If you thought Carmelo Anthony’s imminent return to the New York Knicks lineup was going to put an end to “Linsanity”, just wait until J.R. Smith takes the floor at MSG.

The New York Post is reporting that the Knicks are going to sign the free-agent guard, who is almost as bad as Anthony when it comes to stopping an offense dead in its tracks. Smith never took a shot he didn’t like, which makes him even worse than Anthony, who at least hits some of those terrible tosses.

Funny enough, Smith and Anthony played together in Denver, with Smith coming off the bench in place of Melo most nights. It’s no wonder these two are good buddies, they both subscribe to the same style of me-first basketball.

Don’t expect Jeremy Lin to act as anything more than a go-between when either Anthony or Smith are on the wing.

This is the end of Linsanity as we know it…

I’m all for superstition when it comes to sports. Anything you think will help win the game probably can - and will.

And with that comes good karma. I’m not a tree hugger, but I do enjoy the occasional cup of herbal tea and I do believe in keeping a positive energy heading into big events like the Super Bowl.

And neither the Patriots nor the Giants have done that in the hours leading up to Super Bowl XLVI.

It started last night, when the Giants’ website accidentally posted a celebratory page, congratulating themselves on a win over the Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl – 24 hours before the game even started.

Oops!

Then in the early hours of Super Sunday, news spread that New England had cut receiver Tiquan Underwood the night before the Big Game to make room for defensive lineman Alex Silvestro from the practice squad.

Harsh.

You may or may not buy into the case for bad karma, but which team has angered the football gods more with their moves – the Giants' premature celebration or the Pats' cutthroat cut?

With the NBA getting a makeover during the lockout, players have followed suit.

A couple guys are trying out new looks this preseason – for better or worse – including Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion and New Orleans Hornets newly-acquired center Chris Kaman.

Kaman looks like a ginger lumberjack with his beard-shaved head combo while Marion is rocking the Demolition Man like Rodman in the 90s.

I’ll let you be the judge on which new look is the best...

As a kid watching professional wrestling, there were only a handful of PPV events that defined the landscape in the WWF – now WWE.

You had, of course, Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, Royal Rumble, and my favorite, Survivor Series.

While all the other events were loaded with single and tag-team matches (and a 30-man battle royal at the Royal Rumble), Survivor Series was a unique card made up of team matches, pitting the best babyfaces (good guys) versus the best heels (bad guys).

The WWE has kept this format rolling and will uncork another Survivor Series this Sunday. I don’t follow wrestling that closely anymore, and don’t know who half the guys are, but I still enjoy the team vs. team format.

But what if other sports (real sports) started their own Survivor Series showdown, pitting the best good guys against the best bad guys? Here’s how it would shake down for each league:

NFL

Team Rivers would take an early lead, knocking out Witten, Allen and Peterson, thanks to some underhanded tactics from Suh. But, Rodgers needs just a single receiver, and he and Fitzgerald clean house, before Rivers grabs a handful of trunks and gets Fitz for the 1-2-3.

That leaves just Rodgers and Rivers, with the Packers QB doing the classic Hogan finger point - “You!” - and beatdown. Rodgers celebrates the victory with the “Discount Double Check” on the top turnbuckle.

NBA




Ring announcer Howard Finkle calls for Team Durant first, but no one comes through the curtain. He decides to try calling for Team LeBron, but again no movement. After waiting for five minutes the match is canceled.

NHL




Before the teams can make their way to the ring, Crosby is jumped by Team Ovie backstage, leaving the already concussion-prone star out of action for the Survivor Series match. Team sans-Crosby comes to the ring a man short and St. Louis grabs the mic, announcing Sid’s replacement – Steve Stamkos.

Team Ovie rushes out to the ring to protest, but the bell rings signaling the start of the match. Chara clears out almost all of the Team Stamkos roster by throwing them into the ring posts, leaving just Tim Thomas against all five Team Ovie members.

The bearded, out-of-shape netminder fights back, clocking Sedin with his goalie mask, sending the Swede reeling into the ref, dropping both to the canvas.

As the goalie goes for the cover, Henrik Sedin runs in and backhands Thomas with a stick, drags his brother out of the ring and covers Thomas. The ref wakes up and, not being able to tell the difference between the Sedins, counts 1-2-3.

MLB




The match opens with some sick chain wrestling between Doc and Beckett, before Halladay sinks in an armbar on the right hander, forcing him to tap out. Cabrera, drunk as a skunk, attacks Halladay from behind. He tags in Fielder, who lands a bonsai drop ala Yokozuna, crushing the Doc’s ribs and scoring the easy pin fall.

The two sides go toe-to-toe for five hours, however, concessions stop selling beer after the second hour, leaving many of the fans disinterested. Pierzynski finally eliminates Reyes with pine tar to the eye, blinding the shortstop. Bautista jumps in and takes three huge swings at the cocky catcher, landing on the third and sending Pierzynski flying off the Booster Juice sign in the upper deck.

With Pujols taking a beating and struggling to stay on his feet, A-Rod pleads for the hot tag from Fielder. SLAP! Rodriguez jumps in the ring, looking like he’s going to rip someone’s head off. He runs up to Pujols, swings and misses on a big clothes line – only to find Mauer waiting with a bottle of Head & Shoulders to the face.

As Mauer, Bautista and Pujols turn to take on Fielder and Cabrera, they find the Tigers slugger passed out with a bottle of whiskey in his glove and Fielder is gasping for breath like a boated bass. The ref counts both men out.

Most Valuable Player awards have always been skewed a bit when it comes to the true meaning behind the honor.

A lot of the time, the best player on the best team wins the MVP – not necessarily the player who means the most to their franchise.

In the NFL, Aaron Rodgers looks like the runaway winner for 2011, even though the Green Bay Packers gunslinger may not be the most valuable player to his team when you take a good look at the league.

In fact, the 2011 NFL MVP hasn’t even stepped on the field this season – and probably won’t – for a squad that is 0-7 heading into Week 8 of the schedule.

To see how far the Indianapolis Colts have fallen without quarterback Peyton Manning is astonishing. While, in essence, he only throws the football, Manning’s absence has seemed to impact every aspect of the Colts.

You want to know Manning's impact, just look at this week's spread against Tennessee. Cantor Gaming made the Colts as 3-point favorites back in June when they posted lines on every NFL game of the season. The line has swung 12 points now with the Colts getting 9 points against an average Titans team.

"I am not sure how Peyton Manning doesn't win the MVP this year," Andrew Patterson, an oddsmaker with Las Vegas Sports Consultants, told Covers.com. "It is clear he means more to the Colts than any player on any other team."

The offense, obviously, has taken giant leaps backwards with backup Curtis Painter under center. But the defense has even felt the lack of No. 18 this season.

Without Manning managing the clock, an aging stop unit isn’t getting the down time it’s used to – sitting second last in time of possession at 24:23. And it shows. Indianapolis is among the worst in the league in total yards, rushing defense, and points allowed.

To put it into a betting perspective, the Colts were around +800 to win the Super Bowl after the NFL Draft in the spring. Now, Manning-less Indy is a +50,000 long shot sitting next to the Miami Dolphins at the bottom of the SBXLVI futures.

To say Rodgers or Brady would have the same impact on their team if they were out is wrong. Football fans got a sample of that back in 2008, when Brady went down with a knee injury in Week 1. The Patriots rallied around Matt Cassel and Bill Belichick kept the ship afloat, posting an 11-5 record most teams would kill for.

The Colts have gone from a playoff team and Super Bowl contender with Manning, to the worst team in the league without him.

So, when someone other than Manning gets the nod for the so-called MVP award, just keep in mind Indianapolis’ nose dive and the fact that Manning would be earning his fifth NFL MVP if the honor actually went to the Most Valuable Player.