on the shore of the ultimate sea

Magnetic Resonance bounced around Amare Stoudamire’s reconstructed left knee, tracing the results of last year’s microfracture surgery and showing things were on course in his recovery. If you cruise to the newsstand this month and want to hear the big man’s take on his recovery, pick up this month’s Slam, with Allen Iverson on the cover. In addition to the regular Bball goodness, I got Amare’s take on his injury and the patience required for recovery.
His return is still up in the air, and estimates vary wildly. One tidbit with little regard to dates or places relates to performance: due to increased resistance training during rehab, it’s rumored his vertical could increase by as many as four inches.
What does this mean for the Suns? Well, the timing of the announcement — Amare beginning light jogging in early February — suggests it’ll be at least March before he’s ready to suit up. Their schedule this month is light, with two homestands and the All-Star break. A series of winnable games to put distance between themselves and the Clippers. But faced with the option of easing Amare back into the lineup against mid-grade players in the conference or in March, when key matchups include two clashes with the Spurs and one with the Clips, I’m sure Mike D’Antoni would rather the former.

Even if it takes the hapless Penguins, the Rangers had someone to flex their special teams on last night, scoring two power-play goals and a shorthander courtesy of Steve ‘Rugged and Raw’ Rucchin to beat the Pens 3-1. But just as they’re dialing in, play is tapering down. Continuing strength after the Olympic break when the remaining Flyers games (five, after February) take on pennant race flair is the key.

Well, it looks like the NHL hasn’t changed too much — Darius Kasparaitis is in the news again for his physical play. I’d argue guys are having a tough time adjusting to the pace of the game while still being conscious of a wrecking ball like Kasparaitis on the ice, and that’s what we’ve got in these most recent cases.

So heads up out there, and if you need a refresher on who to watch out for, check this out. Dan McGillis’s bus route is running through Albany, and Scott Stevens retired, but the rest are still prowling.

The Knicks, never a team to let a good game get in the way of some sort of weirdness, are looking at another potentially damaging turn of the strange after Antonio Davis got his wife’s back Wednesday. Here’s the Nets’ take on the situation.

The weakest link in the Giants’ playoff surge? Eli. But as I heard from The Man, the young quarterback can’t single-handedly tank the effort.

It’s not working in N.J. And no one seems able to explain why.

Fordham won the race to replace in the NYC area, after Bob Shoop and Ed Foley weren’t able to muster five wins between them. Each new guy made a splash in his own way: Norries Wilson is the first black Ivy League head coach, and Tom Masella is a Staten Islander and former FDNY done good, back “home” in the metro-area sense. The loser here? Rich Skrosky, the longtime assistant “promoted” to acting Columbia head coach for all of three weeks.

“[Skrosky] is assuming those responsibilities and I know he’ll do a marvelous job,” Murphy said of the Lodi, N.J., native who is in his fifth year at Columbia. “He’s been here, he has some longevity and seniority here, and I feel like he is the person to have the wisdom and experience to be in that position at this time.”

“Longevity,” “seniority,” “wisdom,” “experience,” all important qualities in running a football team for three weeks in the offseason. At least he was undefeated.

Who can slow the mighty Pistons?

Jeff McInnis faces the same sort of situation lots of players around the league do at the beginning of the season. He’s got to adjust to a new role, sort out how he fits into an established team style, and, most importantly, find a poetic way to look at it all.

Serenity Never!