James Dolan spent something like $180 million on the Isiah Thomas abomination. The Knicks spent more money on payroll this season than any other team ... and still ended up among the six worst squads in the league. So it's good to see some of Dolan's hard-earned dollars going to a worthy cause. From the New York Post, via SbB.
Anucha Browne Sanders isn't letting the $11 million she won in her sexual harassment case against Isiah Thomas burn a hole in her pocket. At last week's Arthur Ashe SportsBall, a fund-raiser for urban youth programs, Sanders "was bidding on everything in the silent auction," according to a witness. "She had her name down under every item," said the onlooker, including "an Oprah Winfrey experience, a Roger Federer tennis racket and a Barack Obama basketball.
Oprah experience, or Jerome James? Federer memorabilia, or Jared Jeffries? Tough call. Hell, Anucha could buy $500,000 of Hot Pockets and still spend more wisely than Isiah did. And we're talking Hot Pockets.
That Knicks fan protest we told you about earlier went off. As with protests, there seemed to be as many media members in attendance as wronged parties. Of course, in this special case, most of those media members could probably qualify as wronged parties, too. Rich Shapiro of the New York Daily Newssays the oversized pink slip petition got 60 signatures in 15 minutes, which is like four signatures a minute, which is impressive given the typical shortage of Sharpies I've found at these events. So many cheers to the bold and vigorous peoples of New York.
Of course, this won't likely matter except to keep the disastrous state of the Knicks in headlines. James Dolan probably sees the coverage and thinks, "Wow, we have built something special. These folks are so passionate about our team!" And Isiah Thomas surely doesn't give a $@%& about these... people.
Break out the posterboard and chants, Knicks fans are protesting! In fact, as you read this (11 a.m. Eastern) a protest on 7th Avenue next to Madison Square Garden is taking place. The New York Timestalks to the 67-year-old fan organizing the rally, and has a picture of 32-square-foot mock pink slip anti-Isiah Thomas fans will be asked to sign.
The Times' Joe LaPointe also goes into detail about the depths to which the Knicks have gone to quiet the rage inside MSG. Fans have been kicked out for making impromptu signs calling for Isiah's head, warnings have been issued to hecklers -- who do the Knicks think they're fooling? Do they think a win every fourth game and a quiet(ed) MSG will make Isiah beloved through the boroughs again?
Credit Knicks fans for caring enough to spend a cold morning out raising a ruckus that's already been raised to a high volume. Maybe someday James Dolan will learn to respect his team's fan base.
More than two months after a jury of New Yorkers decided Isiah Thomas is a sexual harasser and Madison Square Garden is a scary place for women to work, David Stern finally stepped into the madness: Bloomberg reports the league "urged" the Knicks to settle with former exec Anucha Browne Sanders, likely cutting the amount to be paid out by MSG but precluding any further appeals.
Here's how the Knicks spun it:
"We don't feel any less strongly than we did throughout the entire episode," said MSG spokesman Bill Cunningham in an e- mailed statement, adding that an accord was urged by NBA Commissioner David Stern. "The outcome was a travesty of justice and we vehemently disagree with the jury's decision."
Folks aren't ordinarily this emboldened when Big Brother tells them to knock it off and stop embarrassing the family. Oh well. MSG could've used this leadership from Secaucus back in September, when a settlement would have circumvented most of this incredibly embarrassing saga. You know, the deposition where Zeke defines who is allowed to call a woman a bitch. And when Stephon Marbury admitted to bedding an intern in the back of his truck. And when Browne Sanders alleged Isiah once told her he doesn't "give a [expletive] about these white people." Heck, maybe fans wouldn't want be chanting for the coach's head every night!
You can't blame Thomas for the extending episode of horror, though. Remember, he wanted to settle before it went to trial. James Dolan needs to have more confidence in his man! Oh. Wait.
If there's any buzz surrounding the Nets these days--that is, other than the possibility of losing Jason Kidd--it's their Jay-Z-backed move to Brooklyn. But as George Vecsey writes in The New York Times, that's "not such a slam dunk after all":
The ownership is still talking of moving into an arena at the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, but shovels are not in the ground, and the planned opening at the start of the 2009-10 season has now been pushed back sometime into that season.
[...]
The Nets could always detour to the new Prudential Center in downtown Newark, with its potential for an urban renaissance of live human beings on foot seeking out restaurants and transit.
The Knicks are also rumored to be after a new home. Vecsey has them piggybacking on the new Penn Station that's currently in the works. However, given the state of the Knicks and MSG, it's doubtful that any respectable operation wants anything to do with them. In fact, that might be the real fallout from the whole MSG Legal Disaster: Even if wins can clean up the image in the mind of fans and journalists, the corporate world might be a little harder to reprogram.
Peter Vecsey, that staunch defender of perfect truth in journalism, spends his New York Post column this morning spreading the buzz Isiah Thomas is about to get fired.
Even with James Dolan still in charge, I was fairly convinced Thomas' termination was going to happen Wednesday night following the Knicks' loss to the Clippers in LA - their fifth in seven games -or yesterday. I continue to believe it could occur before tonight's game with the Kings in Sacramento (a halfway suitable replacement must be unearthed), and I'm not the only one.
Vecsey's sources are alternately as solvent as olive oil and sugar... which is to say, Who knows if he's right? But while Peter usually attributes speculation to this little bird or that, he offers some corroboration here: Charles Dolan (Cablevision patriarch, father of James) has been around Madison Square Garden more than ever and will reportedly join the Knicks as they continue a Western road swing in Sacramento tonight. New York visits Denver on Saturday; could Dolan ask Zeke not to return to MSG for the team's Tuesday game against Golden State? Vecsey thinks so.
Barring a Stephon Marbury trade which actually brings back talent (which few such possibilities achieve), the best way for the franchise to begin its turnaround is to send Isiah packing. He's not the sole cause of distress in New York, but he's clearly the cloud which drops the most rain. If Isiah goes, brighter days must be ahead because it's hard to get much darker -- on and off the court -- than things are now.
Three days before jury selection began in Anucha Browne Sanders' sexual harassment trial, Garden chairman James Dolan overruled Isiah Thomas and at least one other high-ranking Garden official and decided not to reach a settlement with Browne Sanders.
According to a source close to the case, Thomas, his attorneys and a Garden official felt a settlement would spare Thomas and the Knicks an embarrassing trial that could cost the franchise more than just monetary damages.
To be fair, it wasn't Isiah's money. But like Dolan is short on funds. This is all about what the article calls Dolan's "refusal to back down from a public fight, no matter how messy it gets." If David Stern wanted proof of the man's incompetence, here it is; true, Isiah wanted to save his own reputation, but he also got that this could sully the organization. Out of arrogance, stubbornness, or megalomania, Dolan just didn't see this making a difference. He gave the fans that little credit.
With the Knicks set to open their season tonight, and the Zach Randolph era on the horizon, things could be so much easier for this organization. It could be back in the halcyon days of wondering whether Isiah's latest scheme would make basketball sense. Instead, it's praying for immediate returns that will quickly, smoothly heal all the wounds caused by this summer.
"... What I said then was it was still under consideration, that there were many issues having to do with understanding the transcripts, understanding what exactly the jury did and what role a further appeal should play in considering this. And further, I said that I wanted to discuss this with the [NBA] board of governors.
"The headline said 'Stern not taking any action,' but the article will be searched in vain to find me saying that. Now that has been picked up as a fact because it appeared in a New York Times headline."
Wow. All we needed was one more great New York institution tarnished by this sordid affair.
I doubt there will be any last repercussions for the paper, but certainly this is bad news for the MSG principals. If anything, this shows that Stern is seriously considering the option, something that at one point seemed like a longshot.
So today, Skeets pointed me toward this anti-Dolan petition. J.E. believes it "will far and away exceed the goal of 19,763 signatures." I agree, but don't think even a million signatures would make a difference.
For one thing, it's the internet. Names all seem faked, even if they aren't, and a large percentage of them have nothing to do with New York. They have never directly given money to the Knicks, MSG, or Cablevision, and won't ever be in a position to do so. As long as this thing is open to everyone, it might as well be a compilation of message board outrage.
But let's say it took place in the real world, and was circulated around NYC. How many (verifiable) signatures would it take for it to matter? I honestly have no idea. Every time I come up with a figure, I remember how huge that city's population is. As Watson pointed out, all that's going to make a difference here is the signature of season ticket-holders. I'd take that one step further: Until they've non-signed their renewal orders, all this discontent is idle chatter.
James Dolan spent something like $180 million on the Isiah Thomas abomination. The Knicks spent more money on payroll this season than any other team ... and still ended up among the six worst squads in the league. So it's good to see some of Dolan's 
That Knicks fan protest we told you about 
Break out the posterboard and chants, Knicks fans are protesting! In fact, as you read this (11 a.m. Eastern) a protest on 7th Avenue next to Madison Square Garden is taking place. The New York Times 
More than two months after 
Peter Vecsey, that staunch defender of perfect truth in journalism, spends his New York Post column this morning spreading the buzz 
Talk about "I told you so." From the 
Along with every other media outlet in the world, we told you last week that 
So today, 
