Memory Bank

As technology has become more hyperactive, we the people have become more laid-back; as the deposits in its memory banks have become more fat, the deposits in man's memory bank have become more lean. Like Harold Pinter's servant, the machine has assumed the responsibilities that were once the master's. The latter has become the shell of a once thoughtful, though indolent, being. It is the Law Of Diminishing Enlightenment at work. - From the introduction to Studs Terkel's "The Great Divide"

Patrick Ewing scored 10 of his season-high 34 points and grabbed four of his season-high 25 rebounds in the second overtime as the visiting New York Knicks outlasted the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday, 127-121. Ewing, who also blocked five shots, was coming off a seven-point, nine-rebound effort in Friday's loss at Seattle. In the first overtime, Ewing managed just one shot. "I was kind of frustrated," Ewing said. "I told [coach] Jeff [Van Gundy] to get me the ball. We made the adjustment.

Robert Allenby had experienced plenty of playoffs, but nothing quite like this - six guys in the largest playoff in PGA Tour history, facing one of golf's toughest closing holes in a cold, raw rain. The Australian knew what it would take to end it quickly. Perfection. After wiping raindrops from his glasses and gripping down on a 3-wood, Allenby, 29, added another chapter to storied Riviera Country Club with an approach into 5 feet to win the Nissan Open in Los Angeles yesterday, keeping him perfect in playoffs.

Fred Carter said he wanted to see the Knicks' Patrick Ewing kick Shawn Bradley's butt last night. No problem. Ewing obliged with zest, outmuscling the 76ers' 7-6 rookie center on both ends of the floor in New York's 82-79 exhibition victory. The lessons keep coming for Bradley. Teacher Ewing was especially tough on his 21-year-old student last night, scoring 26 points to go with 11 rebounds in 30 minutes. Worse for Bradley, Ewing executed two power dunks in his face, and, at the other end of the court, he seldom allowed Bradley to breathe, much less shoot.

Cheryl Hartley has been dancing naked for more than nine years, but she has never gotten used to seeing the tourists in the first row peering up through binoculars. Hartley has been on Broadway continuously for the longest time of any actress now there. In April, she expects to celebrate her 10th anniversary in Oh! Calcutta! - 10 years of the doctor-and-nurse skit and the Jack-and-Jill segment and the nude ballet. "She's a legend, a walking legend," says producer Norman Kean, who is trying to get Hartley's achievement into the Guinness Book of Records.

March Madness begins in February in South Jersey, and these next few weeks will provide lasting memories, especially for those teams able to win sectional and/or state championships in this one-and-done event. The momentum builds so quickly, with games played just about every other day. Those who participate in the tournament, which will begin Monday, will perform in an interminable pressure cooker, which makes this such a gripping affair. Basketball is such an emotional game to begin with, played in settings in which fans are so close to the action.

Joe Dinmore's mercantile and garage museum offers a glimpse into America's past. Or maybe a return to the Walton family store. Thousands of collectibles circa 1880-1950 recall eras when women rode sidesaddle, or danced the twist in poodle skirts with boys who wished they were Elvis. The tidy museum's pictures of movie stars, electric train sets and miniature antique Cadillacs - as flashy as the red one parked in the driveway - reflect its owner's 40-year hunt for bits of Americana.

There may be a day when Randy Wood gathers his grandchildren around the fireplace in some quaint New England hamlet to tell them about his first goal in a Stanley Cup playoff game and how it kept the Islanders' hearts beating against the Flyers in the Patrick Division finals. Wood could tell them how he went end-to-end in a rush that would humble Bobby Orr. How he weaved through all five opponents and lifted the crowd off its seats, how he forced legendary Flyers goalie Ron Hextall to his knees before beating him with an adept backhander.

Considering he's the Ivy League player of the year and one of the country's stingiest goalies, one might suspect that Cornell's Matt McMonagle gives much thought to his craft, which is stopping rubber balls thrown at him at high speeds and from various angles. Not according to the 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior from Episcopal Academy. "If I'm thinking too much, it just handcuffs me," said McMonagle, who was raised in Bryn Mawr. McMonagle's 44 career wins are a school record and the most among active goalies in NCAA Division I lacrosse.

Kevin Kolb could not sleep Sunday night, not after watching the player he looks up to more than any other stand on a platform, the Lombardi Trophy in hand, as the Super Bowl's most valuable player. Aaron Rodgers is Kolb's guy. They share a brotherhood, each traveling a uniquely complex path to become a starting quarterback in the National Football League. Rodgers made it to the top. He waited. He endured. He held on when, after three years as Brett Favre's understudy, his confidence was shaken in 2008 after Green Bay's faithful booed him and doubted him and frankly didn't want him. Rodgers survived in 2009 when Favre beat him twice, giving unhappy Packers fans more ammunition in the argument of which quarterback was better.

Memory is like the Wikipedia of truth. When it's accurate, it can be awesome. But when it's wrong, it can be ridiculous. So what is a man to do when his memory does not jibe with the facts expressed on the Internet in dozens of sources, including the New York Times? A man turns to other men, of course. "Do you remember?" At issue is a song that begins, "A long long time ago," which was written in 1971 about an event that happened 12 years earlier. An airplane carrying Buddy Holly and other rock and roll stars crashed in February 1959, killing all on board.

March Madness begins in February in South Jersey, and these next few weeks will provide lasting memories, especially for those teams able to win sectional and/or state championships in this one-and-done event. The momentum builds so quickly, with games played just about every other day. Those who participate in the tournament, which will begin Monday, will perform in an interminable pressure cooker, which makes this such a gripping affair. Basketball is such an emotional game to begin with, played in settings in which fans are so close to the action.

Kevin Kolb could not sleep Sunday night, not after watching the player he looks up to more than any other stand on a platform, the Lombardi Trophy in hand, as the Super Bowl's most valuable player. Aaron Rodgers is Kolb's guy. They share a brotherhood, each traveling a uniquely complex path to become a starting quarterback in the National Football League. Rodgers made it to the top. He waited. He endured. He held on when, after three years as Brett Favre's understudy, his confidence was shaken in 2008 after Green Bay's faithful booed him and doubted him and frankly didn't want him. Rodgers survived in 2009 when Favre beat him twice, giving unhappy Packers fans more ammunition in the argument of which quarterback was better.

An intruder is inside your body. Maybe it's a parasite from dirty drinking water. A virus from a coworker's sneeze. Or a bacterium that sneaked in when you cut your finger. Luckily for you, the immune system determines just which one of its many weapons will best repel the intruder, and what's more, it "remembers" how to do the job even better, and faster, next time. This phenomenon of immune memory has been recognized since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, yet no one could figure out how it worked.

Considering he's the Ivy League player of the year and one of the country's stingiest goalies, one might suspect that Cornell's Matt McMonagle gives much thought to his craft, which is stopping rubber balls thrown at him at high speeds and from various angles. Not according to the 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior from Episcopal Academy. "If I'm thinking too much, it just handcuffs me," said McMonagle, who was raised in Bryn Mawr. McMonagle's 44 career wins are a school record and the most among active goalies in NCAA Division I lacrosse.

Robert Allenby had experienced plenty of playoffs, but nothing quite like this - six guys in the largest playoff in PGA Tour history, facing one of golf's toughest closing holes in a cold, raw rain. The Australian knew what it would take to end it quickly. Perfection. After wiping raindrops from his glasses and gripping down on a 3-wood, Allenby, 29, added another chapter to storied Riviera Country Club with an approach into 5 feet to win the Nissan Open in Los Angeles yesterday, keeping him perfect in playoffs.

The bitter memory of the 76ers' loss to Detroit flashed painfully through Allen Iverson's mind. Out of his memory bank came a vision of him driving to the basket, desperately trying to save a game that was just out of reach. And there was the Pistons' Jerome Williams rising up to slam away Iverson's high-arcing layup. Every time Iverson replays the moment in his head, he knows it was the first of what became three straight losses. This time, 17.1 seconds remained on the clock in Reunion Arena, where the Sixers were down by one point to the suddenly revitalized Dallas Mavericks.

For Absegami's Mtume Goodrum, the wincing pain he experiences is 10 times more agonizing than a migraine. Unfortunately for him, aspirins don't work on memories. In March, Goodrum was ready to complete the dream of a state title while wrestling for the 125-pound championship. Sixty-one seconds later, he was walking off the mat a shocked wrestler, a victim of a powerful double-hook takedown and pin by Eastern's Micah Khan. Today, Goodrum pauses a moment and reflects, then adds extra weight to the bench-press bar. It's how Goodrum has dealt with the disappointment.

Joe Dinmore's mercantile and garage museum offers a glimpse into America's past. Or maybe a return to the Walton family store. Thousands of collectibles circa 1880-1950 recall eras when women rode sidesaddle, or danced the twist in poodle skirts with boys who wished they were Elvis. The tidy museum's pictures of movie stars, electric train sets and miniature antique Cadillacs - as flashy as the red one parked in the driveway - reflect its owner's 40-year hunt for bits of Americana.

Patrick Ewing scored 10 of his season-high 34 points and grabbed four of his season-high 25 rebounds in the second overtime as the visiting New York Knicks outlasted the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday, 127-121. Ewing, who also blocked five shots, was coming off a seven-point, nine-rebound effort in Friday's loss at Seattle. In the first overtime, Ewing managed just one shot. "I was kind of frustrated," Ewing said. "I told [coach] Jeff [Van Gundy] to get me the ball. We made the adjustment.