Knickphobia

Numbers never scare me. 13 yeah right, 911 and I’m sleepy. Fico under 500, in your dreams,  and Jim Carey in 23  went straight to video.  What does scare me, what keeps me up at night in deep chilling sweats are the numbers 122203.122203 are the numbers that should run through every New York Knick fan's head at night.  A nightmare people could use into scaring kids to behave. The numbers will sober those with delusions and awaken the sleeping giants. 

For on 12/22/03 the New York Knicks hired Isaiah Thomas as president of team operations.  This would be the watershed moment that we "those formally of the proud Knicks nation" will look at with scorn and distain. Since then the once heralded New York Knicks have transformed into the laughing stock of basketball.  Forget Reggie Miller scoring 8 points in 18.7 seconds in game 1 of the 95 playoffs; forget Alonzo Mourning playing the role of Mr. Basketball Sweat Wiper Upper with Jeff Van Gundy.  The New York Kicks have become an embarrassment to the city and its fans.  

The record speaks for itself. New York's win loss record over the last years are as follows 2004-2005: 33-49, 2005-2006: 23-59, 2006-2007: 33-49, 2007-2008: 19-47.  Isaiah hires future hall of fame coach Larry Brown and fires him a year later,Isaiah recruits a team full of guards with no chemistry. The worst defeat in franchise history was suffered against the Boston Celtics earlier this year (59-104).  An 11.6 million dollar sexual harassment case that was won by Anucha Browne Sanders against Isaiah and the Knicks took place.  "During the trial, testimony by witnesses made the inner workings of the Garden appear dysfunctional, hostile and lewd " (New York Times 10/2/07). 

In a city that personifies a New York minute, where the public demands success, expects success, and has always had success, Jim Dolan has shown the patience of Job with Isaiah. Torre doesn't win a championship and he's essentially fired, Coughlin goes to the playoffs three straight years and the public wants him out, Randolph almost got ran out of town for blowing a 7 game lead with 14 to go,  but somehow, someway on the world’s biggest stage Isaiah has avoided getting fired. There's something rotten in the state of Denmark folks and it has the numbers 122203.