Will Dolan deny Spike’s tickets over latest feud?
Even though Spike Lee claims he is “being harassed” by James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan, the Oscar-winning director and veteran Knicks mascot said he will return to his courtside seats next season.
What makes Lee so sure Dolan will even allow him to purchase those expensive seats?
The Garden boss is under no obligation to sell tickets to Lee. And as history shows, Dolan, through his organization, has already banned fans from MSG for violating its catch-all “Code of Conduct.”
Even before Lee ran afoul of Dolan’s security operatives on Monday, for refusing to follow their request to exit an elevator inside the employee’s entrance, there are other excuses or reasons MSG could have offered to demonstrate how Lee previously broke the “Code.” Like when he is standing at courtside and berating officials. Or fraternizing with players during a game.
Lee is not only a long-time paying customer, but a celebrity as well.
The “Code” wasn’t written for him until he decided not to leave that elevator, then go on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday to stick it to Dolan by leveling the harassment charge. After that, all bets were off. The Garden boss went fullDolan on Lee, dictating, er, issuing a press release saying “the idea” Lee is playing the role of “victim” is “laughable.”
Instead of trying to calm the situation, Dolan purposely exacerbated it.
What makes anyone think Dolan is going to suddenly embrace Lee and make peace, especially after Charles Oakley used the Lee situation to say there’s a “plantation” mentality at Dolan’s Garden? If you didn’t know by now, Dolan holds grudges. Oakley, Marv Albert, Woody Allen, Larry Brown and others are still on his enemies list. Lee has now joined Dolan’s Mt. Crushmore. Denying Lee Knicks’ tickets will make it official.
Mr. Lee participated in interviews (First Take, New York Times, The Michael Kay Show), where he took on Dolan. A couple of questions we would have liked to hear were: “Why did it take so long to figure out Dolan is vindictive and paranoid? Was Dolan singling Lee out any worse than he’s done to others in the past; like having a Knicks official escort then coach Don Chaney out of the Garden immediately after he was fired in 2004?
Lee literally had a frontrow seat for over two decades of Dolan-inspired dysfunction/chaos and instead of using his celebrity influence and power he repeatedly turned the other cheek, said nothing, and kept acting as the team’s cheerleader. He went beyond that, producing and directing an instructional video on Phil Jackson’s moldy Triangle offense for MSG in 2014.
The media now has now turned Lee into a sympathetic figure.
Hallelujah! Spike Lee has finally seen the light. Will he be seeing those four expensive courtside seats next season?
ROMO FALLOUT
Will Tony Romo’s insane $17 million per year CBS contract cost Gary Danielson and Brad Nessler their jobs working Southeastern Conference football?
CBS has to find money not only to pay Romo, but to pay for NFL rights.
In a case like this the suits look anywhere and everywhere for “hidden” moolah. CBS has three years left on its SEC deal (worth $55 million per year). The deal ends after the 2023 season.
After 2023 ESPN takes over at a whopping $300 million per year. So, CBS can generate revenue by selling the final
STILL A-FRAUD
While some suggest Alex Rodriguez’s soliloquy on ESPN Tuesday on why the Astros should show “remorse” over their cheating scandal should have been accompanied by a sad violin, we would’ve preferred a laughtrack.
Considering A-Rod had a lot of practice showing phony “remorse” how can you take him seriously. Not even ESPN’s propaganda machine can restore his credibility. Or as Bart Scott said on ESPN-98.7’s “Bart & Hahn,” “I don’t believe a word that comes out of Alex Rodriguez’s mouth.”
Everybody is still not buying the story of “redemption” A-Rod is trying to sell on ESPN. Yet as hard as he tried down-shifting into mea culpa mode, Rodriguez still sounded like he was playing victim, talking about how he served the “longest suspension” in MLB history and it cost him well over “$35 million.”
What about younger players, following in his footsteps, who got busted? Players who didn’t have the kind of money A-Rod burned on lawyers.
But what do we know? As long as A-Rod’s TV enablers (ESPN/Fox) continue employing him, Rodriguez has two national platforms to deliver self-help drivel and his tales of “remorse” and “redemption.”
A PAPER LEON
If new Knicks prez Leon Rose is trying to cultivate the image of a behind-the-scenes guy, he should reconsider.
He introduced himself to the local media via a press release. Rose’s decision (Unless Dolan called the shot here) to not answer questions from reporters at a press conference left the perception Rose is picking up where Steve (Mummy) Mills left off.
The Spike Lee-Dolan jive once again showed how the organization needs a leader to calm the chaos and, at least, give the impression the franchise is headed in the right direction. Rose can’t do this by hiding behind a piece of paper.