Since you asked
A couple of people here commented on The New York Observer article, which is a reasonable description of what it’s like to cover the beat.
No other team seeks to control the flow of news like the Knicks.
And that’s all on James Dolan, who’s got a small army of public relations officials at his disposal. It’s overkill for a man who goes to great lengths to make everyone believe he doesn’t care what’s in the papers.
Even so, I can’t believe a news organization would invest that much time and space on a story few people care about.
The writer never introduced himself to me, and quite frankly, I’m glad. Covering the Knicks for a decade has never made me miserable. Sleep deprived, maybe. Grumpy, yes. Cynical, without a doubt.
But if you want to know the absolute truth, nobody in this line of work should ever complain publicly about the job. I know all of the writers quoted were objecting to questionable treatment by an organization that barely meets league standards, but that’s not how anybody who punches a time clock reads it.
We go to basketball games, sit in the front row, and get paid. As one former colleague on this beat said to me via e-mail today, ”… maybe we ought to spend a month in Fallujah.”
Really, it’s not a bad gig.
Now some people out there believe it’s far more glamorous than it really is. The constant travel is physically and mentally draining. Finding new ways to describe the lunacy on and off the court is trying, as well. Our time with family and friends is often cut short because we’re on call 24/7. But do any of you really care?
I hope not.
As for the posts I’ve been reading all day knocking certain beat writers, know this, the guys quoted in the story are all top-shelf human beings. I’ve shared many meals with all of them and will happily continue to do so. Each of us on the Knicks beat employs a unique approach. We all have different styles, and our respective papers often dictate how a story is reported and written. The universal goal is to provide answers. When things aren’t going well, the questions are noticeably tougher.
We’re not picking on anybody. That’s how it works. When Isiah Thomas pours millions and millions of dollars into a team that hasn’t produced a winning season in four years, and people are spending hundreds upon hundreds to come and watch, or investing hours and hours of limited free time in front of the flatscreen, shouldn’t he be forced to explain?
Absolutely.
Nobody is here to fly a Knicks flag. And when somebody appears to promote any kind of agenda, the other beat writers are the first to voice an objection. It never fails.
And eventually, we move on.
So that’s my take. Pardon the rambling. Now get on with your lives. This issue really isn’t that important.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I imagine the guy who sits to your right must be a pretty good reporter.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Funny how Fallujah is mentioned in this article because this is where I am reading it from. Your colleague is correct, I really wouldn’t mind being at MSG right now no matter how horrible the Knicks can be. Thank you for keeping us readers up to date on how the Knicks are doing both on and off the court.
November 29th, 2007 at 5:42 am
KnicksFanInFallujah,
I’m with you man. My prayers to Fallujah. Good to know there is knicks fan there too.
Of course beat writers can never be team friends That’s because in our society when we said ‘friend’ we always mean ‘somebody that will always say to you good things about you’. And that’s not a friend. A friend really say the important things (good or bad) to make you better. Maybe, the beat writers aren’t all focused in making the knicks better. But, I think major of them are. Include our buddy Mike, Alan Hanh. Include Bermann too and there are some ne faces out there. Isola is a good guy (from beat writers stand point. I’ve never met with him.)
The poin is: the Knicks are miserable in the past years, and that sucks. And all the thing that sucks are very well covered by the media.
In the end, I think that we all wanna be like the Spurs. A winning franchise. Why Mr Dolan don’t sell the garden for the spurs owner. Call RC Bufford (Spurs GM) and offer him full control of the team and of course give him some good money. We need another mentality.
I think Zeke is a very good coach, coz’ he can stand the group together. But other than draft, he made some bad moves.
Let’s hope we can beat Boston tonight. That will be deligted.
The cool thing is: They will show the game today here in Brazil. I’ll wacth KNICKS GAME.
GO NY. GO KNICKS
November 29th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Mike,
It’s funny how none of these complaints are about you. Wonder why that is? It’s beacuse you tell it to us srtaight, do not have an obvious agenda, or treat your readers in condescending way. Sure, some complaints about your compatriots may be unwarranted, but you have you have to admit, some are. There is an obvioius bias against the Knikcs in the press, it’s the chic thing to do these days. Also, I think that a big part of it is beacuse Dolan manages press access so tightly, which may be a mistake on his part. In any event, more writers might want to follow your lead and try and be more down to earth and real with the fans instead of complaining about what to all of us NYK fans is a absolute dream job.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Amen to all of the above. Unlike the other beat reporters who are just interested in transcribing, Mike actually tries to watch the game and ANALYZE. Far more valuable than just giving us locker room gossip.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:03 am
By the way, the funniest thing about that Observer article was the way the mid 90s were described as a glory days for the Knicks and the media.
I have no doubt that the media were treated better by the Knicks those days. (It would be impossible to be treated worse.) But what did that really get the Knicks? I remember, even during those successful years, that the Knicks players and coaches were under constant, often unfair, criticism. (Also, remember the altercation between Van Gundy and Starks and the reporter who contacted Starks’ family in Oklahoma?)
Why distract from game preparation, etc., just for that? The fact is, the New York media is going to be looking for the dirt and the conflict no matter how you treat them. It makes for better 6-inch-high headlines. I don’t blame Dolan. Why make their job any easier?
November 29th, 2007 at 11:31 am
This made me laugh:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/fire_isiah_chant_breaks_out_during?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
November 29th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
The reporters act like being in a different city is different because the of the other city’s team media policy’s. They should stop fooling themselves. The media in NY is mean spirited. Hell the fans are mean spirited. I love NY but other city don’t boo the home team like NY does. Do you blame players who would rather not play in NY? The reality is NY is NY, I don’t blame MSG for trying to keep as much internal as possible with the media looking for bad news all the time. The back covers have always been over the top and mean spirited even when they were treated well. The revelation in this article is that Dolan ever treated the media well, a boat ride too? Its hard to imagine the knicks NOT seeing the media as the enemy.
BTW not that I am complaining about NY, the thing is and Isiah knows this, maybe Dolan knows it too, is this is the worst place in the world to have a bad basketball team, but its also the best place in the world to have a winning basketball team and Isiah just wants to get there. One thing Dolan, Isiah, the players and the fans agree on is we want to win and stop sucking, the question is how to do it.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Oh sorry meant to include reporters there, I do belive they want us to become a good team too. The losing has gotten old.
“One thing Dolan, Isiah, the players, the reporters, and the fans agree on is we want to win and stop sucking, the question is how to do it.”