The Basement View

  Basketball in New York will forever be linked in Brooklyn and Madison Square Garden. The Nets will never catch the Knicks in terms of fanfare, ratings, or relevance—but because New York is a basketball city they will always be on the top of mind within the center of the universe. Part of this relationship within the city between both squads right now is the Mikal Bridges trade, but even that isn’t the biggest difference with where the Knicks and Nets are at right now. Wednesday night was a snapshot of the directions each team is headed. The Knicks almost choked away a 19-point lead at home against the struggling Philadelphia 76’ers. They were saved by the heroics of Jalen Brunson yet again. In Brooklyn at the same time, the Nets crumbled against one of the best teams in the NBA despite scoring 76 points in the first half, out shooting Oklahoma City from the three-point line, having more rebounds and assists than the Thunder, and going into the locker room at halftime up 18 points...

  The New York Yankees have started camp for the 2025 season. Not everyone is down in Tampa, that will be February 17 th , but the stories have already started to flood out. Marcus Stroman “showed up late” to camp, even though he technically didn’t, but what the veteran right-hander has done is stir the pot by declaring he won’t pitch in the bullpen and that he is strictly a starting pitcher. However, right now going into the start of Spring Training Stroman is the odd man out of the 5-Man rotation. That doesn’t mean Marcus Stroman won’t start games. The Yankees will likely not go into the start of the 2025 Regular Season fully healthy. That could open a window for Stroman to slide into the rotation. The Yankees have nine games in 11 days to start the season and then 13 games in 14 days following that. With the way the Bombers have managed their starting rotation at the start of each of the last three seasons’, Stroman will find a start or two at some point to help ease the early s...

  Philadelphia beat the odds. They did what many (including myself) thought was impossible. The Eagles made the two-time reigning champions looks pedestrian. Philadelphia handed the Kansas City Chiefs just their third loss since Christmas Day 2023. Think about that for a minute. The Eagles won Super Bowl LIX with Saquon Barkley not being that much of a factor on the ground (22 carries for 57 yards which averages out to 2.28 yards per carry) but was more impactful receiving with six catches for 40 yards, including a joggling 22-yard catch that set up a field goal that pretty much put the game on ice at 27-0 Philadelphia. But Barkley never got into the endzone. Barkley wasn’t the walking highlight reel he has been all season long. And yet Philadelphia still won by 18 points. Jalen Hurts was excellent. Throwing for 221 yards, two passing touchdowns, 72 yards rushing on 11 carries, and a patented “Brotherly Shove” touchdown for the opening score of the game. Hurts was the offense for t...