"Well, because I'm a glass-half-full, cockeyed optimist, the good news for the Knicks is that their extreme makeover of Madison Square Garden, which the fans sure helped pay for with a rather epic ticket increase, seems to be a great success. The bad news is that success such as this doesn't extend all the way down to the basketball court.

It is one of the reasons why the Knicks ought to be rooting for the Giants as hard today as any diehard fan. Because a victory over the 49ers at old Candlestick Park means two more weeks of Giants coverage like teams get in the high school paper, and the Knicks get to keep playing dreary basketball covered in the back of the sports section.

But, oh man, if they lose, that becomes a problem for the Knicks, because then there is way too much sports down time between now and pitchers and catchers. At which point there is no good place to put the big-city spotlight except on Mr. Dolan's fancy basketball team."