Knicks Lose Another Fan

Stop the presses! Tom Brokaw is giving up his Knicks tickets. Brokaw was recently on Jim Gray's XM Radio show and Newsday's Neil Best transcribed what he had this to say about the state of the Knicks franchise and of his season tickets:

Gray: “And you have such a large voice, I'm wondering if you have spoken to the commissioner or team officials.”

Brokaw: “No…..He certainly knows how I feel about the Knicks…and their ownership. As a season ticket holder for a long time, I won’t renew because I don’t like the attitude that that ownership has brought to the community.”

Gray: “And you have been in the front row or close to it for a long time.”

Brokaw: “I was in the front row for a while and then three rows back but not next year. I just think that they have failed their obligation to the city. I think that we have great sports franchises in New York. I think Fred Wilpon of the Mets and George Steinbrenner of the Yankees measure up and they bring to the community winning teams as best they can and make real statements about being supportive of the community. I don’t think that the Dolans have done that and I think the Garden has lost a lot of its luster as a result of their ownership and this is the first time that I have really said that out loud. But I feel very strongly about it and I think that it's the least we can expect. They get these huge prices for people to sit in those seats, all kinds of tax advantages to owning the Garden and yet they operate as if they were a sovereign country and want to play only by their own rules. So I’m not very happy about that.”

Tom...you aren't the only one. The Dolans have pissed off a very well connected fan base. When the rich season ticket holders are upset, something has to be done. You can crap on the poor fans as much as you want, look at the Lerners and the Washington Nationals (have you seen the ticket prices, damn they are pricey for a crap team...and yet i love them), but ticking off those people that pay thousands for seats is a sure fire way to kill off a club, even a storied franchise like the New York Knicks. The question is, is it too late?

From Newsday