Good morning, New York sports fans! Let's take our first look at today's New York-area sports scene.
Melo-Mania: Today, of course, is the day New York Knicks fans have been anticipating for months. Carmelo Anthony makes his debut for the orange and blue tonight at Madison Square Garden against the Milwaukee Bucks. The atmosphere is guaranteed to be electric, and you can be pretty certain that every available celebrity is going to find his or her way into MSG this evening. This is one of those 'can't-miss' sporting events if you are a Knicks fans -- or if you are a celebrity, even a 'B lister,' who wants to be seen.
New Jersey Nets: The Nets cancelled practice Tuesday. Sort of silly to practice when you have no clue who will be on your team for your next game, which is Friday in San Antonio. The Nets are trying to trade Devin Harris, Troy Murphy and probably a few other players before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline.
NHL Action: The New Jersey Devils continued their amazing run, defeating the Dallas Stars, 1-0, for their eighth straight victory. The Devils climbed within nine points of the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, getting a little help from the New York Rangers. The Rangers defeated Carolina, 4-3, in a shootout. Wojtek Wolski scored the game-tying goal in the final 90 seconds and then put home the winner in a shootout, denying Carolina the victory and the second playoff point.
NFL Lockout: Apparently, the NFL and NFLPA are making progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement. One expert said a deal could be done with a week, but I think we should all take a 'wait and see' attitude toward that. Let's hope the sides are finally serious, and are finally finding some common ground, but let's also not get overly optimistic.
NFL Scouting Combine: The NFL Scouting Combine begins Thursday in Indianapolis. Four players from Syracuse and one from Rutgers will be among the 330 athletes trying to impress NFL scouts and general managers.