The following column has been featured on CBS Sports

The following column has been featured on CBS Sports. Oh...My...Gosh.The New York Knicks are 1-8 off to their worst start since the 2002-2003 season (the start of Isiah's Years of Hell). And the New Jersey Nets are 0-8 off to their worst start in franchise history.What the hell is wrong with New York area teams!At least the Giants have hope, despite losing four straight after a 5-0 start. They have injury issues with their All-Star point guard Devin Harris (groin), Courtney Lee (groin), and reliable sixth man Keyon Dooling (hip).If that's not bad enough, Chris Douglas-Roberts has the H1N1 virus (swine flu). There goes the Nets' depth at guard.Also F Bobby Simmons has left the team for the time being, due to personal issues.Wow.That's certainly more bad luck than most teams should have in their first eight games Oh, and Yi Jianlian stinks (out with sprained right MCL). Yeah, I said it.The Knicks on the other hand are, well...the Knicks: A talented group of young players that don't have the chemistry to consistently win games.

Double-double machine David Lee, Nate Robinson, and a much-improved Danilo Gallinari make a nice threesome for New York, but apparently not good enough for abundant victories.Those guys can be cornerstones for the Knicks or other teams, but the chemistry among the entire squad is missing The resourcefulness is missing. Thatrelevant (not you, Eddy Curry) veteran presence is equally absent.Both teams seem to be waiting until 2010 to make a major splash, although in fairness to the Nets, they still, by some miracle, have a chance to be an eighth-seed in the "Leastern" Conference.The Chicago Bulls started 0-7 in the 2004-05 season, yet still made the playoffs with a relatively young core like this Nets' squad.Plus, the Nets have more upside. They have a talented, young center in Brook Lopez, who is currently averaging 18 points and nearly eight rebounds per game. Who would want to leave a potentially great team post-2010 free agency that plays near South BeachThat's what I thought.Furthermore, Nowitzki seems too loyal to Mark Cuban to leave the Dallas Mavericks, but you never know in the NBA. Toronto Raptors' star Chris Bosh can ball, but he may very well be the RuPaul of the NBA, as Shaquille O'Neal kindly put it last season.And don't get me started on T-Mac or Boozer because those guys won't get the money that they'll be looking for given a lower salary cap, their history of injuries, and in McGrady's case lack of postseason success.Then again, if LeBron, Wade, and Nowitzki stay put, that leaves Amar'e Stoudemire (offensively great, but defensively not so much), Bosh (RuPaul), Boozer, McGrady, and veterans like Steve Nash as the major names in the '10 pot.A team might just be desperate enough to overpay for one.The Knicks and Nets are both aiming at 2010 for success. Like I said before, the Nets are in much better shape with Douglas-Roberts, Lopez, Lee, and Harris.Talk about an all-potential team right there (sorry Blazers).A guy like Boozer or Bosh could make that team a perennial playoff qualifier and perhaps, when the squad has matured a contender.The Knicks could get a big time free agent too, but one guy doesn't fix everything. There is no guarantee that Robinson and Lee will be on the team next season, or anyone on the current roster for that matter.Unless LeBron decides that giving new life to a once-great franchise and the Mecca of Sports (Madison Square Garden) could make him more legendary than winning in Cleveland, than the Knicks don't have a chance of signing him.

Sorry, Knicks fans.The summer of 2010 is going to be upon us eventually. Until then, the Knicks and Nets could improve or continue to lose and make their fans miserable.Take your pick on what happens next. Fred "The F-Bomb" Richani is a columnist for The Sports Courier , 411Mania , and everythingyntk Richani founded The Sports Courier in 2009. His work has been featured on CBS Sportsline, Pro Wrestling Torch, GOOGLE News, and USAToday . Richani currently resides between New York City and Philadelphia in Freehold, NJ.. ATLANTA, Jan.