The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman claims James Dolan snuck out of Madison Square Garden prior to the Knicks’ suprise win over the Cavs and LeBron James the other night.  Had the Cablevision heir watched MSG’s telecast of the event, any discernable chants of “Fire Isiah” would’ve been “muted by loud music or a Gulag technician fooling with the audio level.”

Wednesday evening, on Dolan’s network, there was not one word about the fan protest. Not one sentence about Nathan’s giant pink slip, which, at the least, provided a great visual for every media outlet in the city. No words were spoken about Jason Silverstein, the guy who got booted from the Garden for displaying his hand-made “Fire Isiah” sign in the final minutes of Monday’s Pacers-Knicks fiasco.

Instead, viewers got plenty of Thomas video (his “stopped playing with pride” spiel and the players’ reaction) on the pregame. Then, there was Al (Wiggie) Trautwig (above) who played viewers for complete morons.

“They are 7-17, but every night is fascinating for a new and different reason,” Trautwig said. “Welcome to the latest Knicks adventure.”

Quality basketball? Not in Wiggie’s world. Wins and losses are meaningless. The Knicks are more about reality TV. This was compelling at one time. Now, the plot is stale. The actors are pathetic.

Could this be another reason even Dolan didn’t show up for “the latest Knicks adventure?” Fans are not tuning in either. Knicks ratings on MSG are down 15% from last season (from a 1.3 in 2006 to a 1.1 in 2007).

With the same storyline playing out day after day, the TV ratings will continue to plummet. The lack of interest will translate into decreased gate receipts, too. Fewer and fewer fools will continue paying through the nose to watch an inferior product. This story of the Knicks cannot be taken seriously anymore.

It belongs in one place.

The comics – between Dilbert and F Minus.