If James Dolan’s electronic house organ — the unwatchable “MSG, NY” chose to feature even a scintilla of coverage of the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment trial, the network might actually register, in the words of the Daily News’ Bob Raissman “a Nielsen rating actually higher than ones recorded for the Emergency Broadcast Signal or the latest Ab Rocker infomercial.”
At his press conference on Jan. 25, 2006, Isiah Thomas looked out at the assembled notebooks and microphones and, with conviction, stated: “I did not harass Anucha (Browne Sanders).”
And yet that very evening, on MSG Network’s “SportsDesk,” video of Thomas’ riveting press conference never aired. Nor was there one word about the sexual harassment lawsuit Browne Sanders filed against Thomas, the Garden, and Cablevision boss James Dolan.
Dolan, the man who testified he, and only he, makes “all” Garden decisions, could not make the lawsuit vanish from the court docket but he made it invisible on his alleged TV network.
This was just more vintage Garden stupidity. On that January day, Thomas came off as credible and convincing. Instead of presenting this image to the court of public opinion, MSG left it on the cutting-room floor. Thomas was hung out to dry by Dolan. On that day, Thomas needed to put his message out, especially to Knicks fans who tune into MSG.
Instead, Dolan elected to censor it.
Since that time, “SportsDesk,” once a legitimate sports news operation until Dolan turned into a laughingstock – his personal propaganda arm – disappeared. It was replaced by “MSG, NY.” The show purports to present sports and entertainment news (basically shilling for upcoming Garden concerts).
Just like on the old “SportsDesk,” there have been no reports concerning the Browne Sanders trial. The Garden’s PR lackeys put the word out to their media audience that “MSG, NY” does not cover this kind of news.
That line is nothing more than a recycled MSG lie. It’s the same spin another Garden robot issued in 1999, when “SportsDesk” failed to cover a story about an indictment of the owner of the Atlanta-based Gold Club, which alleged he – at no charge – provided women and booze to Patrick Ewing and also arranged a party that included a live sex show for several unidentified Knicks in Charleston, S.C. in the spring of 1997.
Not only was that story never reported on “SportsDesk,” Ewing and the Knicks’ involvement was never mentioned by Dolan’s handpicked shills who babble into the microphones on Knicks telecasts. Under Dolan, truthful reporting on the MSG Network – or on Knicks and Rangers telecasts – has never been a priority.