We wanted to wait a full month...

...But John Hollinger's preview of the New York Knicks is just too good to be true. My Lord this is too much fun to read. We here at VFLOAB are here to give you the best:

"More weirdness enveloped the team as the season went on. Steve Francis was ready to be bought out with an alleged bad knee, one that magically healed once Jamal Crawford was pronounced out for the season."

Honestly, we just like the idea of Steve Francis acting all pissy and faking injury, then hearing the news about Crawford, and suddenly he's running full speed throwing up threes from mid-court.

"Channing Frye regressed badly from a promising rookie season while his backup, David Lee, exploded onto the scene to be the Knicks' most effective player; yet Thomas never appeared to consider changing the lineup."

Classic Isiah there - you know what, I'll sit the better player.

"And behind the scenes, a sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and the Knicks caused continued embarrassment that lasted through the offseason."

This case led me to asking my girlfriend one night if she ever worked for MSG. Thankfully the answer was no. Good times.

"But the one that took the cake was the contract extension team owner James Dolan proudly announced for Thomas -- a reward for leading the Knicks to a 28-35 record through 63 games. Apparently Dolan was beaming because New York momentarily had possession of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race; the fact that the Knicks were seven games under .500 with the league's highest payroll didn't appear to be on his radar."

For a second, imagine you root for the Knicks AND Notre Dame? You're locked into Isiah and Charlie Weis for at least three more years!

"Then there were the early-season buyouts for Maurice Taylor and Jalen Rose. Though neither player had value on the court, their expiring contracts could have been used to acquire Allen Iverson or Pau Gasol later in the year. Instead they were set free early on for reasons that never have been made clear."

What's great about the Rose deal is that this only gets better!

"So in the end Thomas never used Rose, after trading for him in the middle of 2005-06 and getting a first-round pick from the Raptors. Factoring in Rose's salary and the luxury tax, Thomas paid close to $30 million for the 21st pick in the first round; the going rate for picks in that range is $3 million. Leave it to the Knicks to pay 10 times the market value for an asset."

That's right, by buying out Rose a year ago, the Knicks paid $30 million dollars for the 21st pick in the draft AND weren't able to trade for two players who might actually have helped them! And even more frustrating is that we all missed the chance to see Marberry, Francis, AND Iverson on the same team and on the court at the same time (and let's not forget the black hole that his Eddy Curry). I just shed a tear thinking about that missed oppertunity.

"However, New York's wagon is still too full. By rule the Knicks can only keep 15 players, but they have 17 guaranteed contracts."

Seriously, how is this even possible? What in the world is Isiah doing - let alone thinking. Does he think that tomorrow David Stern is going to change the rules and allow all NBA teams not only to carry 17 guys but also play six players at the same time?

"Pardon me while I digress, but this [player's strengths replicate each other] is a major problem up and down the Knicks' roster. Isiah's eye for talent only seems to include three types of players -- shoot-first guards who don't defend, athletic small forwards who can't shoot, and huge, lumbering post players."

Ha! No one has better explained Isiah's reasoning better. I love what Hollinger wrote there - classic. Shoot first guards, athletic players who can't shoot, and post players who can't defend... ha.

Hollinger raps up the piece, sadly, in not nearly as an entertaining fasion, but hey, can't beat the beginning of this review of the Knicks. And with that, we can't wait for the NBA season.

NFL Europe Is Done

After 16 years, the NFL Europe is done. This should not come to much of a surprising seeing that he league was only able to even some what catch on in only one country: Germany.

No matter how the NFL wants to spin it this is a bad thing for the NFL and American football.

Sure, the NFL sold out the Giants/Dolphins game in about five seconds, but that's one game. In many ways it's just like when Manchester United, Real Madrid, and others came across the Atlantic for the first time a few years ago and sold out football stadiums here in the States. At first it was great fun... what does 'real' soccer look like? But in the four or five years since these teams first started coming over, it's lost a lot of it's luster. If the NFL is still selling out games in five seconds a five years from now, then maybe they have something. But I'm not holding my breath.

The NFL is not nearly as strong as everyone loves to claim they are. In this, for better or worse, globalizing world, of the four major sports here in the States (and that's a stretch since the NHL probably receives lower ratings than soccer at this point) the NFL is least prepared for success. 99% of the players in the league are Americans (and quick, name a non-kicker who isn't from the USA?). There is nothing even close resembling a competitive football league in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, baseball is played competitively in Japan, while Latin American countries inject new and fantastic players every year. The hockey is played at an extremely high level in Europe. And the basketball is quickly becoming in the 21st century to the world what soccer was in 20th century. If the NBA can ever get it's act together, the sky is the limit.

Assuming that globalization continues at it's rapid pace, the NBA is actually in the best shape over the next fifty years. Hopefully one of these years a competitive, international competition or tournament can be created both at the club and national level. This will require some sort of agreement on the rules of the game (mainly, they can't be playing with a bigger lane in Europe and a smaller rectangle here in the States, some sort of standard must be set).

No, the NFL won't fold or suddenly become anything other than the #1 sport in the US. It is solidly the biggest sport here in the US. But look at it this way, let's say you could invest in one of the five leagues here in the States (MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS, and NHL). Who would you invest in?

If you are risk adverse, put your money in the NFL. But future earnings appear only to be consistent sort of like bonds, consistent returns, but not a very high yield. Meanwhile both MLB and the NBA seem poised to capture more of this revenue.

Watching the NBA Draft last night, I couldn't help see the obvious difference between the NFL Draft and the NBA Draft - TV. The NFL runs their Draft like a business meeting - TV is at their mercy. If a team is ready to pick, they're not going to wait for ESPN; ESPN has to react to the NFL. The NBA Draft? The thing reeks of 'for TV' and has ESPN's fingerprints all over the place. Five minutes between picks created this near PTI Draft pick like situation. You knew David Stern was in the back room waiting for ESPN to do all the interviews and analysis between pick. It almost felt staged. Which is sort of a shame, because the five minutes between picks was actually enjoyable. I wonder if arrogant front offices would be able to exist with five minutes between first round picks. I mean, what do those teams do with all that time as it is? Shouldn't they pretty much know who their going to take? If anything, should teams have more time later in the draft when things are less predictable? None the less, just something that I noticed.