The Knicks (who probably shouldn't be this bad) got a 27-10 out of Danilo Gallinari and dropped 126 points in all on the Suns (who probably shouldn't be this good). New York is still a mess. Donnie Walsh looks at Brandon Jennings and sighs, and D'Antoni turns his every press conference into an extended comic monologue on the wretchedness of his own team. But last night, at least, the Knicks finally did a serviceable impression of the Suns and in the process earned a standing ovation from a crowd that generally only rouses itself when a Yankee appears on the Jumbotron.

Honorable mentions: Boxing, which, as Barry noted earlier, might be getting that coveted title bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather after all. And Big Ten basketball, which is no longer playing slow and dull and which finds itself tied 3-3 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge with a passable chance of actually winning one of these things.

Producers recently released the full trailer for Pacquiao's latest movie—his 10th according to IMDb—and it is a doozy. The film is called Wapakman, and appears to be a semi-autobiographical tale of Manny's life as the world's greatest (only?) Pinoy superhero. It's got monsters, bikini babes, adorable kids, explosions and punching. In other words, it is awesome. Judging by the many homages to classic films in this clip, Wapakman looks like Ghostbusters, Spider-Man, Desperado, Superman, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Cider House Rules, every Jackie Chan movie ever, Rocky III and V (but not IV), Clash of the Titans, Gladiator, and Leonard, Part 6 all rolled into one.

Sadly, the film might be banned from the Metro Manila Film Festival, where it was set to debut next month, because the seven-time world champion is planning to run for congress next year and Filipino election law forbids candidates from appearing in motion pictures. This is outrageous. If a fair and open electoral process doesn't allow an elite boxer-congressman to do battle with CGI crustaceans on his days off, then what's the point of even living in a democracy? If that's what it takes to get this movie released stateside, then bring on socialized medicine!

WAPAKMAN Trailer! [YouTube]
Manny Pacquiao Starring in the Greatest Movie Ever [Last Angry Fan]
‘Panday,' ‘Wapakman' may be banned from Metro film fest [Manila Bulletin]

In the past week, all the stories leading up to the Big Game were about Manning vs. Brady, Manning vs. Belichick, how the undefeated Colts would finally get their reality check against the dynastic Patriots. Despite all his deadly offensive success, the Patriots were the one team that could still give Manning fits (despite four Colts wins in the last five meetings) as they had ruined many a magical season during his career. And all the focus would still be on Manning today, if it weren't The Call.

"Wrong."
"Folly."
"Dumb."
"Quizzical."
"Gaffe" and "Hubris."
"Bobble."
"The worst decision ... ever."
"Lack of Faith."
"Disrespect"
"A Bummer."
"Arrogantly Boneheaded."

[Screengrab via]

Pretty much everyone is in agreement that Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th-and-2 from his own 28 is the most arrogantly boneheaded (see?) coaching decision since Julius Caesar woke up on March 15 and said, "I think I'll go into work today." When your only two intellectual defenders are Merrill Hoge and Deion Sanders—noted fan of "swagger"—that's got to lead to some soul searching. (But hey, they covered! That's what's really important.)

As for Manning, his fourth quarter interception appeared to doom him to yet another big defeat against New England, but two more touchdowns in the final four minutes completed a 17-point comeback and his season remains perfect. So what if he needed Football's Einstein to momentarily turn into Andy Reid for one drive? Everyone keeps expecting Manning and his Colts to fold—no Bob Sanders, weaker home field, do they even have a coach?—and they just keep winning. (For now.)

Just as long as he stays away from the Lucas Oil hotdogs.

Belichick gaffe unrivaled [Shaughnessy]
Colts make Pats pay for Bill's unusually dumb decision [CBS]
Bill Belichick And The Art Of Second Guessing [Sussman]

* * * * *

Manny Pacquiao: Greatest fighter ever? I'll just take your word for it, because I'm still not paying $40 to watch a boxing match on TV. [Telegraph, GMANews]

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson all but locked up an unprecedented fourth straight Winston NASCAR Sprint Solo Cup Chase championship victory. And the man has never once used his turn signal. [LA Times]

The Bengals: They are officially "for real." So when do the knee injuries start again? [AP]

Jim Harbaugh: Two wins in three tries against not-so-mighty USC, both at the Coliseum (complete with a nice FU to Pete Carroll) and a big fat contract extension coming his way. Also, you wouldn't believe the luck this guy has getting good parking spots in Palo Alto. [Ray Ratto]

Brandon Jennings: I think we could all benefit from a summer in Europe. [Yahoo! Sports]

And the Weekend Loser?: Umm ... duh.

The man known as Hitman was ultimately done in by a vicious left hand that connected at the base of his jaw, turning the former champion off like a light switch in the middle of the ring. While it's still early, I'm pretty confident calling the punch knockout of the year. After brief exam in the ring Hatton walked off on his own power, presumably on his way to the hospital for a night of various scans.

For Pacman the future is as bright as ever. The pound-for-pound champ can now add the junior welterweight's lineal title to his collection, with eyes on a future fight versus the winner of July's Mayweather-Marquez showdown. Pacquiao has already defeated Marquez twice (one was scored a draw), although he was pushed to the limit in both contests. The tougher test at this point would likely come from Mayweather, who is the naturally bigger fighter and one of the best athletes on the planet. Regardless, we're talking about the top three fighters in the sport today.

If Hatton is going to have a future in the sport he's going to need to get over this knockout like he did the last time around against Mayweather. While his career as a pay-per-view headliner is likely over it doesn't mean he can't return as a competitive fighter, albeit one on the sport's second tier.

There's a video up on Sox and Dawgs.

Getty Image via Yahoo! Sports

Pacquiao enters tonight's fight as a significant favorite over his British foe. For Hatton this is a second, and possibly final chance to take down a pound-for-pound champion like Pacman. It's been two years since Hatton's aggressive and unrefined style was exposed by one of the sport's true greats, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Since that time Hatton has teamed up with the father of the only man to beat him, Floyd Mayweather Sr. The slightly insane trainer is confident in his abilities, and they shined through in Hatton's most recent fight, an easy win over the slick Paulie Malignaggi. However tonight's opponent is a completely different fighter, and if Hatton has any hopes of winning he'll need the best effort of his career.

For Pacman tonight should be business as usual. The Filipino sensation is ready to get back in the ring for the first time since his dismantling of a haggard Oscar de la Hoya, this time at a more comfortable 140 pound weight. Longtime trainer Freddie Roach will once again man the corner for Pacman, and both men appear supremely confident going in to tonight's contest. And well they should, seeing as how both men are at the top of their professions.

As far as predictions go you can put me down for a Pacquiao win, and let's call it a ninth round stoppage for fun.

For more extensive previews of tonight's action allow me to direct you to Queensberry Rules where the coverage has been superb all week. You'll also want to to take a look at the collected works of Large at No Mas and The Sporting Blog. And for those of you who are more visual learners, here are some highlights of tonight's pugilists via Bad Left Hook.

While the action in the ring was certainly a surprise, the night as a whole was entirely anti-climactic. The three young stars lined up on the undercard each breezed through their matches leaving a huge gap in the coverage that had to be filled with banter between Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, and that is never a good thing. As for the main event, it could best be described as, well, kind of sad. Pacquiao sent de la Hoya into retirement with authority, although it's hard to give the world's best (active) fighter too much credit, because his opponent was so awful on this night.

For Pacquiao, the world is his oyster, to be consumed as he sees fit. Manny can pretty much make any fight he wants, and in his choice of weight classes to boot. The ideal scenario for boxing fans (and Manny's bank account) would be for the previous pound-for-pound champion, one Floyd Mayweather Jr. to come out of retirement for what would be a real dream match.

While Oscar's days in the ring are over, he'll remain a fixture in the boxing world thanks to his savvy as a business man. Hopefully now that his own career is coming to an end he and his company will begin to focus on the bevy of talented young fighters on the landscape that have been woefully under-promoted to date instead of relying on the stars of a previous generation to pay the bills.

On a side note, check out Pacman's shoes! Those things are fucking hot, and I'm sure Imelda Marcos approves. A friend of mine, and fellow sneakerhead, has a theory that the man with the better shoes wins every big fight, and for at least one night he was right.

Both fighters surprised pretty much everyone at yesterday's weight in, de la Hoya for weighing a couple of pounds less than expected at 145 and Pacquiao for coming in a couple of pounds more than expected at 142. What this means is that de la Hoya probably pushed himself a bit too far in order to come down in weight for the fight, something Pacquiao's camp noted when he was seen running the track in a plastic suit in recent days. For de la Hoya the big question is going to be conditioning, and whether or not he can hold on in the championship rounds, something that's dogged him in the past.

For Pacquiao coming in at 142 is a pretty clear sign that his camp was concerned over the size difference, and wanted to even things up as much as possible. I have no damn clue how Pacman put on that weight, because as you can see doesn't have any extra flesh on that body despite jumping up two weight classes. Regardless, he may not be quite as fast as we've seen in the past, but he'll still be able to run circles around his competitor.

As for a prediction, frankly I have no damn clue what's going to happen. For months I've been operating on the presumption that de la Hoya is just far too big for Pacquiao, but now that the fight has arrived I'm not so sure. If Pacquiao can keep things close in the first half of the fight he can steal this thing in the final rounds as de la Hoya begins to wilt with age and the effects of his weight loss. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised by any outcome, but for now I'm sticking with de la Hoya in a decision. Because hey, Vegas is more his turn than it is Manny's, and I don't see Pacman doing enough to over the course of the fight to win on points.

If you are planning to order the fight tonight be sure not to miss the lead-in fights, which promise to provide the best action of the evening. The undercard may not be stacked with names recognizable to the casual observer, but promoters Bob Arum and Golden Boy Promotions have included a few of the sports most sensational rising stars in the festivities. So forget about the Big 12 title game (the Okies are going to roll anyways) and tune in to watch the incredible knockout power of guys like "Vicious" Victor Ortiz and Juan Manuel (Juanma) Lopez. Guys like this are the future of the sport, and it's great to see them getting a piece of the spotlight on what's sure to be the biggest pay-per-view event of the year.

For more thoughts on the fight be sure to check out Large's takes at The Sporting Blog and No Mas as well as Tim Starks' ultimate guide to the fight over at Queensberry Rules.

• Break out the bleach. The countdown to Wimbledon is on (we're under 13 hours!) and the eyes are the players sitting atop the bracket. Roger Federer has won the tournament an absurd six consecutive times, but he's had trouble holding off Raphael Nadal of late. The women's field is topped by Ana Ivanovich, who in addition to being amazing is quite capable on the grass.

• Break out the pinstripes. The NBA Draft/Fashion Show is going down on Thursday night in New York and everybody's waiting to see if Bill Walker will wet himself while waiting in the crowd for the second round to begin. Of course there will be other memorable happenings, like the shot of a puzzled Knicks fan wondering why they took that Italian kid instead of Mayo. Hopefully the Wizards will even have a big man with a pulse and the ability to rebound fall into their laps. That would be nice. Hell, I might even read the SG's diary. Is that in live blog form these days?

• Break out the Pacman. Manny Pacquiao, Ring Magazine's new pound-for-pound champion, faces a tough test from American David Diaz on Saturday night in Vegas for the latter's lightweight title. Pacman is an all action fighter who hasn't been stopped in nine years and Diaz is a former Olympian, and a three time Golden Gloves national champion. He decisioned, and retired, the legendary Erik Morales to win the WBC belt. Pacman has always been considered among the best in the world, and now he'll face a true lightweight, and a champion at that.