Please, No....

An open letter to one James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks:

I have been a New York Knicks fan since 1981. In that time, I have seen a lot of people come and a lot of people go. from Hubie Brown to Mike D'Antoni. To Michael Ray Richardson to Carmello Anthony. Bernard King, Rick Pitino, Mark Jackson, Lenny Wilkens John Starks, Pat Reily, Chris Duhon, Stephon Marbury, Patrick Ewing, A'mre Stoutmire, I have seen a lot of player and coaches call Madison Square Garden home.

I have stuck with this team when Bernard King went down with what was at the time called a career ending injury. I watched the Knicks upset the Pistons in the 1983 playoffa before losing to the Celtics. I seen the joy on Dave DeBusschere's face when the Knicks won the number one pick in the 1984 NBA draft, which turned into Patrick Ewing. I seen Ewing lead the Knicks to the NBA Finals, only to lose to Hakeen Olajowon and the Houston Rockets. I have seen the Knicks become the first 8th seed to make the NBA finals, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. I have followed and stuck with this team through the good times and the bad. I have never not wanted to see anyone person return to the Knicks. Heck, I have wondered why Ewing is not coaching the Knicks in some capacity or Mark Jackson as the Head Coach.

There is, I must confess, one person I do NOT want to see return to the Knicks and his name is Isiah Thomas. Here in NY, we refer to Thomas's regin as the Dark Age. This man, single handedly, brought the Knicks to their worst period in their history. He bought in Stephon Marbury, Tim Thomas, Nazir Mohammed, Jerome James, Michael Sweetney and Eddy Curry., at the cost of a first round pick and said getting Curry was like getting a first rounder. Seriously. He fired Lenny Wilkens when Wilkens was making chicken salad out of chicken (censored). He didnt even give Larry Brown a chance to do something with this team. He let Don Cheany coach way too long and then there was that whole Anucha Browne Sanders mess. He gave away money like it was water to players who had no business making the type of money they were making, putting the Knicks in salary cap hell for years thanks to the contracts of Curry, Jamal Crawford, Malik and Jalen Rose, and Steve Francis. Not too mention the wonderful trades for Penny Hardaway, Jerome Williams and Maurice Taylor. As much as he should be complemented for drafting David Lee, I still want to know what in the name of Red Holzman was he thinking drafting Renaldo Balkman. The mere thought of Thomas coming back to be the General Manager of this team just sickens me. How could James Dolan even think about it, after the hell he put the Knicks through. Does he not remember the nightly "Fire Isaih" chants that rang through out the Garden? Does Thomas have picture of Dolan that Dolan doesnt want made public?

Look, I know this hasn't happened and if Dolan is smart, and no one can ever confuse of of that, it will not happen. But, just the mere fact that Thomas is still a New York Knicks consultant, as long as Dolan continues to call Thomas a friend, the threat is always there.

I do not want to see Thomas's smiling mug on t.v. re-intorducing himself to New York fans. I don't want to see him come in and destroy all the hard work that Donnie Walsh has done in his time here. If Dolan decides he must have Thomas back (which is like Leon Hess deciding he must have Rich Kotie coach the Jets), then he will lose a few Knicks fans, including me. I have gone through enough mocking from fans of other teams. I have gone through too much dissapointment ( I am a Jets fan after all) to have to endure Isaih and his garbage once again. If Dolan brings him back, then maybe he deserves Thomas to come in like the wrecking ball that he is.

But don't ask me to watch it, because I wont. Choice is yours Mr. Dolan.

A Very Merry Knicks-mas

The New York Knicks gave their fans a pretty nice Christmas gift this afternoon, beating the Chicago Bulls 103-95 behind dual 20 point games from A'mare Stoudmire and Raymond Felton. As well as the Knicks played offensively, it was their defense down the streach that gave the Knicks a hard fought victory before a national T.V. audience.

Wearing their Christmas greens, The Knicks played a complete game, getting clutch shots and holding Chicago when they had to in the fourth. Stoudmire came up with 2 key defensive plays in the fourth quarter, first blocking Luol Deng and then drew a charge on Carlos Boozer. Wilson Chandler scored 10 of the Knicks final 12 points to put the game away.

A packed Garden was rocking in the fourth quarter as the Knicks pulled away. The past month, The Garden has an energy that I haven't felt since the 90's Knicks team were running over opponents on a nightly basis. Watching the game on T.V, I was wishing I was there. But family time during the holidays is more important. I got more of a charge watching the game with my grandma, who flew in from Puerto Rico than I would have sitting next to a stranger at MSG. The memory of us clapping together when the Knicks won is a memory I will have with me for a long time and that was my real Christmas gift.

-Found this great article by Frank Isola of the Daily News. He writes a short article about some of the people we may have seen at the Garden, but really don't bring much thought to. Take a look:http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2010/12/the-people-that-make-the-garden-bloom

Hope you all had a merry Christmas. I know I did.