Results tagged “jimdolan”

James Dolan, chairman of Cablevision and Madison Square Garden, has been reviled for years for running the Knicks into the ground. And now rumor has it he wants to get rid of a beloved part of New York City—the Radio City Hall Rockettes! Dolan also owns Radio City Cityfile reported, "Much like other pricey productions—ticket sales [for the Christmas Spectacular] have fallen flat given the state of the economy," leading workers to worry. A former cast member told Cityfile, "I've spoken with people who work at the Radio City box office and they say they've never seen it this bad." Plus, "The temperamental Cablevision chief has intimated that he's prepared to scrap the Rockettes altogether and install an entirely new show in the famed venue during the holiday season. One idea he's reportedly batted around: Bringing a version of Cirque du Soleil to Radio City." Egads! Dolan's spokeperson later caught up with Cityfile, "This story is fundamentally false. We anticipate 2009 will be another successful season and look forward to creating memories for families for many years to come," but didn't say how well tickets were selling.

Everything is perfectly setup. Sean Avery is back on the ice in Hartford, mixing it up from the moment he stepped on the ice last night. It seems inevitable that he will be back on Broadway soon, trying to revive the Rangers’ season.

It may have come a year too late, but Isiah Thomas is no longer President or coach of the New York Knicks. Donnie Walsh announced Friday afternoon that he had relieved Thomas of his coaching duties saying, "The bottom line is we haven't won and the team didn't look like it was motivated to try to win and compete. Those were the reasons. A new coach is necessary to change direction of the team."

Are the Knicks under Isiah Thomas the worst team in the history of sports? According to New York Magazine, they just might be. Jeff Coplan’s piece offers the most complete and depressing summary of the Knicks during the Dolan era. From designating Knicks as “the Church of Lowered Expectations” under Dolan to describing the “rolls of flab” peeking through the Eddy Curry’s jersey, everyone--with the exception of Malik Rose and David Lee--is subject to withering criticism.

Could it really be true? Is our long nightmare really over? It certainly seems that way as multiple reports state that Donnie Walsh has decided to become the Knicks' President, agreeing to a three-year deal worth around $15 million.

The Knicks keep finding new and interesting ways to lose. Monday’s 110-98 loss saw them shoot the lights out from three-point range, hitting 47%, but miss a lot of shots from inside the arc, hitting less than 40%. Zach Randolph had a nice game, scoring 21 points and pulling down 14 rebounds while Wilson Chandler continued his development with an up-and-down night that saw him score 15 points.

After a long absence, Stephon Marbury finally showed up at Madison Square Garden last night, but the circumstances of his absence remain a mystery. “I ain’t got no comment to that,” was Marbury’s response when asked if Isiah had told him to stay away from the team. Marbury did add that he was happy to be “able” to be on the bench and support his teammates. Was that a reference to the ban or simply an acknowledgment that he was injured and therefore couldn’t attend games?

And the winner is. . .Despite having ancient looking graphics that can be seen from across the street, a set that looks like it is from a station in Iowa, and a love of sprinkling kicker stories throughout the newscast, WABC’s Eyewitness News and the station overall is yet again at the top of the ratings among the big three for February.

Beloved former Ranger Brian Leetch only made one mistake, mentioning Jim Dolan in his speech and the Rangers only made one mistake, letting Marian Hossa get free to score a goal. Hossa’s goal early in the second period put Atlanta in front and threatened to ruin Brian Leetch Night, but the Rangers recovered.

Could Jim Dolan finally deliver on the wishes of Knicks fans? Friends of Dolan told the Daily News that he finally knows that he there needs to be a coaching change. About damn time that somebody in the Knicks organization realized that, no? While the News' source didn't say when the change was coming, Dolan supposedly wants to make the coaching change before the end of the season. It's unclear whether Thomas would also be fired as the president of basketball operations.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a suspicious fire at Prospect Ave. and Ritter Pl. in the Bronx, an armed robbery attempt at Tavern on the Green in Central Park and West 67th St. in Manhattan, and an armed robbery on East 84th St. in Manhattan.
• A Staten Island native and veteran of the war in Iraq, Christopher Small, was killed in central Pennsylvania after he asked uninvited guests at his best friend's daughter's birthday party to leave. His killer later confronted him on the street and shot him three times in the head.
• In the course of opposing Columbia University's expansion plans in Manhattanville, a historian uncovered a forgotten past of an uptown dairy industry in the neighborhood.

Ooof. Talk about insulting. In today's Times, Clyde Haberman goes so far as to compare the Dolan clan to the Mario Puzo's Corleone family from his Godfather series of books. That comparison to the Dolans is clearly a slap in the face to the Corleones. Haberman says that any "enormously rich and influential business family would do as a replacement" and casts Jim Dolan, Chairman of Madison Square Garden, as "the hapless Fredo Corleone." If Jim is Fredo, where is Michael - and the kiss of death? There's gotta be some other unscrupulous families that to which the Dolans can compare (Spears family, anyone?).

You would think things couldn't get worse for Jim Dolan. After all, the Knicks stink and it seems like Isiah Thomas isn't going anywhere quick (perhaps due to Dolan's own doing). But the City Council started to look into Madison Square Garden's $11 million/year property tax exemption today. David Weprin of Queens sponsored the resolution opposing the exemption saying that "It's very unusual that you have a profitable institution like Madison Square Garden that's been profitable for quite a few years to have an exemption." If the resolution is approved by the City Council, the state legislature (and Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver) would also have to approve the change in status.

After Isiah Thomas said that he was still fit to coach the Knicks on Tuesday, we wondered if he was the most delusional man in the history of sports. That answer emerged yesterday as Thomas proclaimed that the Knicks will win a championship with him AND that he wants to leave a legacy. BWAHAHAHAHAHA. That's the best joke we'll be hearing all year. Seriously though, that smell of bullshit at Madison Square Garden isn't coming from those bulls, but from the head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Knicks.

If you believe that headline, you're clearly delusional. But that seems to be exactly what Isiah Thomas believes. In mid-December, Isiah said it would be fair to ask about his coaching status after two weeks to see if he improved. Well, those two weeks are up and he still believes he's fit to coach the Knicks.

A Historic Collapse: The Mets held a seven-game lead with 17 to play and were caught looking ahead to the playoffs. What followed was among the worst collapses in history and one that revealed the weaknesses of the players, the manager and the general manager. Jose Reyes and his questionable -- and downright poor -- play summed up the the performance on the field. Manager Willie Randolph's mismanagement of the bullpen came to light more down the stretch. So did Omar Minaya's complete neglect of the roster's periphery. The Mets trotted out inexperienced and ineffective pitchers down the stretch, and the bullpen that Randolph had to deal with wasn't that good to begin with thanks to some questionable trades. What this means for the 2008 season remains to be seen, but it cost the Mets fans Lastings Milledge, another symbol of the collapse. He was dumped dealt to the Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.

Isiah Thomas may want two weeks to save his job, but for most fans have had enough. A group of fans delivered an eight-foot-high pink slip to the steps of Madison Square Garden yesterday calling on Jim Dolan to fire Thomas. And, the “Fire Isiah” chants were heard inside the building last night, despite the team winning easily over the Cavaliers.

It’s your fault. You may have thought that forking over a huge amount of money for a ticket gave you the right to boo the Knicks, but the coach disagrees. In a season that takes one bizarre turn after another, the latest tops them all, Isiah told the fans that the Knicks are losing because they boo. "We're missing layups because you're booing,” Isiah told some fans during last night’s loss. Right! Perhaps fans are...

Philadelphia 105 Knicks 77: On Tuesday, the Sixers fired their GM and President. On Wednesday, they lost to Boston, a team that is currently 17-2. On Friday and Saturday they swept a home-and-home against the Knicks, a team that desperately needs to start over again. It’s time Jim Dolan, if you even care anymore. It’s time Isiah Thomas, if you care about anything beyond your current job. Long ago the Garden was a magical place...

Rangers 2 Tampa 1: New York got back on track quickly, coming out in the first period with intensity and jumping to a 1-0 lead thanks to Fedor Tyutin. Henrik Lundqvist wss his usually brilliant self, making 32 saves including several huge ones while the Rangers clung to a one-goal lead. It wasn’t until Colton Orr hit a knuckleball off the stick of a Lightning defenseman at 2:05 of the third period, that the...

It started with the fans booing Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas and ended with the fans booing all of the Knicks. The Knicks commited an amazing 27 turnovers in their 108-82 loss Tuesday. Baron Davis had 31 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds as he showed the fans the type of play by a point guard they can only dream about. And, expect it to get worse. After the game Isiah Thomas conducted a bizarre...

Filling the "It's so ridiculous," "It's true" and "You certainly didn't get what you paid for" categories is news that the combined salary for the New York Knickerbockers for the 2006-07 season was a whopping $139,381,526. While the astronomical payroll of the Knicks isn't new news, it's always fun to look at the payrolls of teams that didn't make the NBA Playoffs.

• Yankees 10 Twins 1: Apparently, Alex Rodriguez should have come clean about his relationship with Derek Jeter years ago. Unburdened by no longer living a lie, Rodriguez has opened the season as well as anyone ever has, belting his sixth homer in seven games Tuesday night as part of a 10-run barrage by the Yankees’ offense.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Another A-Bomb From A-Rod"

Yes, it appeared that Dwight Howard committed a goaltending violation on Stephon Marbury’s subsequent drive, but Nelson came down and hit another 3, part of the 10-2 run the Magic used to seal the game.

But, in classic fashion, the Knicks didn’t show up. Eddy Curry continued his regression (19.6 ppg pre All-Star game/16.9 after including 15.4 in March) scoring only eight points and Marbury went 6-22 from the field.

With six of their next seven games against likely playoff teams, the Knicks will have to make a stand if they do not want to see their season slip away. Jim Dolan already rewarded the coach, the question is, will the players live up to his faith?

(Warning, the following will contain something nice about Isiah Thomas. If that will sicken you, stop reading now.)

Twenty years ago today, on WNBC's 6 p.m. newscast a monthly sports segment created by Len Berman made its debut - Spanning the World. Since then, viewers in the tri-state area along with those who catch the segment of wild and wacky sports highlights when Len visits the Today show have been hearing his trademark "and nobody got hurt" along with Don Pardo intoning "Tune in next time for Spanning the World, if there is a next time." We haven't heard of any special anniversary commemoration today, however there will be a half hour 20th anniversary special taped in front of a live audience airing on March 24th at 7:00 p.m. on NBC 4.

As for the Nets, it is hard to understand why they didn’t make a deal. With Vince Carter probably opting out of his deal at the end of the season and Jason Kidd getting older and older, this would have been a great opportunity to start the rebuilding process. Instead, the Nets will play out the string and possibly win the division, though that isn’t saying much.