boutons_
06-29-2006, 06:53 AM
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/29/sports/roberts.600.1.jpg
June 29, 2006
Sports of The Times
Power to the People? That's Not Dolan's Style
By SELENA ROBERTS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/selenaroberts/?inline=nyt-per)
THE voices of protest emanated from everyday folks, including a teacher in a John Starks (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/john_starks/index.html?inline=nyt-per) jersey, a law-school student in a loose tie and a Web site techie in a gray T-shirt.
Between 20 and 30 of these disenfranchised souls assembled at the Mercury Bar yesterday afternoon to basically march on James L. Dolan's inheritance: Madison Square Garden.
"Fire Isiah!" they chanted after their 12-block journey ended inside the Garden's theater, shouting in unison during the N.B.A. draft as a reminder of how Isiah Thomas (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/isiah_thomas/index.html?inline=nyt-per) gifted the Bulls (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/chicagobulls/index.html?inline=nyt-org) with the Knicks' (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newyorkknicks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) lottery pick in exchange for the uninspiring Eddy Curry.
"Sell the Knicks!" they pleaded, hopeful their message would be heard over Commissioner David Stern's (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_stern/index.html?inline=nyt-per) microphone.
"That's our draft pick!" they erupted as the Bulls went on the clock for the second pick of the draft.
The dissenters had passion and outrage, and they had a point, but their voices could hardly reach Dolan, an owner hermetically sealed by his income bracket, a lounge act whose head is turned only by celebrity.
Who is Dolan's type? As Garden lore has it, Dolan once spotted the N.B.A. owner Paul Allen (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/paul_allen/index.html?inline=nyt-per) courtside at a Knicks game. Dolan was infatuated by Allen, the billionaire in the jelly-jar glasses, desperate to rub elbow patches with the Microsoft legend, but his attempt to meet him was thwarted by Allen's security.
Didn't the bodyguards know who Dolan was? Not so much. And nothing crushes Dolan like anonymity.
He longs to circulate among icons. So if he is not moved by the angry voices of his hard-core Knicks fans, if he pays no attention to the people in the cheap seats, Dolan could certainly take a cue from two of the most visible heavy hitters who walk in his world.
Appearing all week at the Garden, there is Madonna. Appearing all week in the headlines, there has been Warren Buffett (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/warren_e_buffett/index.html?inline=nyt-per). At this intersection of reinvention and generosity, Dolan could discover a blueprint for public redemption.
If Madonna can evolve, so can Dolan. She has transformed herself from a gum-smacking "Lucky Star" songstress who once starred in a racy book called "SEX" to a 40-something Zen momma who writes children's tales entitled "Mr. Peabody's Apples."
Imagine if Dolan could grow up from the petty owner consumed with protecting his "Lucky Star-bury" to a manager aware of his shortcomings as a personnel wiz.
"I've a huge ego and I need to change," Madonna said in her 2005 documentary. "Knowing is the beginning."
Good advice for Dolan. If anything, Dolan is very attentive to powerbrokers. So he must have been absorbed by the charity exhibited by his fellow billionaire Buffett.
"I don't believe in dynastic wealth," Buffett said.
Certainly, the charmed offspring of Cablevision heard him. Imagine if Dolan displayed egoless management.
"If Dolan could just keep paying the bills and take a more laissez-faire approach," said a man known only as Mr. Orange, last night's protest organizer and the mind behind selltheknicks.com (http://selltheknicks.com/). "It would be much like it was when he first got control of the team from Daddy."
To turn back time, Dolan would have to stop meddling and hand over his oversight duties to a respected figure in basketball, perhaps a Jerry West or a Joe Dumars type.
To go retro, Dolan would have to tap into his inner Buffett and develop a give-back program. How about a rebate? Dolan replaced Larry Brown (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/larry_brown/index.html?inline=nyt-per) with Thomas on the sideline last week and put Thomas on the spot by issuing a one-year ultimatum: If Thomas does not turn the Knicks into a contender, he is gone.
Thomas would surely receive severance pay. And so should Knicks fans. If the Knicks do not rise above .500, Dolan should offer his faithful ticket holders refunds, or at least coupons toward team merchandise.
After all, if Dolan can lavish his castoffs with cash — see the seven- and eight-figure payouts to former players like Shandon Anderson, former coaches like Lenny Wilkens and former presidents like Scott Layden (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/scott_layden/index.html?inline=nyt-per) — why not try a little charity?
Dolan could be begin his reinvention by not treating angry Knicks fans as if they've spliced their way into Cablevision.
Revish Shah relayed an abuse of power yesterday as he told how Garden security challenged him when they saw him wearing a "Fire Isiah" T-shirt near a televised tailgate party before the Knicks played Denver in March.
"It was before they went on the air," said Shah, a college student who marched on the Garden last night. "Security said, 'Get rid of the T-shirt, cover it up, or we'll throw you out or throw you in jail.' "
Why can't Dolan try a little humility? He could just as easily meet with the disenfranchised fans — all 30 or so of them at the Mercury Bar yesterday — as he can chase them off with legal threats.
"Listen to the fans," said the protester Dave Sorani, a recent graduate of Brooklyn College (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/brooklyn_college/index.html?inline=nyt-org) on his way to law school. "I'd tell Jim Dolan to listen to what we're saying. Get off the high throne over there at the Garden and listen."
Or the very least, he could listen to Madonna: Knowing is the beginning.
E-mail: [email protected]
June 29, 2006
Sports of The Times
Power to the People? That's Not Dolan's Style
By SELENA ROBERTS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/selenaroberts/?inline=nyt-per)
THE voices of protest emanated from everyday folks, including a teacher in a John Starks (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/john_starks/index.html?inline=nyt-per) jersey, a law-school student in a loose tie and a Web site techie in a gray T-shirt.
Between 20 and 30 of these disenfranchised souls assembled at the Mercury Bar yesterday afternoon to basically march on James L. Dolan's inheritance: Madison Square Garden.
"Fire Isiah!" they chanted after their 12-block journey ended inside the Garden's theater, shouting in unison during the N.B.A. draft as a reminder of how Isiah Thomas (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/isiah_thomas/index.html?inline=nyt-per) gifted the Bulls (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/chicagobulls/index.html?inline=nyt-org) with the Knicks' (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newyorkknicks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) lottery pick in exchange for the uninspiring Eddy Curry.
"Sell the Knicks!" they pleaded, hopeful their message would be heard over Commissioner David Stern's (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_stern/index.html?inline=nyt-per) microphone.
"That's our draft pick!" they erupted as the Bulls went on the clock for the second pick of the draft.
The dissenters had passion and outrage, and they had a point, but their voices could hardly reach Dolan, an owner hermetically sealed by his income bracket, a lounge act whose head is turned only by celebrity.
Who is Dolan's type? As Garden lore has it, Dolan once spotted the N.B.A. owner Paul Allen (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/paul_allen/index.html?inline=nyt-per) courtside at a Knicks game. Dolan was infatuated by Allen, the billionaire in the jelly-jar glasses, desperate to rub elbow patches with the Microsoft legend, but his attempt to meet him was thwarted by Allen's security.
Didn't the bodyguards know who Dolan was? Not so much. And nothing crushes Dolan like anonymity.
He longs to circulate among icons. So if he is not moved by the angry voices of his hard-core Knicks fans, if he pays no attention to the people in the cheap seats, Dolan could certainly take a cue from two of the most visible heavy hitters who walk in his world.
Appearing all week at the Garden, there is Madonna. Appearing all week in the headlines, there has been Warren Buffett (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/warren_e_buffett/index.html?inline=nyt-per). At this intersection of reinvention and generosity, Dolan could discover a blueprint for public redemption.
If Madonna can evolve, so can Dolan. She has transformed herself from a gum-smacking "Lucky Star" songstress who once starred in a racy book called "SEX" to a 40-something Zen momma who writes children's tales entitled "Mr. Peabody's Apples."
Imagine if Dolan could grow up from the petty owner consumed with protecting his "Lucky Star-bury" to a manager aware of his shortcomings as a personnel wiz.
"I've a huge ego and I need to change," Madonna said in her 2005 documentary. "Knowing is the beginning."
Good advice for Dolan. If anything, Dolan is very attentive to powerbrokers. So he must have been absorbed by the charity exhibited by his fellow billionaire Buffett.
"I don't believe in dynastic wealth," Buffett said.
Certainly, the charmed offspring of Cablevision heard him. Imagine if Dolan displayed egoless management.
"If Dolan could just keep paying the bills and take a more laissez-faire approach," said a man known only as Mr. Orange, last night's protest organizer and the mind behind selltheknicks.com (http://selltheknicks.com/). "It would be much like it was when he first got control of the team from Daddy."
To turn back time, Dolan would have to stop meddling and hand over his oversight duties to a respected figure in basketball, perhaps a Jerry West or a Joe Dumars type.
To go retro, Dolan would have to tap into his inner Buffett and develop a give-back program. How about a rebate? Dolan replaced Larry Brown (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/larry_brown/index.html?inline=nyt-per) with Thomas on the sideline last week and put Thomas on the spot by issuing a one-year ultimatum: If Thomas does not turn the Knicks into a contender, he is gone.
Thomas would surely receive severance pay. And so should Knicks fans. If the Knicks do not rise above .500, Dolan should offer his faithful ticket holders refunds, or at least coupons toward team merchandise.
After all, if Dolan can lavish his castoffs with cash — see the seven- and eight-figure payouts to former players like Shandon Anderson, former coaches like Lenny Wilkens and former presidents like Scott Layden (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/scott_layden/index.html?inline=nyt-per) — why not try a little charity?
Dolan could be begin his reinvention by not treating angry Knicks fans as if they've spliced their way into Cablevision.
Revish Shah relayed an abuse of power yesterday as he told how Garden security challenged him when they saw him wearing a "Fire Isiah" T-shirt near a televised tailgate party before the Knicks played Denver in March.
"It was before they went on the air," said Shah, a college student who marched on the Garden last night. "Security said, 'Get rid of the T-shirt, cover it up, or we'll throw you out or throw you in jail.' "
Why can't Dolan try a little humility? He could just as easily meet with the disenfranchised fans — all 30 or so of them at the Mercury Bar yesterday — as he can chase them off with legal threats.
"Listen to the fans," said the protester Dave Sorani, a recent graduate of Brooklyn College (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/brooklyn_college/index.html?inline=nyt-org) on his way to law school. "I'd tell Jim Dolan to listen to what we're saying. Get off the high throne over there at the Garden and listen."
Or the very least, he could listen to Madonna: Knowing is the beginning.
E-mail: [email protected]