Every game-day around 4 PM, I (along with many, many others) get an email from the New York Knicks with the probable starting lineup and the day's press-release-style game notes. Oh, and there is usually an easy trivia question included too. These notes essentially ignore everything actually happening with the team and the things that may be at stake in the game that night while recapping the previous loss as if it had been the previous win.
I used to read these Insider emails as I don't think that they always read like Communist Party propaganda, but now I generally skim the email to see if it contains any offers for discounted tickets and then delete it. I was about to do the same today when something in the email made me pause. It was the picture.
As you can see, it's Malik Rose trying to defend Dirk Nowitzki. This is the picture that is going to make me want to watch tonight's game? A past-his-prime, undersized, post-player clearly in over his head (literally and metaphorically) against the prototypical, next-wave NBA big who runs like a swing man and shoots threes like a 2? This is the picture that the crack PR staff at the Garden has chosen to fill me with confidence in the hours before tip-off?
Then again, the use of this picture to promote this game may actually be the most honest thing that this organization has done all season. After all, Malik Rose playing against Dirk Nowitzki actually does convey how this game will likely unfold: It will be a matchup between a superior (read: West), MVP-caliber player (read: title contender) versus the Knicks. And, we know how the Knicks rate at this point. They rate sort of like Malik Rose. Well, except without the hard-working, respected veteran thing going for them.
Perhaps, I'm wrong about this picture. Perhaps this wasn't a slip up at all. Perhaps this image represents that the slick spin machine is still at work in Midtown. Perhaps the Knicks have deteriorated so much that Malik Rose is now the player who will be dangled in front of your face as an enticement to watch the game. I mean, you know he'll at least give you an honest, professional effort while he's on the floor. He will hustle and make the smart play more often than not, which is more than can be said for some of his teammates. So, maybe this picture was chosen with some purpose.
But, probably not. If the authors of the Insider email were actually trying to make me feel like the Knicks had a chance or that the game was worth watching in spite of their chancelessness than they would have thrown up a picture of Nate, who scored 45 the other night. Or, they would have put up a pic of David Lee, who has been playing larger minutes with Randolph (and, now Curry) out of the lineup. Or, they could have used a picture of rookie Wilson Chandler, who has been getting a lot of run the past week.
Yeah, if this email were put together with any sort of purpose or by anyone with any sort of care as to who received it then one of those three probably would have been pictured. Even in the smallest endeavors this organization brings almost no effort to the table. At least they're consistent.
Sort of like Malik Rose, I guess.
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