Thursday Giant Groupers

Good day! I have so very many links for you, and a new kind of animal, too. Let's go.

- Yes, the giant grouper is a fish. We're doing fish links now. I didn't run out of birds or anything. I just felt ready to move on and learn about some different animals, and the new season ahead felt like a good time for a change. Now, I say "fish", but I really mean all non-mammal sea creatures I find interesting. We'll cover a lot of ground or water or whatever. It'll be fun. I know very little about sea creatures.

But to begin with, there is the giant grouper. It's a big, grumpy-looking fish living in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and it's the subject of one of my favorite pieces of writing ever. Ulysses, a moody but charismatic giant grouper near Assumption Island, is a character in both the film and written versions of Jacques Cousteau's The Silent World. My favorite tale of Ulysses actually shows up in a sequel called The Living Sea (beginning on page 156, if you ever find a copy). I can't really do Ulysses justice here, but he was a fantastic creature who put up with a lot of shit from Cousteau and his crew. Here's some video. One note: I think Ulysses was a giant grouper (as opposed to a Malabar grouper or some other Epinephelus species), but I'm not positive. Feel free to correct me.

Anyway, we're doing fish now. Giant groupers. To the links! There are many.

- Congratulations and a sad farewell to Howard Beck and Jared Zwerling, both of whom are leaving the Knicks beat (Beck for the second time, although this feels more final) to join Bleacher Report.

- Beck's final big Knicks column for the Times summarizes what you and I already know about Carmelo Anthony and how contract years work (plus some looming concerns about the Knicks' future, which you may or may not share). The most interesting part, to me, is the suggestion that the Knicks lost some vital guidance with Jason Kidd's retirement. We laugh about "veteran leadership" sometimes, but Kidd's impact on guys like Melo and J.R. Smith has been mentioned a few times over the last year.

- Zwerling already wrote something at B/R about the Knicks' newest trainer, a close friend (and employee) of the Smith family.

- Beno Udrih gives a thumbs-up to the promise of two-point-guard lineups. So do I! Beno!

- Another one for the "interest" pile: Derrick Byars, who I think I wanted the Knicks to draft at some point in my life.

- KnicksNow's first interview with Metta World Peace, who appeared on Key and Peele last night (I'll share video if it goes online).

- Erie BayHawks tryouts are coming to New York next Sunday. GUYS.

- Da Mystery of Shumpboxin.

- Keith "Keith" Schlosser ponders the Knicks' tendency to hand out favors this time of year.

- This is verrrrrry much not a debate I want to have here at a Knicks blog, but you might be interested in reading Rhubarb Slavamedvedenko's VICE piece on drug testing in the context of J.R. Smith's suspension.

- In a consideration of shot creation (might wanna go back and read the original piece), Tom Ziller notes that last year's Knicks (one of the best offenses in the NBA) had a ton of shot-creators.

- The Chinese movie featuring Carmelo Anthony remains a thing.

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- John Schuhmann provides a helpful look (using the Knicks as one example) at the kind of SportVU technology that's now available in all NBA arenas.

- Jim brings back "Father Knickerbocker", this time for those drug-dealer-game-fixing allegations.

- The excellent Curtis Harris tells the tale of the Knicks-Nets rivalry of old, which centered around one Julius Erving.

- Handy guide to all the Knicks' (and everyone else's) trade restrictions, written by Mark Deeks.

- Another sneak peek at SB Nation's NBA season preview: Mike Prada's video of Raymond Felton running off baseline screens, including lots of double screens in the increasingly popular "elevator doors" set.

- Ricky Davis reportedly dunked on Cole Aldrich at that workout. So.

Whew. Have a lovely day.