The Big [Apple] Spender.(Caught on the Fly)(brief items)

Granted, Isiah Thomas didn't have to give up a lot to land super point guard Stephon Marbury--quick, a show of hands of those who knew Ward still was in the league--but he took a huge L in the cap standings, which in this league is almost as important as the real ones. Remember, it took Zeke about two years to oversee the financial crumbling of the (Hey, didn't you used to be the ...) CBA but only about two weeks to add about, oh, $104 mil in contracts to the Knicks' pay roll. Which is further proof that money goes much, much faster in New York than Yakima.

Can he call on a speech specialist?

During his induction at Cooperstown this summer, Dennis Eckersley will have to sum up his feelings about pitching in the bigs for five teams over 24 seasons, about winning almost 200 games and resurrecting his career to save nearly 400 more, about winning a Cy Young, an MVP and a World Series title. And Eck'll have to recognize all those feats while knowing that Hall of Fame officials will have Tony La Russa ready to pull him if his speech goes long.

Fly's 5, Dewayne Robertson edition

On draft day, nothing gets ...