Posted by arkrud:
Why this fr..n fans are still in the building?
Are they fans or just bystanders?
I think Steph is absolutely right.
MSG should allow only good fans in the Garden.
All visitors should sign the disclosure stated that they love Knicks regardless and are coming to support the team and ALL players, coaches, management, and owners.
And if some f..ng bustards will booo or misbehave any other way just take them out with security and ban from Garden for life. Let’s them watch this "formidable" Boston instead. Lets them suffer...
frank isola refused to sign and now look at him...can't even get a test msg update on game day from the knicks PR staff. here's the article. interesting read:
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Garden Variety Psycho
TrueHoop Henry Abbott
November 28, 2007 12:05 PM
When I watched the Warriors beat the Knicks last week at Madison Square Garden, I got a front row seat on the craziness that is the relationship between the New York Knicks and the media.
It's uncomfortable and bitter, to be sure.
One guy I saw there was Frank Isola of the Daily News, and I remember thinking that he looked a little stressed out. In a New York Observer article called "Life in Knicks Hell," John Koblin explains that Isola is one of many reporters who has been butting heads with the team. Isola used to be friendly with the Knicks' PR people. He recalls the year 2000 when he watched NCAA basketball with them, and went for a run with PR executive Barry Watkins.
The next year, Mr. Isola recalled, Mr. Dolan's third as the Garden's chief executive, the Knicks instituted their new media policy. He took a breath. "And now Barry Watkins -- I haven't spoken to him since February."
Mr. Isola says it's because he asked Mr. Watkins to stop sending security officials to follow him around the Garden. (Mr. Watkins would not comment on this).
Whatever the cause, Mr. Isola's excommunication has been complete. The press office doesn't return his phone calls, and they don't include him on e-mails, text messages or calls with basic information about games, practices or injuries. Earlier this year, when the Knicks made phone calls to each of the beat reporters to inform them that Isiah Thomas's contract was being extended, every reporter got a call except for Mr. Isola.
Mr. Watkins declined to discuss specific reasons for the freeze-out. "What I would say," he said, "is the N.B.A. has certain guidelines-or certain rules, actually, not guidelines, rules-that require us to make practices open and available and make games open and available for all the writers."
"Frank loves the Knicks," said Mr. Hahn, the Newsday reporter. "They don't see that. They think he wants to cause trouble, to get people fired. There are little things like having a security guard follow him. There are people who work there who always make a reference that they can't talk to him because they say they'll get fired. It's a joke, but you know they also mean it because it's true."
Near the end of the article Koblin writes:
"It's really sad now," he said. "There are very few nights where you can feel a buzz in the arena. The thrill is gone."
He spoke about a colleague, Johnny Ludden, who recently stopped reporting on the Spurs. "He was covering the Spurs for nine years and when he left, ha-ha, they threw him a going-away party," Mr. Isola said. "I leave the Garden sometimes and think, 'Should I look under my car before I turn the ignition?'"
The whole thing is just so sad. As a business, any sports team runs on passion. When the last fan loses passion for the game, the business is toast.
The Knicks have the best market in the world and deep-pocketed owners, so they can afford to make more mistakes than most. And they are dealing with a press corps that can be scandalously vicious at times.
But there is nothing like being obstinate and creepy to squash that passion.
11/28/2007 1:01 PM
