Three Years Is A Long Time, But Not For Dolan/Newsday To Drive Away Fans

New York Islander Fan Central | 7/27/2012 10:21:00 AM |
The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Knicks, Rangers, Madison Square Garden and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.

They are in quite a rush to drive away the remaining fans between their political/sports reporting, they have every legal right to do it. 

Three years is a long time, it took Pittsburgh until three months before their Smg lease was up. Edmonton's lease is up in 2014. Anyone see or recall the Tribune Review or Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Edmonton Sun/Journal driving out the local team with most articles like Dolan's paper does?

Gary Bettman recently said there is still time.

I guess if Flyers owner Ed Snider bought the Gazette-Tribune in 2004, plus he owned Penguins local cable rights/had to pay Pens hundreds of millions until 2030 or Orca Bay in Vancouver owned the Edmonton Sun/Journal plus had to pay the Oilers hundreds of millions for television coverage things would be the same.

Seems Dolan controlled Msg, Newsday, Cablevision Rangers are in the biggest rush to create a public circus on the Coliseum, and Charles Wang's hockey team to drive customers, eventually the team away?

Nothing you have not read here before.

Amazing how many still cannot read between the lines almost a full year since Dolan's Newsday put out tons of negative coverage (tepid late fine print endorsement notwithstanding after it was obvious via polling referendum would not pass) to intentionally drive up the turnout that defeated the Coliseum referendum.

If that were a referendum done during August which benefited Cablevision not one negative word would have been written in Dolan's paper, the unions would have quietly carried the vote going away.

Of course none of this has anything to do with legislature/NIFA approvals, but when Randi Marshall was done printing out political contributions, mentioning Wang, I asked her why she did not mention Dolan by name, then she claimed Cablevision's political contributions were in Newsday which of course the Daily News did with Dolan the headline here.

Then Ms Marshall did not appreciate my twitter comments  when I wrote Newsday Editor In Chief Debbie Henley ... senior vice president, Deborah (website design) Krenek would not allow the name of Dolan be printed. 

Ms Marshall knows the truth of what's allowed, perhaps Islander fans still do not understand?

Dolan's name never appears beyond the usual disclaimer in sports coverage, the LI Press was wrong on referendum coverage, but correct about Dolan's Newsday here.

Ever see a news outlet in one area (Newsday/News 12/Msg/Cablevision) virtually entirely owned via monopoly with the vested interest in seeing the local team leave so at the very least a owner getting 11m a year in tax-exemptions at Cablevision owned Msg in Manhattan gains more customers while they put hundreds of millions back in the bank?

It's still comical almost a full year since the referendum not one person wrote those events going to New York City if the Coliseum closes makes money for the owner of Msg, Cablevision, Newsday.

The outlet owned by Pat Dolan that moderater Lea Tyrrell News 12 the big vote last summer was quick to ask if Dolan's Rangers sold out the Coliseum.

Dolan's Newsday has one mission, drive the Islanders entirely out of the New York area, save hundreds of millions in Cable contract money until 2030, regain territorial rights on Long Island.

Nothing happening at the Coliseum is the best news of all for Dolan, who would love to be that " other " bidder for the Coliseum in a deal that finances itself with Isles cable contract money come 2015.

Is Nassau County going to turn down Dolan's financing for a Cablevision Coliseum (maybe a new building outright)  vs closing the facility once the Isles are gone?

Dolan's Hartford Endgame: 
Islander fans have seen this movie before in Hartford.

Dolan moved his AHL franchise in to grab the former NHL teams Whalers fanbase,  Dolan's Msg made an agreement to join with former owner, Harold Baldwin, for the color/re-branding that slapped a Ct label on a team despite Charles Wang's Bridgeport team being in Ct.

Msg kicked Baldwin to the curb June 26th here.

No, I do not see Dolan doing an AHL deal in Brooklyn at this time because of the hostile relationship with the Nets/Markowitz ripping Msg, at least not now.

Too bad Charles Wang does not want his own ECHL affiliate in Brooklyn. 

Dolan's Newsday Endgame:
Dolan's in the entertainment/arena purchasing business. Msg now owns the Los Angeles Forum.

This is a reality Islander fans simply do not wish to acknowledge along with the Isles being Charles Dolan's first choice of local teams to purchase before his son was given operational control of Msg, which bought Newsday. 

On one front, make things as negative as possible around the team via former Ranger beatwriter Arthur Staple (despite Tavares/some excellent player stories even better than Dolan's failed Knicks for a decade) so fans stay away (see Aaron Portzline in Columbus Dispatch doing that?)  on the other front make sure Wang is front/center in the Newsday business coverage (despite Wang not wanting to do negotiations in media) via Randi Marshall/Patrick Whittle/staff, who's doing her best Eden Laikin impersonation, who many accused of intentional negative Lighthouse coverage when soliciting opinion.

It works to perfection. Hockey fans blame Wang for being the only owner to not spend via his local counterparts all receiving taxpayer cash in new buildings. Every time Dolan's controversial staff does a feature (at least not the ones in LI Press where employees knock him)  Islander fans resolve never to purchase tickets or are resigned to the team relocating. 

Then of course it's time for a DiPietro feature, not a Tavares feature.

What's Wang Going To Do?
Let's be clear we have no idea of the true Wang-Dolan business relationship, but in the end Wang may want a cable contract/territorial rights buyout from Dolan if there are local vs out of market bids for the team come 2015 or for him to simply remain owner anywhere.

As long as Wang owns the Marriott it's in his best interest to have events at the Coliseum so his hotel makes money, he has one financial reason to retain the Isles at the current location.

Dolan's not going to give him a free hundred million dollars or more unless it's absolutely necessary so Charles Wang is going to do what he must.

Someone local (Nassau/Brooklyn/Queens) come 2014-15 offers Charles Wang the same 180-200m as an out of area bid, Dolan offers an additional 100m for territorial rights, television contract what is Charles Wang supposed to do after losing hundreds of millions in the first place? 

Three Years Is A Long Time:
I have written this many times, filling the seats forces action from the politicians, it makes Dolan's paper tread more carefully with negative coverage or their true agenda is questioned by more mainstream media as LI Press does.

Yes, there are Islander fans out there who believe Wang has some control of Newsday's content. 

Dolan Needs The Rivalry With The Islanders, Revenue They Generate?
I get that a lot from some when I write these entries, which begs the question if Dolan needs the rivalry to generate revenue why does he hide the games, give them no features, refuse to carry preseason or even play the Isles (this year exception) or why has he hidden Isles since virtually day Msg/Fox merged or created Metroguide to hide the 2002 playoffs?


Is that how you generate revenue while producing bottom of the barrel coverage from an outlet that did not even have road playoff coverage for the Devils in the early rounds of the playoffs, then had to share postgame semi-finals coverage with Dolan's Rangers? 

The same outlet that switched Billy Jaffe's contract for the first coach Charles Wang fired, and provided only one full time host while Devils have Daneyko, Placey, Fischler far more often? 

How come there are no optimistic articles about this team despite Arthur Staple in a largely negative chat recently claiming on paper there are only one or two teams better than the Isles in the conference?

It's All This Blog's Conspiracy:
Please stop. The Dolan's record of vindictive/selective media coverage is a mile long. I did not create Newsday or Dolan's reputation on censoring negative media, that list comes from professional outlets or former/current employees at his own paper or Msg.

What's next Alan Hahn, who used to rip Dolan before he bought Newsday, now doing television commentary changed his mind or did not want to go find employment in another market? 

I could literally post a hundred of these links not even counting the teams games taken off television, lawsuits vs the NHL, issues with other papers. Not my thoughts, but again those of professionals  covering James Dolan's teams daily.

NY Post 4/2 (after Lafontaine WSJ Sielski hitjob) on Dolan/Daily News Mort Zuckerman Feud

Nassau County Website had following a few weeks ago on Dolan's coverage from Mangano spokesman, Brian Nevin:

“It’s become obvious that Newsday columnist Joye Brown has some personal grudge or vendetta against Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. We all get that! However, it’s a shame that Newsday is allowing an editorial opinion on the news page without labeling it as such. The fact that Newsday, once one of the top five daily newspapers in the nation, condones this poor practice is disturbing as it lacks transparency by blurring the line between news and opinion.
For me, my family, friends and associates, it appears Newsday is joining the ranks of the Star and the Enquirer. To place a column with Brown’s personal feelings on page 3, next to actual news stories – as a way of tricking the average reader into thinking they are facts – is yellow journalism at its worst. Ethical journalism calls for viewpoints in a separate section from the news because the two are supposed to be separate and apart. Accordingly, I am calling on the publisher of Newsday to end this practice immediately!”

Bottom line it's up to each of you to read between the lines.