Time to call it quits

Shaq has been one of my favorite athletes since he burst on the scene with Orlando years ago. As much as it pains me to say this, it's time for the big man to retire.

The Cavs lost to the lowly Bobcats tonight, dropping their record to 6-4 with O'Neal in the lineup. Cleveland is 5-1 without Shaq. The Big Aristotle is a solid 50 lbs. overweight, slow and a shell of his former self as a player.

Bringing Shaq in was probably Cleveland's attempt to show LeBron it's committed to providing him with a supporting cast good enough to win a title. Unfortunately, Shaq isn't really any better than the big men the Cavs had last year.

So, Big Luggage, I'm pleading with you - don't hang on for years after your prime and force us to watch you bumble around clumsily under the basket. We've seen too many elite athletes play until they're so ineffective they have to retire because nobody wants them.

Please, Wilt Chamberneezy, don't let this be you.

The Knicks are really, really, really, really, really bad

New season, same pathetic play. The Knicks fell to 0-2 tonight with a road loss against the dynasty known as the Charlotte Bobcats.

The game got off to a rousing start, with Mike D'Antoni's crew playing an inspired first quarter which ended with the Knicks on the short end of a 32-13 score.

Meaty.

The Knicks did show some fight though, giving their fans hope by coming all the way back to push the game into double overtime, when of course, they lost.

The Sports Illustrated basketball preview quoted one NBA scout as saying the Knicks roster resembled an expansion team. Looks like it.

It's amazing to me that there are teams in New York run more poorly than the Mets. But not even the Mets could have crushed the morale of a devoted fan base in a city that loves basketball. No, Jim Dolan has a unique talent in that area.

D' Antoni and Donnie Walsh might be on the way to slowly bringing the team out of the hole it's occupied in recent years. But the Knicks have a lot of digging left to do.