As record-setting, earth-shattering falls from grace in American sports go, Kobe Bryant's in the summer of 2003 appeared to climb to the top of the charts. In one Colorado sojourn, the NBA's golden boy-who had until that point gloriously defied the league's notorious underground culture of adultery and drugs-morphed into a pathetically vulnerable potential criminal, and was at once labeled damaged goods. You can argue that his 81-point post-Shaq renaissance proves that the rape era has been erased. But it has not evaporated-only slightly dissipated with time. Bryant's descent from prodigal son to spurned transgressor proved to be enormously shocking, not just because his press conference and trial transpired in the public eye, but also because of his peerless immaculate image. Could there have been a more startling tumble from perfection to scandal? In the entire world of sports, can you think of a single athlete of the last several decades possessing a similar combination of sterling superstardom and image purity? I can. He is number one on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list (894), number seven on its all-time assists list (1,963), and number 13 on its all-time points list (2,857). He is the glory of Canada and the face of National Hockey League history. His name is Wayne Gretzky.

Barely four months into its first post-lockout season, and just weeks prior to the guaranteed publicity boost on account of the impending hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, the NHL now has to survive a potentially disastrous mess. Rick Tocchet, a former standout right wing for the Philadelphia Flyers and now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, was charged last week with co-financing a nation-wide gambling ring with a New Jersey state trooper. Corresponding charges levied against Tocchet include money laundering and conspiracy. In essence, authorities believe that Tocchet collected sports wagers from thousands of bettors, allegedly including several current and former NHL players and even an owner. These names have not yet been revealed. A name that has been revealed, though, is Janet Jones, who is believed to have bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on Super Bowl XL-including $5,000 on the coin toss-in Tocchet's alleged illegal gambling operation. Janet Jones is the wife of Gretzky, who is now the head coach of the Coyotes and Tocchet's boss. Other than betting on sports, which is illegal in the U.S. if run through an unauthorized ring, it is not entirely clear what Gretzky's wife did wrong, and it is equally dubious as to whether Gretzky himself is at all implicated. Do we really care if the guy's wife has a gambling problem and bet a ton of money on the Super Bowl? Not really. Pervasive March Madness office pools seem to be a fairly clear indication that the American public views illegal betting as a less-than-fatal indictment. The key question is whether Gretzky (by himself or through his wife) or any of the other implicated NHL personnel bet on hockey. Ostensibly, when it comes to betting on football, Jones possesses no special advantage over you and me. But if Gretzky is linked to bets placed on hockey-particularly on the Coyotes-then his name will be completely destroyed forever, and rightfully so. Gretzky and Tocchet, effectively comprising the braintrust of the Coyotes' organization, have had near total control over its hockey operations: on personnel management, and, more important, on game strategy. If Tocchet was willing to illegally organize an underground, high-stakes gambling ring and risk indictments on money laundering and conspiracy, then it is not outlandish to believe that he may have bet, or taken bets, on Coyotes games. With relative ease, he and Gretzky could ensure that the Coyotes lost any game (or didn't cover the goal spread) on which money was riding. Granted, this assumption is thus far pure conjecture. But if true, the Gretzky scandal would rise in severity to at least the level of the Pete Rose fiasco, who just recently admitted that he bet on baseball, confirming the charges that banned him from his sport. These situations always seem to follow the same pattern. The accused issues a vehement, emotional, unequivocal denial, and then evidence slowly mounts suggesting that he may not have disclosed the entire truth. Rafael Palmeiro confidently declared at the Congressional hearings on steroids that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs, and then the truth turned out to be drastically different. Taking the same tack, Gretzky last week denied that he had ever bet in Tocchet's gambling ring, and he denied his wife's involvement too. The problem is that recently taped phone conversations between Gretzky and Tocchet, released after his denial-laden press conference, confirmed that Gretzky knew about his wife's bets in the ring and tried to cover them up. Either Gretzky is merely attempting to protect his wife, or he is covering tracks that could lead to his own demise. If the first is true and Gretzky is innocent, it is remarkably stupid to risk your own legacy in order to conceal information about your spouse that, in truth, is not terribly troubling to the American media and public. Wayne Gretzky does not seem dumb enough to take that risk, which is why it is very possible that further information may link him to the ring-and potentially to bets on hockey. That revelation will ruin one of the greatest sports legends of the last century.

Knicks on a Tailspin

The New York Knicks have played 51 regular season games and lost 37 of them, which sets a franchise record for futility and brings the Knicks within striking distance of absolute NBA rock bottom, a destination currently inhabited by the 14-39 Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks' hopeless tailspin is truly irreconcilable with their talent on paper. Since Stephon Marbury's bitter departure from Minnesota in 1999, his supporters have said we should reserve judgment until he is surrounded by legitimate talent. He now has Jalen Rose, who not too long ago was considered to be one of the league's most versatile and dangerous swingmen, talented big-man Eddy Curry, and the sought-after Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson. Marbury has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, and so he has not gotten the chance to play alongside the recently-acquired Rose. If Larry Brown and Marbury can't salvage the Knicks' season after the All-Star break, the door to potential success in Marbury's career may slam shut.