Today, Knicks fans staged a protest rally outside Madison Square Garden to demand that the Knicks fire Coach/General Manager Isiah Thomas.* Most of the protesters carried signs. Someone brought a giant pink slip. The national media had it blanketed. It was a top headline on ESPN.com. And it was big news on ESPN radio. It was an AP headline. Shepherd Smith reported it breathlessly on the Fox News Channel.
But at Drive and Dish, we have one question: WHO CARES?
There's no question that Isiah Thomas has failed with the Knicks. And, as such, it's not surprising that Knicks fans want to run him out of town. Frankly, I couldn't believe that Knicks fans tolerated Isiah as long as they did. Isiah was initially popular in New York. And while I thought the coterie of Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jamaal Crawford, Jalen Rose and Eddy Curry was a train wreck waiting to happen, most Knicks fans were ecstatic about the amount of supposed "star power" that Isiah was assembling. In fact, if you listened to Knicks fans and the national media (which are often one and the same), the Knicks were a dynasty-in-the-making.
But now, after years of ineptitude, Knicks fans have finally had enough. OK. But it certainly took them long enough to figure out that Isiah isn't the best guy to run that franchise: Just as he wasn't the right guy to run the NBA franchises in Toronto and Indiana. And he wasn't the right guy to run the Continental Basketball Association (which went bankrupt while under his stewardship).
But this shouldn't be national news. The Knicks are a bad team. Bad teams' fans often campaign for the team to fire the coach ... and the General Manager. That's extremely common in the world of professional sports. It's also common in college sports (ask Kentucky fans -- they ran Tubby Smith out of town last year, now they want to run Billy Gillispie [Smith's replacement] out of town). Hell, it's not even uncommon for high school fans and parents to try to get the coach canned.
The only reason this is such a big news story is because it's happening in New York, and because the team at the center of the controversy is the Knicks. Believe me, fans of under performing teams want to get rid of their teams' coaches in every corner of the globe. When the Green Bay Packers don't win the Super Bowl, their fans want the coach fired. That happens almost every year. Similarly, nearly every July, Cubs fans start to clamor for the manager's scalp. And just this summer, the coach of Pakistan's national cricket team was killed after a Paki loss.
But it's New York. It's the Knicks. So it's big news.
Whatever.
* - Click on the box titled "Discussion Board" under the photo of the protesting Knicks fans in the linked NY Post article, then scroll down and read the comment by "Costa in Greektown" -- I know Costa and I agree with his comment 100%.
By the Way:
This protest comes on the heels of the Knicks ejecting a fan from his seat for carrying a "Fire Isiah" sign at the Knicks game the other night. Apparently, Knicks fans are really, really mad at Isiah now.
What took them so long?
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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5 comments:
Isiah just needs more time. It's not Isiah's fault that Steve Francis didn't work out when he was in the backcourt with Steph, Jamaal, J.Rose, and NateRob. That was a crazy talented team. And with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph down low, Isiah has assembled more talent in MSG over the years than any other team in the Association (except for this year's Celtics, as much as I hate to admit that).
The Garden is the biggest stage in sports. And New York is the biggest stage in the world. You've got to have star power on the Knicks -- we demand that as Knicks fans -- and there's no question that Isiah has brought in the talent.
Give Isiah time. It's very, very important that the Knicks have an African American General Manager and an African American head coach. That's even more important than having a good General Manager and a good head coach. And it's a feather in the Knicks' hat -- even though the African American coach and the African American GM are the same guy ... Isiah. James Dolan should be proud of himself for that. He's proven that he's not a racist. And he's proven that the Knicks aren't a racist franchise ... like the Celtics are. And, following suit, it shows that as Knicks fans, we're more intelligent, more evolved, more progressive and less racist than the fans of any other sports team in America (well, at least those of us Knicks fans who live in Manhattan [as well as hipster Knicks fans in Williamsburg and other trendy parts of Brooklyn] -- can't exactly say the same for the dagos in Staten Island and those drunk Irish Micks out on Long Island).
In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Isiah would be a great Presidential candidate someday. He could get the American economy back on track. And he'd be the ideal guy to clean up all of Bush's messes. Plus, he'd put an end to the encroaching right wing evangelical Christian theocracy and he'd restore habeas corpus and the rule of law.
I know that I'm in the minority, but I trust Isiah. And I believe whatever he says because he's such a smooth talker and he smiles all the time.
Isiah just makes me feel good about myself for liking him. And since I like Isiah and trust him implicitly, I can take heart in the fact that I'm not some racist hick like the rest of you backwoods regressive American yahoos!! Not that I have to prove that, of course. After all, I'm from Manhattan. I went to Lawrenceville and then on to Cornell. I wear small, black framed glasses. I mean, I read the Times, the Times' book review, the New Yorker, the New Republic (and I've chatted with Franklin Foer at dinner parties), the Nation, BPM, the Utne Reader, Wax Poetics, Gawker and the Huffington Post (not to drop names, but I've bumped into Arianna once or twice when I waited on her table, I mean, when I was an up and coming playwright). I watch Charlie Rose. I go to theater regularly. I'm a regular at the galleries. I took the A train down to see the Mapplethorpe exhibit when I was 12. I went to CBGB's a few times before it closed, and when I did, I always wore a Ramone's or New York Dolls tee shirt. I own a few pairs of kicks from Alife Rivington and from the Adidas store on the Lower East Side (not from the tourist friendly Adidas store). I'm a sophisticated member of the New York intelligentsia. And I'm really smart. So I'm obviously not a hillbilly buttfuck like all of you extra chromosome types West of the Hudson.
I am better than you are.
And smarter.
That's why I'm still hanging in there with Isiah.
He'll get the Knicks back to winning championships like they always used to do. Isiah will return the Knicks to their rightful place of being the most dominant dynasty in the NBA. I know that it'll happen sooner or later ... just give Isiah a chance.
I know Costa too. But I think he's an idiot. And rumor has it he's been seen outside of a lot of bars on Halsted St. lately, but not in Greek Town ....... further north on Halsted ...... in Boystown!
Isiah is a joke. Get him out now.
The Knicks turmoil illustrates the importance of having a value based coach. Isiah has committed sexual harrassment against a poor woman. His players are sinners as well. You might as well bring in a leader or field general to straighten out the mess. He may coach football, but knows how to deal with people. Dennis Green is the answer for this troubled franchise. Dennis Green could be a motivational consultant or serve is some other advisory type of role. Perhaps Isiah needs to see the light. A good internal hard look at himself while on a fishing trip with the Lombardi of the current day, would improve the Knicks dramatically.
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