Joseph Sharpe's New York Knicks fan blog

The Knicks, even though the record may not show it, are a much better team to watch. This is one of the first years in a long while, that I ask what team is the worst in the NBA, and the Knicks are not even in the conversation. Getting rid of Isiah Thomas was such a relief, and talking about relief, how about finally getting rid of the demon known as Stephon Marbury. I don't know what team would want him, but I am just happy that he is off of the Knicks. Anyhow, again, the New York Knicks may not have a great record, but they are turning it around, and I see good things in the future of the Knicks. I also, as I previously blogged about, don't think they should even try to get LeBron James, because I don't think he is going anywhere, and even if he does, we would have to trade away half of our team just to get him. Meanwhile, there are teams dumb enough to get rid of some pretty good players, just to make the salary cap room to go after LeBron. Also, there are some really good free agents comming out the same year that LeBron is comming out, why don't the Knicks use some of that money, and get some good talent that way. I know LeBron is the best player in the NBA, but that does not make a whole team. Even Kobe Bryant, if he has noone to help him, can't do anything.

Continue reading "Maybe Mike D'Antoni is the answer for the New York Knicks"

Living near Philadelphia, every time the Eagles do badly, I always hear some sort of excuse. For the past 8 years, that reason has always seemed to be Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb. I am sick and tired about hearing how Andy Reid needs to be fired, and that Donovan McNabb needs to be traded. For 5 of the last 8 years, the Eagles were one win away from going to the super bowl, and 1 time, getting to go. The reason for the loss to the Cardinals though, had very little to do with either Andy Reid or Donovan McNabb. In fact, if I were to make a list of reasons why the Eagles loss, there would be a lot of reasons I would put in front of Reid/McNabb.

The first reason I can give you, is penalties. The Eagles defense is the NFL's third ranked defense, you are in the middle of the NFC Championship game, you should not have stupid penalties. Yes, I am talking to you  Quintin Demps, who had a roughing the passer penalty to set up Arizona with a Field Goal. I am talking about Asante Samuel having a pass interferance call in the end zone to set up the Cardinals for a Touchdown. Those are 10 points right there, that should have only been 3, the Cardinals were in field goal range when Samuel had the pass interference penalty. Then you have Brodrick Bunkley getting a Roughing the Passer penalty after a Cardinals score...which pretty much automatically makes the Eagles start with the ball on the 20 on their next drive. It wasn't only the defense though, talking about McNabb having that intentional grounding penalty, or Dan Klecko getting an offensive holding penalty that cancelled a 20-yard gain, and made it 2nd and 20. At this point in the season, those dumb penalties will not help you win games. I don't care how talented your team is, you give up dumb penalties...you will lose.

Continue reading "The Real Reasons for the Eagles loss to the Cardinals"

So, another year, another Buffalo Bills season without the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills finished 7-9 for the 3rd straight season. I thought the point of the NFL was to try to constantly improve on your team, not stay the same. I mean, I can understand the New England Patriots not being able to finish 16-0 every season, but 7-9 is terrible. The Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions are now the only 2 teams who have not made the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season (The longest playoff droubt's currently in the NFL). Now, Ralph Wilson Sr. has decided to stick with the current coaching staff, and hope to build on a team, that is just one or two things away from being a contender.

 First of all, the Buffalo Bills need depth. I believe the wide reciever spot is what beat us this year. Josh Reed, although I do like him a lot, is not a number 2 wide reciever...he was a number 3 for the Pittsburgh Steelers before he came to Buffalo, and he should be a number 3 now. We should have worked more on James Hardy during the course of this season. James Hardy is a very skilled wide reciever, who some experts ranked higher than DeSean Jackson. The Philadelphia Eagles had a greatly improved wide reciever core this year, with the help of the young rookie. Also, we should be putting Roscoe Parrish in the slot...I can not think of a linebacker who can keep up with someone as fast as Roscoe is. Our offensive play calling was terrible this year. In the offseason, there was talk of us opening up our offense, letting it go. I didn't see that on the field at all...there were times where it looked like the offense was confused, and it looked like the defense knew exactly what was coming at them. I don't mind keeping head coach Dick Jauron, but maybe we should look offensive coordinator Turk Schonert. I know that it is his first year, so maybe it is better to keep him, but I want to see improvement, not the same 7-9, almost good enough for the playoffs, that Buffalo Bills fans have unfortunately become used to.

Continue reading "Things are beginning to look too familiar for the Buffalo Bills."

Who is the best player, of their individual sport? It is a question commonly asked, and so rarely is there a diffinitive answer. With each sport, there are many players, who throughout the years, have given all of us fans reasons to say that this player or that player is the best. Now, when asking someone, "What is the biggest achievement in sports?", there is only one answer, and that is, win a championship. There are a lot of players, who have the numbers to argue their status as the best player of their sport, but if they don't have a championship to their name, they are automatically taken out of the conversation. Dan Marino posted great numbers as the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, posting many records, but is never considered one of the best NFL players of all time simply because he never won the Super Bowl. So, if not having any rings automatically takes you out of the conversation of best player ever, shouldn't having the most automatically put you in the conversation for the best? As research shows, not only is that not always the case, in fact, it rarely is. In fact, there are only two sports were the top championship getter, is also considered the best that sport had to offer, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. in Nascar tie with 7 championships, and Jack Nicklaus with 18 golf majors. Other than those two sports, all other leading championship players, are rarely heard of. Who is the greatest NFL player of all time? Name all the names that come into your head when asked that question, and there is a lot....Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, etc...now who has the record for most Super Bowl rings? The name is Charles Haley, played from 1986-1999, won 5 Super Bowl rings. The biggest surprise about Charles Haley, is not only does he not get a single vote for best NFL player of all time, he is yet to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Now, he has only been eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame since 2004, but he has not even made the list of top 15 finalists. He is the only player with the most championships not to be inducted into that sports Hall of Fame, and although the names may sound familiar, still none are considered the best.

Continue reading "Winning is not always everything, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL all make that clear"

Lately, it has been so hard to think of the New York Knicks, and think of the great teams of the past. It is hard to see the history behind such a great franchise. A franchise that has won 2 NBA championships, both in the 1969-1970 season and 1972-1973 season, and a franchise who has also made the playoffs 38 times, last time being in the 2003-2004 season, in their 62 year history . If you have only recently became a NBA fan, you are seeing a Knicks team, that looks more like an expansion team, then a great franchise. The Knicks have not had a winning season since the 2000-2001 season, and for most of this decade, it looks as though it has gotten worse and worse from season to season. However, with the addition of head coach Mike D'Antoni, the New York Knicks, are actually a fun team to watch again. Their record, 11-16, does not look as a team on the rise, but the New York Knicks have not had this "good" of a record since the 2003-2004 season. Not only that, but they are playing close games, other than to the Boston Celtics who seem to be running away from everyone. I am not saying that the Knicks are the Knicks of old, but maybe this is the start of their turn around. A turn around that Knicks fans have been waiting for. Now, something that would help the Knicks progress greatly, is if they can grab LeBron James, when he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2010 season, but the Knicks should not rely on that. Right now, it seems as though every team is giving away players, just so they will have enough room in the salary cap for the superstar Lebron James. So why would Lebron pick the Knicks? How many rings does Lebron have in his early career? Having Lebron James does not automatically make you a winner, what the Knicks need is to continue rebuilding a team...not rebuild just for one player, no matter how good that player is. The New York Knickerbockers are a proud franchise, and what happens if the ownership gets the team ready for a player, that might not even go to the team. Should the fans suffer through another decade of miserable play, just on a chance? Fans in New York may say yes now, but what will they be saying after 6 more losing seasons, and no Lebron James?

Continue reading "New York Knicks making progress, shouldn't throw it away for Lebron James"

In the NFL, stability is key, if you look at all the great team, they all have one thing in common, STABILITY. In the past decade, the Buffalo Bills have had 4 head coaches, which gives us an average of 2 1/2 years per coach. Now, compare that to the most recent dynasty of the NFL, the New England Patriots. The Patriots have only had 2 head coaches in the past 10 years. Most of you fans are probably saying that it is easy to keep your job, if you are winning, but as the Bills shown, it is not always wins that lets you keep your job.

 After coaching legend, Marv Levy, left the Bills, at the end of the 1997 season, the Buffalo Bills handed the coaching job over to Wade Phillips. Most Bills fans remember Wade Phillips for his starting Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie, who lead us to a 10-5 record in 1999, however, what most Bills fans would not be able to tell you, is that Mr. Phillips, in 3 years, went 29-19. In his tenure with the Buffalo Bills, the Bills did not have a single losing season, including the Bills last playoff appearence, and yet, after 3 years with the team, Ralph Wilson decided to let Mr. Phillips go. In comparison, in Bill Belichick's first 3 years with the Patriots, the team went 25-23, although he did lead the Pats to a superbowl. Imagine how different the NFL would have been as a whole, if the Patriots would have let go of Belichick after he failed to make the playoffs in his 3rd year as head coach. Also, Wade's record after 3 seasons, was a half-game better than Bills great Marv Levy, who went 28-19 in his first 3 seasons (In 1987, players went on a 24-day strike making the season only 15 games, instead of the full 16). Ever since this time, the Buffalo Bills have hired 3 head coaches, and only once have finished above .500, 9-7 in 2004 under Mike Mularkey, and have not once been in the playoffs.

Continue reading "Influence of Good Coaches (Bills vs. Pats)"