stunning development,
In a stunning development, Larry Brown actually appeared on the hour-long, Sunday night edition of Madison Square Garden's "SportsDesk."
Okay, so the current - or is it former? - Knicks coach made that appearance during a commercial for Steve Nash's "MVP Basketball" video. Was this a prelude to MSG's "SportsDesk," anchored Sunday night by Steve Cangialosi? In commercials, MSG bills "SportsDesk" as the place to be for local sports news.
Locally, the big story Sunday was about reports indicating Garden/Cablevision boss James Dolan and Knicks prez Isiah Thomas were going to kick Brown - who would be replaced by Zeke - out the door. This particular kick in the butt will be expensive.
It could cost Dolan as much $40 million. If this stuff goes down, Thomas and Dolan will be remembered as the two men who made the most expensive mistake in the history of New York sports.
Now, what better place to get all this Larry news late Sunday night then on MSG's "SportsDesk." After all, these dispatches come to viewers direct from what Al (Wiggie) Trautwig insists - night after night after night - is: "The world's most famous arena."
Ever since Dolan purchased the Garden, and everything that comes with it (including the MSG Network), Trautwig's words ring hollow. The Garden is now a barracks for overpaid losers, executives who are rewarded handsomely to fail, and all the suckers, er fans, who pay exorbitant prices to watch a poorly constructed, heartless Knicks team.
Also, through a series of bad business decisions leading to the loss of Yankees and Mets TV rights, MSG Network, once a model for regional sports networks, is now nothing more than Dolan's in-house propaganda/marketing arm.
Ironically, that's why this Brown story is right in MSG's wheelhouse. When all the Brown-made turmoil was percolating during the season, the Knicks' TV ratings on MSG were pretty robust for a team that quit on a nightly basis. Now, with Thomas authoring another bizarre chapter of Brown's soap opera, would MSG's "SportsDesk" dig into it?
Anyone watching MSG Sunday night knows the answer to that question. Cangialosi led "SportsDesk" with the Devils' elimination loss to Carolina. Then it was a recap of Sunday's A's-Yankees and Mets-Brewers games.
Next, more Devils "insight" from John Giannone and Chico Resch before a report on Miami taking Game 4 from the Nets.
While the story of Brown's imminent firing should have led the telecast, you would figure this was now the time - during the basketball segment - to air it, right? What came next was truly mind-boggling.
"SportsDesk" presented a Fran Healy "interview" with Don Mattingly. The subject: How Mattingly has helped Jason (The Giambalco) Giambi at the plate. But most of this scintillating one-on-one concerned a new bat Mattingly has created. This was nothing more than a free infomercial for Mattingly.
Maybe, just maybe, "SportsDesk" was saving the Brown story for the end of the show.
Not quite. Cangialosi's big finish was an extensive report on the Hofstra-Providence NCAA Divison I lacrosse playoff game. Oh yeah, the 'cast ended with a football Giants Mother's Day story.
So, in an hour-long sportscast on MSG, there was not one mention of Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas or James Dolan. Not one word about this Knicks story that appeared Sunday on back - and front - pages of newspapers. Man, not even a cover-your-butt sentence like: "Neither the Knicks, Brown, nor Brown's agent would comment on reports that ..."
MSG Network suits again offer more evidence why their "news" operation is a bad joke.
They had already revealed this fact in January, when "SportsDesk" failed to report, or even mention, initial reports of Anucha Browne Sanders' sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and MSG.
The only time that story got a glimmer of play on "SportsDesk" was after Thomas held a press conference in a controlled - no questions asked - environment.
The policy to devalue "SportsDesk" by stripping it of all credibility either comes via direct orders from Dolan or is a byproduct of Garden suits, including Thomas and (Silent) Steve Mills, trying to anticipate what will anger their boss and possibly get them fired.
|
