ME, ME, ME, MEEE....Is This Thing On?

LeBron's James has a real racket going, doesn't he? It's all about "ME" for this phony. Nothing else. Just "ME." Nobody but "ME." This preposterous landfill of ego-driven, obnoxious self promotion, narcissism and overhype has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth (other than Miami) and it's demonstrated quite clearly that LeBron JaMEs is Lady Gaga and A-Rod wrapped up in the New York Post and smothered with well-aged manure. Actually, in light of everything, that sounds almost complimentary.

As much as he and his lame-ass followers want to believe LeBron JaMEs is on a par with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, the truth is, he isn't, never was and has now guaranteed that he never will be. He could have been, but even before this summer he was lagging way behind them as well as a dozen other Hall of Famers at similar stages of their careers. JaMEs' post-season busts have shown that in even with his extraordinary physical talents, he is simply not capable of carrying a team in pressure situations. He doesn't have that it. You can talk all you want about "supporting casts" but when the chips are down, the man takes over and JaMEs ain't that man. He's proven to be strictly a regular season superstar and that just doesn't cut it compared to the greats.

Despite JaMEs' disgusting tease of New York and all the "unnamed sources" blathering for two years that JaMEs was a lock to come to the Apple, there was never a guarantee he'd wind up there. Besides, New York would have eaten him alive because with Knick fans beyond desperate for a winner and the media hanging on his every move, even the pregame warmups would have had a playoff edge. His constant yakking to the refs is a problem that will backfire on him (if it hasn't already) because if he doesn't shut up, the refs won't be there to protect him as they've done with other superstars. His classless reactions to his failures would have brought back memories of Bobby Bonilla. Chicago never had a chance because there was no way in hell that JaMEs was going to have Michael Jordan and his six championships hanging over his bandanna. All of which makes the New Jersey/Brooklyn, Jay-Z rappin', Russian-owned Netskys's acid trip of talking JaMEs into dropping into the swamps look pretty damned ridiculous from the start, which it was. Now that this sordid peep show is finally over the Yankees should threaten JaMEs with a lawsuit if he ever wears a Yankee cap in public again.

Maybe JaMEs secretly knows all this because why else would he slither off to Miami? He certainly won't score the off-the-court mint that New York would have drowned him in, especially now with the terrible publicity he's in for. The fact that he left $30 million on the table in Cleveland is misleading because Florida has no state income tax so he figures to net a lot more there (Imagine how happy Bosh is to switch from Canada's heavy tax burden). Furthermore, the Heat won't even be JaMEs' team; it's Dwyane Wade's team and it will always be Dwyane Wade's team, in the same way the Lakers are Kobe's team, the Bulls were Jordan's team, and the Celtics were Bill Russell's team. The Cavaliers were JaMEs' team, but he didn't have the stones to finish the job even once, and now he doesn't want to take on that load anymore so he's happily separating himself from immortality by taking the path of least resistance while still getting paid the max bucks. And if the Heat do win a title or two, JaMEs' will celebrate and his mentally-challenged followers will proclaim him as just as great as the others. Wonder what Wade will think of that? Because no matter how many titles JaMEs wins with Wade, Wade will always have one more.

JaMEs has said that he wants to be a billionaire, but have you ever heard him say he wanted to be one of the greatest players of all time? In fact, all this nauseating self-promotion allowed LeBron JaMEs to create the possible scenario of winning a championship and still coming out looking like a major-league loser. Winning a World Series erased a lot of the bad memories for Alex Rodriguez, and Reggie Jackson, but nothing will help JaMEs. He will be hated more than Barry Bonds ever was because it's not just the fans who are pissed off. Other players, sports figures, GMs, owners and celebrities are tearing into JaMEs and it only figures to get worse.

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert ripped JaMEs, saying that he quit on the team in the playoffs this year and last year (An assessment virtually impossible to argue against), but then he did something that has often had a profound impact on teams: As part of an open letter to Cleveland, Gilbert placed a curse on JaMEs and Miami!

"...this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio. The self-declared former “King” will be taking the “curse” with him down south. And until he does “right” by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma."

Wow, that's heavy stuff. And bad news for the Heat and JaMEs. Curses like the Red Sox "Bambino" and the Cubs "Billy Goat" have shown to be quite effective, if one tends to believe in those things. However, the one this is most similar to is the Curse of Muldoon. In 1928 the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks had finished third in their division and team owner Major Frederic McLaughlin laid all the blame on coach Pete Muldoon. As the story goes, during a heated argument after the season Muldoon said to McLaughlin, "Fire me, Major, and you'll never finish first. I'll put a curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time." McLaughlin swung the axe anyway and the Blackhawks went nearly 40 years before coming out out on top again in 1967. Jim Coleman, a Toronto sportswriter who first printed the story of the curse in 1943, admitted in 1967 after Chicago broke the hex that he made the story up to break a writer's block he had as a column deadline approached. Still, by then, the Curse of Muldoon had taken on a morbid life of it's own. So be careful, LeBron JaMEs. It's on your head now.

The James/Wade/Bosh plan is also the first case of players collusion in sports. Technically they did nothing wrong, but it still doesn't help anyone but themselves. It doesn't benefit the NBA because with three of the league's biggest names on one team, that's two separate drawing cards removed from every other team's home schedule and it will make it especially tough on the West Coast teams who host the East Coast teams only once a year. David Stern can't be liking that math.

Putting three superstars on the same team has proven to fail more often than not so this all guarantees nothing. Even if they do win, what it will accomplish is cement LeBron JaMEs' legacy as the most amazing example of walking fertilizer in sports history. But he'll have his money and his cheap title ride, so he won't care. More than anything, LeBron JaMEs has a major-league bulls-eye on his back. Everyone outside of Miami, especially the cities he jilted, will have him in their cross-hairs and the way some "fans" are these days, the torrid abuse heading his way in the coming years could be a potentially dangerous problem. And I just can't wait to see how Cleveland receives JaMEs upon his return to the ranch. As this picture shows, it's already begun on the streets. Congratulations, Art Modell, you've finally dropped from the top of Cleveland's (s)hit list.

About the only thing left to occur that will make this a truly unanimous nationwide hate-fest is if Pat Riley comes down from the front office to coach again. He did it last time after the Heat acquired Shaquille O'Neal when he shoved Stan van Gundy out the door just to go for the ride and take credit. Considering the type of people we're dealing with here, it would almost be surprising if it didn't happen.

So party hard, Miami because the storm clouds are already towering over Camp JaMEs and his team of leeches and hangers-on. You watch. When things start to go sour (and they will, you can count on it) and JaMEs shows once again that he can't handle the adversity on or off the court and starts throwing teammates and "team" mates under the bus, they will turn on him and devour him like a swarm of piranhas, the lawsuits and scandals will come out of the woodwork, and his sponsors will drop him faster than you can say, "ME." Why? The same thing happened to two other world-famous, misguided, egomaniacal, over-hyped, out-of-control sports megastars:

Tiger Woods and Mike Tyson.

Yesteryear...and Today

"Today, I don't think half the players know who they're playing that night until they look at the tickets they're leaving at the box office for their friends. They know the latest dance steps, but they don't know the plays. The more money they make, the less they care about it."
~ The late NBA All-Star and head coach Johnny Kerr...

...in 1970.

A 40-Year Nutshell

Glen Sather has been in charge of the New York Rangers since 2000 with nothing much to show for it. He tried bringing in every superstar available before the hard salary cap; witness the 2004 roster with names like Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros, Mark Messier, Pavel Bure, Alexei Kovalev, Petr Nedved, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Chris Simon, and Bobby Holik, among others. It was a Hall of Fame list that proved for the umpteenth time that the only way to build a hockey team is primarily through the draft, something that Sather did when he built the Edmonton Oilers dynasty in the 1980s. When he took over the Oilers in 1979 the first thing he did was to make special arrangement with the NHL and WHA to ensure that an 18-year old Wayne Gretzky would be exempt from the post-merger dispersal draft. It was, to say the least, a very wise move. He then put together a scouting team that over the next two years allowed the Oilers to draft Mark Messier (1979), Glen Anderson, and Jari Kurri (1980) as 3rd and 4th round picks. Along with 1980 first rounder Paul Coffey, those two drafts helped make that team what they became and earned Sather's Hall of Fame induction. However, with the Rangers he hasn't had nearly the same success and it not necessarily his fault.

In hockey, it's all about scouting and talent evaluation at the amateur level and that's what the New York Rangers haven't had since the 1960s when they signed Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, Brad Park, Gilles Villemure, Eddie Giacomin and Rod Gilbert. Most of them were undrafted free agents, indicating that management at the time showed a lot of ability in recognizing talent beyond the draft. Ever since then though, the Rangers, with very few exceptions, have developed a virtual tradition of drafting the wrong guys or in the rare case when they make a good choice they trade them away only to see them become stars eleswhere. This is how it's been for over 40 years no matter who's been in charge. The progess of the franchise, due to the various corporate regimes they've been under, has been shackled by arrogant, know-it-all businessmen who think their money translates into hockey sense. It's the classic case of having more belief in wealth and power than respect for the game. In 1990 the legendary Scotty Bowman was interested in the Rangers' GM position, but when the corporate stuffed suits said that if he took the job he had to go by their rules and recommendations, he told them just what they could do with that idea and he went on to win Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The Rangers had brief success with Neil Smith, culminating in the long-awaited Cup win in 1994 but they soon reverted to the corporate interference and instilled an even bigger big-budget philosophy. It may work for the Yankees, but even the Steinbrenners recognize that they have to have a solid man at the wheel and a good team behind him, and they do with Brian Cashman and his assistants. But the Rangers, even before the Dolan era, have never allowed that essential off-the-ice team to be formed, and it has translated into a perfect mirror image of the franchise on the ice.

Now, having the top pick isn't always the answer (See Alexandre Daigle, Doug Wickenheiser). It's who you pick afterwards over a short time that often has more impact and is the true secret of success. The best proof over the last 40 years are the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Quebec/Colorado, Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, who all built dynasties through brilliant scouting and shrewd drafting.

The following is a rundown of the Rangers top round draft results from 1969 through 2004, with the Rangers' choices (draft round with the overall pick in parentheses), followed by who they could have taken and who drafted them. It's a long list, but any true Ranger fan should consider this required reading:

[Ranger picks are in blue, their biggest misses are in red).

1969

1st round (8th overall) - D Andre "Moose" Dupont (Played seven games for the Rangers before they gave him to St. Louis. Went on to a very good 13-year career and played a solid role with the '74-'75 Stanley Cup champion Flyers, where he was +171 over a three year period).

1st round (12) - RW Pierre Jarry (3 goals, 6 points as a Ranger before being dumped on St. Louis).

Second Round (17th), Philadelphia - C Bobby Clarke (If there was ever a bad omen, this draft is it).

1970

1st round (11th) - RW Norm Gratton (Ranger career: three games, 1 assist; Claimed by Atlanta Flames in 1972 expansion draft).

2nd round (18th), Philadelphia - C Bill Clement.

1971

1st round (10th) - LW Steve Vickers (A good choice but look what follows).

1st round (13th) - D Steve Durbano (a thug whom Marv Albert once called, "a very, very sick man.").

1st round (14th), Boston - RW Terry O'Reilly.

2nd round (20th), Montreal - D Larry Robinson (Hall of Fame defensive backbone of the great Canadiens teams of the l970s. Six-time Cup winner, two-time Norris Trophy winner, won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1978. Was a record +120 on the '76-'77 team that went 60-8-12.).

1972

1st round (10th) - RW Al Blanchard (Never played a game in the NHL).

1st round (15th) - C Bob MacMillan (The Rangers never gave him a shot, let him go, and he had a couple of good years for the Atlanta Flames. Either way, he was not first round material).

2nd round (20th), Philadelphia - D Tom Bladon (Four times over +30, and an important part of the two-time Stanley Cup Champion Flyers).

See how the Flyers are building a foundation of a championship team that the Rangers could have? Oh, but we're just getting started. Read on:

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1973

1st round (14th) - RW Rick Middleton (An outstanding choice who the Rangers two years later foolishly traded to Boston for 32-year old Ken Hodge, who retired the following season. Middleton went on to score 448 goals and 988 points in his career).

1974

1st round (14th) - D Dave Maloney.

2nd round (22nd), NY Islanders - C Bryan Trottier.

2nd round (29th), Buffalo - RW Danny Gare (two-time 50-goal scorer, 354 career goals).

1975

1st round (12th) - C Wayne Dillon.

2nd round (21st), California Seals - C Dennis Maruk (356-522-878 career, 60-76-136 for Washington in 1981-82).

2nd round (24th), Toronto - D Doug Jarvis (The Canadiens acquired him three weeks after the draft and he helped them win four Stanley Cups. Went on to set the NHL record by playing in 964 straight games).

1976

1st round (6th) - RW Don Murdoch.

1st round (7th), St. Louis - C Bernie Federko (369-761-1130).

1st round (9th), Chicago - RW Real Cloutier (429-481-910 with the WHA and NHL)

2nd round (20th), St. Louis - LW Brian Sutter.

1977 (This one really hurts)

1st round (8th) - C Lucien DeBlois.
1st round (10th), Montreal - RW Mark Napier.

1st round (13th) - C Ron Duguay.

1st Round (15th), NY Islanders - RW Mike Bossy.

2nd round (26th) - LW Mike Keating.

2nd round (33rd), NY Islanders - C John Tonelli (Presto, a dynasty is born. As you can clearly see, Trottier, Bossy and Tonelli could have easily been Rangers instead of Islanders).

2nd round (36th), Montreal - D Rod Langway (And another dynasty continues).

1978

No first round pick.

2nd round (26th) - LW Don Maloney (A rare good pick, but it was a weak draft, and Maloney was hardly a Hall of Famer).

Q: How many players can one team miss in one draft?

A: You're about to find out.

1979

1st round (13th) - W Doug Sulliman (8 goals in 63 games as a Ranger).

1st round (14th), Philadelphia - LW Brian Propp (425-579-1004)

1st round (15th), Boston - D Brad McCrimmon (+444 in 1222 games, including +83 in 1986 for Philadelphia).

1st round (20th), Quebec - LW Michel Goulet (548-604-1152).

1st round (21st), Edmonton - D Kevin Lowe.

2nd round (34th) - D Ed Hospodar.

2nd round (35th), Philadelphia - G Pelle Lindbergh (1985 Vezina Trophy winner).

2nd round (37th), Montreal - Mats Naslund (651games, 251-383-634).

3rd round (42nd), Minnesota - C Neil Broten.

3rd round (48th), Edmonton - C Mark Messier.

4th round (66th), Detroit - RW John Ogrodnick (402-425-827).
4th round (69th), Edmonton - F Glenn Anderson (498-601-1099).
4th round (76th) C Pat Conacher.
4th round (83rd), Quebec - Anton Stastny (650 games, 252-384-636).
You'd think at least ONE of these players could have fallen into the Rangers' laps by the oddest of accidents. But noooo....

1980

1st round (14th) - F Jim Malone (Never played a game in the NHL).

1st round (17th), NY Islanders - C Brent Sutter (363-466-829).

1st round (18th), Boston - C Barry Pederson (701games, 238-416-654).
2nd round (35th) - LW Mike Allison (26-38-64 as a rookie, 37-64-101 the next five seasons).

4th round (69th), Edmonton - RW Jari Kurri.

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1981

1st round (9th) - D James Patrick (Not bad, right? But wait...).
1st round (15th), Calgary - D Al MacInnis (One of only five defensemen to get 100 points in a season. Orr, Potvin, Coffey and Leetch are the others).
2nd round (30th), - LW Jan Erixon.
2nd round (40th), Montreal - D Chris Chelios (Have you noticed that Larry Robinson, Rod Langway and Chelios were all 2nd round selections? It's no accident, it's research. That kind of foresight is what made the Montreal Canadiens the New York Yankees of the NHL during the 20th Century).

1982

1st round (15th) - LW Chris Kontos (78 games over three seasons as a Ranger: 12-16-28, -13 (Now, look what happens with the next three picks).
1st round (16th), Buffalo - LW Dave Andreychuk.
1st round (17th), Detroit - LW Murray Craven.
1st round (18th), New Jersey - D Ken Daneyko.
2nd round (36th) - RW Tomas Sandstrom (A very good choice at 36, but it doesn't make up for what they could have had).

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1983
1st round (12th) - C Dave Gagner (Chris Kontos Version 2.0: 80 games over three seasons as a Ranger: 11-16-27, -17. The Rangers dumped him but unlike Kontos, Gagner went on to a good career with 318-410-719. Figures. Meanwhile...)
1st round (19th), Edmonton - D Jeff Beukeboom.
4th round (80th), Edmonton - LW Esa Tikkanen.
5th round (86th), Detroit - LW Petr Klima.
6th round (125th), Philadelphia - RW Rick Tocchet.

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1984

1st round (14th) - D Terry Carkner (Played one year with the Rangers, went 2-13-15 and was included in a deal for John Ogrodick, who had one good season and was gone after three.)
1st round (17th), Washington - D Kevin Hatcher (Notice all the great defensemen the Rangers have missed out on? It's criminal).
2nd round (29th), Montreal - LW Stephane Richer (421-398-819; two-time 50-goal scorer; two Cups with Montreal and New Jersey).

3rd round (51st), Montreal - G Patrick Roy.(Again, the Canadiens continue to demonstrate kind of brilliant amateur scouting the Rangers have lacked, and it paid off with two more Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993.

[Interesting trivia bit: In the 4th round with the 69th pick the LA Kings chose a teenage forward out of Billerica High School in Massachusetts by the name of Tom Glavine. Yes, that Tom Glavine.]

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1985
2nd round (28th) - G Mike Richter (FINALLY, some paydirt! The rest of this draft is irrelevant.

1986
1st round (9th) - D Brian Leetch (See above. These two picks were crucial to the 1994 Stanley Cup winners. That's how it's done, and it's the only time the Rangers have ever done it.).

1987

1st round (10th) - D Jayson More (Played one game for the Rangers, recorded a -1, and was traded the following season for another first round (6th) flop, Dave Archibald, who played 19 games for the Rangers (2-3-5).

1st round (15th), Quebec - C Joe Sakic.

2nd round (31) - LW Daniel Lacroix.

2nd round (33), Montreal - LW John LeClair (The '86 champs further loading up for '93...).

3rd round (44), Montreal - D Mathieu Schneider (...and again).
For the Rangers... Sigh...Back to the drawing board.

1988

No first round pick.

1989

1st round (20th) - Steven Rice (One season, 11 games, 1 goal, 1 assist).
2nd round (22), Quebec - D Adam Foote.

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1990
1st round (13) - D Michael Stewart (Like 1980 1st rounder Jim Malone, Stewart never played a game in the NHL).

1st round (19th), Winnipeg - LW Keith Tkachuk.

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1991
1st round (15th) - RW Alexei Kovalev (The only time during his career he reached his enormous potential was alongside Mario Lemieux, but he was an important part of the Rangers' '94 Stanley Cup champions, so the Rangers did very well here).

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1992
1st round (24) - RW Peter Ferraro (The Rangers spent the next several years touting Peter and his twin brother Chris (4th round, #85) as the next big things. If by "things," they meant "disappointments," they were right on target.
2nd round (40), Vancouver - C Mike Peca.

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1993
1st round (8th) - RW Niklas Sundstrom (Decent in a mediocre draft, but...).
1st round (21st), Montreal - C Saku Koivu
1st round (23rd), NY Islanders - LW Todd Bertuzzi.

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1994
1st round (24th) - G Dan Cloutier.
2nd round (44th), Montreal - G Jose Theodore.
2nd round (51st), New Jersey - Patrik Elias.
3rd round (71st), Quebec, LW Chris Drury.

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1995

No first round pick

2nd round (39th) - RW Christian Dube (Another player management tried to hard-sell who never amounted to anything).

4th round (91st) - C Marc Savard (To be continued)
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1996

1st round (22nd) - D Jeff Brown (Another 1st round pick who was never seen in the NHL).
1st round (24th), Phoenix - C Danny Briere.

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1997

1st round (19th) RW Stefan Cherneski (Yet another wasted first round pick who never made it to the dance. Unacceptable).
1st round (25th), Dallas - LW Brendan Morrow.

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1998
1st round (7th) - C Manny Malhotra (Another swing, another miss, and more better choices ignored).

1st round (10th), Toronto - C Nikolai Antropov.
1st round (12th), Colorado - C Alex Tanguay.
1st round (22nd), Philadelphia - C Simon Gagne.

1st round (27th), New Jersey - C Scott Gomez.
2nd round (29th), San Jose - RW Jonathan Cheechoo.
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1999

1st round - (4th) RW Pavel Brendl.
1st round - (9th) C Jamie Lundmark

Other than Vancouver drafting the Sedin twins at #2 and #3, this was arguably the worst NHL draft field ever, which explains why the Rangers were able to wheel and deal their way into two top ten picks. But leave it to the Rangers to make things worse. They acquired that 9th pick in exchange for Marc Savard, who the Rangers had picked with their 4th rounder (91st) in 1995.

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2000 - No first round pick.

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2001
1st round (10th) - G Dan Blackburn (After just two poor seasons (20-32-4; 3.22GAA), retired due to health reasons.
1st round (15), Vancouver - C R.J. Umberger.
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2002 - No first round pick.
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2003

1st round (12th) - RW Hugh Jesseman (Since dumped, has still yet to see an NHL arena).
1st round (14th), Chicago - D Brent Seabrook.

1st round (17th), New Jersey - C Zach Parise.
1st round (19th), Anaheim - C Ryan Getzlaf.
1st round (23rd), Vancouver - C Ryan Kesler.
1st round (24th), Philadelphia - C Mike Richards.
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2004
1st round (6th) - G Al Montoya (If you draft a goalie with a top ten pick he damn well better be the next coming of Dominik Hasek. Montoya was the next coming of... well, at least Dan Blackburn made the team. Montoya was quietly dealt away and as of now, he and Jesseman remain on track to be the 6th and 7th Ranger first round draft choices who never made it to the NHL. That is the most infuriating aspect of the Rangers' drafting practices. That, and wasting first rounders on goaltenders (Montoya, Blackburn and Cloutier). Most of the best goalies - including Mike Richter, Patrick Roy, Hasek (199th overall) and Henrik Lundqvist (205th overall) - were taken after the first round).
1st round (19th) C Lauri Korpikoski (One season, 68 games, 6-8-14, dealt to Phoenix for Enver Lisin, who put up idenical numbers in 2010 and rode the bench the last three weeks of the season).
1st round (27th), Washington - D Jeff Schultz (a league leading +50 for the Caps in '09-'10).

1st round (29th), Washington - D Mike Green.(The Caps drafted a championship caliber backline way after the Rangers sifted for mud. This draft is at least as much of a reason why the Caps are where they are as Alexander Ovechkin is. It's also why the Rangers are where they are).

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Okay, nobody gets it right all the time, but if the Rangers got at least half-a-dozen right over the last 40 years the results would have been a lot different over the long haul. The proof is Richter and Leetch. Mark Messier was the heart, soul and leader of the '94 Rangers, but even he couldn't have done it without those two. The importance of a good drafting technique is undeniable. In recent years the Rangers have gotten into a different kind of rut by drafting the same kind of second and third line hard-working roll player. Every team needs players like that, but when a franchise loads up their rosters with them, the team as well as their minor league affiliates are guaranteed to be stuck in neutral indefinitely, and that's precisely where the New York Rangers stand. Alexei Cherepanov was a great pick and a stroke of luck for the Rangers that may have changed a lot about the team, but sadly we'll never know what he would have done.

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Over the last several years the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Rockies and New Jersey Devils have been the most successful teams, but the Devils have developed the best overall system in the the business, primarily because they don't have the capital to draw on that Detroit does. Not only does GM Lou Lamoriello have an outstanding scouting department (and is encouraged by ownership to maintain it), but the Devils also draft the right players for their style of play and develop them accordingly. They hire the right coaches and they teach that style in every level of their minor league system so that by the time a player gets to the Devils he knows exactly what he's supposed to do. That's the biggest reason they stay at or near the top every year even with roster turnovers and coaching changes. You can criticize their Trap and Left Wing Lock defenses all you want, but the proverbial bottom line is that it wins games and championships. In addition, players who come up through the Devils organization are among the most disciplined in the game. If there's any drawback it's that when a star player comes to the Devils in a midseason trade, they rarely are able to adapt, as Ilya Kovalchuk can attest to. In spite of that, they've won three Stanley Cups since 1995 and have been among the most consistant and respected organizations in all sports over the last 15 years.

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The Rangers are the polar opposite and with the NHL's hard salary cap locked in, they can no longer just buy the big names, which is good and bad. It's good because they now have little choice but to build a team the right way - through the draft. But it's bad because the Rangers track record is abysmal at best. It's time for a change, real change, not artificial, phony big-name solutions. If the Knicks can bring in Donnie Walsh to fix the mess Isiah Thomas left behind, then the Rangers can do it too, since it's the same ownership. It's not necessarily Sather's fault, either. He had a great scouting system in Edmonton. Why doesn't he have one in New York? Simple: The owners, from Gulf and Western and Paramount all the way to the Dolans, have foolishly maintained a policy of putting tons of money into over-the-hill, big-name superstars instead of the all-important scouting department. In this area the Rangers have been getting what they do (and don't) pay for for four decades running and there's no sign it will change. If Sather is let go, his successor should demand that a serious, legitimate scouting and player development system be put into place before they even think of asking him to take over because no matter how smart that guy is, if he doesn't have the right kind of people working with and for him, he'll wind up on the scrap heap with all the others.
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That said, my message to Mark Messier is: Be careful. Please. Everyone knows how much you want the job and deserve the chance, and Glen Sather is a good example to learn from - as the Edmonton GM, not the Rangers GM. Beware though, that history dictates that the MSG owners only want your name as a selling point (John Ferguson, Phil Esposito, the failed attempt to bring in Scotty Bowman, not to mention Dave DeBusschere and Isiah Thomas for the Knicks). You've given far too much to this franchise to have that indignity thrust upon you.

There are a few bright lights for the Rangers, but not enough of them. Michael Del Zotto looks like a real good one, and Marc Staal has the tools, but he's not developing as fast as expected. When you consider the increasingly shaky standing of Gary Bettman's National Hockey League as a whole, it's quite literally now or never for the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the negative reactions across the board to the Rangers' latest puzzling attempts to prove that they know what they're doing in the draft seems to make "never" look like the best bet.

Mind Over Matter

Whenever the possibility arises that two superstars will be on the same team, people always seem to forget that it's failed more often than not, then after it fails again, they wonder why. The very dominance that have made those superstars the players they are has to be compromised to allow for the other(s). As teammates, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, even without Chris Bosh, won't be getting 30 points and 10 assists a game and that would make them less effective individually. The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-Oscar Roberston combo was a success in Milwaukee in the early '70s and Shaq and Kobe worked in LA as did Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen in Chicago, but those last two might actually be more attributable to Phil Jackson than anything. Julius Erving and Moses Malone won a championship with Philadelphia in 1982-83. But look at the failures: Denver's Carmello Anthony-Allen Iverson flop. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal-Karl Malone-Gary Payton project. The mid '70s saw the 76ers' Julius Erving-George McGinnis-Doug Collins and the Knicks' Bob McAdoo-Spencer Haywood-Walt Frazier-Earl Monroe experiments as well as Denver's David Thompson-Dan Issel-George McGinnis-Charlie Scott mess a few years later. The biggest one of all was the Lakers' celebrated, but ill-fated Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West-Elgin Baylor disappointment of the late '60s. These examples should convince anyone that failure is more likely in those scenarios. James, Wade and Bosh are good friends so who knows? That rare factor could make it work, but clearly, history isn't a good barometer.

But now that the Knicks have cleared out the garage and made room for two maxed-out Lamborghinis, everyone is having wet dreams about a LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh combo moving into Madison Square Garden on July 1st. All the rags have Photoshopped pictures of James in a Knick uniform with headlines blaring that he and Wade are already signed, sealed and delivered. It's feels so good to everyone that it's even been deemed perfectly acceptable for the Knicks to sign and trade David Lee to make it happen.

All I can say is: Be careful what the hell you wish for.

In the starry-eyed version, the Knicks sign both James and Wade to max contracts which means they can't afford to re-sign David Lee to the market value he deserves, so they sign and trade him, hopefully to Toronto for Chris Bosh. That would create an irresistible Big Three that would makes the Celtics' Big Three look like the Nets. I mean, think about it! It makes the fans and the media drool...

...Okay, will you please stop thinking about it and wipe the drool off your chin?

Thank you.

Now, in spite of the tantalizing potential, it would actually be much less risky and better for the Knicks to forget about Bosh, sign Lee and bring in ONE max contract and a second star player like Joe Johnson. Yes, Bosh is one of the top big men in the game and in an ordinary situation he'll give the Knicks some desperately needed defense in the middle along with the offensive power Lee provides, maybe a bit more - but not with James and Wade as his teammates. And if the Knicks do go that way, who plays power forward? "Wilson Chandler will be the power forward!" is the prevailing cry. Is that so? Let's take a closer look. Chandler is listed at 6-8, 235. These days, that's not power forward size. Against the likes of Dwight Howard, Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Bosh and Gasol patrolling the lane, Chandler wouldn't stand a chance. More proof he's not PF material is that he's averaging only 5.3 rebounds in 34.9 minutes a game. That is a very poor ratio for a power forward. He also averages 2.4 threes at a sickly .283 percentage. Since when do you want your power forward roaming beyond the arc? Chandler is a small forward/guard. That's his game.

Now, David Lee is not only a true power forward (who's doing double-duty playing center defensively), but he's now in the process of becoming one of the dominant players at his position. The baggy-eyed critics bemoan his lack of interior defense, but that can easily be handled by a legitimate defensive center. "Bosh IS a center!!" you scream. Yeah, but if he's the center, he won't get away with it with Chandler at PF. Bosh will get doubled and tripled all night long without somebody to take the heat off him inside, and with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the team, he won't see the ball nearly as much as he wants to. Bosh has made it no secret that he wants to be The Man on offense and it's far from a lock that he can adjust to the concept of James and Wade being the 1 and 1A options, let alone adapting to D'Antoni's faced-paced offense. There are too many familiar risks here that have failed miserably in the past. Not worth it.

David Lee, on the other hand, not only knows D'Antoni's system backwards and forwards but he's thriving on it. He's eating everyone up and getting better every week. He has the one thing too many players don't have: Brains. He's a team player, a leader, and with his passing ability he knows he doesn't have to be The Man. Knick fans have been waiting for a player like him to come along for what seems like eons. Why would any sane person want to let him get away? David Lee is the best thing to happen to the Knicks since Patrick Ewing.

With Lee at his natural position at power forward, the Knicks can acquire a center who knows how to play the position without worrying about where his touches are going to come from. One player proved that a defensive center can play effectively in D'Antoni's system. Know who it was? None other than Shaquille O'Neal, of all people. Recall that when the Suns first acquired him, he changed his style and became the third option behind Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash. Stoudemire moved back to his natural position at power forward and he dominated with O'Neal clearing the offensive lane. And to his immense credit, O'Neal adjusted by scoring only when he had to on offensive rebounds and tip-ins, played solid defense, clogged the middle as only he can, blocked shots, rebounded, fired the outlet pass and did it all exceptionally well. If the Suns hadn't fired D'Antoni, they could easily have won a championship with that unit.

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Instead of the ill-advised LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh crash test, if the Knicks went with a true defensive center along with Lee and Danilo Gallinari up front and a backcourt of Joe Johnson and James OR Wade, they'd have a much more balanced lineup with size, speed and unbelievable versatility that could create chaotic matchup nightmares for opponents. As for getting that center: The Knicks could - and most likely will - use Chandler as bait to spear a top ten draft pick this summer. He may not be a power forward, but a 23-year old 6-8 230 lb. swingman who's quickly becoming a solid player has tons of value. That's the kind of chip the Knicks haven't had in years. As the main part of a package of some kind, Chandler could get them the center they need either by trade or an acquired draft pick.

The starry-eyed Double-Max dreamers are too infatuated with the JamesWadeMobile to understand this pack of logic, but fortunately for the Knicks, cooler heads prevail where it's most important: Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni. Unlike their predecessors, these are not stupid people. They know what they're doing. Walsh has built good teams before and his amazing job of carving almost $100 million of fat off the Knicks payroll in less than two years is not going to make him big-name greedy and lead him and the franchise over the brink. He is building the best team he can, not the most talented one. It is, almost literally, mind over matter.

Who's a #$%&! All-Star?

As we approach the 2010 All-Star break it should be noted that the Knicks' All-Star snub David Lee, who led the NBA in double-doubles last year, is currently:

Averaging more points a game than Dwight Howard (19.9 to 17.8).

Averaging almost three rebounds a game more than Amare Stoudemire (11.5 to 8.6), and is also shooting better from the field (55.8 to 55.4) and the line (79.5 to 76.5).

Has a better FG percentage (55.8 to 52.5) and FT percentage (79.5 to 78.7) than Chris Bosh.

Has better numbers in scoring (19.9 to 19.5), rebounding (11.5 to 10.7), shooting (55.8 to 52.7), free throws (79.5 to 75.7) and assists (3.5 to 3.2) than Tim Duncan.

Ditto Carlos Boozer (19.9 to 19.2; 11.5 to 10.8; 55.8 to 54.6; 79.5 to 78.6; 3.5 to 3.2).

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Is averaging more minutes (36.9) than any of them.

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Is a better free throw shooter (79.5) than LeBron James (77.8) and Dwyane Wade (75.5).

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If there's any mindless fanatic left who still believes the Knicks should "upgrade" by trading Lee - who's only 26 and improving at an amazing rate - and signing somebody else, may they live happily ever after...

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...in the LOoNeY BIN.

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