...would get approached at a bus stop to film a comedy skit about the economy and happily oblige.

I have a new favorite TV show theme song. Tip of the hat to the venerable Lang Whitaker.

Update: Episode two, y'all.

Let me see if I can explain this.

Marc Berman, NY Post rebel and blogger extraordinaire, said before Friday's Knicks-Wolves matchup that if New York lost to Minnesota, he would not blog until the New Year. Internet consumers everywhere lost sleep when the Knicks did, indeed, fall apart against the T-Wolves and we were denied our daily dose of bald-headed vitriol. But have no fear, he's got an able sub:

I really enjoyed writing this Knicks blog for Berman before and I have a little extra time on my hands now, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you about everything that's been going on.

I once heard it said that experience is not what happens to a man, experience is what a man does with what happens to him. That's real science, so I'll drop that one again. Experience is not what happens to a man, experience is what a man does with what happens to him.

Yes. Click the link and keep reading. (Tip of the hat to Can't Stop the Bleeding. Nice catch.)

From the Post:

While banished from the Knicks, Stephon Marbury was pursued relentlessly by a pair of alleged Swiss bankers claiming to have connections to Real Madrid. Marbury, after discovering their intricate plot was a hoax, was considering turning over information to law-enforcement officials about the contact.

So some guys pretended to be Real Madrid share-holders to try and woo Marbury overseas? Mutoni's conspiracy theory is that Walsh was behind the scenes. I like to imagine that it was Patrick Ewing Jr., yearning for a roster spot, making phone calls from unlisted numbers in a German accent and offering Marbury lucrative foreign deals. Another mixed-up day in the weird world of Stephon Marbury. Props to him, by the way, for sniffing out the hoax. Maybe he'll follow up by opting out of his contract and vowing grisly revenge upon his phony suitors.

Yeahhhhhhh.

Oh, and he'll change his name to "Vin Diesel". Cause he thinks that's cool.

The long-awaited and hopefully imminent Zach Randolph deal remains in the background, but I thought I'd turn our attention today to more interesting matters. Tommy Craggs' new piece on Stephon Marbury at Deadspin (quoted in Barnes' Fanshot) is an instant classic in the field of Marbology. Put simply it is a conversation between Marbury, a Christian devout enough to check into hotels under the name JCIMS (take a guess) and an atheist. Given Steph's penchant for vagrant, mystical conversation, one can imagine the exchange that ensues. If you haven't read it, I urge you to check it out. A sample:

"If your mind can transform thoughts to create rockets to go into space, who is to say if an Ark was built? Like, if you could build spaceships to go from off this ground, to go up into the sky, and go land on the moon — you're saying, these things can't happen? So everything gets challenged, you understand what I'm saying?"

I did not, but he was rolling now.

"So at that time, they probably would say, 'Nobody can make a rocket to go up into space.' You know what I'm saying? Who's gonna build it, how they gonna built it to go all the way up?"

The funny thing is that you can sort of see what he's getting at. This most recent episode in the wild journey of Marbury's Knick career has convinced me that I should isolate posts on the topic into a category called "Marbology", not unlike similar banks of another player's teachings. Oh, that and I still need to do the Jerome James Scrubdown post.

From Marc Berman's blog, Stephon Marbury has returned to discussing a possible future in Italy, and now he's getting specific.

"People just didn't understand and didn't know (last summer)," said Marbury, who will be in Coney Island Sunday when his summer kids basketball league holds its Finals at Surfside Gardens. "When I made comments about playing overseas people took it out of perspective, thought I was talking about leaving while still playing for the Knicks. It was turned into something negative about going to Italy. Now it seems it's OK.

"Why wouldn't you want to play basketball, still make money and live in a place that's beautiful," Marbury added. "Milan is definitely where I want to play basketball at. That's where I fell in love with Italy."

Wow. That's an almost startling degree of logic coming from a man who once called Zach Randolph a "lefty southpaw". The guy's right. After all the grief we gave him last summer, he's looking like a regular soothsayer this time around. Although I  do think it's time for Marbury to be out the door, I desperately wish for him to latch on somewhere else. Steph, above all else, loves basketball, and deserves to keep playing. More power to him if he gets to take his game overseas and delight the crowds in Italy.

Today's must-see comes from yesterday. It's the results of Ball Don't Lie's Starbury Tattoo-Off. Readers used their photoshop skills to express how they would have artistically occupied the space recently inhabited by the Starbury "3". You really must go see the full gallery, but I think this one's the best. It's called "Headspin" by yoniekal.

Simple, silly, but strangely fitting. I love it. Once again, go see the rest. You won't regret it.

In other news, a change of plans means I will not be able to watch even close to the entirety of today's 4 p.m. summer league game against the SummerBobcats. I'll put up a thread later for those who do watch, and anyone's free to do a recap, but it isn't mandatory. With Gallinari out, I don't know what more we're gonna see that we haven't seen in the previous three games (famous last words before the infamous Zhang Songtao 70 point, 40 rebound outburst). In the meantime, enjoy the multiple iterations of Steph's decorated dome. Peace.

Seriously. We rip him for his antics, his attitude, and his historically spotty play, but what would we be without Stephon Marbury? We're a bunch of critics and quibblers, thirsty for anything to talk about. Who in all of sports is more bloggable than our very own light bulb-headed point guard? In case you haven't heard about the most recent chapter in the opus that is Steph's public life, dig:

Stephon Marbury bounded off the Knicks team bus at Vegas' Valley High last night - a new tattoo inscribed on his left temple. The "3" logo found on his Starbury sneaker and apparel line is now a permanent part of his bald head.

Good thing the permanent tattoo ink wasn't used on his Knick jersey.

All of the appropriate photoshopping was done long before I got home to find this story, but anyone who finds actual photo evidence gets major P&T points. Even more points go to the brave user who tattoos "P&T" onto his or her head. However welcome Steph's departure would be on the court and in the locker room, we'll surely be missing his unrelenting knack for the unusual if and when he leaves town. Long live Bizarrebury.

Today's press conference introduced new Head Coach Mike D'Antoni to the New York media and fans. The general upshot was a little different from that expressed by Donnie Walsh during his own introduction. Both men stressed preparation for the playoffs and putting a fun, competitive product on the floor. D'Antoni insisted that he didn't come to "start from zero", and was ready to win with the roster he's been given. Walsh stressed that the Knicks were trying to become "competitive as quickly as possible", which is nice, but no mention was made of rebuilding or getting under the cap. Granted, saying "well we're just gonna suck for a couple years, but then hopefully get LeBron" isn't really appropriate at a press conference. Overall, Walsh and D'Antoni seem to have good rapport, and we can be confident that both are ready to devote themselves to bettering this team. At this point, that's all we can ask for.

Meanwhile, Stephon Marbury was unexpectedly but unquestionably the star of the show. After the presser,  Q and Steph (our former Suns) were asked about the hiring and next season (as was Nate, but I missed that one). Q was fairly uninteresting. Stephon was quite the opposite (via Game On!) :

Deranged grin: check. Miami Vice outfit: check. Inexplicably sweat-drenched skin: check. "Running in the mountains" with his brother in L.A: check. We missed you, Steph.