James Dolan Still A Better Option
Well, here we go again with the New York Knicks. They introduced a new team president in Leon Rose, and they had a shocking win over the Houston Rockets. What made the win all the better was RJ Barrett having a career high 27 points, Mitchell Robinson had a double-double, and Frank Ntilikina played lock down defense against Russell Westbrook on the final possession.
This was supposed to be a good day, but it was overshadowed by Spike Lee.
There was an altercation of sorts where Lee was told not to enter through the same entrance he always did. Given this is the Knicks, you can assume the worst including there being no rhyme or reason to the decision. Lee raised the stakes screaming and yelling, not acquiescing, and by invoking Oakley’s arrest.
In that moment, we saw everything that is wrong with the Knicks organization. We see that even when things are supposed to be getting better, they get worse. Overall, the Knicks have been a complete horror show since Patrick Ewing was traded to the Seattle Supersonics.
When you look at Dolan, there aren’t many positive things you can say about him. There’s the pettiness. The horror show that is the Knicks. Anuka Browne-Sanders, and all things Isaiah Thomas. Throw in Charles Oakley, and you see why players like LeBron don’t want to be Knicks. Overall, it’s just soul crushing being a Knicks fan.
New York Knicks Statement on Spike Lee pic.twitter.com/19JcvhFKO7
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) March 3, 2020
And yet, James Dolan would be a savior for the New York Mets.
If nothing else, Dolan tries to win. He’ll spend what he needs, and he’ll push to win. At least with the New York Rangers, we see Dolan knows who to operate a team. In fact, the Rangers are arguably the best run franchise in all of New York. Really, they are among the best run franchises in all of professional sports.
Back in 1999, Dolan wanted to buy the Mets, but his attempts were thrwarted partially because of the issue of the Wilpon control of the team. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Supposedly, that won’t be an issue now as Dolan purportedly makes another push to acquire the team.
Given what we’ve seen from Dolan, no one should want him owning the Mets. In the end, he’s just a more competent version of Jeff Wilpon, and he is a more solvent version of the Wilpons. There are far better options than him, including Steve Cohen. However, if push comes to shove, James Dolan is a far better option than Jeff Wilpon.
As a Mets and Knicks fan, that is the saddest realization there is.
I have to disagree. Firstly Dolan doesn’t have the kind if money it takes to buy an MLB team. You have to pay cash, 3 billion. Hed have to sell the Garden and its properties. The Garden does better net net net than the Mets because costs are so much lower. But remember something here, an MLB team with its affiliates and institutes in other countries is a much bigger organization then an NBA squad. But more than that this guy is bad for anything he touches. Who gets into the BS he has with fans and ex players? Also his chintzy uncle owns the Indians and no one likes him either. I think it would be tough for JD to get approval.
Have faith. Steve Cohen will get this team. The Wilpons are no match for him and he wants the Mets more than ever and more than anyone.
The Garden is worth well over $5 billion, and they’d be the purchasing entity. More to that point, if Cohen was purchasing the team at a valuation under $3 billion, I’m not sure why someone else would have to play more.
Maybe he has other revenues but even at 5 billion its not a lot of cushion. Cohen is worth 13 to 15 billion a large part of which is liquid.
I think MSG is tv is looking for content and that his interest is in SNY. He could finance that purchase.
I have no doubt SNY is the prize here
There’s no doubt Cohen has far more money. One note on the Garden is they’re expecting a huge influx of revenue with IPOs for the Knicks and Rangers.
Can I reply to myself? Here I go.
Why would Cleveland not want to sign Lindor? He is great on and off the field and hes the kind of guy you want pay. Its because when you do a guaranteed deal the entire cost of the contract goes in an escrow. You HAVE to have the cash now. Obviously Cleveland doesn’t. This Dolan world be in the same boat.
These owners like the Wilpons and Dolans bought their teams before the prices skyrocketed. The Mets lose money every year. I’ve heard as much as 50 million. You need deep pockets to be able to bankroll the team first and invest in getting your income to the next level once you’ve paid billions just to buy the team. No one remembers but it was MSG that put the Yankees where they are today when they way overpaid for the TV rights in the 90s. MSG needed content and broke the bank, 50 million a year I think it was. Give George credit. He reinvested that money repeatedly and pushed the Yankees to a different level even if a lot of the players he paid didn’t work out. When it finally did their revenue streams dwarfed the rest of baseball and that’s big part why the Yankees are so much more valuable than other teams.
If the Mets are losing money, it’s a function of the Wilpons loading the team with personal debt. It’s not a function of the profitability of MLB franchises.
As for the Indians, I wouldn’t look at how they’re run by Larry Dolan when James has already shown himself to be someone who runs his teams completely differently
“As a Mets and Knicks fan, that is the saddest realization there is.”
I’m a Jets fan and Rangers fan too. Beat that losing. I’ve been an active fan since 73 when I was 8.
46 years x 4 teams = 184 seasons between the teams.
86 Mets
94 Rangers
2 championships in 184 tries. Beat that. (Sobbing)
At least I grew up a Giants fan