Maria - power and grace Photo by Mark Dadswell-Getty	Ana - grace and more grace Photo-Rick Stevens - AP

It's that time of year again, that interminable pause between the Division Championship Games and the Super Bowl.  That week where we learn who plays dirty, who would've been better if certain players hadn't been present all year, who played on previous Super Bowl winners and losers.  We get the initial point spread, of course, and everything but real live injury reports.  So I turn off to football for several days each year at this time, and concentrate on better things, which translates to anything that moves.  I usually start paying a bit of attention to college basketball, tune in to the tennis action and see what's happening with the Knicks and the Nets.  Of course, there's hockey but I never really have warmed up (or cooled off) to ice hockey.  Football will be fun again by Wednesday maybe.

At the Australian Open, Maria Sharapova was dazzling, both in power and athleticism.  She ripped through every opponent out there, which meant Justine Henin and Jelena Jancovic as things heated up.  She was devastating, her opponents seemingly had no chance.  Then she was matched up against another 20-year old who had only been wow-ing most of a continent for a couple of weeks, the beautiful Ana Ivanovic from Serbia.  Ironic that a final in a professional sport could come down to two individuals who could have ended up on Broadway.

Although Ana put up the good fight, there was no touching Maria, she was just too strong and too fast and too tall and too mean.  And when she was done, she proved that she could be almost be too gracious.  As she received her Championship award, she waxed poetic upon her text message from Billie Jean King and her love for the Serbian fans, was philosophical about her transformation from 2007 to 2008. And, of course, she was beautiful all the way.

She’s now won Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian.  That leaves only the French Open.  She may never get that one, as it’s anything but her natural surface, but, with this vibrant and imaginative personality, I wouldn’t bet against her.  She just seems to try harder than anyone else.  Despite all the money and fame, she has remained the Maria of old for as long as she’s been in the spotlight.  And that’s pretty darned good.

As good as The Australian Open was, there were also some interesting things happening with Seton Hall, the Nets and the Knicks.  Seton Hall has been proving it belongs in the Big East.  The Nets are proving that you can sign a guy for less, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be the winner in the negotiation.  See Vince Carter.  The Knicks are showing that they can play creditable basketball, but whether the results are despite of or because of its management , it is really hard to tell.

The Knicks seem to finally be getting it.  Maybe it took the fall of Stephon Marbury to finally make it happen.  It’s truly been a phenomenon observable in New York, the disappearance of a star and the concurrent emergence of a team.  It’s certainly been true with Marbury and may also be true for Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber and the Giants.  The G-Men have never been better.  Manning has never been more commanding.  There have been some reports that Shockey may have been a distraction and may have detracted from Eli’s position as the leader of the huddle.  Whether you believe it or not, I personally do NOT believe in coincidence.  I’d trade Shockey next year.  He’s become extraneous for the Giants.  He’d no doubt benefit another team though.  And maybe we’d get a third-rounder back.

The Nets have been just pathetic.  They’ve lost eight straight, I think it is.  Kidd wanted to play elsewhere but we signed him, Carter wanted more money but stayed, and Jefferson can’t save the day all by himself.  So that’s what we have to look forward to.  Good luck, Lawrence Frank.  How do you spell “Prima Donna”?

And speaking of prima donnas, how about Daniela Hantuchova’s huffy exit from her semifinal loss to Ivanovic?  We are to understand she was upset about the squeaking of Ana’s sneakers while Daniela was serving?  I think it’s high time Daniela got out of the tennis game, to take her act elsewhere.  There’re just too many sane tennis players around, Daniela.  Take that bony ass on the road!

Oh, and then there were the Williams sisters, the nice older one and the silly squat one.  Once again, they were interesting in defeat but only one was even halfway gracious in defeat.  With the Williams sisters, it’s always about them.  What it was that they did to lose rather than what their opponent did to win.  God, it gets old.  Retirement beckons, sisters!

If I could just get by this weekend, I’ll be fine.  There should be enough basketball to keep me going until then.  I can’t possibly listen to any more drivel from the football players, never mind the coaches.  Bellichick and Coughlin, what a personality-fest this is gonna be…

I’ll tell you one thing though.  I can almost feel the tide beginning to turn.  The New York teams are ascending, the New England teams seemingly on the decline.  The Giants lost to Dallas, then beat them in the second game.  They lost to Green Bay, but beat them in the rubber match.

And, let’s see, yes, the Pats beat them, but not by much and not that convincingly.  And now they’ll be meeting again.  It’ll be mostly older guys against mostly newer guys.  And a hobbling (or lying) quarterback against a newly-confident gunslinger.  Yeah, I think I could wait another few days….