Excerpt from his Blog.

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/2007/08/mailstrom.html

As for the media stuff, I've only experienced one full season at this point. My opinion is the Knicks main PR people do their jobs under a strict media policy handed down from the King's throne. It's sort of like Fight Club. The first rule about the Knicks media policy is no one talks about the Knicks media policy. They have some crazy and restrictive rules that frustrate me, such as the no-access practices. We literally sit in the media room and wait to be called in to view the final few minutes of practice, which usually involves foul shots. Awesome. Let's see Jared break another backboard. Oh good, just in time to catch Nate practicing his half-court shot.

There is a general mood of discomfort when the media mingles with the players. Assistant coaches, usually the best source for X-and-O stuff and scouting reports (and, admittedly, some good gossip) are almost off-limits. It's kind of sad that there is such a solid divide created and maintained between the traveling beat writers and the Knicks team. I came from hockey and what was essentially a one-paper beat (most of the time we were the only paper to travel with the Islanders). I loved the interaction. It was fun to chat with equipment guys and trainers about life, not just the job. You get to know people you see every day. You develop a personal connection, which I think is important when you are establishing a positive atmosphere.
The Knicks media policy - again, which is something I believe is a Dolan order - suggests fear. Suggests a lack of confidence in their people and also suggests an overall disdain for the media. Players shake their heads at it. Writers mock it. Writers from other NBA teams find it pathetically funny. As I said before, most writers in any sport have a pipeline to the GM. A cell phone number or email. You need something off the record, some background or a question answered, the GM will do it for you. Or, at the very least, the coach. With the Knicks, that does not exist.

I don't care where I sit to be honest. Let me rephrase that: I don't care where I sit as long as it is somewhere courtside. I still have one of the best seats in the house. Baseline next to the visitor's bench. Right in the action. In earshot. Reading expressions. Seeing the play develop. Awesome. In some arenas - Cleveland, for instance - the media is shoved up in the middle bowl, well away from the court. Might as well stay at the hotel and watch it on TV. You guys have to understand it's not about having to sit with the "common folk"...it's that we're not there for entertainment. We're there to cover the game. Give the reader who likely watched the game and perhaps even went to the game a closer perspective. Sure, we get the locker room postgame (it's a total mosh pit in there, quite frankly), but insight into the game and how the team won or lost is much keener from the front lines. So this is why you hear writers complain about seat location. Hope that is a lucid explanation.

I could go on for 50,000 words about this topic. I'll spare you.

SAD!

It's too bad. It costs us an insider and more personable view of the team and more accurate reporting on player and team progress. If the iron rule wasn't in place, we'd probably have better and more unique experience as Knicks fans. It would probably expand the fan base as well. Not a smart business move Mr. Donlan.

dictors fear being criticized & try to prevent it-