Folks, you know where NYIFC has stood on the Coliseum issue for a long time.
I was writing this when Oilers owner, Daryl Katz was issuing real threats about the future of his team in Edmonton, not the ones Wang has never issued to date.
It's time you pay up.
Everyone else was forced to pay with no choice on the matter as the city councils or bureaucracy from NYC through Newark/NJ/Meadowlands told the taxpayers what would be done whether you liked it or not.
It's an insult Ed Mangano is even allowing a public referendum and a joke the Nassau Coliseum would become the shuttered Roosevelt Raceway which of course led to Al D'Amato being investigated with so many of the names you have read over the years regarding the Nassau Coliseum here with even former Msg owners involved at one point.
It's time for you to pay, same as everyone else was forced to pay with no choice.
Charles Wang was talking about floating bonds in 2003 when Nassau could not pay for their own building.
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A short time ago I wrote no chance Glendale pays another 25 million or the NHL operates the Coyotes again for another season.
Turned out this blog was dead wrong. Shocked that town is willing to pay another 25m dollars or the NHL continues to absorb losses to operate that franchise.
I guess Glendale is really stuck between what they spent to build that facility vs finding anyone willing to lose that kind of revenue owning the club. Also gives me the impression a 10-13m dollar loss (above 25m) is one the league does not mind given so many clubs already losing as much or more.
The commentary coming out of Canada is pathetic on the subject. All Winnipeg and Quebec had to do was pay the money for new facilities if they wanted to keep their teams in the first place.
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The New York Islander goaltenders cannot even go to Slovakia without getting injured, first Nabokov, now Montoya, who was not healthy enough to dress as a backup in team USA's elimination loss.
Anders Nilsson was incorrectly listed as starting a game for TSN.
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Nice to see the Islanders finally posted a video with Rick DiPietro, it was painfully weak of them not to release his season exit interview because folks wanted to see his reaction to being asked about three goaltenders next year.
Katie Strang (like with DiPietro) today again tried to portray Charles Wang's reactions to a question but we have video so we can make our own judgment.
Best reaction was Larry Brooks when a media person laughed at John Tortorella's bus-stop comment as Brooks abruptly turned to face the person laughing. That my friends, is someone bristling.
Now go cover baseball in the so-called big hockey market.
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Here goes NYIFC again:
Will James Dolan's Newsday Editorials support a new arena vs Dolan's renovated one or will his paper and comedy staff (aka sportswriters) who never report on Garden's forever tax exemptions/laughingstock teams work the other side of the street that will help Cablevision/Msg/Newsday's best long-term interest come August 1st?
You think Newsday will start doing editorials about Msg's 1981 tax exemption that the NY Times did in 2002 here to save the thirteen year old Msg?
They had some brief supportive editorials of the Lighthouse Project.
In this blog's estimation the one true credible long-time business reporter is Mark Harrington. Will he be turned into irrelevant Fran Healy/Arthur Staple with many others in Cablevision's best business interest? Seems the Kranek-Winnicki filter only allows insults on teams or facilities not owned by James Dolan.
Sorry gang, hate even mentioning the Dolan's coverage.....again.
This blog is also well aware NYIFC hammers them in far too many entries and from this point on that will be scaled back significantly regardless because I have made the case as best I can and will leave it in your hands.
NYIFC has been far too repetitive on this subject, it's become counterproductive to what NYIFC is about.
Having written this it is not this blogs fault Cablevision/Msg owns Newsday or the television coverage, and have a track record a mile long that screams they are no equal partner with the teams they own television rights to by their actions time and again or that their business dealings with media, newspapers, sports teams and employees have been a disaster.
When James Dolan's Newsday columnist write the Knicks and Rangers along with James Dolan are a joke (as all other local papers do often) and write Msg is a dump they have earned the fair right to run down Charles Wang, the New York Islanders and the Nassau Coliseum exactly the same way.
That's the day James Dolan's Newspaper and television coverage become relevant, are no longer a joke, and are worthy of being trusted.
Not before.
I'm basically done on this subject. Even the twitter account will tone down the subject. Cannot go any further, the archives here speak for themselves.
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Alexei Yashin's four playoffs in five years looks like Yzerman compared to Ted Drury's brother earning seven million for one goal and zero criticism. Yashin is even a better interview in two languages.
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In terms of the NHL playoffs it's a parity driven league now. Teams coming back down 3-0 in series have become more commonplace. The difference between the top seeds vs the eighth seeds are who is hot at right time in most cases.
Once momentum changes anything can happen, it's not a 1975 league anymore with those kinds of dominating franchises.
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When Mike Francesa talks NHL, hockey fans usually start laughing and Wednesday was no exception. I do believe he likes the New York Islanders. He started off terse, yelling at his own staff before shouting down his callers as he became an instant expert in about fifteen minutes while still stuck on Lighthouse Light Rail that was never even proposed.
I was hoping for Charles Wang to appear.
If Francesa is that outspoken against taxpayer bonds that's fine, however he should have been hammering New York Yankees President Randy Levine for the same thing that financed two local stadiums. Instead he hammered Assemblyman Richard Brodsky for even questioning additional financing for his favorite team.
Here is frequent Msnbc guest Randy Levine the same week after 400+ million were spent on baseball players:
This was the same time Daily News & NY Times with Espn & countless publications reported the Yankees and Mets needed even more taxpayer handouts.
Rupert Murdoch's NY Post editorial blasted Brodsky.
For that matter where was life-long Yankee fan Mike Francesa when taxpayers renovated Yankee Stadium from 1974-1976 at close to 100m when the starting cost for that was only Shea Stadium 1964 price of 24m?
Apparently different standards for different teams which is why his former worthless partner, Chris Russo, at least would have called Francesa out for his hypocrisy if only to stir up his rival on air.
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Tavares is only New York Islander still playing at WC. Jurcina, Montoya have been eliminated. Nabokov was injured so TBD at best/Nilsson has not played. Martinek has not returned to lineup nor has Jonesuu played.
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