Hosted Frank Maniscalco. Guests included Kicking 4 Celiac founder Craig Pinto, followed by Tyrone Grant- a former St. John’s basketball player and creator of Team First Basketball Seminars.

Hosted by Brandon Contes. Topics on the show included St. John’s loss to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament, Knicks recent struggles, and some Mets and Yankees talk with Erik Boland of Newsday.

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Hosted by Frank Maniscalco. Guests included former Major League Baseball player Jim Eisenreich, followed by Dan Martin of  WSJU Radio who spoke about the resurgence of St. John’s basketball.

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In-studio video from the February 20th, 2011 edition of SPORTSTALK1240. Paul Revelant joins host Mike Carver and talks some puck with Joe Yerdon of Pro Hockey Talk. Then the guys touched on Mets and Yankees spring training, some Knicks and St. John’s basketball, and Mike reveals a NASCAR secret.

Paul Revelant joins host Mike Carver and talks some puck with Joe Yerdon of Pro Hockey Talk. Then the guys touched on Mets and Yankees spring training, some Knicks and St. John’s basketball, and Mike reveals a NASCAR secret.

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For the past decade, the once proud New York City basketball landscape, centered around Madison Square Garden, had become embarrassingly dormant. Although New York cannot match the championship pedigrees of the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, the Knicks are sometimes mentioned in the same breath as those franchises because of the many legendary players who have called the Garden home, as well as the electricity and attention that comes with playing in the world’s largest media market. Sadly, in recent years, the focus has been on the talented opponents who have visited New York, and the Knicks’ unsuccessful courtship of free agents. The St. John’s Red Storm, New York City’s most prominent college basketball team, are far removed from their 1980’s glory days of Chris Mullin and Marc Jackson, and have received equally negative publicity as the Knicks lately. Yet within the past year, both teams have received a significant boost in talent, success and stature in New York, and basketball, known as “the city’s game,” is back on the map in the Big Apple.

The Knicks’ run of consistently contending for NBA titles with Patrick Ewing as their centerpiece came to an abrupt end when Ewing was traded in 2000, and the team has not won a playoff series since. The past decade has been filled with losing, scandal, and countless negative headlines, including the bizarre antics of Brooklyn-born superstar Stephon Marbury, the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against team President Isiah Thomas, an ugly 2006 brawl with the Denver Nuggets, and the misguided acquisitions of highly-touted busts such as Eddy Curry, Steve Francis and Jerome James. After Jeff Van Gundy resigned in 2001, the team burned through five unsuccessful head coaches, including future Hall of Famers Larry Brown and Lenny Wilkens. Empty seats were visible throughout the Garden for the first time in decades, and the fans willing to put up with such dreadful basketball were more likely to boo than cheer. Over the past three seasons, team President Donnie Walsh was given the responsibility of gutting the Knicks’ woeful roster to clear salary cap space in preparation for the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Amar’e Stoudemire and several other stars would become free agents. As the team continued to struggle, fans finally began to see a light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the overwhelming belief that LeBron James and at least another star would seize the opportunity to resurrect such a proud franchise and bring the Knicks back to the league’s elite. When James and Wade chose the Miami Heat instead, leaving the Knicks with Stoudemire and fourteen question marks, the years of patience seemed wasted.

Meanwhile, the Knicks co-tenant at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s, saw an almost identical fall from grace. After the departure of stars such as Ron Artest, Lavar Postell and Erick Barkley, who led the team to an Elite Eight in 1999, the Johnnies were unable to land prized recruits from the basketball hotbed that is New York City, and have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000. Their struggles, like the Knicks, were accentuated by scandal: a 2004 incident in which several players were accused of bringing a woman to their hotel room and paying her for sex, resulting in suspensions and expulsions. This incident came months after the firing of coach Mike Jarvis for a series of violations, including a player’s arrest for marijuana possession, another player’s assault of a female student, and illegal payments made to players. Then, just the Knicks organization was infused with optimism in 2010, St. John’s followed suit by hiring head coach Steve Lavin, who gave the program instant credibility with a top national recruiting class.

Still licking their wounds from LeBron’s spurning of them, the Knicks got off to a surprising start in 2010, and are currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. As of this printing, they are the favorites to land Carmelo Anthony, which would pair a superstar with Stoudemire, while Chris Paul would possibly join the duo in 2012. St. John’s has returned to prominence in the Big East Conference with Lavin and a roster of nine seniors, including possible Big East Player of the Year Dwight Hardy. While the Knicks have notched home wins against the Heat, Spurs and Bulls, the Red Storm have electrified the “World’s Most Famous Arena” with upset victories over Georgetown, Duke, Connecticut and Pittsburgh. With the Big East Tournament set to tip off at the Garden on March 8, St. John’s may still have some magic in store as they head to their first NCAA Tournament since 2002. The Knicks’ are a potential dark horse as they enter their first postseason since 2004, especially if they are able to add Anthony. After a decade to forget, the mere prospect of postseason basketball in New York is a welcome addition to the city’s devoted and hungry fan base.

Hosted by Brandon Contes. Topics on the show included an NCAA final four re-cap, St. John’s new basketball coach, the upcoming NHL and NBA playoffs including commentary on the Knicks and Rangers, some recent NFL trades, Tiger Woods and of course the local New York baseball scene.