The NY Knicks are not very good at basketball. Blame it on the players, the pressure, the management, Isiah, the weather...I don't care.

The real question is, if the Knicks were in the NCAA, would they win the National Championship? Would they make it to the Final Four?

Would they even be a Division I team?

The last might be a little extreme, but I would be interested in seeing the Vegas line on The Knicks chances to win out of a 64 team bracket.

That said, the Knicks may on a single night be better than every NCAA team but I question their ability to keep up the output for more than 1 or 2 games in a row.

Thoughts?

Isn't anyone else a little curious about a 300 lb Oden?

I think American sports are great. I live for tailgaters, march madness, ESPN classic, draft days, free agency, stadium bobble heads, and my new favorite: the College World Series. But it took experiencing the 2007 Rugby World Cup in England to open my eyes to a whole "new world" or sport.

While professional sports in the states have deathly loyal fan bases, the passion that England has for its national teams is quite an experience. I'm not saying that English national fans are more dedicated, but its just a different energy. There something scarily patriotic and nationalist about cheering for your country (I use this liberally, I'm studying at Oxford right now so for the moment I am English...just go with it). Its an energy and passion that is fairly difficult to articulate. I don't want to go so far to say its like being in a war, but it has some of those sentiments.

The point that I'm trying to make is that I wish we had a more prominent international sport system. I get that it probably is not as profitable, but I think we got a taste of "it" with the last two Soccer World Cups. The reason I bring it up is because I know how much the US loves sports...and by furthering international competitions, I imagine we all can experience such nationalist fervor.

If you have not heard about Alex Rodriguez's agent demanding a staggering $350 million from the Yankees, you must live under a rock or something. But thats neither here nor there.

There is a lot of commotion surrounding this...ITS $350 MILLION. But lets break it down, because i think this number is justified.

1. A-rod is an offensive power house. At one point last season, he was on pace to hit 158 HRs and like 6,000 RBIs. But seriously, the leverage he adds to a line-up is extremely valuable. We all know he is good for over .300, 40 HR, et cetera. Here is what I think most people don't value. As with any strong hitter, there puts pressure on pitchers just knowing that he is coming up in the line-up. Although many won't admit it, it can be daunting in the the late stages of the game to look into the on-deck circle and know if you don't get the out, A-rod is stepping up with the game on the line...unless its the playoffs.

2. A-rod has the potential to be extremely marketable. I'm not his PR person, so I can't explain why he isn't a bigger personality (like LeBron, Tiger, Greg Oden). however, this is going to change as A-rod breaks the HR record. Look at Barry Bonds. The guy is selfish, a PR nightmare, disliked by his teammates, painfully mediocre offensively in the past two season...but he puts fans in the seats. The team that has A-rod as he passes Bonds is going to make silly amount of money as long as they stay moderately competitive a .450 winning percentage. If SF profited off of Bonds (which they did), A-rod should be a walk in the park.

3. A-rod is going to pay a lot of taxes. You know what the tax on $30 million a year is? 50% minimum. For arguments sake, lets say he pull a little deferred compensation to try and save some. What is he doing to do, defer $2 million a year for 50 years? It is not hard to see that as long as A-rod ends up in a state with income tax, he is going to get nailed financially. You can figure out how much but it looks to be about 7.1-8.5% a year for most big markets.

http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/ind_inc.html

The $350 million does not account for endorsements....which he is raking in. On the safe side $100 million until the end of his career. With the economic crunch most state governments are in, he'll be a nice boost (open a new park something).

4. It's Alex Rodriquez.