Forgive me for being out of the loop.

Forgive me for having little in the way of Olympic reflections, aside from a general contempt for those frighteningly tiny female gymnasts and the dirty old men who coach them.

Forgive me for not being as enthusiastic as I should be about last night's thrashing of Greg Maddux.

Forgive the lack of attention I've been paying to what would seem to be timelier sports happenings, for I have spent the past week and a half riveted to a developing basketball situation--or lack thereof.

It started a week ago when the New York Knicks traded Patrick Ewing to the Seattle in a massive, four-team deal that brought Glen Rice to New York. The embattled Hall of Fame center ended 15 years of service to Madison Square Garden crowds amidst talk that the team was better without him.

Rather than get into the maudlin Ew-logy that some may see coming, I'd like to spend a bit of time taking a look at the team that Patrick left behind. The Ewing trade makes little sense from New York's perspective absent an additional move, and Knick management seems curiously content with the current situation.

First, some history.