the Knicks on internet for free. I've been following and rooting for the Knicks since the early sixties, almost fifty years. I follow them always, and root for them when they have players I care about. Like I said, I don't root for logos.</p> <p> </p> <p>Guess I'm back to following for awhile.</p> <p><br><br></p> The Playoffs leftvet Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:20:24 -0400 <p><br><br>First time post on P&T. Been lurking for a few months. I'm a <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Knicks</a> fan since the early sixties (Richie Guerin and Johnny Green). Been through Bad News Barnes, Hawethorne Wingo, Spencer Haywood, and <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Bob McAdoo</a>. I remember the Willis Reed seventh game, I was sitting in a run-down enlisted man's bar on a firebase somewhere in South Vietnam, listening to the game on Armed Forces Radio. Even under those God-foresaken circumstances, the Reed entrance sent chills down the spine of every sad-sack soldier sitting on a barstool in the middle of the jungle. So much for the brief stroll down memory lane.</p> <p>So, we're in the playoffs. A couple of thoughts. First, we're in it to win it. I'm not interested in "getting to the second round" or moral victories in the first round. This team's got the pieces, if Woodie can figure out how to put them together. Who knows what the future brings? The chances of having the same bench depth next year are slim to none. STAT may be on the edge of decline, Chandler's no spring chicken. Forget about next year; that will come soon enough. We need to go for it this year. Second, I don't care who we play. A champion's gotta beat the best. My Giants went through GB, SF, and NE to win the Super Bowl. Whoever takes the court, beat 'em. The idea of trying to get the better team in the second round rather than the first when we might have Jeremy back is loser talk. Even if Jeremy makes it back for the second round, it's wishful thinking to expect that he's going to have any significant impact on the Knick's play. He won't be 100%, he'll be rusty, and I expect he'll throttle back on his aggrssive, break-neck style initially until he regains full confidence in his knee. I don't see Lin as a factor until at least the conference finals, so we're gonna have to get through the first two rounds one way or another without him.</p> <p> </p> <p>So who leaves the starting lineup now that STAT is back, Fields or Shump? Fields has never been the same player he was early in his rookie year, except in brief spurts, since Melo showed up. Don't know what the deal is betwwen those two. You could make the case that Shump has earned the starting spot over Fields with his energy and fearlessness, although he still has to learn a bit more about shot selection. Fields is only a nominal starter at this point, since Woodie seems uninclined to play him in crunch time, or any other time except for a few minutes at the beginning of the first and third quarters, even whe he gets hot early. But my opinion is Landry stays in the starting lineup for his occasional gluey peformances, and Shump moves to the bench. Shump then adds more energy and an additional scoring threat to the second unit, and then maybe has more in the tank for some fourth quarter lock-down on the other team's hot hand like he was doing during part of Linsanity. If we move Fields to the bench, I think we lose him. </p> <p> </p> <p>Anyway, my boss actually wants me to do some work on a Friday morning , so I'll just end things here, and see what, if any, comment my thoughts might stimulate.</p>