Dull Knicks Are Not Ready for Prime Time

Under the headline “Knicks Get Pulled Like a Bad Sitcom,” Ira Berkow of the New York Times wrote: “One might think the Knicks are running out of things to be embarrassed about, but Saturday brought about even more distressing news for their pummeled egos.

“The Knicks have been dropped from four national television broadcasts: next Sunday against San Antonio, March 24 at Philadelphia and March 31 at Orlando, all on NBC, and April 2 against Charlotte on TNT....

“Now, you often hear of soap operas or sitcoms being canceled by the networks. But basketball games due to anticipated dullness?”

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Trivia time: Who was USC’s first consensus All-American in basketball?

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Listen up: Phil Rogers in the Chicago Tribune wrote that Hall of Famer Al Kaline is in the Detroit Tiger camp working with young hitters. And he had no trouble getting their attention.

“I’m going to tell you exactly what Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, told me when I was 18 years old: ‘Young man, you get yourself a good pitch. Don’t get yourself out. These pitchers will give you a good pitch to hit if you’re patient.

“‘Then when you get it, hit it hard. If you can do that, you can play in the big leagues.’”

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Talk is cheap: San Francisco Giant relief pitcher Jason Christiansen when asked what Olympic sport he could see himself in: “Hockey. Heck yeah. Definitely a defenseman, right at the net, keeping them out of the crease. I’d just sit on the bench until they wanted somebody knocked out. I’d be more than happy to go in there and fire somebody into the boards.”

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He has a point: New York Met catcher Mike Piazza is a movie buff. He gave a state-of-Hollywood address to the New York Post: “You know what bums me out? There are no more John Wayne movies. There are a bunch of guys who won the medal of honor in Vietnam. All the Vietnam movies and not one is about those guys.

“Show me the story. Don’t always show me the guys who got blown apart.... But show me a hero story over there.”

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Silent treatment: Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan commenting on 39-year-old John Stockton, who is closing in on 15,000 assists: “You hear less about him than anybody in the league. The [lack of] recognition he receives for what he has done amazes me. He’s a superstar to me. But he doesn’t get that kind of respect, and I don’t know why.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1965, Nate Thurmond of the San Francisco Warriors set the NBA record for most rebounds in one quarter with 18 against Baltimore.

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Trivia answer: Jerry Nemer in 1933.

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And finally: As general manager of the youthful Atlanta Hawks, Pete Babcock wants to prevent his young players from getting stale on the road. So he organizes field trips.

For instance, the team recently toured our nation’s missile defense system, NORAD, during a side trip to Colorado Springs, Colo. Earlier trips have included a tour of Ford’s Theater in Washington, where President Lincoln was shot, and a visit to the Texas Book Depository, the site of President Kennedy’s assassination.

“I want my guys to have life experiences that go beyond basketball,” Babcock told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.