The Knicks Fix

To all you kids who dream of being a sportswriter, of being the traveling beat writer for your favorite team, I offer you this peek into the reality of this glamorous life, in which you have to take the good with the bad.

Jamal Crawford capped a stunning finish to the Knicks 109-107 win over the Nuggets in Denver. With the two-hour time difference, that made deadline a major challenge. My editors wanted to get the game story in the first edition, so I filed seconds after the Knicks sprinted off the floor in celebration.

I have to admit, it was an exciting ending and a fun one to watch. These aren’t two very good teams, but they went at each other, especially in the second half. Carmello Anthony is a major talent, I’m not breaking any news there. And the Knicks seem to be developing a nice core of hardworking players who seem to have no quit in them. I’m talking about determined players such as David Lee, Quentin Richardson, Nate Robinson and Crawford. I was thinking during the game that the Knicks, at least, have a strong supporting cast. Now what they need is a star-quality player, such as ‘Mello, who could carry the load.

After the game is the usual mad-dash. Down to the locker room, get Isiah. Then into the room to speak with players. Crawford was waiting and, as usual, willing to answer every question. Stephon Marbury? Not as accommodating. Some guys just take a little longer in the shower. Assistant coach Mark Aguirre teased Marbury for being too meticulous with his grooming. Most of the rest of the team was already on the bus and waiting to get to the airport. “Us old guys need to get our sleep,” Aguirre said.

They fly charter. They'll be in their hotel beds in Houston in two hours. We fly commercial. We'll get there the next day.

Stephon finally did emerge and did his thing with the media and then left. Back to the press room to file for the final edition, which was due at 12:30 a.m. New York time.

We wondered if the Knicks would practice today in Houston. We weren’t given a definitive answer last night. So there was the issue of flights. If the Knicks did practice, the early flight was the way to go. If not, we could sleep in.

The Knicks are practicing. So after a light post-game snack, I hit the pillow at midnight. I set a wake-up call for 4:30 a.m. “Would you like a follow-up call at 4:45?” the pleasant hotel operator asked.

Yes. Definitely.

The glamorous life. Still half-asleep and heading to the airport in the dark. Check-in, go through security and call home to say hello to the family. It was almost 8 a.m. in New York, but 6 a.m. in Denver.

A really bad bagel and a bottle of water made for breakfast. And an exit row seat made for nap time. I never bothered to look out the window to see the sun rise. I trust that part of nature.

And now, somehow, I’m in Houston. And somehow I’ll make up for the lost sleep, not to mention the lost hour in time difference between Denver and Houston. But right now there’s a practice to get to. And maybe a quick lunch to grab on the way.

I’ll check back in with basketball-related material later. I just thought I’d share this look into the life of a beat writer.