NY Media Drills Knicks, Thomas for Fight

Not sure if it's possible to be brawled out already, but here's something you should look at - the New York media fallout from the rumble. There's no doubt about it - everyone wants Isiah out. The papers hardly take Carmelo Anthony to task despite his cheap shot, and I have to wonder whether or not the fight triggered long-simmering feelings in many of the writers about the state of the Knicks.

(Quick input: This isn't a black eye for the NBA, nor is it a black eye for the Knicks. How come there isn't this type of outcry in baseball during beanball wars, or in hockey on a nightly basis, or in the NFL every weekend when players mix it up?)

The New York Times Fifth Down blog, searching for the 'Honor' card, asks whether or not George Karl was honorable for leaving his players on the floor in the waning moments of the blowout. The blog also offers this gem, plucked from an ESPN.com article by Chris Sheridan:

About a minute or two before the Knicks-Nuggets brawl erupted Saturday night in Madison Square Garden, New York coach Isiah Thomas mentioned to Denver star Carmelo Anthony that it wouldn't be a good idea to go anywhere near the paint, according to a member of the Denver Nuggets' organization.
The message was unmistakable: A hard foul was coming.

(There's also great guesswork about Mardy Collins: Is he Isiah's go-to goon? Collins went to Temple, where coach John Chaney was known to get a player in the game to deliberately commit hard fouls. And though I haven't seen it, Collins supposedly delivered a hard foul late in a blowout loss at Indiana earlier in the week.)

Now, on to the tabloids. The headlines are below. If you're a Knicks fan, some of this may make you queasy:

New York Post backpage headline: Ten Count

Fury and Fists in Garden of Ugly

Isiah Must Go!

Zeke's Punks

New York Daily News backpage headline: Flagrant Fools

Knicks Fight to a New Low

Knick excuses pile on shame

The Garden of Evil

So who is gone first, Isiah Thomas or New Jersey's Lawrence Frank?